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 AMATORY TALES, 
 
 VOL. I,
 
 White and Lewis, Printers, 
 2.5, New Street, Bishopsgate Without, London.
 
 AMATORY TALES 
 
 OF 
 
 SPAIN, FRANCE, SWITZEHLAND, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 MEDITERRANEAN : 
 
 COJITAININ© 
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN; ROSOLIA OF PALERMai 
 
 AND 
 
 THE MALTESE PORTRAIT ; 
 
 INTERSPERSED WITH PIECES OF ORIGINAL POETRY, 
 
 IN FOUR VOLUMES. 
 
 By HONORIA SCOTT, 
 
 AUTHOR OF THE >yiNTER IN EDINBURGH, &Ci 
 
 *' Oh ! how tlMS spring of Love resembletk 
 " Th' uncertain glory of an April day ; 
 " Which now sliews all the beauty of t!ie sun^ 
 ^ And by and by a cloud takes all away." 
 
 VOL. L 
 
 LONDON: 
 PUBLISHED BY J. DICK, 55, CHISWELL STREETj. 
 
 AND SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS. 
 
 1810.
 
 THE 
 
 FAIR ANDALUSIAN 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Stem winter smiled on this auspicious clime ; 
 The rocks are fiorid with unfading prime : 
 From the bleak pole no winds inclement blow. 
 Mould the roand hail, and flake the fleecy snow < 
 But, from the breezy deep, the blest inhale 
 The fragrant murmurs of the western gale. 
 
 HOMLB. 
 
 rf On the 17th of March, the Swiss re- 
 ^ giitteiit of Valmont disembarked on 
 ^ Mount Calpe ; a season when the i^ny 
 ^cataracts having subsided, every fissure 
 
 A^' TOL. I. B 
 
 <!^
 
 2 THE FAIR ANDAJLUSIAN. 
 
 of the rock yielded its tribute of vege- 
 tation. Morning slowly withdrew its 
 veil of mists, as the early gun, rever- 
 brating through the excavations of the 
 mountain, awoke the hum of languages, 
 the various occupations of the motley 
 people: — Spaniards, entering the bar- 
 riers with fruit and game; fishermen, 
 drawing from their nets the varieties 
 of the Mediterranean sea, or vending 
 the coralline productioiii fished from 
 watry caverns at the feet of Abyla; 
 listless Genoese, reclining near piles of 
 lemons and dates ; Jews, carrying bur- 
 thens, or exposing merchandise for sale; 
 and Moors, hastening to^ the Almeyda, 
 with Esparto mats, and ring-doves of 
 Mauritania, in cages of reed. 
 
 Passing hastily through a crowd, sin- 
 gularly picturesque from variety of cos- 
 tume, the strangers proceeded to the 
 south ; where giving the necessary or-
 
 ^HE rAiR ANDAXUSIAN. S> 
 
 ders for the accommodation of their 
 men, the officers dispersed amongst the 
 romantic sheds of Europa, in quest of 
 the quarters severally allotted them. 
 
 Situated on a rugged mass, evidently 
 rent from the surrounding ones by the 
 convulsions of an earthquake, and ele- 
 vated to all the grandeur of prospect, 
 the Chevalier Du Marr beheld with 
 pleasure his assigned abode, porticoed 
 by vines, and placed in the centre of i\ 
 '^mall hanging garden, from whence the 
 iiowring myrtle and geranium pursued 
 each rich vein of mould, down the steep 
 acclivities of the rock. 
 
 Whilst his servant busied himself in 
 the interior of the shed, the chevalier 
 seated himself near its entrance, and 
 surveyed with admiration a prospect^ 
 magnificent even to one accustomed to 
 Alpine views. Behind the group of 
 rustic cabins scattered near Europa, th(i 
 B 2
 
 4 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN., 
 
 lofty rock arose, rescLnbling in its up- 
 ward sweep an immense and broken 
 wave; rejecting alike cultivation or 
 spontaneous verdure, its summit frov^ned 
 on the luxuriance below, where Mount 
 Pleasant, and the romantic dwellings 
 in its vicinity, first lured its bosom to 
 the embraces of Flora: there, the 
 Spanish broom mixed its white and 
 yellow blossoms with the departing 
 blush of the almond ; the dark Alca- 
 robe received on its sombre foliage the 
 scarlet flowers of the pomegranate; 
 fragrant orange and lemon trees show- 
 ered perfume on myrtles; and the 
 spiky pear formed its barrier of rich 
 and impenetrable leaves. Below, hung 
 the vineyards and gardens, raised on the 
 ruins of St. Rosia ; extending to its ro- 
 mantic mound, edged with fortification, 
 and laved by the ocean. 
 
 The wild pass of Europa just dis-
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. O 
 
 closed on the left the few rudely sculp- 
 tured tombs, raised amid its solitary 
 rocks, marked by the frequent cross. 
 
 The eye, bounded on the right in its 
 home view, passed to Andalusia ; where 
 the scattered village of St. Roque re- 
 ceived, from its elevation, the beams of 
 morning. A Moorish ruin appeared in 
 misty distance ; more advanced, glided 
 the Palmones, tribute of Granadine 
 snows, and the Guadaranque, laving 
 ancient Carteia. The lofty Orespedas 
 extended their Pyrenean branch in front, 
 screening Algesiras audits " forted isle;" 
 and rising partly dark with immense fo- 
 rests of cork, partly elevated above the 
 sombre green, in rugged masses, marked 
 alone by the scath of lightning, or th^ 
 mule's adventurous path. 
 
 Crossing the sparkling ocean, dotted 
 by the picturesque sails of the Mediter- 
 ranean, the eye of Du Marr rested on 
 B 3
 
 6 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 striking features of African scenery : — 
 Abyla, giving a bold character to the 
 foreground, and more distant the moun- 
 tains of Mauritania, forming in purpling 
 shades, their rich aerial perspective. 
 
 Vision does not pass more rapidly the 
 extent of prospect, than mind embraces 
 its history, however distant the dates. 
 The actions of the modern Elliott, con- 
 secrating the rock on %vhich he stood ; 
 the exploits of the ancient Hannibal, 
 involving in tlieir fury the destruction of 
 Garteia, mcu*ked only by the few frag- 
 njents strewed round the solitary tower 
 of Rccadilla; the misty mountain of 
 Munda, famed by the victory of Caesar 
 over the Porapeys ; the sandy desarts, 
 from which the exiled Moor beholds the 
 terrestrial paradise of his fathers ; and 
 inspired by hope, gives in his departing 
 hour their legacy in turn to his children ; 
 ** The sacred key of Spanish bowers :
 
 THE FAIR'ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 -.All, on the rapid ^ving- of imagination ; 
 cauie ta the mind of the chevalier, as 
 wrapt ia contemplation, he surveyed the 
 scene. 
 
 He was roused at length from his re- 
 verie, by an invitation from the owner 
 of an adjoining dwelling. Captain 
 Montolieu had observed the arrival of 
 the stranger, and sent his domestic to 
 request he would partake of his morn- 
 ing repast, spread in the influence of 
 the western breeze. 
 
 Da Marr found his entertainer a 
 young man of very pleasing exterior^ 
 graceful in the courtesies of life, a 
 " thought graver than youth," with some- 
 •what of the affectation of singularity. 
 
 In the Swiss, Montolieu beheld that 
 estimable character the storms of the 
 revolution have nearly swept from so-j 
 ciety ; the foreigin^fficer of accomplish- 
 ed manners, chivalric principle, and 
 B 4
 
 » THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 enthusiastic honor. Du Marr approach- 
 ed forty, yet looked younger ; and had 
 much of the intelligent expression rarely 
 accompanying fine features. 
 
 Their conversation commenced ia 
 French; but Montolieu understanding 
 his guest spoke English, and prided 
 himself in the attainment, delicately gave 
 him an opportunity of displaying it. 
 The stranger expressed himself delighted 
 with the external appearance of Gibral* 
 tar, and was minute in his enquiries as 
 to the state of its society, amusements, 
 and sources of intellectual pleasure. 
 
 Montolieu smiled. *' I am," observed 
 ie, " considered a cynic; from me, 
 therefore, no opinion should be received; 
 yet I am free to declare my belief, your 
 admiration of surrounding objects, your 
 high-wrought expectation, will sink to 
 the apathy epidemic here; and only 
 Toused by the signs of a Levanter, Of 
 the arrival of a fleet."
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 9l 
 
 ** The influence of the fair must, how- 
 ever, be great," said the Swiss; "are 
 not the lovely Briton and graceful An- 
 dalusian charming contrasts ?" 
 
 ** My countrywomen," replied Mon- 
 tolieu, " assume here a cliaracter that 
 displeases me ; this I leave to your ex- 
 perience : — as to the Andalusians, few 
 of any rank visit the fortress; but tlie 
 general traits of their women are une- 
 qualled captivation, inconstancy, and 
 romance ; and in saying only this, I imi- 
 tate their coquetry, and draw a veil 
 over the worst feature. Our society 
 may not be unaptly compared to the 
 scene before us : above, tower com- 
 manding, bold, but sterile summits; 
 below, lurk dangerous rocks, half hid 
 by the refuse of the Spanish shores ; a 
 rich vein runs between the extremes ; 
 thither I direct my steps in search of 
 health; ajid by observiiig the same rule 
 E 5
 
 JO THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 in the Almeyda, the parade, the library, 
 the assembly, and the playhouse, I 
 avoid spleen, disgust, and the train of 
 mental diseases. Come," added he, 
 smiling at the serious expression of 
 Du Marr's countenance, " I invite you 
 to a tonr of my abode ; it may divert 
 ypur mind from the austerity of my 
 opinions." 
 
 Montolieu's dwelling consisted of 
 three rooms, opening to the west ; a trel- 
 lis of vines and passion flowers extend- 
 ed in front of the windows, forming a 
 portico of fcjliage, to whose pillars 
 Spanish alcarazas "^ presented elegant 
 chapiters ; on the humid surface of these 
 clay vases seeds had been strewn^ 
 whose rapid vegetation twined them 
 with garlands. A space paved with 
 
 * Used fer cooling waters.
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAX. H 
 
 smooth pebbles, and strewed with 
 maize, lured 
 
 •* The little trooping doves/' 
 
 the large Spanish pigeon and Barbary 
 turtle. 
 
 The furniture of the apartments con- 
 sisted of sofas of green Maltese rush, 
 unframed drawings, fastened by knots 
 of ribbon ; African mats ; a bed covered 
 with green net, and a table of dark and 
 highly polished marble, on which was 
 placed a bowl of rock spar; round, 
 hung shelves, on which some fine speci- 
 mens of coral and shells, mingled with 
 music and books. , 
 
 The petite garden,, divided in paf- 
 terres by the marine spoils of the isth- 
 mus, shed carnations and jessamine 
 over the rocks, down which the fisher- 
 B 6
 
 12 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 man's dangerous path appeared winding 
 to the ocean. 
 
 Montolieu, at parting, pressed a re- 
 newal of Du Marr's visit with warmth 
 unusual to him ; nor did the Swiss he- 
 sitate in his promise : he felt gratified by 
 attention from an accomplished man, 
 who had owned himself averse to so- 
 ciety, and even the tincture of misan- 
 thropy mingling in Montolieu's discourse 
 excited curiosity. Thus the seeds of 
 friendship are sown: — the fault is ob- 
 vious ; but we seek the society of the 
 possessor, solicitous, by marking hina 
 in society, to find its excuse.
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 *' If misfortune comes, she brings along 
 
 ** The bravest virtues • • 
 
 *t 
 
 ^* To men of other minds my fancy flies." 
 
 The regiment of Valmont were com- 
 posed of different nations; men whom 
 misfortune had united, but whose spirit 
 she had not subdued. The cup of ca- 
 lamity had been severally presented 
 them during the sanguinary scenes of a 
 continental war; but the impression 
 had faded or remained, according to the 
 national shades of character. 
 
 The venerable Count de Valmont, on 
 whose aged head the storms of France
 
 14 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAK. 
 
 had beat heavy, on whose heart the fate 
 of a once loved, and yet regretted fa- 
 mily pressed, regarded his officers with 
 the affection of a parent, yet, in their 
 hours of hilarity retired to musing and 
 solitude. 
 
 His major, a cool phlegmatic Ger- 
 man, though he felt from indolence of 
 habit and advanced age, little relish for 
 parties usually denominated those of 
 pleasure, permitted his young wife to 
 enter every scene of gaiety. Du Rose, 
 at sixty, had married the daughter of a 
 Swiss Pastor, who, dreading the ap- 
 proaches of war to his once happy 
 abode, joyfully gave his Josephine to 
 the veteran's protection, at a period when 
 her beauty had scarce passed the con- 
 lines of childhood. By the care of her 
 husband she received instruction in 
 every accomplishment, from the first 
 masters ; and gaining dignity with hec
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 15 
 
 years, was now an elegant and fasci- 
 nating woman. The major, by his con- 
 fid ence^ shewed an accurate judgment 
 of her character ; her gaiety proceeded 
 from innocence of heart, her almost in- 
 fantine playfulness, from " unblemished 
 thoughts." 
 
 Most of the elder officers were men 
 mingling thought with talent; but it 
 was amongst the ephemera of the corps 
 that national traits were most ob- 
 servable. Du Marr, ** too far travelled 
 to allow the prejudices of country to 
 adhere as burs in his garment," could 
 not repress a smile, when on his tour of 
 visits, after arriving in garrison, he be- 
 held their variety of occupations and 
 approaches to comfort. 
 
 The gourmand Bosse, an inflated 
 German, sat surrounded by liqueurs 
 and incitements to the pleasures of the 
 table.
 
 16 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 Borgoise, a young Frenchman, by an 
 imhicky coup de main, had secured the 
 equilibrium of a wretched daubing of 
 his tutelary saint, Jean Jaques Rousseau, 
 by volumes of Rabelais and Voltaire; 
 above appeared a threatening couteau 
 de chasse and a pair of pistols. 
 
 Immorality and infidelity, as sup- 
 porters of sentiment, and crowned by 
 suicide, might reasonably awake fears 
 ibr the owner of the abode. Du Marr's 
 were, however quieted, by a glance to- 
 wards the garden, where Borgoise sat 
 caressing a monkey, who doubtless, 
 from his affectation of gravity previous 
 to any imlucky prank, was designated 
 St. Preux. 
 
 Danville, more the child of folly than 
 offence, had directed his servant to 
 twine dark branches round his case- 
 ment, '^ pour inspirer le philosophie,'^ as 
 he penned a sonnet to a swarthy Spa-
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 17 
 
 nish belle, loitering near, and chanting 
 at intervals notes, to which his neigh- 
 bour, an Italian, obstinately shut every 
 aperture of sound. 
 
 Du Marr reached the cabin of his 
 Swiss friend Vosier, around which the 
 dappled goat broused, as his domestic 
 was petitioning to ascend the rock, from 
 whose elevation he had heard a petite 
 Mont Blanc might be descried.— Sacred 
 be the love of country, however rude 
 the bosom that enshrines it! 
 
 Du Marr, a« he slowly pursued his 
 way along the road leading to the towii, 
 shaded on one side by lofty trees, oii 
 the other exposed to the freshest breath 
 of that element whose waters laved the 
 batteries, was overtaken by Montolieu, 
 They paused near South Port, to 
 observe gardens extending on the 
 left, blooming in vegetative life, and
 
 18 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 tiieir gloomy contrast on the other, 
 Avhcre tombs, decorated with shells, 
 rose from " dank weeds and noisome 
 brakes." 
 
 As they entered the town, the Swiss, 
 with some humour described the occu- 
 pations of his brother officers. 
 
 " Do you not in this imitate the po- 
 licy of Scarron?" replied Montolieu ; 
 •*^ and by laughing yourself, prevent the 
 laugh of others? believe me, you need 
 not ; for every foreign absurdity I pledge 
 myself to produce ten English. Come,'* 
 added he, looking at his watch, ** I have 
 an hour to devote to you before I at- 
 tend the theatre; you must accompany 
 me to the library." 
 
 ** The theatre I" said the Swiss, some- 
 what surprised. 
 
 '' Did I omit informing you I act the 
 lover?" replied Montolieu;, nay, " I
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 19 
 
 write prologues, too ; no easy task for 
 a mail more ** commanded than com- 
 manding :'* 
 
 " For how should mortal man, in mortal verse, 
 '' Their titles, merits, or their names rehearse? 
 " But give, kind dullness, memory and rhyme, 
 " We'll put off genius till another time." 
 
 At these words thev came on the 
 stone terrace, extending before the li- 
 brary, surrounded by high iron rails, 
 and adorned by plots of flowers. The 
 edifice forms a handsome object in view; 
 the lower part a^nrpropriated to a well- 
 chosen collection of books, and the 
 rooms above to the amusements' of the 
 garrison. Balconies open on a garden, 
 rising with the acclivity, and filled with 
 orange and pomgranstte trees, the spread- 
 ing tig, and hardy myrtle. 
 
 The stranger, as he surveyed the
 
 20 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 groiipes seated round the library, and 
 cast bis eyes on their incentives to 
 study, displayed in the surrounding vo- 
 lumes, could have wished the absence 
 oT Montolieu ; who, as he pointed out 
 men and books, spoke of either wrth 
 more of his assumed severity than- his 
 smothered judgment. 
 
 " Behold," said he, motioning to a 
 shelf on which lay a late purchase of 
 scarce and valuable Spanish books; 
 ^' the canons legacy to Gil Bias!'* 
 Could we not have been content with 
 our ancient treasures, that rare trial, 
 Rome versus Fandango, and Donna Se- 
 gudilla's holy farces? — Here," proceeding 
 on, " are novels ; may they soften our 
 fair; so shall young subalterns find 
 partners, and old field officers lack 
 them." 
 
 The librarian now accosted Du Marr, 
 aiid finding he was appointed represen-
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 21 
 
 <ative of his corps, explained a code of 
 excellent regulations, and pointed out 
 some valuable additions to the library 
 
 lately arrived. Mr. B was an 
 
 emisrrant of extensive literary informa- 
 tion, and of most unshaken fidelity to- 
 wards the government under whose pro- 
 tection he remained. After a friendly 
 recognition of him, Montolieu walked 
 to the further end of the apartment in 
 quest of a book. 
 
 *' Captain Montolieu is a character," 
 said Du Marr, smilingly, to B — . 
 
 " A man, who with his person does 
 not intrigue, his purse does not game, 
 
 must be so here," replied B- : " it 
 
 is to be regretted he suffers an affecta- 
 tion of satirical humour, say, at times, 
 the reality of it, to marr a fine mind, 
 and render him less desirable to so- 
 ciety; we are too indolent here to seek 
 for hidden virtues. A variety of reports
 
 / 
 
 21 THE FAIR ANDALU9IAN. 
 
 are in circulation concerning the birth 
 of Captain Montolieu's misanthropy; 
 some impute it to the fatal termination 
 of a point of honour, younjoer people to 
 love. In the theatre you will have an 
 opportunity of judging whether he there 
 lays aside the mask, or assumes one." 
 
 " You seemed to attend but little to 
 the news to-day," «aid Du Marr to his 
 friend, as they quitted the library, and 
 paused an instant before they pursued 
 their different routes; '' surely, the 
 greater part of what those young men 
 who accosted you, were eager to impart, 
 was important." 
 
 " My dear Du Marr," said Monto- 
 lieu, laying his hand gently on his shoul- 
 der, ** shall I treat a serious evil gravely, 
 or jestingly ?" 
 
 ** Would not the last be more in 
 character?" replied the Swiss. 
 
 " Know then, most unenlightened
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 23 
 
 stranger, that, taking into their profound 
 consideration the dangerous effects of 
 climate, the Creolean softness of our 
 fair, and the yawning listlessness of their 
 lovers, some young heroes, sacrificing 
 " the bubble reputation," for the ge- 
 neral good, devote themselves to Fa- 
 hular 
 
 *' Still I am the ' unenlightened stran- 
 ger,*" said Du Marr. 
 
 " In a fevjr turns of the parade," re- 
 plied his friend, taking his arm, " I can 
 explain : — suppose, 
 
 " Pons 
 
 ** Sat meditating on her beauty, 
 
 ** And now was pensive, 
 
 " And loll'd the sultry hours away ;'' 
 
 " The news of the arrival of the Hyme- 
 neal frigate, commanded by Lord Boreas 
 Tempest, 
 
 " To her own stature lifts the feeble maid,"
 
 M THE FAIR AJNDALUSIAN. 
 
 " and the evening assembly is a grace 
 prouder. Many a marriage is expedited 
 less by the inclination of the parties, 
 than the tongiue grejvades thro^vn in. — 
 The rich merchant has made an offer ;-^ 
 the lady prefers riches to love; — pique 
 takes the duty of Cupid, and old Colonel 
 Totter storms the place. But it is 
 among politicians these beardless priests 
 of Fabula find most success; an am- 
 bassador gone through the Straits in 
 the last orange boat, for the Sublime 
 Porte; — the death of Bonaparte; — nay, 
 during the height of a sirocco, his ar- 
 rival in tlie fortress. — Sometimes, they 
 fly to the library, where Paris sits 
 sighing over tlie pages of the senti- 
 mental Charlotte: a beauty arrived; 
 young, lovely, rich; — you cannot mount 
 the guard at the Mole for gazers." 
 
 *' But surely," argued Du Marr, " this 
 cannot be repeated more than twice, in 
 the worst complaints of the head ?"
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAK. ^» 
 
 ** Pardon me,'* replied Montolieu; 
 '^ it is, as in wine, the head finds its in- 
 firmity in the morning, but not a cork 
 the less is drawn in the evening.** 
 
 VOL, I,
 
 26 THE FAIR ANDALUSI AN. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 *' Had she been true, 
 ** If heaven would have made me such another 
 
 world, 
 " Of one entire and perfect chrjsolile, 
 *' I'd not have sold her for it." 
 
 Du Marr, at the time Madame Du 
 Rose called forth most powerfully his 
 respect and esteem, could not, per- 
 haps, forg'et, in happier days, the fair 
 Swiss, with her aged parent, had vi- 
 sited the chateau of his father; and 
 the son exchanged with her the love 
 tokens of a simple people; had sent the 
 osier basket, and received the wreath. 
 
 Yet the recollection led to no em- 
 barrasment; Madame Du Rose made
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIA]S(. 27 
 
 ft a point, ill the absence of her husband. 
 to place herself under his protection : a 
 libertine would ha^e understood the de- 
 licacy of the compliment ; and the high- 
 minded and honourable Swiss received 
 this proof of her confidence with a 
 conviction, his sword was unsheatlied 
 equally against himself as another, were 
 he capable of injuring it. * 
 
 The society of the garrison soon ga- 
 thered round the fair stranger; and 
 though the simple elegance of her 
 suppers, where fruit and sweetmeats 
 were alone admitted, presented a con- 
 trast to the ostentatious parties of many 
 she invited, they w ere the centre of at- 
 traction. The major usually formed a 
 loto table, whilst his beautiful wife re- 
 ceived offerings of extempore verse, new 
 music, or the recital of some interesting 
 story, blending united feeling and wit ; — 
 " rare associates.'* 
 
 c 2
 
 28 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 Du Marr did not fail introducing his 
 friend to these parties; and though 
 Montolieu affected great indifference 
 towards the arbitrators of male destiny, 
 he was compelled to own the attractions 
 of the fair Swiss; and so far relaxed 
 from his usual imgallant modes, as to 
 accompany her to several parties formed 
 for her amusement by the wife of Ge- 
 neral Layde, a lady known to the family 
 of Montolieu, and whom he regarded 
 with an esteem that banished the mists 
 of his character when he approached 
 her. 
 
 Mrs. Layde had been imjustly ac- 
 cused of pride, and an observance of 
 rank, even to the banishment of subal- 
 tern virtue. The fact was, that consi- 
 dered as the wife, the sister, the friend, 
 she had been through life an example; 
 as the elegant hostess, the superior fe- 
 male presiding at the garrison parties,
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAX. 2§ 
 
 the " glass of fashion," Mrs. Layde left 
 no want in the expectation of her guests. 
 Manners easy, kind, and polished ; a 
 person pleasing though in its meridian ; 
 and unblemished virtue, extending even 
 to appearances, called fqrth united 
 esteem and respect. To foreigners she 
 was certainly partial; and Madame Du 
 Rose soon became her cherished friend. 
 Far from her country, the fair emigre 
 experienced in her kindness, and that 
 of General Layde, a man universally 
 beloved, a jrecompence for many slights 
 from 
 
 " Meaner minds/' 
 
 The Count de Valmont, on receiving 
 an invitation to Mrs. Layde's first party 
 after his arrival, had excused himself, 
 by sending in lieu his most accomplished 
 officers; amongst them Du Marr. The 
 c3
 
 30 THE FAIR ANDALCSiAN. 
 
 general's aid-clu-camp, on introducing 
 them, whispered the daughters of a rick 
 contractor, in passing, thes;e rials were 
 the change of a douhloon. 
 
 One evening, after a public dinner, the 
 friends strolled towards the abode of Ma- 
 dame du Rose, who was expected to 
 hold her comer zaiioni. A bjight moon, 
 unclouded by the obscurities of the west, 
 trembled on the waters, and tinged the 
 rock with light; the gardens sent forth 
 their aromatic sighs of orange flowers 
 and jassmine; no sound disturbed the 
 silence, save the answering call of the 
 centinel, or the distant beat of the Cas- 
 tanet, from terraces where the foreign 
 groupes assembled to their national 
 dance. Entering the apartment appro- 
 priated to the reception of visitants, the 
 friends found it deserted. A note from 
 the major lay on the table, informing 
 them the field-officers had been hastily
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 31 
 
 summoned to the governor's to receive 
 the Marquis Mondecar and his daugh- 
 ter, who had arrived from Spain, with 
 the intention of remaining some days in 
 a fortress, the government of which was 
 an hereditary though nominal title in 
 their family. The major concludecl his 
 billet by requesting the friends would 
 pass the evcniag at his house. 
 
 The genius of elegance and beauty 
 had accompanied the fair Du Rose ; but 
 around were scattered her various and 
 polished arrows. Du Marr paced the 
 apartment in quest of every object ou 
 which her eye or hand had rested. — 
 Touching lightly the embroidery over 
 which he had seen her lean in the 
 flexible and picturesque attitudes of a 
 grace, he bent to examine it. A well 
 known Swiss scene was skilfully traced ; 
 round twined a w reath of flowers. Du 
 c 4 »
 
 52 THE FAIR ANDALUSUN, 
 
 Marr turned away; the simple gift of 
 nature was faded, however bright the 
 colours of art. 
 
 At the extremity of the apartment 
 fitood Josephine's harp; her shawl, of 
 ** roseate tint," thrown gracefully over, 
 had lured a dove from an adjoining cage. 
 The bird, with wing half expanded, slum- 
 bered in the down : the attitude of its re- 
 pose, the drapery, partially drawn over 
 the instrument in classic folds, the sil- 
 Tery plumage of the favourite, and the 
 elegance of its perch, invited the pencil. 
 Du Marr executed his sketch ** con 
 amorey As he deposited his offering 
 in a portfolio that lay on the table, he 
 observed the attention of his friend had 
 been engaged with the drawings it 
 contained. 
 
 "■ These are French^,*' obserred Mon- 
 tolieu4
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 33 
 
 *' Yes," answered Du Marr ; " they 
 are traces of a troubled path. I recog- 
 nise the Count de Valmont's style. His 
 story is intimately connected with mine : 
 my aim is to invite confidence; — will 
 you accept the mingled recital, as the 
 amusement of the evening ? 
 
 ** There is something so peculiarly 
 gratifying," continued he, as he met his 
 friend's assenting glance, *' in recurring 
 to days, when the beam of beauty, or 
 the call of arms, first awoke the dormant 
 spark of love or valour, that I cannot 
 resist commencing my recital at an ear- 
 lier period of life, than the interest ex- 
 cited may perhaps justify. My father, 
 after spending his best days in the im- 
 perial service, retired to his native Swit- 
 zerland, . and fixed his abode on the 
 banks of the Arlach, bordered by a 
 country singularly picturesque. Amid 
 all the changing events of my life, the 
 c 5
 
 34 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 obliterating traces of sorrow or time, 
 memory could at will bring vivid touches 
 of the scene. 
 
 ** The craggy mountains of Friburg, 
 and the magnificent glaciers of Berne, 
 formed the amphitheatre ; down their 
 steep ascents the daring hand of nature 
 threw the chesnut, the beech, and the 
 pine ; foaming torrents thundering to 
 the lake, the hermit's solitary cejl, or 
 the herdsman's hut, burst at intervals 
 from the woody foliage, in beautiful ef- 
 fect. Nearer the lake, a softer species 
 of w^ood, in slenderer form and lighter 
 leaf, led the eye, by verdant meadows 
 and pastoral groupes, to the emerald 
 W'aters, from whose rocky bed rose fan- 
 tastic rocks, an imaginary watch tower, 
 or pyramidic column. 
 
 ** My father inhabited an old chateau 
 belonsfinff to the Count de Valmont, with 
 whom he had served, and contracted an
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 55 
 
 inviolable friendship. The apartments 
 had sufl'ered from age and neglect ; but 
 our family consisted of few persons, 
 easily accommodated. An extensive 
 library owed its preservation to the 
 amusement it had afforded the late 
 count during a year of indisposition he 
 had spent in Switzerland. The family, 
 from female alliances, possessing estates 
 in France, it was considered useless to 
 exhaust their resources in the repairs of 
 a property seldom visited. The present 
 count, when he presented his friend 
 with an asylum, dear to the veteran 
 from its vicinity to abodes whose pos- 
 sessors had flown on the wings of time 
 and death, directed a few apartments, 
 adjoining the library, should be pre- 
 pared for his reception : these wei*e fur- 
 nished with massy gilded furniture, in 
 character with the building. 
 
 ** From the chateau a terrace extend- 
 c 6
 
 36 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN^ 
 
 ed to the lake, -whose verdant bosom 
 gave root to rows of linden, poplar, 
 and birch ; a fallen tower lay in pictu- 
 resque beauty, half hid by moss and 
 spreading foliage ; in the back ground, 
 a cascade burst from the dark woods, 
 dashing through the scattered masses, 
 towards the rustic alleys and wild par- 
 terres of the deserted gardens ; where 
 softening with the altered scene, it 
 branched out in silvery currents, bathing 
 the rose and saffron flow er. 
 
 " My father lost the partner of bi» 
 joys and sorrows at my birth : the child 
 of his age, I was consequently that of 
 indulgence. Had he formed me ac- 
 cording to his own ideas of perfection, 
 my education would have been entirely 
 military; but the count, in his annual 
 visits, urged the admission of literature 
 and the arts ; and obtained me permis- 
 sion to wander amid the sublime scenes
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 37 
 
 by which I was surrounded, accompa- 
 nied by the poet or the historian. Hap- 
 py age! unalloyed by care, devoid of 
 wish, save that of emulating the hero, 
 the worthy, or the sage. I delight to 
 recall to recollection, when stretched 
 on some verdant platform, from which 
 the magic dews called forth aromatic 
 sweets, in half ascent of some Alpine 
 steep, I lulled my wrapt senses in the 
 contemplation of a Homer or a Vir- 
 gil; forgetting in the morning I had 
 been the infant Tell of a village; and 
 that my venerable father, anticipating 
 future fame, twined my arrow with 
 laurel. 
 
 " At fourteen I became an enrolled 
 citizen ; and shortly after obtained ad-.- 
 mission to the Ernest regiment of Berne, 
 commanded by Dn Yalraont. My 
 young fancy, aided by history, had long 
 burst the Alpine barrier that surrounded
 
 38 THfi FAIR ANDALUSIAJT. 
 
 me ; but too loosely reined, the new 
 fledged passions fluttered with ideas of 
 nobler wing : — together unveiling the 
 distant rocks of Melliere, and the sa- 
 cred chapel where the tyrant of my 
 country fell. Thus by turns my steps 
 traversed every spot immortalized by 
 Tell ; or, seeking the light boat, glided 
 through the lakes, to wander amid 
 dewy plants or shadowy foliage, where 
 once ruminated the Rousseau, however 
 mistaken in feeling, however gloomy ia 
 misanthropy, but too dear to youth, too 
 sacred to sensibility ! 
 
 " These dreams are dispersed ; called 
 as I have been, to act, in my own per- 
 son, the scenes his ardent pencil drew, 
 I can detect the fallacy of his reasoning, 
 the dangerous tendency of his maxims. 
 How different w as it in youth ! The 
 light mists concealing the fatal preci- 
 pice, the overwhelming avalanche of
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 39 
 
 my native hills floated not more beauti- 
 fully, veiled not more effectually, all 
 that ought to rouse caution, than the 
 tender eloquence, the sophistry of the 
 passions, did the immorality of the au- 
 thor. The understanding, however hum- 
 ble, like the day, has its meridian ; be- 
 fore which the mists of reason and of 
 nature alike disperse. 
 
 " A residence of two 3 ears in the 
 different French towns, in which my 
 regiment were quartered, did not weak- 
 en my attachment to Switzerland, or 
 close the leaf of volumes in which I had 
 delighted amid its shades. At this pe- 
 riod I became indebted to the count for 
 the attentions of a parent : exposed, in 
 the ardency of feeling and uncontrouled 
 youth, to the temptations of a gay peo- 
 ple, his roof was my sanctuary, his life 
 my example. United to a beautiful 
 woman, and father to a lovely girl, in
 
 40 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 the observance of every duty he was 
 ardent as love, steady as judgment. 
 Few houses could boast more gaiety ; 
 but it was such as charmed youth, 
 without offending age. 
 
 ** The count condescended to direct 
 my studies ; his lovely wife, then in the 
 brilliancy of life and character, taught 
 me to respect her sex : and directed by 
 the affection of her parents, the infant 
 Clarice hovered round me with a younger 
 sister's love. 
 
 " At A I learnt the liberal ac- 
 complishments. My regiment were 
 quartered in its environs, and mixed 
 with its society, where now the seeds 
 of the revolution were thickly strewn. 
 Folly and vice began boldly to utter 
 opinions, from which those who thought, 
 in the silence of fear, anticipated san- 
 guinary fruit. 
 
 *' Amid this storm of society, the
 
 THE FAin ANDALUSIAN* 41 
 
 count found it difficult to choose asso- 
 ciates. Unfortunately, at the time he 
 yielded many friendBhii^s to duty, he 
 gave his confidence so fatally to one 
 man, as evinced his discernment equal- 
 led not his other great qualities. Fayau, 
 accomplished, of family and considera- 
 ble fortune, though no longer young, 
 and by no means possessing personal 
 attraction, had a prepossessing elegance 
 of manner that rendered him agreeable 
 to females, and an extensive informa- 
 tion, occasioning his society to be sought 
 for by the men. With the count, from 
 whom with consummate hypocrisy he 
 veiled an immoral character, he Mas a 
 favourite; and admitted at all times to 
 his roof, he soon became intimately ac- 
 quainted with those secret springs of 
 mind, that once known, render virtue 
 the easy prey of vice. 
 
 *' Yalmont, generous, noble, and enthu-
 
 4i THE FAIR ANDALUSIA'S. . 
 
 jsiastic, needed but a hesitating doubt of 
 tlie liouour of an action, to diverge from 
 liis purpose into eccentricities scorning 
 thought. His beautiful ^\ife, admired 
 and beloved, invulnerable as she ap- 
 peared to flattery, had yet an avenue 
 of approach. Fayau marked the in-!- 
 quietude the count displayed, as his 
 Louise, forgetting how much a degrading 
 passion had preponderated in the scale, 
 applauded the deference paid female 
 talent in France, and the part it had 
 ever been allowed to take in the poli- 
 ticks of that country. The females of 
 
 A , banishing the tenderer loves 
 
 and milder graces, harangued on the 
 reform of kingdoms ; yet Madame Val- 
 mont, hitherto allowed the most accom- 
 plished of the circle, was condemned 
 to silence on the forbidden topic ; and 
 Fayau saw her wounded pride revolt 
 from the contemptuous sneer, and the
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN, 43 
 
 " Elk est Suisse' of the French ayo- 
 111 en. 
 
 " The treacherous republican, affect- 
 ing to form his opinion from hers, drew 
 her incautious steps nearer the guiph of 
 atheism and vice, whispering to the vanity 
 of Louise, her virtue might remain un- 
 shaken, her talents unalloyed, by errors 
 into which disputations on religion and 
 government involved the weaker of the 
 sex. Lessons of platonism are usually 
 acceptable to the superior class of wo- 
 men ; in this language alone the liber- 
 tine can address virtue. Fayau, by con^ 
 suiting Madame Yalmont in affairs of 
 moment, engaged her attention ; by 
 laying his admiration of her person on 
 the shrine of her virtue, her esteem. 
 
 " AVe are said, should our habits af- 
 ford nurture, to be each bom with the 
 seeds of the disease that will occasion 
 death :— how awfully does the mind pre-
 
 44 THE FAIR ANDALt.SIAN\ 
 
 sent the same idea ! It is dangerous to 
 pursue it, lest we allow virtue no merit; 
 and believe all excellence or vice to be 
 the result of situation." 
 
 " My comment on love and politicks 
 shall not be so grave," said Montolieu, 
 smiling. " I have heard the French 
 women of your day were remarkable 
 for imagining their parrots birds of wis- 
 dom. The frail mistress of a member 
 of the convention, whose extreme beau- 
 ty and lack of wit converted her bonnet 
 rouge into a cap and bells, used to min- 
 gle the language of reform with the er- 
 rors of passion, in the quantum the 
 Spanish w^omen do devotion. * Ah !* 
 cried she, breaking from her lover's 
 arms, and assuming an air of extreme 
 distress, ' the state totters ; — what can 
 we do for its support, Monsieur? — I offer 
 you the union of my talents with your 
 pliilosophy/
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAV. 4$ 
 
 " ' My dear Annette/ returned B , 
 
 * when you can preserve your own equi- 
 Jibriura, you will assuredly be called 
 on to prop a falling state." ' 
 
 " The adulation of Fayau," continued 
 Du Marr, *' became necessary to Ma- 
 dame Valmont. It was at this crisis the 
 count, by the suggestions of her se- 
 ducer, resolved on visiting Switzerland, 
 and leaving his family to his protection. 
 
 '* Public measures began to wear an 
 alarming aspect, and it was rumoured 
 the councils of the cantons meditated 
 the recall of their troops in the service 
 of France. My father, now in extreme 
 ^g^» yearned to embrace me; and it 
 was resolved I should accompany the 
 count to Switzerland. 
 
 " Young as I was, I had not been 
 an unattentive observer cf* Fayau's man- 
 ner. On Madame Valmont 3 virtue I
 
 40 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAX. 
 
 confess I had reliance : the chaste and 
 noble dignity of a Roman matron 
 beamed on her [ierson, as the count 
 gave, with a steady hand, herself and 
 child to the protection of Fayau ; w ho, 
 on his part, seemed more engrossed by 
 the object of the count's journey, than 
 lavish of professions as to his charge. 
 
 " Valmont lingered in the embraces 
 of his family, whilst I proceeded to the 
 court, where my old servant held my 
 horse. The expression of his face 
 struck me : his aged head bent over the 
 charo'er, and his eve seemed to avoid 
 mine, yet to be fraught with sorrowfid 
 meaning. His age, and an education 
 not shamed by his conduct, rendered 
 him more my riend than servant. — 
 * Claude^' said I, taking his hand in 
 mine, * do not regi'et, infirm as you are. 
 n»t accompanying me : I rejoice,' added
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN'. 47 
 
 I, hesitating: at the suspicion I betrayed, 
 * I rejoice you remain ^^hh 3Iadame 
 Valraont/ 
 
 '' Turning quickly towards me, he 
 exclaimed, ' Ah 1 my dear master, the 
 count is deceived: as Heaven is just, 
 Monsieur Fayau is a villain I' 
 
 *' The appearance of the count pre- 
 vented reply; we rode on, and his ani- 
 mation served to brighten the colour of 
 my thoughts. 
 
 " The pleasurable emotions with 
 which a Swiss revisits his country are 
 proverbial. At sixteen the heart is alive 
 to the chords of energetic feeling. How 
 did the majestic hills of my country 
 seem to beckon, Tong before I left the 
 French confines, to peaceful vallies and 
 uncontaminated shades ! — The bounda- 
 ry once passed, how did object after 
 object rise to recollection — firiend after 
 friend appear !
 
 4S THE FAIR ANDALUSIAK. 
 
 '* We arrived near Arlach at the 
 beautiful close of a summers day. 
 The distant glaciers yet retained the 
 roseate fires of the departing sun ; dark- 
 er tints approached the lake, on whose 
 tranquil bosom a few fading rays yet 
 gleamed : above, mid the sere foliage of 
 the surrounding Alps, the chapel lit its 
 holy tapers, or the torrent dashed its 
 waters in silvery mists. Leaving heights 
 through whose echoes the plaintive 
 Kuhreigeji resounded, answered by the 
 bells of descending cattle, we traced 
 the Arlach, and arrived on the terrace 
 ©f the chateau. 
 
 ** The count, as he pointed out a 
 group of village dancers winding through 
 the avenues, reminded me of the day : 
 it was my natal one ; and my venerable 
 father, leaning on his staff, though his 
 eye, misted by age, viewed not the 
 dancers, though his ear refused the tones
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAX. 49 
 
 of their viol, encouraged their festivity^ 
 My appearance added to the hilarity 
 that prevailed ; and the count, after the 
 first emotions of meeting" had subsided, 
 as tlie venerable pastor of an adjoining 
 village, then on a visit to My father, pre- 
 sented me his daughter, motioned me to 
 join the dance. Josephine Carlotz here 
 became first known to uie, and was 
 perhaps' the youngest beauty that ever 
 received the devotion of a heart. As 
 Madame Du Rose, she is greatly altgred, 
 both in person and manner ; and so 
 changed with regard to Du Marr that 
 he need not hesitate at naming her. 
 
 " The simple dress of the Swiss pea- 
 sant ^as favourable to her style of 
 Ijeauty : — a large hat placed on one 
 side of luxuriant flaxen tresses, a tight 
 boddice of blue silk, from whose short 
 chemise sleeves of lawn, her beautiful 
 •urnis disclosed tiieir uncovered snows ; 
 
 TOL. I. D
 
 50 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 a short petticoat, and a large bouquet 
 of Alpine rose and saffron flowers, corn- 
 posed the neat habiliments and rural 
 ornaments of the graceful child. I 
 gazed on her sylph-like form, the deli- 
 cate transparency of her complexion, 
 which no blush, save that of timidity, 
 had yet heightened; with admiration 
 contrasting their simple elegance with 
 the meretricious air, the rouged cheek, 
 and gaudy costume of France. 
 
 " The object of first love is always 
 presented by virtue : the heart need not 
 reject it, the memory refuse it place. — 
 O, that prudence and fortune were for- 
 bid to interpose between the union of 
 youth and marriage !— * I return to na- 
 ture's purest scenes,' ejaculated I men- 
 tally, as I clasped her fairest child. 
 
 " Long continued the waltz, after a 
 bright moon, rising over the woods, call- 
 ed forth from sliadow pale phantoms of
 
 .THE I AIR ANDALUSIAX. 51 
 
 noon day scenes. A simple supper was 
 vspread in a lower apartment of the cha- 
 teau, openin^^ to the terrace. My father, 
 Cariotz, and the count soon engrossed 
 by the discourse \ almont's journey gave 
 rise to, left Josephine to my attentions. 
 
 *' The heart that has mingled with the 
 world loses the power of describing* such 
 objects. I can only compare my feel- 
 ings, at the developement of her pure 
 and ingenuous thoughts, in every con- 
 versation I held with this channing child 
 of nature, to those I experienced on 
 first viewing the power of a microscope 
 on a simple flow er : — the m iid blosvsom 
 sparkled with beauty hid to common 
 eyes ; the hand of a deity had given it 
 perfection beyond the imitation of art; 
 and conviction struck the mind, that the 
 visual mist need only be removed to 
 render all around a paradise. 
 
 *' In the conteniplatio^i ^f Josephine's 
 D 2 
 
 ^f^fVERsiTY on
 
 52 THE FAIR ANDALrSL\N. 
 
 character, soon my companion in ni^" 
 walks, my studies, the library, or the 
 rustic cabin, I was on the brink of a 
 dangerous error, that of admitting the 
 senses and the heart might have differ- 
 ent objects of passion. Necessary as it 
 \\as for my happiness, I hesitated to 
 unlock the secrets treasured in the in- 
 nocent bosom of my x41pine beauty. 
 Romantic as it may appear, I dreaded 
 the hour ^vhen its zone of peace should 
 be unbound ; and love, parent of cares, 
 doubt, and tears, such as agitated my 
 breast, should disturb the tranquillity 
 of hers. Gladly would I have guarded 
 her from the passion, though I had ba- 
 nished myself with it. 
 
 " How beats your pulse, now," in- 
 terrogated Montolieu, " your angel has 
 become woman?" 
 
 *' The question is easily answered,'' 
 replied Du Marr ; " the vainest hope
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 53 
 
 must die beneath the modest beam of 
 her eye. Were it otherwise, I should 
 not recognise Josephine. 
 
 " A rapid month flew over our heads 
 amid my native scenes. Never had they 
 appeared so beautiful. Yahnont was 
 soon convinced of the error he had 
 committed in leaving his corps : alarm- 
 ing news arrived from France ; the blaze 
 of watch-towers summoned the coun- 
 cils of the respective cantons ; and the 
 post of my colonel and myself un- 
 doubtedly became the head of our regi- 
 ment. 
 
 " All my prudent resolves, the con- 
 cealment of my passion, the intended 
 probation of years, vanished at the ex- 
 pectation of a parting. I sought the 
 eyes of Josephine, as I announced the 
 day of my departure ; their sweet ex- 
 pression convinced me she awoke at the 
 intelligence to her first love ; and I 
 d3
 
 o4 THE FAIR ANDALUSIANT. 
 
 turned away from their beam, half soi** 
 rowfiil. half transported at the certainty 
 of being" beloved. 
 
 ^* In the evening 1 led her to the mar- 
 riage of two happy rustics, whose com* 
 panions bore in triumph the osier bas- 
 ket and flowery wreath— simple gifts,^ 
 by w4iich their hearts had been ex- 
 changed. Josephine, as she pressed the 
 hand of the bride, asked a thousand 
 questions arising from her new emotion. 
 * Had she long loved r — truly loved ? — 
 Oh !' ejaculated she, as the villager an- 
 swered, * may you then be happy!* 
 tears sprang ta her eyes as she softly 
 add^d, ** and all who truly iovef 
 
 ** ' Shall we not tlien be happy, Jose- 
 phine ?' said I, as I led her to a glade 
 where the dance had begim. Her hand 
 trembled an instant in mine : — she with- 
 drew it and fled. 
 
 " Respecting the modesty of her in-
 
 THE FAIR ANDALLS1A^^ d«i 
 
 fant passion, I followed slowly, and 
 was met by the count; Mho, with alarm 
 ill his looks, delivered me a letter. I 
 took it in silence ; and with confusion 
 recognised, in the hand of Claude, these 
 
 words : 
 
 " ' Return, my lord :--pnl>lic and 
 
 * private danger threatens you :— l\iyau 
 
 * deceives both his country and his 
 ' friend. ^The writer hazards his life 
 
 * in sending this •—can you disregard 
 ' it ?' 
 
 ** Valmont at the moment a suspi- 
 cion of his wife glanced across his mind, 
 seemed to consider it injurious to her 
 former honour not to meditate on the 
 misfortune in solitude. In hasty and 
 broken words desiring me to return to 
 the chateau, he plunged into the re- 
 cesses of the woods. 
 
 '* After giving the servants directions 
 to prepare for our departure, I sought 
 d4
 
 56 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN-. 
 
 niy father in the library. The heat of 
 the day, and the lassitude of extreme 
 age, had thrown him into a slumber. 
 The fair Jose}3hine suj3ported his head 
 on her arm. How charming was the 
 contrast of his silver age, marked with 
 furrows of time and scars of battle, to 
 her delicate, pure, and fragile beauty ! — 
 So twines the fair and tender jassmine 
 Tound a scathed and venerable oak. 
 Her attitude was such as did not allow 
 her to withdraw, without fear of dis* 
 turbing the object of her care. I sought 
 the tender expression of her eyes ; she 
 hid them in the blanched locks of my 
 sleeping father, nor raised them till the 
 Wtltl and incoherent exclamations of his 
 slumbers roused at once her attention 
 and terror. Over his mind, filled with 
 fears for France and the fame of his 
 countrymen, an awful vision of the fxi- 
 ture seemed to pasS:
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSL\N. 57 
 
 *' ^ Guard the king!' exclaimed the 
 veteran ; ' shed your blood in his de- 
 fence !' 
 
 '' Josephine, starting from his pillow, 
 clasped her fair hands, and gazed on the 
 sleeper with wild expression. ' Where 
 is my son ?' exclaimed he ; ' is he not 
 
 foremost ? — Spare him not ! Where 
 
 are the Swiss ?' reiterated he, after a 
 pause: ' lost! — gone! — let their bodies 
 form the barrier to the throne ! — Oh na- 
 ture- My son! fell he at the mo- 
 narch's feet ! — I am satisfied— I am sa- 
 tisfied !' 
 
 " My extended arms caught my sweet 
 flower, as overcome witli horror, she 
 faded and fell. I carried her into the 
 air, and soothed her with the tenderest 
 expression of the heart. The even- 
 ing was sacred to love's purest tri- 
 umph- and our vows were ratified by 
 D 5
 
 58 THE FAIR AXDALUSIAN. 
 
 the simple seals of iiiisophislicated 
 manners. 
 
 *' On the morrow my father, sup- 
 ported by Carlotz, addressed me in lan- 
 guage warmed by the last spark of his 
 military and ardent spirit. * Charles/ 
 said he, ' should your regiment march 
 to join their countrymen, remember I 
 ask of De Yalmont, your fame, not 
 your life. Guard the unfortunate Louis ! 
 keep sacred from the touch of treason, 
 his royalty, misfortune, and virtue.' 
 
 " Respected and venerable Du Marrl 
 thy flame of loyalty, thy enthusiastic 
 valour burned bright to the close of life : 
 in the week following my revered father 
 died the death of the just. 
 
 " As the count engrossed the adieus^ 
 of Carlotz and his friend, I breathed 
 the last expressions of attachment to 
 Josephine. — ' Look round, my gentle 
 love,' I softly exclaimed, as I pressed
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 50 
 
 my lips to her fair forehead ; ' enjoy 
 these tranquil scenes — indulge in happy 
 dreams • — Charles will live, and live for 
 you.' 
 
 mG
 
 tiO THE FAIR AXDALUSIA?;, 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ** O you, whom vanity's light bark conveys, 
 
 " On fame's mad voyage, by the wind of prai^, 
 
 *' With what a shifting gale your course you ply; 
 
 ^' For ever sunk too low, or borne too high.'* 
 
 " In \\hatever flattering shapes,'* con- 
 tinued the Swiss, *' love presented the 
 future, the count's discourse on the 
 journey might have dispelled them. My 
 fathers small pension, from which he 
 had been unable to lay by any sum for 
 my support, died with him. The sword 
 'was my only possession, and my^ com- 
 mission, in the preserU; dangerous crisis 
 of France, uncertain. What a provision 
 for one, who longed for empire, to sa- 
 crifice at the feet of love! Youth is not 
 an easy prey to despondency :— turning
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 61 
 
 •back my moistened eyes to the fast re- 
 tiring- hills of Switzerland, wliere bloom- 
 ed my sweet and simple beauty, the 
 humblest scenery on their woody steeps 
 seemed a palace, where love might reign 
 from youth to age. 
 
 " It is not a slight struggle that sepa- 
 rates two youthful and impassioned 
 lovers ; yet I blushed at my w eakness, 
 
 when, on our arrival at A the 
 
 noble Valmont received the death blow 
 of his happiness. I had left the treasui*e 
 of my heart amid scenes of trancpiil hap- 
 piness ; her innocence secured her the 
 protection of Heaven. — Where was 
 Louise? following the fortunes of a vil- 
 lain, who, unmasking with "the times, 
 avowed himself the enemy of God and 
 his country ! — Where the sweet Clarice? 
 exposed to the example of a mother^s 
 guilt, involved in a mother's desti'uc- 
 tiou! — Claude was missing; and no
 
 62 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 doubt remained of his having fallen a 
 victim to his attachment. 
 
 ** Our corps were quartered in a 
 
 small fort near A , in ciixum- 
 
 stances of much danger. Their friend- 
 ships in society dissolved ; uncertain how 
 they might be called on to use those 
 arms their indignant bosoms now felt 
 had a price; alarmed for the fate of 
 their countrymen near the throne ; and 
 in expectation of extermination from a 
 mob, — apprehensive of every thing ; and 
 turning at the most vague alarm of Ger- 
 man, English, or Swiss troops advancing, 
 to wild and murderous excess: — thus 
 were the Ernest regiment situated; 
 and, Valmont, in the contemplation of 
 the probable fate of his corps, seemed 
 to be indifferent to the wounds of his 
 heart. 
 
 *' Two French regiments, with whom 
 -we had ever been united, both in duty
 
 THE FAIR AKDALUSIAN. OS 
 
 and friendship, avoided us with averted 
 looks ; yet it was to tliese our little band 
 owed ultimately their lives. 
 
 '* On the third w eek of awful sus- 
 pense, our colonel was called on to at- 
 tend one of the many minions of power 
 that had reigned successively since the 
 introduction of republicans in A , 
 
 " At his return we were ordered to 
 attend on the parade ; — the corps, form- 
 ing their martial lines, gazed in respect- 
 ful silence on de Yahnont, who, pale 
 and trembling, seemed overcome with 
 emotion. Near him stood the aged 
 chaplain of the regiment, Maritz. The 
 count, advancing to the centre, in a so- 
 lemn and broken Toice, addressed us: — 
 
 *' * My friends,' exclaimed he, point- 
 ing to his arm, round which a mourning 
 crape was twined; " the Swiss have 
 done their duty ; a regiment of martyrs 
 lie at the feet of their king! how awfui
 
 64 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 the boast of their deeds! Let us, my 
 fello\y-soldiers, as we thank Heaven for 
 their deathless fame, implore mercy for 
 the souls of our unburied brothers.' 
 
 *' Prostrate on the ground, the arms 
 of France cast indignantly from us, we 
 mourned for those, who, whilst honour 
 lives, cannot fade from the memory of 
 nations. 
 
 ** An awful night succeeded. The 
 Marseillois on their march to Paris, de- 
 tached a band of blood-hounds thirst- 
 ing for the remnant of the Swiss. Their 
 fiend-like cries, their demands of ven- 
 geance, mingled with the discharge of 
 fire-arms and the death-sounding tocsin. 
 
 *' The count, assured our destruction 
 was inevitable, assumed a noble firm- 
 ness, in meeting death, worthy of his 
 virtues. As the morning dawned, the 
 regiment received the sacrament from 
 the venerable Maritz ; and those who
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 6-3 
 
 had cherished animosity, embraced in 
 forgiveness ; and twining the arms here- 
 tofore raised against each other, agreed 
 to meet their death tooether. 
 
 *' The comit, on learning the fate of 
 the Swiss Guard •, had been likewise 
 apprised, that the National Assembly, 
 learning the intentions of the Tagsat- 
 zung to invade France with sixty thou- 
 sand men, suffered the regiment of 
 Berne to march to Switzerland without 
 arms. 
 
 ** Valmont, indifferent to existence, 
 yet wishing to restore his little band to 
 homes where affectic^ panted to receive 
 them with all the tender ties of affinity, 
 lost all hope of such restoration, as the 
 monsters of destruction with shouts ap- 
 proached the fort. 
 
 "* Let us meet our fate!' exclaimed 
 Valmont : * sully not the sacred memory 
 of tliose who have fallen in dorv/
 
 §(> THE FAIR ANDALVSIAN. 
 
 *' The folding gates were opened at his 
 comniand, and with step erect and firm, 
 his arms crossed on his breast, from 
 %vhence he had torn a Gallic order, his 
 head uncovered from the badge of ser- 
 vitude, he marched out, as in battle, the 
 first to meet the danger. As lie ad- 
 vanced, he started back in amazement. 
 How afi'ectiug Mas the sight presented I 
 The Marseillois appeared in the back 
 ground, on either side menacing de- 
 struction ; but a barrier was formed, a 
 mob, armed only by missile weapons, 
 could not pierce. Our former associates, 
 our military friends, with heads averted, 
 formed, with their fire-arms and swords, 
 an avenue of safety to our little band. 
 With what sensations did we tread this 
 path enshrined by friendship ! at every 
 step the eye of an intimate w as seen to 
 turn from the glance of gratitude; no 
 sound replied to our expression of regard,
 
 THE FAIR ANT)ALUSIA^. 67 
 
 but every arm was raised with the reso- 
 lution to die in our defence. File after 
 file moving on as we passed, escorted us, 
 without injury, to a small village six 
 
 miles from A , round which they 
 
 encamped. 
 
 *' The cry of ' plunder in the fort,' 
 had diverted the pursuit of the mob, in 
 a manner wonderful to those who have 
 not witnessed how the advancing or re- 
 ceding waves of riot can be governed bj 
 a breath. 
 
 ** No communication passed between 
 our preservers and us till the morrow; 
 when learning tlie Marseillois had pro- 
 ceeded on, ruin marking*' their blood- 
 stained way, the colonel, between whom 
 and the count an intimacy had formerly 
 subsisted, entered the apartment of the 
 auberge, in which Valmont had vainly 
 souglit repose. I stood near, contem- 
 plating with dejected looks, the change
 
 68 THE FAIR ANDALLSIAX 
 
 ♦ 
 
 a few hours of misfortune had mAde in 
 my protector; nor did my young love 
 interpose a selfish idea to blunt my mind 
 to his sorrow. 
 
 " / Valliant,' said the count, stretch- 
 ing out his hand to the Frenchman as 
 he approached him, * I thank you for the 
 lives of my soldiers.' 
 
 Valliant pressed his hand with emo- 
 tion : * Do not let us, Valmont,' replied 
 he, * in the last moments of intercourse, 
 endeavour to combat each other's opi- 
 nions ; it is sufficient you are safe, for 
 in the provinces through which your 
 route extends, I believe, to unarmed 
 men, no danger exists. My corps have 
 given their last offering of friendship: it 
 is true they had orders to permit your 
 departure ; in what they have exceeded 
 they glory, and only rec{uest that when 
 you think of them, you will not con- 
 found their principles with those from
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 69 
 
 whose fury they have saved you. — 
 Adieu!' 
 
 ** ' Stay, Valliant/ cried the count ; 
 ** I would ask you one question, on 
 which all my happiness is staked : — 
 where is my wife? Can it be possible, 
 that related to Fayau, you can yet be 
 ignorant of her retreat ? — How often have 
 you caressed my child! — cail you refuse 
 her father the consolation of knowing 
 she lives?' 
 
 *' Valliant seemed deeply affected, 
 * My friend,' said he, soothingly; 'en- 
 deavour to forget the existence of Ma- 
 dame Valmont ; — Fayau is at Paris, anH 
 your divorced wife ' 
 
 " ' My divorced wife!' exclaimed Val- 
 mont ; * but, proceed- — ' 
 
 " ' Is at his estate, near Nions. — Be- 
 ware how you attempt an interview ; 
 and remember, you will by so doing,
 
 70 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 hazard, in a fruitless attempt, your 
 friends.' 
 
 ** * Have you seen her, Yalliant,' in- 
 terrupted the count, ' since .' his lip 
 
 quivered as he added, * since her dis- 
 honour?' 
 
 *' ' I have,' answered he ; * she doe? 
 not regret her change ; — imitate her.' 
 
 ** * You take the life you have given T 
 cried the count; * but what of Clarice?' 
 
 "/* The evening before her mother left 
 A ,' replied Valliant, * Claude dis- 
 appeared ^vith the child, and has since 
 eluded search.' 
 
 *'* Faithful creature!' exclaimed the 
 count, raising his eyes iir ^^ratitude to 
 heaven ; * whether ray innocent perishes 
 by hunger or storm, sinks beneath the 
 tempest or the sword, how preferable 
 her fate to her mother's !' 
 
 ** Our little corps reached unmolest-
 
 THE PAIR AKDALUSIAX. 71 
 
 ed the town of Nions, on the third 
 day. The men, exhausted, required rest ; 
 and Valmont receiving no insult from 
 the inhabitants, consented to their halt- 
 ing. I perceived much agitation in his 
 manner, and was convinced he intend- 
 ed attempting an interview with his wife. 
 Determined on accompanying him, 1 
 used every effort in my power to in* 
 duce him to permit it, and succeeded. 
 Dressed in the disguise of peasants, 
 with baskets, returning from the town, 
 we communicated our plan to the officer 
 next in command, and left Nions by 
 moon-light. It was the latter end of 
 Auguf t, and nature smiled in beautiful 
 composure. About a mile from the 
 town we reached the extremity of the 
 enclosures, and leaping over, with con* 
 cealed pistols, advanced up an avenue 
 leading to one of the wings of the cha** 
 teau. The tender varieties of luna*
 
 T2 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN* 
 
 light silvered our path, and the breath 
 of nature ^vafted perfume. 
 
 " * Can the season smile !' sighed the 
 count ; * can the abodes of vice be thus 
 lovely! — but, why the question? — from 
 the heart she has broken, the bosom she 
 has deceived, Louise is not banished!' 
 
 ** ' Charles !' exclaimed he, ' you know 
 not what it is to love, you know not how" 
 difficult it is to hater 
 
 *' Our cautious steps soon reached a 
 wing of the building opening to the gar- 
 den by glass doors, thrown open to the 
 night-breeze and scented parterre. Sud- 
 denly we discerned Madame Yalmont 
 reclining on a sopha, in earnest contem- 
 plation of papers lying scattered around. 
 
 '* The tapei's, rendering the foliage in 
 which we sheltered more obscure, shed 
 their brilliant light round the fallen beau- 
 ty. Modesty no longer threw its veil on 
 Jier charms ; the empire of virtue and Yal-
 
 tnE FAIR ANDALUSlAX. 73 
 
 inont was past ; — another had succeed- 
 ed; and reduced by the consequences 
 of her crime to the arts and attire of a 
 harlot, the victim of vanity awaited, me- 
 retriciously adorned, the promised re- 
 turn of her seducer. A moment Val- 
 mont recoiled in anguish from the de- 
 stroyer of his peace. I would have re- 
 tired ; but he commanded me to follow, 
 in a voice whose agitated tones awoke 
 tlie attention of his wife: — faintly articu- 
 Jating his name, she attempted to ring 
 for assistance. 
 
 ** ' Louise,' cried the count, sternly 
 graspmg her arm, * recall recollection ! — 
 it is no midnight assassin who invades 
 your retirement; — no villain, whose 
 hands, reeking with murder, presses 
 yours; — but oie, Louise,' his lip quivered 
 as he spoke> * one who has often guard- 
 ed you from others— who would have 
 
 VOL. i» E
 
 74 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 guarded you from yourself] had you 
 sought the counsels of his heart!' 
 
 *' Madame Valmont turned her head 
 away ; — pride struggled a moment \vith 
 memory. 
 
 " ' I come/ resumed the count, * to 
 offer you the means of retrieving the 
 past; — to invite you to be the compa- 
 nion of my return ! — Yet, understand 
 me,' added he, as he caught her glance ; 
 Mtf Louise, adorned, as I once knew 
 her ; — virtuous, as I once adored her, is 
 no more! — you are but as her grave! — 
 yet, thickly strewn as it is with weedg, 
 obscured as is every vestige of mental 
 beauty from him who loved it, he would 
 yet raise a sanctuary around the hollow 
 image that rises from the ashes, to save 
 it from further ruin !' 
 
 '* ' How bitter are your words, citoyen /' 
 cried Madame Valmont, her incensed
 
 ^He FAIR ANDALUSf AN. 75 
 
 eyes darting- fire ; * nay, start not at the 
 name: — Behold,' said she, pointing to 
 the table, * the deed that gives me your 
 possessions ; — insult me not with aid ;— 
 know you not yowv life is in my power * 
 
 "* Take it, Louise!' exclaimed the 
 tmhappy husband ; ' you have bereft me 
 of happiness ; of what avail is an exist- 
 ence of torture !' 
 
 " I received the agonized Valmont 
 in my arms; struggluig at length to ac- 
 quire resolution, he solemnly demanded 
 his child. 
 
 " The an<?wer of the hardened mother 
 confirmed Valliant's intelligence; she 
 had disappeared with Claude; and her 
 unnatural parent seemed more actuated 
 by revenge than melted to compassion, 
 as she lamented the fruitless search 
 made for the fugitive. 
 
 "^ Night wore apace in fruitless en- 
 deavours to prevail on the infatuated 
 e2
 
 7(3 THE FAIR AXDALUSIAK, 
 
 Louise to regain the path from which 
 she had wandered: — pale, and nearly 
 overcome with emotion, the count, with 
 averted eyes, bade her farewell! 
 
 *^ As we paced the shrubbery towards 
 the spot by which we had entered, I 
 was alarmed by a light tread in pursuit 
 of our steps. The solitude in which 
 Madame Valmont appeared, and the 
 miinterrupt^d hours we had discoursed 
 with her, had appeared strange ; I did 
 not, at the instant reflect on the revo- 
 lutionary habits of the domestics, to 
 whom attendance or respect seemed in- 
 fringments of dawning liberty. Alarm- 
 ed, I turned, and awaited the approach 
 of our supposed enemy; — it was Ven- 
 dee, a dog once favoured by Valmont, 
 who had left his mistress to follow the 
 fortunes of her husband. 
 
 '* The count was deeply affected at 
 the preference. — * Behold, Charles,' said
 
 TIJE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 77 
 
 he, * the slight caress, the kind eye has 
 excited a gratitude m this animal, the 
 attachment of a life has failed to inspire 
 in his mistress. — Come, then, faithful 
 Vendee, be the follower of my fortunes ; 
 however regardless I may be of my 
 own life, yours shall be guarded and 
 cherished.' 
 
 " Our little band, avoiding large towns, 
 skirted the frontiers in safety, only ven- 
 tuiijfig into villages where the horrors of 
 Paris came like distant thunder, and the 
 revolutionary bolts fell harmless. This 
 circuitous route occasioned our being 
 nearly three months before we reached 
 the coniines of Switzerland. In the 
 ecstacy of his soldiers, the count seemed 
 to forget awhile his own cares. Those 
 harbingers of joy, the icy glaciers of 
 their native country, arose, and acted as 
 magnets to each weary step and trou- 
 bVed heart. The Randale Vacke quick- 
 E 3
 
 75 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 eiied the fainting Switzers; and 0115 
 burst of rapture broke from their rankiK, 
 as the lake of Geneva rose in all the 
 enchantment of prospect. We resteil 
 in the beams of an evening sun, and 
 contemplated with delight om* haven of 
 safety. 
 
 " The count^s dog, who had left U3 
 to explore a small copse near, uneasy 
 and restless, soon drew our attention; 
 running some paces into the wood, he 
 quickly returned, and seemed to invite 
 us to follow liira, shewing disappoint- 
 ment if our steps retired from the path 
 he pointed out, and the most extrava- 
 gant joy when they advanced. Curio- 
 sity soon procured him followers; and, 
 on seeing him advance to a deep hole 
 or cave, whose entrance was obscured 
 by underwood, I proposed firing into it; 
 but the count restrained me, and himself 
 Assisted in removing the tangled foliaj^e*
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 79 
 
 The body of the faithful Claude lay 
 near the entrance; worn ont by extreme 
 age and undoubted hardship, he seemed 
 to have cast his eyes on his idolized 
 country, and closed them for ever ! 
 
 " ' There must be another body, 
 Charles!' cried the wretched father; * I 
 fly from the sight !' 
 
 " As the count, in the agony of 
 despair, left the spot, I boldjy advanced 
 into the cavern ; hoping, though the oak 
 had been torn, the tendril had bent to 
 the storm. — Nor were my hopes vain ; — 
 seeking my inestimable friend, I placed 
 the breathing shadow of his child in his 
 arms, and left him to the triumph of 
 nature. 
 
 " From this hour, Valmont smiled; 
 he led his men to the heart of their na- 
 tive country ; and accepted from the 
 Cantons the command of a corps in the 
 Dntch service, stationed at Ceylon. 
 e4
 
 80 THE FAIR AND.VLUSIAN. 
 
 " Had not Josephine existed, liow 
 gladly would I have sought this banish- 
 ment? Alas! she lived, but no longer 
 for me ! 
 
 " At Berne, I learned the death of 
 my father, and the marriage of my mis- 
 tress : — Carlotz had given her to age 
 and riches. A friend imparted the in- 
 telligence, but I could not press his hand 
 at parting. 
 
 *' My first impuke was to fly to Ar- 
 lach, to demand of Josephine if her will 
 had been respected ; — if she still loved 
 me ?— My better genius led me to the 
 count: I related my romance; he gave 
 me his advice, and I entered into his 
 corps. 
 
 " Some years passed at Ceylon. Cla- 
 rice, the darling of her accomplished 
 fiither, learned from him the polish of 
 education; — her person attained the 
 perfection of beauty : — the misfortunei- 
 of her mother were hid fron\ her.
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 81 
 
 " When the English became possessed 
 of Ceylon, our corps havhig entered mto 
 the service of Great Britain, proceeded 
 to the East Indies, and entered the 
 Mysore country. Here, our little band 
 began to acquire independence: — many 
 an affectionate son, tender husband, or 
 anxious father, hoarded their litde 
 wealth, with feelings as distinct from 
 avarice as honourable to the heart. 
 
 *^ The count, who beheld with ap- 
 proval the love of his fair daughter to 
 a young officer of his regiment, fondly^ 
 hoped, on the home that should shelter 
 their pure hearts and lovely persons, to 
 shower the gifts of fortune. Menville was 
 two years older than his affianced bride ; 
 their youth gave rich promise, and when 
 we would express all that was good 
 and lovely, we used their names. 
 
 " In the memorable capture of Se- 
 ringapatam, Valmont distinguished him- 
 E 5
 
 2 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 self. Shortly after, the regiment was 
 ordered to England. At Madras, they 
 learned the alHicting intelligence, that the 
 banker in whose hands their little saving 
 of years had been imprudently depo- 
 sited in consequence of the interest 
 offeredj had failed. What a blow to 
 men who had dwelt with rapture on the 
 rescue of relatives from poverty; — oa 
 claiming a wife, or cherishing a child ! 
 
 *' On oar unfortunate commander 
 misfortune came with so sure an aim, it 
 pierced his heart. On embarking his 
 corps on board the Indiamen,. lying ia 
 •the outer roads,, he had consigned hij» 
 Clarice to the care of her affianced hus- 
 band. The youthful pair in an evil hour 
 rejected the Masulach boats, which 
 alone stem in safety the surf of the 
 the monsoons, and embarked in the 
 state boat of the settlement. Far from 
 shore, we beheld in dismay their strug-
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 83 
 
 gle M'ith danger and death : the count, 
 with uplifted hands, watched the boat, 
 as, with its inestimable freight, sport of 
 the ocean, it hurried to its fate, till hope 
 was gone, and clasped in each other's 
 arms, the innocent pair were seen to 
 sink for ever. 
 
 " Such grief as Valmont's admits not 
 of description. In answer to our endea- 
 vours of consolation, he would cry, 
 ' Let none approach but him who has 
 lost a child, virtuous, good, and beauti- 
 ful as mine. — Alas ! this cannot be 
 found ! — Leave me ! — leave me ! — Oh 
 God ! pardon, if for hours, days, months, 
 years, I blaspheme; and dare to ask, 
 why thou hast suffered my loved, my 
 lost one, to grow up good and fair, to 
 take her thus !' 
 
 " The emaciated form, the pallid look 
 of the unfortimate father, when, on the 
 termination of his voyage, he left the 
 E 6
 
 84 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 solitude of his cabiiij too plainly told 
 the progress of grief. 
 
 ** Our regiment receiving orders ta 
 embark in transports and proceed to 
 Gibraltar, the count visited Loudon on 
 military business, and thither I accom- 
 panied him. 
 
 " A major having been lately ap- 
 pointed, who we understood intended 
 accompanying us with his lady to the 
 Mediterranean, I waited on him, and re- 
 cognised in Madame Du Rose, my fair 
 and faithless Josephine. The change 
 years had made in her person, and edu- 
 cation in her manner, in some degree 
 checked my emotion ; and taught by her 
 example 1 became what I am, her friend. 
 
 " Josephme's delicate childish fragi- 
 lity of form had grown to full propor- 
 tion, and polished fashionable ease suc- 
 ceeded simplicity : her gaiety of dispo- 
 sition would almost convince me the past
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN, 85 
 
 was a dream, did I not experience the 
 most honoiirable friendship ; so marked, 
 as to ensure a gratitude careful of of 
 fence, so pure, as to gain me the esteem 
 of her husband. She has undoubtedly 
 great obligations to him ; an expensive 
 education, undeviating confidence, and 
 the care of aifection, claim the tender- 
 ness she bestows. Altered as Madame 
 Du Rose is in many instances, all the 
 estimable qualities of her heart remain. 
 Softened to tenderness by the misfor- 
 tunes of Valmont, she dedicates many 
 hours to his comfort; and when assured 
 of finding her alone, he ventures here 
 to talk of Clarice. The good old Major 
 draws with him. This subject is an af- 
 fecting one — ^tis the discovery of Claude 
 and his charge." 
 
 Du Marr receiving no answer, looked 
 at Montolieu, and perceived him affect- 
 ed. Stretching out his hand affection-
 
 86 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 ately to liiiii, the Swiss exclaimed, ^^ you 
 have a heart, and cannot risk one jest 
 on my romance. Montolieu, the frivo- 
 lity of your satire seems like briars 
 thrown over a parterre : eluding obser- 
 vation, the flowers will yet spring." 
 
 " Why," replied Montolieu, affecting 
 to laugh at his seriousness, " I do not 
 say I could love and forget as you have 
 done ; but I honour the man who can. 
 As to the count, I shall be miserable till 
 I render him a service. What can I 
 do I — his garden is in ruin ; I will go di- 
 rectly and remove my flowers to his ter- 
 race." 
 
 *' Not by moon-light!" said Du Marr, 
 laughing ; " and remember, that to-mor- 
 row, your facility in speaking Spanish, 
 and your insensibility tc beauty, may 
 give you to the curiosity and jealousy 
 of the strangers." 
 
 " 1 shall recommend a library inti-
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN". 87 
 
 mate," said Montolieu ; " the Lord Boyet 
 of embassies ; one ^vho understands the 
 tongues, and can interpret from the 
 ' craniez rien of a French courtesan's 
 garter, to the rosary of an Algizariaa 
 devotee,''
 
 88 THE FAIR ANDALUSIA^. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ** So soft, SO elegant, so fair, 
 ^ Sure something more than human's there! 
 
 « What, do I love her ! 
 
 *' That I desirt to hear her speak again, 
 " And feast upon her eyes ? — What is't I dream 
 ,onr 
 
 1 HE arrival of the Marquis Mondecar 
 and his fair daughter was by no means 
 a matter of common interest in the for- 
 tress. Aheady had ' rumour's various^ 
 tongues' pronounced the lovely stranger 
 fair, brown, petite, lively, and grave. 
 Ine various invitations given in her ho- 
 nour promised an elucidation of the
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 8J> 
 
 Hiystery to such as listened astonished 
 to the Pro tens-like description. 
 
 Montoheu, snmmoned, as Du Marr 
 expected, attended the following morn- 
 ing at the dejuue of General Layde's 
 lady, with whom the fair Spaniard re- 
 mained during her stay, and was intro- 
 duced by the general to his guests. 
 
 The marquis, though slightly tinc- 
 tured with hauteur, or rather the re- 
 served m;^nner bearing its resemblance, 
 commanded, from his manner, respect. 
 An affable condescension, raising to con- 
 sequence, not degrading the person he 
 addressed, mingled in his conversation, 
 vrith the conscious dignity rank inspires. 
 In person extremely plain, he resembled 
 the higher orders of his country, who 
 seem to have yielded every species of 
 personal attraction to females, decidedly 
 the most captivating in the world. 
 
 Montolieu having paid his compli-
 
 90 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 ments, left the Marquis in conversation 
 •with the governor, and turned to^vards 
 the sofa, where Mrs. Layde and her 
 beautiful guest reclined. 
 
 la Estella de Mondecar Montolieu 
 beheld the most lovely of women. A 
 fine easy shape, elegantly displayed by 
 the indescribable grace proverbial to 
 Andaliisian women, rendering every at- 
 titude and movement captivating. Her 
 face, a fine oval, characterised by dig- 
 nity and beauty, its white rose tint clear 
 to paleness ; Ipng silken fringes softening 
 the scintillations of large black eyes, 
 full of melting expression, sparkling ia 
 clear and brilliant beauty through the 
 half-drawn veil, magic ornament of 
 Spanish attraction ; a redezilla of black 
 floss silk confined her tresses ; the beau- 
 ty of her hands were displayed by the 
 &able velvet of her vest. Montolieu 
 gazed on them with admiration. The
 
 ^HE FAIR AXDALUSIAN. 01 
 
 unsealed virgin ^vax could not present a 
 purer model for the statuary. At the 
 back of the sofa leaned Father Ximenes, 
 the family confessor, and tvro young 
 gentlemen in the Marquis's suite. 
 
 Mrs. Layde shortly after having as- 
 sembled her party, ordered the car- 
 riages to ascend the hill as far as possi- 
 ble towards the Mediterranean Pass, 
 the Levant Steps being the object of the 
 morning's excursion. 
 
 Alighting near the Jewish burial 
 ground, singular from its Arabic in- 
 -scription, the party ascended, leaving 
 the rugged rocks of Europa at their 
 feet. Montolieu, hovering near the fair 
 Estelia, pointed out to her attention 
 every tine object iu the prospect. At- 
 las, in its majesty of mists ; Ceuta, 
 whose white towers were defended by 
 her country ; and as they slowly winded 
 round the pass, the Mediterranean far
 
 02 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 below, its Latin sails quivering in the sun- 
 beam ; and, cross the sandy isthmus^ 
 the scattered villages at the base of the 
 'Spanish mountains, terminated by the 
 Sierra Novo. 
 
 Their path, * high hang in air,' car- 
 peted by wild thyme, sent forth fra- 
 grance at the tread ; above, the rock, 
 rising in irregular n;iasses to its extreme 
 height, presented in rugged vases its 
 offerings of herbs, wild ilowexs, and 
 plants, to the solitary Flora ; from every 
 fissure rich with mould rose the lilac^ 
 crocus, scjuill, and jonquil, the Spanish 
 broom, hardy myrtle, wild garlic, and 
 snow-drop, mingling v/ith a thousand 
 tarieties of * herb and flower,' pro- 
 iiounced African by botanists. Hence 
 the fable, that the winds of Barbary 
 kiss the Spanish rock, and waft the fa- 
 rina of vegetation here and there among 
 the fragments of fallen spar. The less
 
 THE FAIR AXDALUSIAI^. 93 
 
 frequent vyild rose or woodbine invited 
 the hand ; yet were protected from the 
 timid, by the harmless and gaudy lizard 
 glittering among the leaves. 
 
 Leaving a path hitherto undeviating, 
 the strangers and their conductors en- 
 tered a deep arching of stone, hewn thro' 
 a gigantic fragment of the parent rock. 
 The sides, down which trickly streams 
 gave coolness, were festooned in knots 
 of large leaved ivy, and variegated with 
 lichens. Emerging from this partial 
 gloom, they beheld the rock rising above 
 their path in one mass of broken frag- 
 ment?^, unadorned by vegetation, bleach- 
 ed by time, and surmounted by the 
 ruin of a tower : below, the eye pur- 
 sued the tangled foliage to a depth 
 where the anchored boat seemed a speck 
 in vision. The path now winded to the 
 summit, yet carpeted by verdure, and 
 adorned with all the gifts of reviving
 
 9t THE- FAIR AXDALUSIAN* 
 
 nature. The sterility of the rock uear 
 the tower was partial ; and its blanched 
 masses afforded a picturesque contrast to 
 those to which the party ascended. A« 
 the ladies rested on the marble frag- 
 ments, their attendants gathered the 
 floral varieties of the way, the tii-co- 
 loured everlastings, or bee-archis. From 
 a platform, in half ascent, the green 
 gardens and matted huts of Cataline 
 Bay can be descried. "It is here we 
 are to have a party to-morrow," said 
 Mrs. Layde, as they leaned over to sur- 
 vey the vivid foliage of its vines, amid 
 the surrounding precipices of sand. 
 
 Ascending further, the party reached 
 the rugged steps leading to the summit, 
 and paused to observe the fine effect of 
 the dark and large-leaved convolvolus, 
 here spreading in luxuriance, covering 
 the surrounding rocks, and twining tiieir 
 blue clusters round the dwarf palms.
 
 THE PAIR ANDALU51AN. Qu> 
 
 A stone seat is here formed, over ^yl^ch 
 nature has thrown festoons of this beau- 
 tiful flower. The scene is here bound- 
 ed on either side by projecting rocks; 
 the ocean just glistens in the depth be- 
 low, seen imperfectly through the gu- 
 marras that bend over the chasm. So- 
 lemn stillness reigns in this unfrequent- 
 ed spot, save when the eagle screams 
 round her lofty nest, or the bounding 
 ape, in its passage from rock to rock, 
 dashes the severed fragments down the 
 precipice. 
 
 " High on a clitF to heav'ii up-pil'd, 
 
 ♦• Of rude access, of prospect wild, 
 
 •* Where, tangled round the jealous steep, 
 
 ** Strange shades o'erbrow the chasms deep, 
 
 *' And holy genii guard the rock ; 
 
 •* Its glooms embrown, its springs unlock," 
 
 " A few steps conducts to a view as 
 various as the imagination can conceive,
 
 9G THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN, 
 
 a contrast suprising yet pleasing. Oa 
 the side of the Levant Steps, all is the 
 effect of spontaneous growth ; the height 
 attained, the reverse of the mountain 
 exhibits only the gardens of art, min- 
 gling with the town and its military 
 v/orks. Many objects in the latter must 
 be displeasing to a Spanisli eye ; yet the 
 marquis requesting Montolieu to point 
 out the king's bastion, uttered an eulo- 
 gium on the gallant Elliott, as hor ur- 
 able as just : — * His victory w as glorious,* 
 concluded the generous Mondecar. 
 
 *'' Yes, my lord,' replied Montolieu; 
 ' for his foe was worthy of his sword ; it 
 has been the fate of later commanders 
 to enter the lists with less noble ad* 
 versaries.' 
 
 *' The Marquis turning quickly, with 
 an expression of pleasure, said, ' Seignior, 
 these adversaries may yet be friends; 
 and the only sieges at St. Roque be those 
 of hospitality."
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN, P7 
 
 Fatlier Ximenes> who attended Lis 
 patron's daiigliter, with an assiduity by 
 no means pleasing to Montolieu, ac- 
 cepted the offer he made him of residing 
 at his cottage during his stay. Per- 
 haps his inviter had heard the pleasant 
 story of the lady who married her lover 
 to get rid of him. 
 
 The governor, solicitous of paying 
 every attention to the strangers, gave a 
 ball in the evening. Montolieu en- 
 tered with Madame Du Rose and 
 Du Marr; his eye sought the fair Es- 
 tella, but Mrs. Layde, and her party 
 had not arrived. 
 
 The governor's house still retains the 
 name ofxonvent, from the former usages 
 of the edifice : spacious galleries, form- 
 ing a square, with piazzas below, lead 
 to apartments, whose proximity and 
 size renders the coup d'auil of an enter- 
 
 VQL, I. F
 
 6s THE FAIR ANDAtrsiAN. 
 
 tainment very striking; from the saloon, 
 a winding stair case leads to a garden 
 of orange and lemon trees, where a 
 stone walk, extending the length of the 
 side nearest the sea, and canopied with 
 lattice work and vines, is usually illu- 
 minated with coloured lamps on an en- 
 tertainment being given. The entrance 
 apartment, adjoining the ball room, was 
 tastefully decorated with foliage and 
 lights, forming a rural bower; from 
 whence the folding doors displayed a 
 company, of various costumes, and 
 strange habits. 
 
 The king of the Jews, a lively little 
 vivacious man, with fine eyes and teeth, 
 
 came in a suit of English sables. H 
 
 a Barbary contractor, in an embroidered 
 vest and slippers, and scarlet turban, 
 mingled with the loungers, and shook 
 his white beard in approbation of Ge- 
 neral Clarville's lady, whose weight
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 99 
 
 equalling her consequence, entitled hier 
 to tlie appie of the African Paris. 
 
 V ^, a Spanish merchant, looked 
 
 down with contempt on Englishmen of 
 vulgar alliances, since he had married 
 Madame la Duchesse de Gascanados 
 de Reale's maitre de hotel's maid's 
 uncle's neice. Crowds of gay dressed 
 officers sauntered about, fiom tlie en- 
 sign, supposed a man of spirit from his 
 noise, to liis colonel, imagined wise from 
 his silence. 
 
 Few ball rooms boast more beauty 
 than that of Gibraltar; where tlie fe- 
 males of England, arrayed in the simple 
 style prompted by climate, and absence 
 of modes, would be irresistibly lovel}^ 
 did not a fatal passion impel them to 
 extravagancies surpassing belief. As 
 the unfortunate Maria Antoinette is said 
 to have uttered the word etiquette to 
 the members of the academy of Paris, j?o 
 f2
 
 100 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 might the moralist of the dance cry, 
 ** abolish precedence! precedence! pre- 
 cedence !'' 
 
 Round Lord Boreas Tem pest j^roupedj 
 the daughters of an old admiral, solici-f 
 tons to engage him in a cause theii de- 
 pending with the beautiful daughters of 
 General Clarville, as to their superiority 
 of rank. From arguments doubtless ir- 
 resistible, and display of waists, 
 
 *• Small by degrees, and beautifully less," 
 
 the rough son of Neptune was released, 
 by the importunity of Mrs. Long ; who* 
 having never held a lord by the hand, 
 kindly overlooked the age, corpulence, 
 and aukwardness of gait, which cer- 
 tainly unqualified the eldest of the Tem- 
 pests for the *' liglit fantastic toe." Ac- 
 costing him with the declaration of a 
 fete having b^en betted on his com-
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 10 t 
 
 pliance, she placed her fair hand io his 
 kimboed arm, and led him to the top 
 of the room, 
 
 " Goini^ to €7igage, my Lord-l*' cried 
 Captain Hawser, as he passed. 
 
 ** Wish I was," replied Boreas, in a 
 growling whisper; " rock bearing ten 
 leagues to the eastward." 
 
 Meantime the Clarvilles^ as lovely 
 nymphs as " Phoebus ever kissed," ad- 
 vanced up the room, flanked by Colonels 
 Minden and Brandywine. 
 
 "The contrast is striking!" observed 
 Montolieu, as taking Du Marr's arm, 
 he paced the room in aiixious expecta- 
 tion of Estella's arrival ; " poor Bran- 
 dywine is, as you see, blind, lame, and 
 not cast in " nature's happiest mould ;*' 
 yet the ladies admire his Scotch step. 
 As for Minden, his peevishness, occa- 
 sioned by old wounds and young part- 
 ners, is pronounced something so 7i«u- 
 F 3 

 
 102 THE FAIR AND ALUS IAN. 
 
 velle, SO pleasingly singular, so irresisti- 
 bly odd, that he is compelled to lay his 
 comtnission at their feet." 
 
 " Here," cried he, turning, '* comes 
 the very genius of extravagance: — that 
 little woman you see advancing, highly 
 rouged, with " ornaments of price," 
 gives weekly suppers to the tune of 
 hundreds ; yet has she her virtues ; and 
 it has been observed, that no one has 
 been severe against her, but those on 
 whom the weight of obligation lies 
 heavy. She now leans on the arnf> of 
 one, who wearing on her bosom th6 
 costly gem she bestowed, is not blinded 
 by its brilliancy to the faults of the do- 
 nor. Let us walk away : —I would not 
 be invited, or add a drop to the stream 
 that is hurrying this unfortunate woman 
 and her family to destruction." 
 
 " Montolieu," cried an officer, stop- 
 ping as he was about to pass^ '' a party
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 103 
 
 again on Thursday at Danville's — Celes- 
 tine has been employed ten days in pre- 
 parations : — the most brilliant entertain- 
 ment yet given ; — food for your satire, 
 hey ?" 
 
 " No," cried Montolieu ; *' I love ge- 
 nerosity, let it come in what shape it 
 may. Come," said he, " addressing his 
 friend, " I will shew you an attempt at 
 character. 
 
 " Look at that faded belle, the exte- 
 rior of whose head has adopted so 
 strange a mode ; — the fancies within ex- 
 ceed it. A few years residence in 
 France, and an observation (pretty ac- 
 curate) of no figure glowing in our fore- 
 ground unless rank or singularity place 
 it there, determines her to affect igno- 
 rance of her own language; and it is 
 pleasant enough to detect the artifice. 
 My lectures, Du Marr, are always ac- 
 companied by experiments." 
 f4
 
 104 THE FAIR ANDALISIAX, 
 
 *' Madam/' said lie, addressing her. 
 ** do you not join the dance?" 
 
 " Ah, Monsieur," cried the lady, 
 shrugging up her shoulders, *' la cotil- 
 lion, de French dance :—pardonnez moi, 
 me understand your language not at 
 all." 
 
 " I am sorry for that," remarked 
 Montolieu, ** as I came to inform you 
 your lovely daughter was preparing to 
 stand up with an ensign. i 
 
 " Sir, it is impossible !" cried the en- 
 raged lady, who could scold in English; 
 " you insult me ! — Parisiaiia can never 
 forget herself, Sir !— Her birth, Sir, 'tis | 
 a mysterious story, Sir: — my daughter 
 is entitled to the first offer in the 
 room !" 
 
 " Let me offer you a fan," said Mon- 
 tolieu • drily, taking one from tliC scat; 
 ' you are varm." 
 ^ '' That virasfo," ob'^erved he. as they
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 105 
 
 returned down the room, " denies her 
 husband access to the only habitable 
 room in his abode; as a most unpe- 
 netrable English scull cannot admit 
 the full force of a Gallic compliment, 
 or retain sufficient French for even 
 good-night. All the migrations of the 
 poor man are from the coal cellar to 
 the fowl-house. The lady lately open- 
 ing a casement immediately over the 
 latter, tenderly enquired how he found 
 himself? — * Much the same, my dear — 
 hen-peckedy 
 
 *• Mrs. Layde is late," answered Du 
 Marr, whose curiosity had been excited 
 by the various descriptions of Estella, 
 and who could not help wondering that 
 Montolieu had avoided his enquiries on 
 the subject. 
 
 The ladies, too, who had divided on 
 the question whether the expected stran- 
 ger wouM^ appear in the coj^tume ^% 
 p 6
 
 106 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 Spain, or adopt the French or English 
 dress, as for some years has been the 
 mode of the higher classes, evinced an 
 impatience which was terminated by the 
 aide-du-camp*s announcing the Marquis's 
 arrival to the governor, who meeting the 
 party in an outer apartment, followed 
 the noble stranger, and Mrs. Layde, 
 with the fair Estella. 
 
 If the captivating Spaniard had ap- 
 peared lovely to Montolien in her ordi- 
 nary dress, the singularity and beauty 
 of the attire in which she was now 
 adorned, contributed to heighten charms, 
 whose power had already reached an 
 English heart. 
 
 The polished jet of her luxuriant 
 tresses, parted on her forehead, and fas- 
 tened in a knot on the crown, had no 
 ornament save their beauty, except a 
 cluster of large Spanish jessamine, fall- 
 iDg in fragrant blossoms on her forehead,
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 107 
 
 and a thin veil of white lace, which she 
 wore during the latter part of the even- 
 ing on her arm : her vest, strapped like 
 a boddice, and composed of white sat- 
 tin, with a rich embroidery of black 
 bugles, sat tight to her delicate waist; 
 a petticoat, likewise of white satin, 
 reached just below the knee, from which 
 a thick net of bugles, elastic to every 
 graceful move, reached to Medicean an- 
 cles and feet, drest with all the taste of 
 a Spanish belle. Her arms were co- 
 vered nearly to the elbow with a net 
 the same as the petticoat, and bracelets 
 of jet, clasped with black diamonds, set 
 off their snowy polish. 
 
 " How beautiful she is !" exclaimed 
 Du Marr. 
 
 *' I hardly know," replied Montolieu, 
 with affected carelessness 
 
 '* Why, you have seen her before!'' 
 cried his astonished friend. 
 F G
 
 108 THE FAIR ANDALtTSIAN. 
 
 " Uiidoubtetlly; but you know we 
 were then examining prospects, not the 
 human face divine." 
 
 " I am quite of your opinion, Sir, 
 observed a red-faced lady, who had 
 crowded to the front of the circle; 
 '* Miss has no colour." 
 
 ** Let us move," cried Montolieu, 
 forgetting a moment his character of an 
 insensible; *' this dauber of nature^^ 
 would rouge the Medicean Venus !" 
 
 The Spanish women, from then* ex- 
 treme grace, excel in the dance; nor 
 have travellers described with truth the 
 enchantments of their boleros : the truth 
 is, that tourists have few opportunities 
 of witnessing the amusements of the 
 higher classes ; and have judged as ac- 
 curately as an Andalusian would, were 
 he to witness the Yorkshire hornpipe, 
 and quote it as an instance of the vul- 
 garity of English dances.
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 109 
 
 As the strangers promenaded round 
 the rooms, Madame Du Rose, finding 
 the idea of dancing the guaracha only 
 unpleasant to Esteila, from its sin- 
 gularity, on her return to the ball- 
 raom, with much politeness began her 
 native waltz, selecting as her partner 
 a youth of fifteen, the nephew of her 
 husband. 
 
 ** Madame Du Rose has expiated the 
 sin of the waltz," exclaimed Montolieu ; 
 " how modest her choice !" 
 
 Du Marr replied not; but following 
 the fair Swiss with an approving eye, as 
 she lightly swam round the admiring 
 circle, and with downcast looks finished 
 by a courtesy, full of humble grace, to 
 the governor, joined in the murmur of 
 applause that ran round the room. 
 
 The Marquis, however pride might 
 have interfered on another occasion, 
 could not refuse the compliment re- 
 quired by his entertainer, who, he had
 
 110 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 repeatedly declared, had received him 
 with chivalric politeness. Treading on 
 the toe of Cervantes is by no means 
 common in Spain ; this therefore was of 
 the first order of compliments ; and 
 Estella, at the command of her father, 
 fastened the castenets on her lovely 
 hands, and began a dance that gives 
 
 " Language to the eye and lip." 
 
 The attitudes of the boleros displayed 
 the beauty of her fine form to its ut- 
 most advantage ; and at the conclusion 
 of each of the several parts, when the 
 music plays a symphony to the one fol- 
 lowing, and the dancer rests, she was 
 inexpressibly graceful; one arm waved 
 the pendent castenet over a head, 
 bending 
 
 " In airy softness from the marble neck ;'* 
 
 the other languidly reclining at her side,, 
 seemed to drop the instrument of ani- 
 mation at her feet.
 
 THE FAIR AKDALUSIAN. Ill 
 
 The guaracha, or snake dance, suc- 
 ceeded. 
 
 *^ It is surely so named from its fasci- 
 nation !" \Yhispered Montolieu to his 
 friend : " Ah ! Du Marr, these Spaniards 
 Mould make charming mistresses; but 
 surely jealousy goes with the ring; — I 
 must avoid her !" 
 
 Montolieu, like most of his sex, 
 though he could see all his dear preju- 
 dices vanishing at Estella's smile, and 
 own the necessity of enforcing the les- 
 sons of the Stoic heart, was deficient in 
 practice ; for as he led the fair Spaniai'd 
 to the sumptuous banquet prepared in 
 her honour, and pressed the soft hand 
 he clasped, he whispered, 
 
 " Hither turn 
 '* Thy graceful footsteps ; hither, gentle maid, 
 
 " Incline thy polish'd forehead; 
 
 ** Where whming smiles and pleasures, • • • t 
 '* .... temp'ring, blend their soft allurement/*
 
 112 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN, 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ** It happened that immortal Love 
 " Was ranging thro* the sphere above, 
 " And downward hither cast his eye, 
 ** The year's returning pomp to spy." 
 
 MoNTOLiEU, in Father Ximenes, found 
 an ecclesiastic of more genius than is 
 usual in the Spanish clergy. He had 
 passed many years of his life in South 
 America; and however such a residence 
 might have been supposed to have added 
 rigidity to the spiritual fibre, he wtis by 
 no means averse to throwing off the 
 iron mask af superstition, or sharing the 
 hilarity of heretics. Over the marquis 
 he had complete sway; and informed 
 Montolieu he had been preceptor to his
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUblAN. 113 
 
 nephew, who was expected from Mexico 
 to espouse the fair Estella. 
 
 "* With her consent?'' enquired his 
 listener. 
 
 ** She has never seen him," replied 
 Ximenes; " but will doubtless prefer 
 him to a convent; besides," added he, 
 " the young Carlos is accomplished, 
 and the Lady Estella has a taste for the 
 talents in which he excels." 
 
 ** The Spaniards and English may 
 ere long be friends," said Montolieu, 
 after a pause. — His observation was 
 more connected with the discourse pre- 
 ceding it than Ximenes perceived. 
 
 '* Signior," cried the priest, whose 
 devotion to the bottle now became ap- 
 parent; " ere long they will be united." 
 
 " Not so," thought Montolieu, as he 
 pressed his pillow; but if I dream of 
 a bride, let her come in the form of 
 Estella."
 
 114 THE FAIR AN'DALUSIAN. 
 
 The day following was spent at Cata- 
 line Bay. Carriages conveyed the ladies 
 through the barriers, by the tower and 
 guard of Saint Pedro, to the sandy 
 acclivities leading to this sequestered 
 spot. After a few minutes walk from a 
 sterile height, the vine-decked bowers 
 of Cataiine, and its huts and caverns 
 appeared below, with the scite of an In- 
 dian village; projecting rocks bound the 
 prospect to the opposite town of Esta- 
 pona, and the mountains that screen it; 
 between, the clear unruffled ocean, 
 smiling beneath the glory of a Mediter- 
 ranean morn, disclosed near the beach 
 various sea weed and shells, visible 
 through the transparent fluid. 
 
 Here fishermen returning with their 
 nocturnal spoil, cast on the sand the red 
 samoneta and gaudy bream; whilst their 
 wives and children invited the strangers 
 to the gardens, beneath an extensive
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 1 lt> 
 
 canopy of vines; at the extremity of 
 which, a cistern, raising on horizontal 
 wheels constant supplies to the siir- 
 roundingvegetables, gave coolness to the 
 air, a breakfast of chocolate, sweetmeats, 
 and fruits was spread, round which the 
 party, in morning undress, and manner 
 equally easy, conspired to render the 
 scene pleasing to each other. 
 
 ** I love Cataline Bay," sighed Mrs. 
 Layde ; "we are not here too proud to 
 be happy." 
 
 A guard of honour was left with the 
 ladies, whilst the remainder of the gen- 
 tlemen accompanied the marquis round 
 about some of the adjacent bays, in pur- 
 suit- of wild pigeons. A large cavern ad- 
 joins the garden, in which a family have 
 resided many years; their riches consist- 
 ing, of a herd of goats, a spot cultivated 
 with vegetables, and the sale of poultry
 
 116 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN* 
 
 of various feather, reared in the recesses^ 
 of the cave. A door seeming to open from 
 one^ideof this v»ild abode, the ladies 
 expressed curiosity ; and the apartment 
 to which it led was opened for their in- 
 pection. It was cut through the stone^ 
 and dimly lig^hted by a small casement. 
 A bed, covered with the Barbary haic, 
 a mat of Esparto, an old carved chest, 
 a crucifix, and large mandolin, com- 
 prised its decoration. 
 
 The old man, as he closed the door, 
 said, " Ladies, this apartment used to 
 bring a little fortune to us ; but since 
 the fatal fever, the bathers avoid it. 
 Those who look for another season of 
 calamity, fear lurking infection; others 
 fear the spirits of the unhappy lovers 
 who here perished. This gentlemen," 
 said he, bowing to Montolieu, " has 
 heard their story." 
 
 ^' Montolieu listen to a love story !—
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN, 117 
 
 impossible!" cried Mrs. Layde, *' it 
 niiist be a hoyme cathalique,'' whispered 
 she, " that could believe in the miracle, 
 I believe," addressing the fair Spaniard 
 in French, the language in which they 
 usually conversed, " I omitted calling 
 your attention to what must undoubt- 
 edly be to you a curiosity — a petrified 
 heart; — the learned call it a lusus na- 
 tura. Montolieu," said she, as he took 
 out bis tablets and returned to the cave, 
 whilst the ladies waUced to the garden, 
 ** has been known to the general and 
 myself since infancy." 
 
 " Is he noble ?'* enquired Estella. 
 
 ** Undoubtedly," answered Mrs. Layde, 
 smiling at her question. ** His father. 
 Lord Harville, is of an ancient family and 
 considerable fortune, I am sorry to say 
 he is made of more combustible matter 
 than his son :— the sex have been his 
 bane \ and to the most worthless of it
 
 118 THE FAIR ANDALU.SIAN. 
 
 are sacrificed the affection that would 
 render his amiable ^yjfe happy, and the 
 income that ought to allow the means of 
 meeting his son's liberal spirit. Lady 
 Harviile has spent her life in the shade, 
 preserving in herself the family name. 
 Her son some years since offended his 
 father, by refusing to sit at a table 
 where his mistress presided ; and in 
 consequence his income is more limited 
 than is here supposed. He exchanged 
 from the Guards, to enable his mother 
 to add comforts to her residence. Lord 
 Harville's steward refused to supply, and 
 to fulfil a few generous plans her high 
 and noble spirit prompted. Montolieu 
 wished likewise to avoid a father whose 
 conduct called forth resentment duty 
 would smother. Here he has passed 
 some years, generally considered what 
 we English term a character. In my 
 opinion, he blends his mother's tender-
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 119 
 
 iiess and morality \vith his father's sa- 
 tire. — Sometimes secluding himself from 
 society for months, then emerging from 
 solitude, and entering our parties \siih 
 the manners of a misanthrope; — neither 
 the rude or the unfeeling venture to at- 
 tack him. The general and myself knew 
 and loved the virtues of his mother, and 
 "vvith us the son is at home. Montolieu 
 can, however, suit his manner to his 
 society, — witnes,s,^ fair Estella, his ho- 
 mage to yourgmces.'* 
 
 The subject of their discourse now 
 returning, addressed the stranger: ** I 
 have been refreshing my memory," said 
 he, *' with the heads of a Spanish story. 
 To-morrow, duty banishes me from your 
 presence; allow me, during a tedious 
 guard, to acquit myself of Mrs. Layde's 
 charge ; and, in your language, not that 
 of an insensible, to pen a tale too triste 
 for our present pleasurable plan."
 
 1^ THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN, 
 
 Estella, as she bowed assent, co- 
 loured, conscious the permission might 
 involve many consequences. 
 
 The governor having ordered the cave 
 of St. Michael to be illuminated in ho- 
 nour of his noble visitant, the party pro- 
 ceeded, after a few pleasurable hours 
 spent in the solitudes of the bay, to the 
 garrison, and ascended the brow of the 
 hill, over rude and irregular, paths, to 
 the platform at the entrance, boldly 
 commanding the bay and distant shore, 
 to which fable extends the subterra- 
 neous caverns of St. Michael. 
 
 Descending from day, the party, 
 by the light of suiTOunding torches, 
 trod over the glittering ruins of sta- 
 lactites, and pursued awhile the branch- 
 ings of the cave. In the centre, a 
 fire threw its vivid light on columns 
 of petrified water, from whence rays 
 of sparkling glory spread to arches
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 121 
 
 whence depended pointed isicles, ^vllos€ 
 watery tribute created from beneath vast 
 chapiters to their transparent pillars ; 
 round appeared innumerable caves 
 whose perilous paths led to small lakes, 
 or involved the adventurous step in un- 
 fathomable gulphs or inex|>licable laby- 
 rinths. Vast flocks of bats, roused by 
 the unwelcome glare, flew from the re- 
 cesses to tlie moutii of the cave, cc- 
 vering with dark wing the surrounding 
 rocks, and chasing the timid chama- 
 rese to the pass of tlie Pahnettoes. 
 
 Descending, the strangers visited the 
 lesser cave of Pocoroca, passing on 
 their way, the simple dwellings of Bruce 
 and Inches Farms, with their hanging 
 gardens, enclosed by geranium and 
 flowina: mvrtle. 
 
 Round the cave the landscape-stone 
 lies in masses, that part with slight ef- 
 fort, and disclose lineaments of foliagr, 
 
 vou I G
 
 1 22 TIIE FAIR AXDALUSIAN. 
 
 flowers, or picturesque ruins. The 
 cave, admitting to a considerable dis- 
 tance the setting sun, presented, in con- 
 trast to the illuminated pillars of Saint 
 Michael, its day-scene of variegated 
 spar, its ices tinged with green by the 
 humid exhalations, or, as it hardened, 
 darkening into grey. 
 
 During the walk, the difficulty of 
 Avhich rendered it impossible the atten- 
 tions of Montolieu should not be ac- 
 cepted by Estella, he observed her man- 
 ner changed. In common with the wo- 
 men of her country, her usual conver- 
 sation abounded with sprightly wit ; a 
 kind of smile in discourse rendering the 
 countenance and the expression used 
 pointed and beautiful. 
 
 " A few days," observed Montolieu, 
 pointing to the hills of Andalusia, *' and 
 those will shelter you from us ; pardon 
 me, if I hope Gibraltar, and the happy
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAX, 123 
 
 few who have been companions of your 
 excursions, may live a time in remem- 
 l) ranches" 
 
 " Our remembrance wiJl keep pace 
 with yours, Signior," said Xinienes» 
 advancing, and offering* his arm to the 
 lady. Yet was not Montolieu dis- 
 pleased ; her eye was eloquent ; — it 
 said, " Would we were of one country 
 and one faith I" 
 
 On the following day, while the party 
 of the preceding evening were tracing 
 the Moorish remains of the ruined cas- 
 tle, and taking their dcjcnne in St. 
 George's hall, Montolieu, condemned to 
 the exile of Europa guard, mingled with 
 the narrative of Carlos and Theresa the 
 springing blossoms of his first passion. 
 
 The half-ruined building, anciently 
 
 the chapel of our Lady of Europa, i» 
 
 situated on an elevated plam, scattered 
 
 with rude rocks, partially adorned with 
 
 G 2
 
 124 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 knots of ^vild flowers. The guard is 
 silent and solitary, save when the ven- 
 turous miner rends the cliffs above, or 
 the fierce waves of a Levanter, leaking, 
 as they recoil, the pebbly bottom of the 
 deep, dash with vast foam over the sea- 
 worn caverns of Europa, and mix the 
 shells of the Mediterranean with those 
 of the Atlantic. It was now a calmer 
 scene; a purple haze half veiled the 
 African hills ; the gentle rippling of a 
 soft western breeze played with the so- 
 lar beams on the o.cean : at intervals a 
 sail crossed the sparkling rays, and a 
 shot was fired from a Spanish boat ; but 
 the propitious breeze soon wafted the 
 one on its course, and compelled the 
 other to retire beneath the batteries, 
 whose adjacent watch-towers relieved 
 the uniformity of the low land. Not 
 €ven the step of friendship broke on the 
 silence of the scene; and Montolieu,
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. • 12»S 
 
 softened by the recollection of the few 
 days spent in the society of the most 
 captivating woman he had yet beheld, 
 and whom destiny would shortly sepa- 
 j-ate him from, penned for lier perusal 
 the following narrative of a faithful, but 
 unfortunate, passion.
 
 120 • THE FAIR ANDALCSIAX, 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 *' Behold, ill yon unconscious grove, 
 
 ** The victims of ill-fated love ! 
 
 " Heard you that agonizing throe 1 
 
 •* Sure this is not romantic woe ! 
 
 ** Their golden day of joy is o'er. 
 
 •* Assist them hearts from anguish free, 
 
 •* Assist them, sweet Humanity l" 
 
 CARLOS AND THERESA^ 
 {Addressed to the Lady Estella ds Mofidecar.} 
 
 *' It is in Spain, madam, the residence 
 of love should be adjudged. Her wo- 
 men, blending in their manner wit and 
 sentiment; in their beauty, seductive 
 melancholy with graceful vivacity, in-
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAX. 127 
 
 spire no common passion; and in no 
 words but the energetic ones of their 
 country can it admit expression. To 
 this language of vivid imagination, the 
 Italian must yield its myrtle: whether 
 it expresses the ardour of attachment, 
 the anguish of hopeless passion, or, 
 catching from eyes formed to inspire 
 alike the tenderest or liveliest sensa- 
 tions, a Promethean spark, it indulges 
 in flashes of chaste and unique wit, — 
 its power soars with the sentiment. 
 Pardon me, if I use it, madam, in the 
 narrative of Carlos and Theresa: I have 
 studied your language with the preju- 
 dices of my country ; and though I ad- 
 mit its elevation above the common oc- 
 curences of life, I am compelled to ac- 
 knowledge it to be that of honour and 
 of love. 
 
 " As you travel homeward, fair Es- 
 tella, the perusal may beguile weary
 
 128 THE FAIR AXDALUSIAN, 
 
 hours. Pardon the selfishness with 
 which we would wish you sad at part- 
 ing, from whatever cause that sadness 
 may spring. 
 
 ** To the left of St. Roque, near the 
 forest of cork, leading to the monastery, 
 the Cassa de Velos rises, on the banks 
 of a stream enamelled with flowers. 
 Sprung from an ancient family, though 
 reduced in fortune, its owTier preferred 
 the privacy of shade, to an intercourse 
 with surrounding society, less noble 
 though more opulent. From pride of 
 ancestry so many virtues spring, the 
 moralist fears eradicating the weed, lest 
 a flower may accompany it. 
 
 ** The cassa was built in the Moorish 
 style, round a court planted with orange 
 trees, and commanded from its verandas 
 a prospect extensive and beautiful. In 
 the interior, the simplicity of De Ve-' 
 los's fortunes were contrasted bv the
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 129 
 
 peculiar traits of his character; — furni- 
 ture, covered ^vith faded gilt leather; 
 a library of romances and history ; ta- 
 pestry, on ^vhich appeared the wars of 
 the Moors, and their expulsion by his 
 great ancestor, Gonsaho ; a small ar- 
 moury of old swords and muskets ; and 
 a chapel, stored with relics, comprised 
 the principal apartments and decorations 
 of an abode, for which the aged Hidalga 
 would not have accepted a modern pa- 
 lace. 
 
 It was here the youthful Carlos, his 
 only child,, had remained from infancy 
 to manhood — from the period of indif- 
 ference to that of susceptibility. Form- 
 ed by the hand who tints the wild 
 flower with the hues of a royal parterre, 
 his person was elegant, his features fa* 
 Yourable to the expression of his heart. 
 Imagine, lady, a countenance of noble 
 lineament, frojm which the enamoured 
 g5
 
 1 30 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAX. 
 
 beam of fervent summer had withdrawn 
 the rose; eyes clear and brilliant, whose 
 sable fires were veiled by fringes, dark 
 and silky as the rich tresses that w an- 
 ton on a cheek of beauty ;-• -I draw not a 
 fancied portrait, fair Estella; — such a 
 countenance I have seen, though not in 
 man. 
 
 " Confined to the society of a father, 
 enthusiastic and unacquainted with a 
 world he had secluded himself from 
 for years, to the perusal of volumes 
 where love and adventure seemed essen- 
 tial to character ; — his hand but passing 
 from the grasp of the sw ord, whose de- 
 fence of beauty w as wont to be related 
 daily by his father, to the page where 
 woman prompted every deed of glory, 
 the freedom of his youthful heart but 
 continued till the dream of high wrought 
 fancy should be realized. The imagi- 
 nation can thus secure the aflections
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 131 
 
 from meaner loves, till excellence claims 
 its tribute. Years are, perhaps, passed 
 in seeming apathy;*— the world cannot 
 read the insensible; — he may even jest 
 with himself; yet present the reality of 
 his vision, and he, perhaps, may act, 
 think, and write as I do. 
 
 " It was in the church of St, Roque, 
 in the holy week, Carlos first beheld 
 Theresa : kneeling on the pavement, her 
 head meekly bending and half covered 
 by her veil, her attitude was that of a 
 Madona ;— crossed on her breast wera 
 arms, spotless and lovely ; — a dark and 
 polished rosary coHtrasted their beauty : 
 her mild and persuasive eyes, filled with 
 devotion, and cast upward, seemed to 
 forbid the admission of earthly passion 
 to the charming form they illumined. 
 
 ** An author of my country, madam, 
 .says, devotion and love are so nearly 
 allied, the one assumes the language of
 
 132 THE FAIR ANDALi'SIAN. 
 
 the other. — Reflecting-, that superior 
 passion must, from its purity, be ac- 
 ceptable to heaven, I shall not offend 
 you, by owning the first offerings of 
 Carlos's heart were bestowed on The- 
 resa at the foot of the altar.— He ap- 
 proached near her, as, with her compa- 
 nions, she advanced to respectfully kiss 
 the holy form, extended at the foot of 
 the sorrowing virgin : she would have 
 touched it with her rosary ere she de- 
 parted, but the eager crowd pressed 
 towards the altar. Carlos, taking it 
 from her extended hand, laid it on the 
 sacred corse, and returned it to The- 
 resa as she quitted the church. In her 
 manner of thanking him he saw a 
 thousand graces ; — the mild and beau- 
 tiful countenance she turned to his re- 
 gards was pensive, and marked by 
 touching expression : — it was the shade 
 of devotion ; for young,, innocent, and
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 135 
 
 fair, Theresa had yet a disengaged heart. 
 Carlos had now found an object * fair 
 as high fancy forms,' and as inacces- 
 sible of approach as romance could 
 paint. Living with an aged mother of 
 scrupulous habits, and whom she was 
 said to support by her industry; de- 
 scended from no family that could admit 
 of equality with his own; too innocent 
 to encourage love, too modest to admit 
 she felt it herself, in the commencement 
 of his passion for Theresa, Carlos was 
 assailed by every obstacle that could 
 heighten it. During the day, he dare 
 not appear in his new character; but, 
 when De Velos, wearied even with his 
 ancestor's exploits, and nature called 
 him to dream them o'er again, his son 
 would retire to his apartment^ and 
 "watch till the domestics slept; then, co- 
 vered with his cloak, seek the abode 
 of Theresa, and accompanied by a gui-
 
 134 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 tar, devote to her beauty the offerings 
 of his muse. 
 
 SERENADE. 
 
 " Whence stole those eyes their liquid fire, 
 ** Those rosy lips their rich perfume; 
 ** Clear, brilliant orbs of young desire, 
 *' And richest buds of summer's bloom? 
 
 '* Theresa, whence thy matchless grace I 
 
 ** Ah ! whence thy majesty of move ! 
 
 " Yet more enchanting than thy face, 
 
 *' Far keener dart to infant love. 
 
 ** Draw, draw thy envious veil aside, 
 
 " Break on the night in all thy charms ; 
 
 " And swift across the lattice glide, 
 
 " With lover's haste, thy polish'd arms. 
 
 *^ Why, fairest, does thy hand delay ? 
 " Here lingers youth and faithful love ; 
 ** Thoughts, that from thee can never, siray, 
 *' Desires, that thou alone canst move !
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 135 
 
 " Come, then, Oh, come, most loved, most fair! 
 *' No step is heard on silent night; 
 *• The iovvers their perfume waft on air, 
 •* The brilliant moon vouchsafes a light." 
 
 " Loiig'did the enamoured Carlos sue. 
 his mistress, Avithout tpken of favour: 
 the timid girl hesitated avowing the pas- 
 sion that now ruled the pulses of her 
 heart ; — she trembled at the approach of 
 love without hope. 
 
 " Carlos continued, regardless of 
 changing seasons, of affected disdain, 
 his nightly homage to his veiled deity ; 
 till De Velos, whose suspicion was 
 awoke by his abstracted manner and 
 pallid looks, obtained information of 
 his passion. Learning from the domestic 
 he employed, that Theresa supported 
 her mother by the sale of lace and other 
 articles of feminine industry, his rage 
 knew no bounds. Carlos would have 
 exclaimed, as his father recapitulated
 
 156 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 his ancestors and their alliances, Love 
 knows no such distinctions ; but unable 
 to bear the language used by De Velos, 
 as he loaded Theresa with opprobrium, 
 he left his presence, lest he should for- 
 get the father in the mistress. 
 
 '' Left to the sophistry of his heart, 
 Carlos th us argued ; ' My passion prompts^ 
 no unworthy action ; vice lurks not un- 
 der its roses. Theresa is virtuous » 
 Will not the same grave close on us — 
 the same heaven receive us! Of what 
 avail then is birth ? My father may be 
 reconciled when opposition is rendered 
 fruitless by our union.' These arguments 
 were decisive, and Carlos determined to 
 learn his fate from Theresa ; and should 
 she meet his love, to persevere in iU 
 He had missed her at her devotions 
 some months, and lately she had totally 
 withdrawn from notice. Stratagem was 
 therefore necessary to gain admittance ; 
 and hope whispered the youthful adven-
 
 THE FAIR AXDALVSIAN. 137 
 
 tiirer, the stricken hart had retired 
 to the shade, ^vith the arrow in its 
 bosom. 
 
 " To the roof of Gabarella, the sup- 
 posed mother of Theresa, none were ad- 
 mitted but her confessor, the marchand 
 des modes, who purchased the articles 
 of their industry, and the surgeon of 
 St. Roque. It was through the per- 
 suasive argument of gold, the latter in- 
 troduced Carlos to his mistress. 
 
 *' Under cover of night and disguise 
 he proceeded to her abode, situated in 
 the suburbs of the town, and parted 
 from superior mansions by an humble 
 garden. Crossing a small court, over 
 which the rich foliage and clusters of 
 the purple grape admitted through the 
 latticed roof but partial gleams of moon 
 light, Carlos, guided by a distant lamp, 
 approached an apartment on the ground 
 floor, and hearing voices in discourse,
 
 138 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAf^, 
 
 paused at the entrance. The rays of 
 the light ^vithin allowed him to observe 
 the objects around it: the room was 
 meanly furnished. His eyes hastily 
 passing the antique chairs, dark cruci- 
 fix of ebony, and a brazier, in which a 
 few glimmering embers glared with me- 
 lancholy light, fixed on a sofa, where 
 lay a figure in the languid attitude of 
 indisposition. The face was covered 
 with a light veil ; but Carlos knew from 
 Lamiez his mistress was an invalid, and 
 with anxiety he endeavoured to catch 
 her accents. 
 
 " * Theresa,' exclaimed the old woman, 
 less in the tone of tenderness than dis- 
 appointment, * you must remove.' 
 
 " ' Allow me,' exclaimed the droop- 
 ing girl, ** allow me to linger a little 
 while : — my parents sins are visited on 
 me. Alas ! the passion that caused 
 their crime, bends their offspring to the
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 139 
 
 grave ! — Promise me, ivhen I am inca- 
 pable of oflending his father — when the 
 eyes my Carlos has praised are closed, 
 the lips that have a thousand times 
 breathed his name in prayer are wan, 
 the confession of my heart may be made 
 known to him.' 
 
 *' * Come, come!' cried Gabanella, 
 peevishly, * the fancies of a girl can be 
 laid aside, if we will it. De Yelos has 
 power to render our abode near him 
 impracticable. Lamiez advises your 
 removal to Cataline Bay. — Old Lopez 
 and Marianna will nurse you till I re- 
 turn from Cordova: — your father must 
 be urged to fresh supplies. As for Car- 
 los, he is a boy, who soon forgetting 
 you, will give you cause to blush for 
 your folly.' 
 
 " * Who are you, Signior?' cried she, 
 as Carlos advanced. Hastily taking 
 the paper he gave her, she read it by 
 the lamp.
 
 140 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 " * Doctor Lamiez is ordered from 
 home,' said she, as she concluded ; 
 * and he recommends his friend. — Ad- 
 vance, Signior/ cried she, holding the 
 lamp over the sofa. 
 
 " Carlos, disguised as an aged man, 
 approached his mistress, and gazed on 
 her with the tenderest emotion. Her 
 sensibihty and youth reduced her to 
 the grave; and the struggles that rent 
 her tender heart had been for him. 
 
 " If the impassioned youth had sur« 
 rendered at the approach of beauty, 
 how secure was now the conquest, when 
 admiration, gratitude, and all the tide 
 of sweet and soft affections rushed on 
 his heart, binding him indissolubly to 
 Theresa. AVith trembling hand he 
 pressed the arm she held to him. Ga- 
 barella mistaking his tremor for that of 
 enfeebled age, drew^ a chair near the 
 §.ofa, and placing the lamp at a distance^ 
 *etired.
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 141 
 
 *' * I honour you for the humanity that 
 induces you to visit one so little able to 
 repay your kindness, Signior,' said 
 Theresa, in reply to the enquiry he made 
 of the duration of her illness, * and 
 ^vill not deceive you. I am not happy, 
 and cares of various kinds corrode my 
 mind and impair my strength : my ma- 
 lady therefore is beyond your art." 
 
 " * Have you changed the scene?' en- 
 quired Carlos, 
 
 ** * I have not resolution, nor have I the 
 means,' said Theresa, after a hesitating 
 pause. * Your age and humanity calls 
 for confidence. I am the oflfspring of 
 disgi'ace. My mother, seduced by a 
 villain, has expiated her crime by her 
 life. Neglected by her seducer, it is 
 five years since she died, leaving me to 
 the care-of her servant. I have, Signior, 
 supported that servant by my industry ; 
 for ^vhen the w orld derided htr peni-
 
 142 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAK. 
 
 tence, and spurned her for her crime, 
 she Avas my mother's only friend. Sur- 
 rounded by the children of marriage, 
 my father heeds me not ; and though 
 the extreme of poverty approaches, I 
 thank the saints I eat not the bread of 
 a mother's tears.' 
 
 *' Affected, and in a voice inarticu- 
 late from emotion, Carlos ^vould have 
 spoken; but she continued: ' Signior, 
 I have been virtuous ; and have thought, 
 should my mother's enemies chance to 
 "witnessmy life, they would almost doubt 
 her error, and acknowledge her precepts 
 were those of virtue. This hope has 
 animated my industry, and supported 
 me under scorn. To remove a stain from 
 the memory of her whose affection to 
 me was guiltless, 1 hare with steady 
 hand removed the intoxicating cup of 
 the passions from my youth, and for- 
 bade my heart to retain an image at-
 
 THE F.UR ANDALUSIAN. 143 
 
 tachment would have placed there; — that 
 heart has broke in the conflict — but, 
 surely/ said she, pleadini^, * by giving 
 up my life in the cause of virtue, 1 shall 
 expiate the death of her who died in 
 sin r 
 
 ** Her voice faltered ; and the hand 
 Carlos held trembled in his. The resolu- 
 tions he had formed on entering were has- 
 tily abandoned: he respected her feelings 
 too much to hint at a passion she avowed 
 her resolution of combating ; and adored 
 the humility that forbade her to hope 
 for an union with him. — It was the purest 
 homage Carlos could render virtue: — 
 he forbore to press the hand he held ; — 
 his warm tears dropped on her forehead. 
 
 *' * These,' said she, * are the drops 
 of pity ; — th^y are grateful to me.' 
 
 ** ' Allow me,' said Carlos, as he rose 
 and bent over her faded form, * to ad- 
 vise and help as a friend, whose age
 
 144 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 cannot excite suspicion, whose profes- 
 sion entitles him to confidence; — rest 
 assured, you are the care of Heaven, 
 and that it ^yili reward you in the in- 
 stance in which you have shewn most 
 virtue! — Use means for your recovery: 
 my fortune allows me to ofler it ; and, 
 my departure, perhaps never to meet 
 you again, removes the pain of obliga- 
 tion: — Lamiez will advise with you;— 
 let your departure be secret.' 
 
 ** Hastily leaving his purse in the hand 
 he quitted, Carlos, with agitated steps, 
 withdrew, and regained his home. 
 
 " In the quiet of his chamber, he was 
 at leisure to ruminate on the events of 
 the evening. — Theresa was no longer 
 the object of boyish fancy, whose beau- 
 ty, awaking the dormant passions, only 
 promised pleasure whilst inclination was 
 young and charms unfaded : — he had 
 seen her altered ; — her graces no longer
 
 THE PAIR ANDALUSIAX. 145 
 
 Su play, her youth and bloom Mith* 
 drawn ; yet \Ya.s she lo^ed with greater 
 ardonr.—- It was the trinmph of viitue ; 
 and the passion of Carlos assumed a 
 new and lasting character:— it combined 
 the manliness of maturity with the ar- 
 dour of youth ; nor, had he been admit- 
 ted to an intercourse with his mistress, 
 could he have praised her beauty.— 
 * What a mind has Theresa!' would he 
 exclaim ; and the lustre of her eyes 
 faded from recollection : yet with tlie 
 new sentiments her vii'tue inspired, the 
 determination of an union with them 
 became more fixed. 
 
 " From Lamiez he shortly learned 
 the departure of Theresa, and tlat Ga- 
 barella consigning- her to the care of 
 Lopez at Cat aline Bay, had departed. 
 
 " Carlos soon formed his resolution : 
 in the common habit of Spain, and fea- 
 tures tinctured with artificial shade, he 
 
 VOL. I H
 
 14G THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 left his home, takmg every precaution 
 to divert pursuit. 
 
 ** Affection prompted a farewell let- 
 ter to his father; — it promised speedy 
 return ; but every line was calculated to 
 mislead as to his retreat. De Velos in- 
 stantly sent to the abode of Gabarella ; 
 but learned from the owner of the house 
 she had occupied, that both Theresa 
 and herself were at Cordova. 
 
 *' Whilst his father wearied himself 
 by enquiries, Carlos, unsuspected by 
 the society to which he introduced him- 
 self, engaged with Lopez, to tend the 
 flowers of his garden, an occupation he 
 was acquainted with, from its having 
 formed a part of his amusement at his 
 home. The carnations reared in Cata- 
 line Bay form a lucrative article of sale 
 to the Genoese, w ho unite the occupa- 
 tions of fishermen and gardeners. 
 
 ** For a time Carlos carefully avoided
 
 THE FAIR AKDALUSIAX, 147 
 
 the steps of Theresa, contenting hhn~ 
 self with the distant and melancholy 
 contemplation of her fragile and altered 
 form. Tn her absence from the garden 
 he wove the branches in thicker shade 
 near her accustomed seat, and placed 
 at its feet, and on the edge of its leading 
 avenues, the most luxuriant of his flow- 
 ers, the richest carnations, the myrtle 
 of thickest bloom. The walks where 
 her frame sought shelter during the 
 heats, were sprinkled by his hand with 
 cooling showers^ from the adjacent cis- 
 tern, and their canopy of foliage trained 
 to more impervious shade. Sometimes 
 at the close of day she would wander on 
 the shore> with eyes directed home- 
 ward. Concealed by projecting rocks, 
 the regards of her lover still followed 
 the steps of the lovely shade, guarding 
 them in security from the approach of a 
 stranger ; or by placing in her way va- 
 h2
 
 148 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAX. 
 
 rieties of marine weed and shells, lure 
 her short-lived attention to their beauty, 
 
 " In moon-light nights Lopez was 
 wont to assemble his family, and en- 
 courage the sprightly sounds of the cas- 
 tenet and mandoline. The gardeners, 
 with the exception of Carlos, were 
 boys ; and those, with the children of 
 Lopez, formed a groupe of animated 
 and cheerful beings, whose sports at 
 times had power to chase thought from 
 their pallid guest. 
 
 *' Carlos soon saw change of resi- 
 dence had failed in its power over dis- 
 ease. He trembled at the changing 
 looks of Theresa, and determined to dis- 
 close himself, and claim the hand, as 
 he possessed the heart, of his mistress. 
 The opportunity soon presented itself. 
 Marianna had gone to a sacred festival 
 at St. Roque ; her husband and his 
 children, laden with the produce of the
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAX. 14D 
 
 net and the garden, %vent singing on 
 their way to the garrison ; and Carlos 
 beholding his Theresa slowly advanc- 
 ing to taste the fresher air, threw him- 
 self at her feet, and pleaded for her 
 and himself. Surprise, gratitude, and 
 joy overcame the object of his tender- 
 ness : — she fainted in his arms, as she 
 owned life desirable for his sake. 
 
 " How delicious were now the happy 
 hours ! As Carlos nnreproved breathed 
 his passion, he saw with joy health 
 again flush his Theresa's cheek and 
 sparkle in her glance. Lopez, made 
 the confident of their story, accompa- 
 nied them to the Spanish church, where 
 they were married by the resident padre 
 of the garrison, and returned to the se- 
 clusion of Cataline. Here Carlos led 
 his bride to the influence of every tran- 
 sient breeze that fanned the bay. She 
 bent the beauty of her bosom to the
 
 loO THE FAIR ANDALVSIAK. 
 
 wave ; and clasped by his supporting 
 arm, paced the gardens he had culti- 
 vated for her sake. 
 
 ** It was the care of Carlos to point 
 out every probable prospect of happi- 
 ness in the vista of the future. Alas! 
 nnhappy youth ! the impending clouds 
 vrere already hanging over the bower of 
 bliss. A day of calamity began its 
 dawn, at whose close, love, beauty, and 
 attachment were consigned, with all 
 their sweetness, virtue, and fidelity, to 
 one disastrous grave. 
 
 *' To form in your imagination, lady, 
 the high mark at which the insatiable 
 archer levelled, the picture Carlos 
 gives of his situation, in a letter to his 
 father, is here presented : 
 
 *' * Allow your disobedient Carlos, 
 revered and beloved De Velos, to sup- 
 plicate your pardon. He has married 
 the object of his souFs ^yishes, and hei^
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN, lol 
 
 alone lies his offence. Throw from yon, 
 my father, in imagination, the weight of 
 years ; — think you love like me, with 
 all the ardour and passion of youth ;— . 
 that you behold the object of that pas- 
 sion yield all her beauty, her pride, 
 her bloom of youth, to strew an early 
 grave with their faded sweets, and that 
 no fond relative, no kind friend, inter- 
 posed, to soothe her spirit, or rescue her 
 loveliness from so hard a fate ; — could 
 you have been a silent unmove.d specta- 
 tor of the approach of death, could 
 love have permitted the sacrifice! — Join 
 with me, my father, and exclaim, ' Vir- 
 tue, principle, honour, forbade it !' I 
 am now a husband. Often have you, 
 my father, told me my mother was tlie 
 choice of your youth. Think on your 
 sentiments for her — your feelings when 
 she first owned your child throbbed near 
 H 4
 
 152 THE FAIR ANDALUSUN. 
 
 her heart ! — My Theresa will become a 
 mother ! — Check not, my loved father, 
 the tide of delightful emotions that rush 
 to my bosom, at the rapturous yet so- 
 lemn name of parent ! I will do my 
 duty by my child, q,s you have done; 
 and, should he offend, I will not refuse 
 him pardon. 
 
 " ' Dear, ever dear, be this secluded 
 spot! — sacred be its name to all wht> 
 love me ! — Here I have snatched the 
 treasure of my life from the grave ! — 
 here has she courted the breeze, the 
 wave, the foliaged shade, and in all 
 found health ! — My father, share in my 
 joy !— Theresa and Carlos are one ; — 
 both are rejected, or both received!' 
 
 *' Thus far, fair Estella, I have traced 
 with steady hand the story of my lovers. 
 Many have loved with truth, but few- 
 have been alike unfortunate!— -How 
 shall I describe the closing of their fate,
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 153 
 
 to one so tender and amiable as her I 
 address ! 
 
 " Nature, as mourning the mortality 
 that shortly prevailed, gave awful signs 
 of the period when disease should 
 break the ties of affection, and one vast 
 grave open to thousands. A six weeks 
 Levanter, hiding the sun in a heavy 
 condensed atmosphere, spread over the 
 rock a dark curtain of clouds. Vast 
 heaps of white sea- weed, brought on 
 the stormy waves, accumulated on the 
 shores, adding to the pestilence by its 
 rapid decay ; and by the singularity of 
 its appearance^ awakening the fears of 
 superstition: — the ocean seemed to give 
 up the shrouds of its dead. 
 
 '' It was my fate, madam, to witness 
 the horrors of this period. Never can 
 it be effaced from my remembrance I — 
 Awhile the pride of mati preserved the 
 petty djgtinctioiis of the grave : — affec- 
 H 5
 
 154 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 tioii sought to bury its dead, or respect 
 bore rank to the ' narrow house ;' — short- 
 ly the pestilential arrows flew too quick- 
 ly: — ^^the mother forsook her child! — 
 the union of the heart was dissolved ! — 
 the affections fled; and savage indif- 
 ference, cowardly fear, and selfish ter- 
 ror succeeded. Shut up in solitude, 
 scarce venturing to look from the closed 
 lattice, the wretch, who forsook all but 
 self, listened to the slow and heavy 
 sound of the death-cart, and struck by 
 the breath of heaven, added, at jts re- 
 turn, to its load, and was hurried to the 
 vast grave, where enemies and friends 
 indiscriminately met. Even Avarice 
 closed its palm : — the wretches who, 
 driven by hunger, approached the aper- 
 ture, where above a smoking censer ap- 
 peared an eye mingling terror with de- 
 sire of gain, dropped their gold in the 
 Yase of vine2:ar, and received its weight
 
 THE FAI^ ANDALUSIAN. lo5i 
 
 ill bread. The fearful ^vretcli ^vho hur- 
 ried past, as if the noxious air of the 
 solitary and forsaken streets bore an 
 embodied form, and pursued him, es- 
 saying to strike, told, as he passed, of 
 friends departed, with features cold and 
 fixed as the monumental stone.— AYhat 
 "vvonder thought had no leisure to rumi- 
 nate on virtue, love to lament beauty^ 
 or gratitude to mourn for greatness ? — 
 The shadows passed so quickly to the 
 grave, they forbade distinction in je* 
 gret. 
 
 " You rejoice, lady, that midst the 
 calamity I pourtray, the smiling vine- 
 yards of youi; native Andalusia invited 
 the lovers to safety — that the adven- 
 turous boat quickly wafted them to se- 
 curity ! — Far other was their fate! — The 
 secvis of the fatal infection were sup- 
 posed to have proceeded from Cataline : 
 centinels prevented communication ; — 
 a 6
 
 3 56 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 110 boats ventured near its forbidden 
 shore ; and those that despair launched 
 towards the Spanish coast, were re- 
 pulsed by the inhabitants witli the ob- 
 duracy of men who strove for life. 
 
 " Whilst Carlos beheld no change in 
 Theresa, he beheld unmoved the terrific 
 pall of clouds above his head — the wind- 
 ing sheets that clung on the rocks be-^ 
 low ; — the frequent death — the expiring 
 sighs of Marianna and her babes passed 
 Unheeded 1 — He marked not that man 
 avoided man, and that the accustomed 
 voices were still, the accustomed steps 
 heard no more : — all his faculties were 
 absorbed in one object ; nor when that 
 object faded, did he despair. Hope 
 leads on, changing her delightful form 
 at every step of destiny; — flatters iis 
 those we love shall escape the dart of 
 fate ; when struck, whispers recovery ;
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAX. 157 
 
 and finally,, bending over the bed of 
 death, points to heaven 1 
 
 " Kneeling by his Theresa's conch, Car- 
 los wonld have detained awhile his an- 
 gel. Left her sole attendant, he prayed, 
 ' restoration might hang its medicine on 
 his lips,' bnt prayed in vain 1 — Watching 
 by the expiring flame of a lamp, the 
 gleam of eyes no longer brilliant, but 
 dimmed by mists of death, he beheld 
 the last spark of life ' flutter and ex- 
 pire.' Awhile he gazed on her altered 
 face — w ept on the arras, once the love- 
 liest of her beauties, now livid and cold, 
 pressing the crucifix in their stififened 
 grasp: — Our second union approaches, 
 Theresa !' exclaimed he, as the warn- 
 ings of disease crept through his veins. 
 My strength suffices but to form the 
 grave that must receive us both ! — Alas \ 
 to thy unborn babe thou art thyself the 
 tomb !'
 
 158 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAfh 
 
 " Wrapping' her in her veil, he took 
 her in his arms as tenderly as when he 
 feared the slightest motion would 
 
 " Shake the buds of health from blowing/' 
 
 and advanced w ith trembling steps and 
 frenzied glance, to the mouth of the 
 cavern. Morning just dawned ; not as it 
 was wont, bringing breezes and fresh- 
 ness to nature, but fraught with pesti- 
 lential vapour and oppressive heat, the 
 exhalations of the shores, mingling with 
 a sulphureous scent, ascended, loaded 
 with contagion. No one appeared, to 
 assist or hinder the melancholy inter- 
 ment of Theresa. As Carlos laid her in 
 the sandy grave his trimbling hands 
 had prepared, a dove, struck by the 
 ]f)estilential vapour, dropped at his feet. 
 * Emblem of love and innocence !' said 
 the unhappy youth, as he lifted the
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAX. loD 
 
 wing that ceased to flatter, * be thou 
 buried with Theresa ! — lay on a bosom,' 
 said he, dropping it gently in the grave^ 
 * as spotless and pure, as faitliful and 
 ardent, as are thy attributes !' 
 
 *' From a cave above Lopez had wit- 
 nessed the scene : — thither he fled with the 
 last of his children ; and whilst he feared 
 for the babe, he kept aloof from the 
 unhappy Carlos. When insatiable death 
 claimed the object of the old man's care, 
 regardless of an existence become hate- 
 ful to him, he descended to the grave 
 where he had beheld the bereft husband 
 stretched days and nights, regardless of 
 light or life.— The attentions of Lopez 
 were useless ; — his entreaties were not 
 heard by him who suffered no more. 
 
 " When the arm of Providence ar- 
 rested that of death, I enquired for De 
 Yelos. Age and sorrow had conferred one 
 of it< few blessings : — returned to the ini»
 
 160 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 becility of childhood, he trifles Avith mis- 
 fortune ; — the offspring of Carlos seems 
 to sport in his walks, the sweet Theresa 
 to soothe his infirmities, and the hand 
 of his son support his steps. 
 
 '' If, fair Estella, yon pronounce Car- 
 los the most unhappy of lovers, remem- 
 ber he was beloved ! — he loved not with- 
 out hope ; and even in resigning his 
 treasure, he gave her not to the arms of 
 a rival. 
 
 " When you love, madam, may no 
 eloud, but such as your smiles can dis- 
 perse, intervene! — no sorrow obscure 
 the brightness of your eyes ! — no care 
 a2:itate vour bosom ! 
 
 " Accept the wishes offered, most re- 
 spectfully, by your devoted 
 
 " Charles Montolieu."^
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 161 
 
 CHAPTER Tin. 
 
 " Him ev'n the dissolute admir'd ; for he 
 
 " A graceful looseness, when he pleased, put on ; 
 
 " And laughing, could instruct. Much had he 
 
 *' read, 
 " Much more had seen;— he studied from the 
 
 " life, 
 ** And in th' original perus'd mankind," 
 
 jVIontolieu, represented as the nar- 
 rator of Theresa and Carlos, the ad- 
 mirer of Estella, appears not the satirist 
 and the cynic of the preceding pages ; yet 
 the seemins: inconsistencies of his cha- 
 racter are such, as many, on examining 
 themselves in the closet and the crowd, 
 must acknowledge to be nature: — per- 
 haps he has best described his own feel-
 
 162 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 ings in the commenceiiient of the story ; 
 certain, he inherited from his mother a 
 sensitive mind, shrinking fi>om the touch 
 of insensibility; he used the satire of 
 his father to secure it from the multi- 
 tude. To Estella, the tablets of a heart, 
 blending an admiration of beauty, de- 
 rived from one parent, a tender mora- 
 lity, from the other, had been alone un- 
 locked ; perhaps, unconsciously to him- 
 self. Greatly as he valued Du Marr, 
 in one point he differed :— the love he 
 bore Estella, sou^'ht no confidence: — 
 he buried it in his heart ; and when she 
 departed, he mentioned her not, and re- 
 sumed his usual manner. The marquis 
 had parted from him with professions 
 of regard, Ximenes had lingered in his 
 adieu, and Estella had waved her *' hand 
 of beaiity." He endeavoured to think 
 the past a delightful dreaiil; and, as if 
 willing to dissipate its remembrance^
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 163 
 
 mixed more in society, though by do 
 means more indulgent to their foibles*. 
 The private theatre was a source of 
 alternate amusement and censure; al- 
 ready had many rehearsals taken place 
 previous to opening for the season ; 
 and Montolieu assisted in sketches of 
 scenery, was the hero of every piece, 
 and the writer of every prologue. 
 
 ** \yhat!" said he, on a request for thq 
 latter, will you forgive me, 
 
 * If my trembling pen displays 
 
 * What never yet was sung in mortal lays ? 
 
 * But how shall I attempt such arduous string; 
 ' I, who have spent my nights and nightly days 
 
 * In this soul-dead 'ning place, loose loitering ? 
 
 * Ah ! how shall 1 for this uprear my moulted 
 
 * wing]* 
 
 Yet, Montolieu chose a graver theme ; 
 and on the theatre opening with Gold- 
 smith';^ admirable comedy of She Stoops
 
 1(34 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 to Conquer, and The Mock Doctor^ 
 though he declined taking a part, Nvish- 
 ing to point ont to Du Marr, the thea- 
 trical characters, as they came on with 
 the shifting scenes, he delivered the fol- 
 lowing 
 
 PROLOGUE. 
 
 No more the rock, unbless'd by gentle showers. 
 Denies the fragrance of ambrosial flowers ; 
 No more \vith heated bosom, parch'd and bare. 
 Our faulting Flora pants for western air : 
 Reviv'd, she rises from the humid earth. 
 At evei-y step gives vegetation birth ; 
 From rocky urns her floral gems arise. 
 Her scented breath along the ocean sighs. 
 Shall, then, the earth we tread, revive alone ; 
 The rocks around the power of season own ; 
 Yet, man, awak'ning from his listless dream. 
 Refuse his bosom to the mental beam ; 
 Or, woman, fated to the rose's doom, 
 Share not its sweetness with its transient bloom? 
 For other ends the drama formed her laws ; 
 For other ends her changuig curtain draws :
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 105 
 
 With solemn mien, Melpomene appears. 
 Instruction mingling with her tragic tears : 
 Thalia strews with flowers the alter'd stage. 
 And shews the follies of each clime and age ; 
 Yet breathes this moral, as her wit beguiles, — 
 * The purest hearts must wear the brightest 
 smiles,' 
 
 " Behold our manager!'' said Monto* 
 lieu, as Colonel Main entered : " he fills 
 a stage well; but having been a nautical 
 genius in early life, he treads one as 
 cautiously* as if preserving his equili- 
 brium in a storm ! — ' Steady ! steady !' " 
 
 '* He gets applause — I wish he'd get his part." 
 
 *' How admirably dressed !" exclaim- 
 ed Du Marr, as 3Irs. Hardcastle en- 
 tered. 
 
 " 'Tis little Doctor Dell ; he is the 
 comic support of our stage. Our sage 
 manager would fain have him in
 
 Wd THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 breeches; yet, I appeal to you, uas 
 ever an enoriiious hoop, high toupee, 
 large ruffles, and fan, managed better: — 
 attend to him; he is comic to a degree." 
 
 The risibility that broke out at the 
 appearance of the little doctor, by no 
 means discomposed him. With a seem- 
 ing unconsciousness of the cause, he 
 stood adjusting his apron and ruffles, 
 and coolly fanned himself till they ^vere 
 at leisure to attend ; then, entering on 
 his part, his conception of the character, 
 and his manner of performing it, were 
 so admirable, as to call forth bursts of 
 applause. 
 
 Hardcastle supported him with much 
 effect. 
 
 ** Observe the officer who performs 
 Tony^' cried Montolieu : " his mistress, 
 so languid, 
 
 " The breeze of Heaven risits her too roughly,"
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAK. 167 
 
 is seated m the stage-box. What a 
 conflict!— he must lose the reputation 
 for noisy comedy — his whip and him- 
 self have held since the introduction of 
 the play, or give up one of the Jive 
 chances in our matrimonial lottery." 
 
 *' The disadvantages under ^vhich gen- 
 tlemen performers appear, must be 
 obvious : — seldom sufficiently aufait, or 
 sufficiently absurd for amusement, their 
 audience find judgment cramped by 
 the aukward feeling of obligation to 
 actors of rank, who kindly administer 
 their dramatic opiates. When the Spa- 
 nish company from Algesiras perform, 
 you will have more amusement." 
 
 " That will be to-morrow," replied 
 Du Marr; '' they passed my guard yes- 
 terday." 
 
 " Gil Bias is ever new," observed his 
 friend ; " men, of every description, are the 
 same as Le Sage described them, — even
 
 168 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAK. 
 
 Spanish players. — I have ^vitnessed their 
 entree ; — Jassamiiie drives in the Queen 
 of Flowers on a bourra; whilst, seated 
 on a pile of scenery, the Rose languidly 
 droops on her stalk, the Violets run 
 after. — The Garden ofFloivers thus leaves 
 Spain; but arrived here, the proscribed 
 Autos Sacramentalos are revived in all 
 their ancient mixture of absurdity and 
 profanity. The ease with which reli* 
 gion and frailty are mingled in these 
 representations, rendei's the mask of 
 Thalia deformed and odious. With the 
 exception of Guillen de Castro and Cal- 
 deron, the dramatic writers of Spain 
 appear to have little merit." 
 
 On the following evening these re- 
 marks were verified, during the per- 
 formance of El JDiahlo Predicador, 
 many years a favourite piece with the 
 inferior comedians of Spain. The X>^r//, 
 introducing himself into a convent of
 
 THE FAIR ASDALUSIAS'. 1(S^ 
 
 JFranciscans, seems intended as a com- 
 pliment to that particular order: — he, 
 however, proves the better preacher ; 
 and his hearers might forget his cha- 
 racter, were they not reminded of it by 
 .a tail of most imaccomitable length, de- 
 pending from his habit, over which the 
 Gracioso continually falls. Indeed, it ap- 
 pears a constant stumbling block ; — dam- 
 sels going to confession— old women 
 with assignations— lay brothers w ith pro- 
 visions on fast days— preachers with ab- 
 solution to married women ^ — ali are 
 stopped on their way, and strange mi- 
 racles w rought by its power. The few^ 
 love scenes are extremely ludicrous; as 
 the Gracioso attends w ith a long feather, 
 watching his opportum'ty, Avhilst the 
 pathetic is at its height, to 
 
 " To brush the dust from his princess's nose." 
 
 " Are you satisfied?' cried Montolieu, 
 
 VOL. I I
 
 i/O THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN, 
 
 as the curtain dropped amidst the uni- 
 versal applause, excited by the punish- 
 nient of a husband >vho would fain have 
 kept his wife out of the DeiiTs way, 
 though he appeared in the form of a 
 Franciscan. 
 
 *' The moral certainly is defective," 
 replied the Swiss; '* and I am astonish- 
 ed, where the power of the clergy is un- 
 limited — the audience are catholics; — 
 nay, I observe an ecclesiastic who seems 
 to relish these jests on the sacerdotal 
 habit." 
 
 *' By opening this vein," observed 
 Montolieu, " they preserve the health 
 of their body. Those who enjoy the 
 jest till they tire on the stage, carry it 
 not home with them." 
 
 The curtain now drew up, and pre- 
 sented the melancholy spectacle of Ne- 
 buchadnezzar, on all fours, advancing 
 to the front of the stage, ^vith grass in
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 171 
 
 his month, chewing it with strange how^- 
 iings. Amid tiae singular distress of 
 his situation, he had not forgot fiis 
 toilette ; for a handsome French suit of 
 rather ancient taste, with broad gold 
 lace, ** hung over his recreant limbs ;'* 
 and a peruque of large dimensions, 
 ** hien peudre^'' set off his face, and 
 formed a kind of lo/t for his hay. After 
 the Gracioso had leaped over him two 
 or three times> he retired to his den; 
 and the prompter announced aloud, 
 that Anthony and Cleopatra were at 
 supper. 
 
 ** Have the great personages of the 
 earth the Chinese privilege of now foh 
 lowing their example?" enquired Du 
 Marr, laughing immoderately at the 
 cracked trumpets and rumbling cannon 
 sounded on the occasion. 
 
 " Undoubtedly: — but, hush! — the 
 scene Hfts to the guitar. Gods! is this 
 I 2
 
 172 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN". 
 
 the syren that lost kingdoms ! — What 
 is the meaning of her breaking an egg 
 in a tumbler?'' 
 
 " Signior," cried a Spaniard behind, 
 touching his arm, " shedissolva deperle:' 
 
 " Correct ; — luxurious girl ! — but An- 
 thony seems enraged : — his mistress 
 might drink a province ; but why is he 
 so extravagant as to burn his wig ?" 
 
 " She hava declara one grand inten- 
 tion to die Ah ! dere be de sprightly 
 
 girl; she changa her mind, and dance 
 de bolero." 
 
 " If you have any patience left, Du 
 Marr, " let us exhaust it elsewhere,'' 
 said Montolieu, hurrying out of the 
 theatre. 
 
 On the steps he was accosted by a 
 young officer, who had performed the 
 heroine of the piece on the preceding 
 evenins:. " Tou lost a fund of amuse- 
 ment, Captain Montolieu,'' said he, *• in
 
 THE FAIR ANDALCSIAN. 173 
 
 being absent from the feast of the bus- 
 kms last night/' 
 
 *' I should have imagined otherwise," 
 replied he, as they entered Celestme^, 
 in quest of ice ; " parties ran high." 
 
 " We sat down to supper, drest in 
 character ; Major Main at the head of 
 the table, and Dell, in his hoop and 
 fly cap at the bottom. After a few 
 glasses, theatrical business began to be 
 discussed, and much difference of opi- 
 nion prevailed. 3Irs. Hardcasth grew 
 so enraged, that laying her elbows on 
 the table, over which the ruffles spread, 
 she or he^ which you will, placed both 
 hands to the sides of her huge toupee, 
 and obstinately refused admittance to 
 the colonel's words ; except when from 
 time to time, utterly forgetting the 
 dress, the litde Doctor, striking his fist 
 on the table, violently exclaimed, * I am 
 a mail ! — Colonel Main, I'm a man ;- - 
 i3
 
 274 THE FAIR AXDALrsrAN. 
 
 f 
 
 it cioes not signify, I am a man /' His 
 iviiil disordered looks, torn petticoats, 
 Tvhich from their extension had caught 
 every scene ; his tucker and foreign bo- 
 som, head dress awry, and fan, with 
 which he fanned without ceasing^ were 
 such risible contradictions to the asser- 
 tion, it was not in nature to resist 
 lai^gliiiig. Our mirth was by no means 
 relished by Dell, who putting his great 
 coat over his hoop, and his cocked hat 
 ©n his cap, gathered his train over hisi 
 arm, and passed the centinels rapidly 
 home, grumbling out to their challenges, 
 ^ A man! a man!' Various are their 
 reports of the strange figure that passed. 
 The great ladij that died in the fever ; — 
 the Viro'in^ w alking out of the Spanish 
 church ; — the head of the French ship 
 sunk in the bay, have ail perambulated 
 in report, to the South. The moon w as 
 bright, and the apparition must have
 
 THE FAIR AXDALUSIAN. 176 
 
 given its very front to the beam : — 
 would I had followed it !" 
 
 *' Poor Dell ! cried Montolieu, laugh- 
 ing, " the man does not live that plays 
 a better part. I hope Main has not 
 banished him the stage." 
 
 " By no means : but your Prologue 
 is not liked ; yon should have enlarged. 
 He means to write them in future him- 
 self." 
 
 ** I understand you : — 
 
 ** Much did he talk, in his own usual phrase, 
 ** Of genius and of taste, of players and of plays ; 
 " Much too of writings, which himself had wrote, 
 ** Of special merit, though of little note ; 
 ** Much too he chatter'd of dramatic laws ; 
 *• Misjudging critics, and misplac'd applause*"*^ 
 
 ** Was it not so T 
 
 *' I believe it was: — but, how did f per- 
 form ? — You have not either blamed or 
 I 4
 
 J 76 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 coittHieiided, though you chose the part 
 for me." 
 
 '' Why, 4hen truly your voice is too 
 iough for a languishing lady, and your 
 iiiein too aukward for a graceful one : — 
 you are too black for a fair praise ; and 
 being as you are, you -will never do ; 
 but were you otherwise than you are, 
 I should not like you. One hint : — do 
 not apply sal volatile to your head with 
 the air ef a bumper toast, or present 
 your fan like a pistol." 
 
 A fine morning on the following day 
 lured numbers to the Almeyda, where 
 the vendues, or sales were accustomed 
 to be held under the trees. A few 
 Moors, richly dressed, leaned listlessly 
 against the Maltese furniture offered for 
 purchase, smoaking their pipes of red 
 clay, amber, and ivory ; and viewing 
 with astonishment the gestures of a 
 Mediterranean Christie, wlio was ex-
 
 THE FAIR AXDALUSIAN. 177 
 
 plaining the uses, properties, and beau- 
 tifynig qualities of a mosquito net, not 
 forgetting to remark the security pre- 
 sented by its leaden weiglits. 
 
 " Bullets, to be sure, are a great se- 
 curity !*' said Captain O^Phelim O'Coii- 
 7ior Shagnessy o'Tyger; *' but I put 
 mine in my pistols, dear.— Captain Mon- 
 tolieu, your sarvant ; give me your 
 hand. — I shall be on your guard to- 
 morrow, and I'll give you a story for 
 every bottle you bring." 
 
 " The routine of duty brings my 
 friend and me together to Landport," 
 said Montolieu, pi-esenting Du Marr. 
 
 " Ah!" cried O'Tyger, with ridiculous 
 gesticulation, ^^ parte Franci/, my dear/* 
 
 " I speak English." 
 
 " Then let me tell you, till you hear 
 Irish, you'll not understand it. — I re- 
 member when I attended the college at 
 Bogmuderti/, a pratty little place of re- 
 I 5
 
 178 THE FAIR AN0ALUS1AN. 
 
 piitation, with a bird's-eye view of my 
 own parater fields, Father O'Laryj^ro/- 
 fesed the languages." 
 
 " 1 think," said Montolieii, interrupt- 
 ing him impatiently, '' I see Mrs. Layde s 
 carriage. 
 
 ** Sure you do," cried O'Tyger:— 
 '* they are all going to see if a Jew 
 makes more promises to his wife than 
 a Christian. The great Benaboo's dater 
 is to be tethered to Jekel Moiader s 
 son. — I'm sure I might expect a favor ^ 
 for I have paid him three cobs a month 
 for a doubloon, this year to come'' 
 
 " This will be a new scene to you," 
 observed Montolieu, as taking Du 
 Marr's arm he crossed the Almeyda, 
 •* I have interest enough to admit you." 
 
 The gentlemen were in time to hand 
 Mrs, Layde from her carriage ; who, 
 accompanied by Madame Du Rose and 
 General Clarville's daughters, were re- 
 eeived at the foot of the stair-case, with
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 17^' 
 
 great respect, by the elders of the Jewish 
 families, and conducted to the upper 
 rooms. At the head of the most spacious 
 of these apartments, the bride, covered 
 by a veil, sat under a rich and elevated 
 canopy, attended by her female rela- 
 tions, superbly dressed in the English 
 style, to which the siogidar costume o£ 
 the Barbary Jewesses, who composed the 
 greater part of the company, formed a 
 picturesque and pleasing contrast. 
 
 After examining the ornaments of the 
 bride, estimated by her prudent lover at 
 thirty thousand hard dollars, but sin* 
 gularly inelegant from their settings and 
 iinwrought strings of pearl ; the party 
 walked round the rooms, from which 
 the bridegroom and his friends seemed 
 excluded, unles«j. when hastily crossing, 
 tliey offered attentions to the general's 
 party. The third room contained a 
 large canopied bed, whose pink satiu 
 I 6
 
 180 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 curtains, quilt, and pillows, were en- 
 tirely covered with rich point lace. 
 The toilette presented the same splendid 
 support to a glass framed with silver ; 
 and near stood a bason and ewer of the 
 same costly metal. 
 
 " The riches of our Jews," said Mon- 
 tolieu, *' may in some degree be esti- 
 mated by this gorgeous display ; but by 
 no means their habits. Scarce has the 
 honey-moon past, than the parapher- 
 nalia of fortune is hurried away to 
 coffers, only opening to great events, 
 and the house re-assumes its scanty fur- 
 niture, and the inhabitants their squal- 
 lid attire. They are an ugly race. 
 Were it otherwise, how charming would 
 be the groupes the adjacent room pre- 
 sents! A marriage calling for the at- 
 tendance of the invited during days, 
 this apartment is appropriated to the 
 children, and the mothers come to fondle
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAX. 181 
 
 or attend them. The cradles have the 
 same adornment, according to the rank 
 of the parents ; but the poor little black 
 idol of the rich shrine, brings all Loretta 
 to the mind. By casting your eyes 
 round, you ^vill observe the Barbary 
 Jews, a distinct race as to dress or 
 complexion. The conten^plation of the 
 beautiful woman near the lattice is an 
 example. Her husband is contractor 
 for the markets with the port of Fetuan, 
 and her dress the exact costume of the 
 Moorish Jews." 
 
 The woman of whom he spoke, and 
 of whom Du Marr caught a glance, had 
 large line eyes, a clear and fair com- 
 plexion ; her face a fine oval, particu > 
 larly beautiful above the forehead and 
 brow. Above the dark and regular 
 arches of the latter, a } '?m\ of different 
 coloured jewellery was placed, sur- 
 mounted by a turban, or thick cushioa
 
 182 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 of red silk: over this, a large veil of 
 gold or silver brocade is usually ^vorn; 
 she had laid it aside from the heat, 
 and tlie absence of its stiff and 
 gaudy appearance Mas of advantage 
 to the dress. The cambric of her che- 
 mise and waistcoat, both cut round 
 above the swell of the bosom, and 
 dasped with rich studsjj were embroi- 
 dered with gold. — Her jacket, of silk, 
 embroidered at the wrist, and buttoned 
 with pearl, was confined by a large silk 
 sash rolled round the waist; and her 
 petticoat^ of white, bordered with gold, 
 shewed to advantage gilt slippers. Im- 
 mense gold rings, set with, precious 
 stones, completed the dress. 
 
 " This, with the exception of drawers,, 
 is that of the Moorish women of rank,'^ 
 said MontolieUk; " who, incapable of 
 moving, if at all handsome, loll away 
 their davs on sofas covered with leo-
 
 THE FAIR ANDALLSIAN. 183 
 
 pard skins, over which boards, with 
 golden characters of the Alcoran are 
 fixed. Last vear, I obtained leave to 
 visit Barbary on a shooting excursion ; 
 but never was able to gratify my curio- 
 sity with the sight of these ponderous 
 beauties. — Lighter women, however^ 
 walked on the terraces; but the jewels 
 and the embroidery were closeted with 
 Patima:' 
 
 A bustle now pervaded the rooms; 
 and the rabbies, with venerable beards, 
 and habits of ceremony, entered to per- 
 form the marriage, followed by boys 
 carrying immense wax tapers and rolls 
 of parchment. One of these was un- 
 folded, and the male relations, taking 
 the edge in their hands, repeated, in a 
 kind of chaunt, the names of their tribe, 
 and select passages of scripture. The 
 contract was then signed ; and the bride- 
 groom and bride, drinking from a glasSj,
 
 184 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 it was clashed to the ground, with the 
 wish, that no separation might take 
 place till the fragments were united. 
 
 " A tourist would remark," observed 
 Montolieu, " the art of mending glass 
 unkown amongst the Jews." 
 
 Refreshments were now served in 
 profusion ; gold filligree cups filled with 
 chocolate, salvers of dried sweetmeats, 
 and piles of cakes, concluding with 
 papers of a composition made of flour 
 and honey, were presented each guest, 
 and which must be eaten in token of 
 amity to the house. 
 
 The bride now withdrew her veil ; and 
 the Jewesses, who assembled round to 
 fan her, were very anxious Mrs. Layde 
 should pronounce her handsome: whilst 
 she hesitated, Madame Du Rose dis- 
 covered a dimple in her chin ; — the at- 
 tendant nymphs were satisfied, and the 
 party departed.
 
 THE FAIR AXDALCSIAN. 185 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 " There's some peculiar in each leaf and grain, 
 
 " Some unmark'd fibre, or some varying vein. 
 
 " Shall only man be taken in the gross 1 
 
 ** Grant but as many sorts of mind as moss ; 
 
 ** That from each other differs first confess ; 
 
 ** Next, that he varies from himself no less ; 
 
 ** Add Nature's, Custom's, Reason's, Passion*s strife, 
 
 •' And all Opinion's colours cast on life. 
 
 ** Find, if you can, in what you cannot change.** 
 
 De Valmont, whose misfortunes be- 
 came generally known, and whose se- 
 clusion, therefore, met no censure, could 
 not resist the many feeling attentions 
 paid him by his young neighbour, on 
 w hom the singular fate of this estimable 
 man had made no common impression.
 
 18(3 TH!: FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 Montolieu received little additions to 
 his library] and garden by every packet 
 from England ; both of which were ren- 
 dered subservient to the amusement of 
 the count, in a manner that only a hu- 
 mane man vmderstands how to confer 
 without offence. After he had ex- 
 changed his flowers for all the weeds 
 he fancied in Valmont's garden, and 
 borrowed all the military books he pos- 
 sessed, sending his last publications in 
 French and English, merely to fill up 
 the shelves till they were returned, an 
 interview took place; and the parties 
 were so well pleased with each other, 
 that the count often called to request 
 Montolieu would accompany him in his 
 walks. One day, they were passed -by 
 two or three officers, in dress strangely 
 disordered, appearing to look for some- 
 thing in the interstices of the rocks. 
 Suddenly leaving the object of their
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 187 
 
 search, they darted up the steep paths 
 of the hill above, and seemed only in- 
 tent on gaining its summit. 
 
 Valmont, looking after them, exclaim- 
 ed, "I seldom take my evening or morn- 
 ing ramble without meeting these na- 
 turalists. — Have you seen their col- 
 lection?" 
 
 ~" No, ray lord," replied Montolieu; 
 ** none but the traiteur of their mess 
 has that honour. — You look astonished! 
 I must explain : — the Epicureans are 
 too numerous amongst us for mention; 
 not so the little band of stoics that have 
 excited your attention : they consist of 
 men, otherwise of understanding. The 
 aim of their singularities must undoubt- 
 edly be to excite attention :--drinking 
 oceans of claret would not effect this ; 
 mating deer fed on almonds, or turtle 
 fattened in the inundation, would only^ 
 be copying petty heroes of the fork ;--
 
 188 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 but to drink water in Gibraltar, and, at 
 a feast, call for cabbages, merits no 
 common praise ; and, in truth, has ex- 
 cited no common attention. — To keep 
 this awake, these Pythagoreans have 
 added other mortifications to those of 
 the table. At day-break, such as are 
 disengaged from duty, walk bare-footed 
 on the isthmus, in some places rugged 
 enough for the expiation of a Bernardino; 
 their breakfast is prepared of sallads; 
 they then sally forth, picking herbs for 
 dinner, as you have seen ; occasionally 
 varying the walk by storming the heights 
 above. The slumbers of the night too 
 are broken through ; and the stoics rise 
 from their beds for the enjoyment of a 
 shower-bath. As may be supposed, the 
 brothers of the order are pale, emaciated, 
 and taciturne. Some have found it ne- 
 cessary to quit the society, preferring 
 life to the death of honour. Colonel
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 189 
 
 Brandywine, for three months, filled the 
 superior's chair; he had abandoned the 
 sons of Bacchus, seriously alarmed at 
 the t^onsequences of intemperance, and 
 was hailed with joy by the votaries of 
 famine. The daintiest cabbages were 
 cut in his honour, wild asparagus ga- 
 thered, and libations of water poured 
 to the Naiads. In a month, the ghost 
 of Brandywine appeared to his former 
 companions, and resumed his seat and 
 and glass, A deputation of stoics were 
 sent to recal the fugitive ; to whose re- 
 monstrances, he replied, in a whining 
 tone; — " If I must die, leave me to the 
 pleasantest death, I intreat." 
 
 " It is doubtless to the sect you speak 
 of, the innumerable caricatures of the 
 garrison allude?'^ observed the count. 
 
 ** Yes;" replied Montolieu, "the walls 
 of the guards are covered with flying 
 fi<ih speeding to the fountain — * stop
 
 100 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAK. 
 
 tliief! stop thief! labelled on their fins. 
 Seriously, I thmk the fraternity of usei 
 our young men discover any change of 
 life can be effected where tve tcill it. 
 It is a pity, what is urged as impossible 
 to morality, should be so possible to 
 singularity." 
 
 Landport Guard, where Du Marr and 
 his friend were solus, during the morn- 
 ing, is that of active duty. Books or 
 drawing, tlie resources at more retired 
 stations, are laid aside ; giving place to 
 the hurry of admission to groupes of 
 foreigners, entering the garrison with 
 provisions, or visiting it from curiosity. 
 
 At dinner, Montolieu spoke of Cap- 
 tain OThelim O'Conner Shagnessy 
 O'Tyger, who was expected at night 
 from the out-posts, in company with a 
 Pythagorean. " He is a man of very 
 singular manners,'' observed he; " his 
 estate, of which he gives such ample
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 191 
 
 measurement, adjoins my fatlier^s, in Ire- 
 land, and is by no means considered as 
 an addition to the prospect. My mother 
 values Mrs. Judy OTyger from her an- 
 tiquity and love of her son, and has 
 given me strict entreaties to be attentive 
 to him. Our habits are so different, this 
 is hardly possible, but we are on gene- 
 ral good terms ; and when he delights 
 in embellishing a story, 
 
 " Further the deponent saith not/' 
 
 I prevent, if possible, the arrow going 
 wide of the mark. The officer who ac- 
 companies him, is so complete a con- 
 trast, that some amusement may arise 
 from their disputes : — I have no appre- 
 hension ; for O'Tyger is a lamb in wolf's 
 clothing, and has a singular faculty of 
 cooling in proportion as his adversary 
 warms.; — yet he is brave in the field/'
 
 192 THE FAIR ANDALVSIAK. 
 
 Chess be2:iiiled the hours till the ar- 
 rival of the Hibernian and Lieutenant 
 Drinkwater. A supper of rare dishes, 
 the customary tax on the captain of 
 Landport, was spread ; and O'Tvger, 
 doing ample justice to it, heeded little 
 the abstinence of Drinkwater, who, he 
 said, " ate his salted leaf with the mien 
 of a mawkin." 
 
 *• Now tell me, my dear," cried he, 
 *' were your cabbage water corked up in 
 bottles, and kept in your cellars till 
 crust came on them, would you fill such 
 a bumper to the king, or your mistress? 
 I was on guard," said he, changing his 
 theme, and addressing Du Marr; " with 
 an officer of yours, who tells me you 
 are a bit of a philosopher. — Now, Sir, 
 you must travel in Ireland : — Did you 
 ever see the Giant's Causeway?" 
 
 '' No ;' replied Du Marr, ** I should 
 wish to hear from an eye-witness, the
 
 THE FAIR ANDALU:.IAK. 193 
 
 wonders I have read of that astonishins: 
 phaenomenoii of nature." 
 
 ** You could not apply, my dear, to a 
 better person: — as to the height, vSir, I 
 have leaped it." 
 
 *' Leaped it! 
 
 '^ Aye ; and no bones broken :— true 
 3Ialasien breed T 
 
 " I should think," observed Monto- 
 lieu, dryly; "the very recital of that 
 story would occasion broken bones !*' 
 
 *' I should like to see a specimen of 
 your powers, from St. George's Hall," 
 said Drink water. 
 
 " You are wrong," observed O'Tyger ; 
 you would not jump off into the ocean 
 in shallow water!— you are safer where 
 there is no bottom, — Come, you had 
 better be after aiting a bit of the turkey 
 than mounching sorrel." 
 
 JNIontolieu, seeing the blunt rudeness 
 of OTyger distressing to the young 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 19 i THE FAIR ANDALt?SIAN. 
 
 man, filled a tumbler equally from their 
 respective bottles ; and saying he com- 
 plied with the humours of both, drank 
 diluted wine to their healths. 
 
 ** To the fair "Spaniard !" said O'Tyger, 
 affecting archness ; '' to be sure I've not 
 wrote the old lady you were courting 
 and the family priest living with you all 
 the while." 
 
 ** This is leaping the causeway again!'* 
 said IVIontolieu, contemptuously. 
 
 ** Now, my dear," said O'Tyger, ** you 
 have the advantage of being a man of 
 rank, and you take it." 
 
 *' If my rank," saidMontolieu, " stands 
 in your way, put it aside with the scab- 
 bard of your sword, to-morrow.-— I am 
 no duellist; but, as I wish to give satis- 
 faction, if I fail, you can take it." 
 
 ** Arrah, now, be easy," cried O'Tyger, 
 considering himself awhile; "give me 
 your hand ; we are the bravest men in
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIA y. 195 
 
 tlie garrison, and will spare each other 
 for the sake of the breed.'' 
 
 Drinkwater informed ^Montolien, he 
 had heard in the conrse of the day, that 
 Generall O'Reilly had been ordered 
 from the command of the Spanish lines. 
 
 " I regret it," returned he; " born of an 
 Irish father, his heart is British; yet his 
 partiality leads him to no action incon- 
 sistent with his duty to Spain. Fiench 
 influence has doubtless removed him, to 
 make way for one more in their interests. 
 O'Reilly's character may be judged,'* 
 said he, turning towards Du Marr, " by 
 his conduct to an officer of this garrison* 
 Returning from St. Roque, Captain 
 
 F met within the Sj)anish lines, 
 
 and guarded by one of the Walloon 
 Guards, a soldier of his company, who 
 had deserted; he stopped, and with the 
 permission of his companioir, questioned 
 him. The man, who had been at work 
 K 2
 
 19G THE FAIR ANDALUSIAK. 
 
 beyond the barriers, was intoxicated at 
 the time he deserted; and now, partly 
 sobered by his walk, owned his regret, 
 in terms that determined his officer to 
 turn his horse, and accompany hina to 
 the General's quarters. The soldier's 
 story was told O'Reilly, who, with 
 much feeling, replied, " The man is 
 yours again : — you describe him as at- 
 tached to his officer and his corps; — 
 J do not admit him as a deserter: — I 
 want no man to join our service with 
 regret; and will myself write your go- 
 vernor to pardon him." Sir H , 
 
 though he would not make terms with- 
 out the barriers, pardoned the man on 
 his giving himself up. — Castanos is a 
 man firmly attached to his country, but 
 does not possess the talents of O'Reil- 
 ly. — He is attentive to the English; but 
 can hardly preserve terms with the 
 French resident, who continually ob-
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 197 
 
 jects to the parties of pleasure the Eiig'- 
 lish are fond of forming to Algesiras 
 and St. Roque." 
 
 On the following week, Mrs. Layde, 
 accompanied by the principal families 
 of tlie garrison, went to the Orange 
 Grove, with the intention of break- 
 fasting there, and spending the remain- 
 der of the day at St. Roque. At break 
 of day, carriages and horses left the 
 barriers, and boats pushed off from the 
 mole with such of the party as pre- 
 ferred disembarking at the mouth of the 
 little river, formed from springs, on the 
 banks of the Orange Grove. Within view 
 of the equestrians, whose horses hoofs 
 dashed in the wave that sparkled over 
 the sands of the isthmus, the boats 
 glided along, — the changing appearance 
 of the rock affording matter of conver- 
 sation to the party, consisting of Mrs. 
 Layde, Madame Du Rose, MissClaiTille, 
 k3
 
 198 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN, 
 
 and their guard of honour. Arrived at 
 tlie grove, it was only by representing 
 themselves the servants of the ladies, 
 the gallant Spaniard would allow the 
 officers to land, some etiquette in their 
 passport having been omitted. Under 
 trees bending with weight of fruit and 
 flower, and in an opening of the grove, 
 admitting a view of the hill of St. Roque, 
 and its white and scattered buildings, a 
 breakfast was spread, near the stream. 
 The scent of the rich fruit, hanging above 
 in clustering canopies of verdure; the 
 blossoms strewing the earth beneath; 
 the freshness of the morning, and the 
 dejemie, whose tables were decked by 
 the owner of the garden adjoining with 
 flowers, milk, honey, and fruit, afforded 
 a pleasing variety to the constraint of 
 Gibraltar, and the uniformity of its 
 scenes. At the Orange Grove, a small 
 bouse has been built, which is usually
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 199 
 
 rented by an inhabitant of the fortress* 
 A few gardens surround the place, 
 -vvhose owners reside in cane huts, built 
 beneath wahiut trees. The Indian aloe 
 forms a hedge to the gardens, adding, 
 by its singular appearance, to the novel 
 character of the sciene. 
 
 After viewing the interior of the Villa 
 Campagne, whose wainscot panneis are 
 H^oarsely painted with rural scenes, a 
 few of the gentlemen remained to angle 
 in the stream, whilst the others accom- 
 panied the ladies to St. Roque. 
 
 The town, irregularly built on a small 
 hill, down which the streets descend in 
 frightful and dangerous steeps, has few 
 houses of any rank : — its church is mean, 
 and it boasts no convent. — Shops, where 
 a variety of bijeiuc in dress are sold, 
 and an excellent inn kept by a French 
 emigrant, however, render St. Roque 
 the' resort of the garrison. After lean- 
 k4
 
 200 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 ing over the iron balcony, surveying the 
 characters that passed, — (a priest with 
 enornioMs beaver, shading features 
 uniting the gourmand and the enthu- 
 siast in their expression — an officer, 
 wliose shabby habiliments and dusty 
 honours were strikingly contrasted by 
 the belle he escorted ; who, with the 
 mien of a duchess, paced, in rich silk 
 stockings and embroidered slippers, the» 
 dirty streets, removing with arch co- 
 quettry her thin veil with her fan, to give 
 force by a glance to an equivoque ;) the 
 party went to the shops, enriched by ar- 
 ticles for English purchase. The gold 
 chains, similar to the Venetian silver filli- 
 gree, and catholic ornaments, are not ex- 
 posed for sale at the windows ; but enter- 
 ing, the ladies were surprised to find the 
 mean owner of a meaner shop, produce 
 topazes, rubies, and emeralds of value. 
 Dried sweetmeats and rich crape h^nd-
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN, 201 
 
 kerchiefs, worked in gold and silver; 
 black lace, and stamped tiffany, in imi- 
 tation of white point, made part of the 
 purchases of the morning. 
 
 In the square of the town, Montolieu 
 informed Du Marr, the preceding year 
 a bull-fight had been held : — " the mata- 
 dores gathered bloody laurels in the 
 morning, where the dance was held at 
 night. In the balconies of this now de- 
 serted place, the flower of the Anda- 
 lusian and Granadine families mixed 
 with our ladies from the garrison. 
 How far," said he, apart to Du Marr^ 
 " this was consistent with the timid 
 softness of tht^ir character, I cannot 
 determine; but, undoubtedly, the Spa- 
 nish women, bred from infancy to con- 
 sider the bull-tighl a place of gallantry 
 and amusement, seemed less indecorous 
 in their attendance than the English 
 K 5
 
 202 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 females, who, in their country, consider 
 such sports inliuman and vulgar. 
 
 After sauntering through the streets, 
 o'ccasionally peeping through an opened 
 door, at the rich jessamine growing 
 round the inner court, the party re- 
 turned to the inn, a large old mansion, 
 built round a square, where the horses 
 and mules of the travellers were fasten- 
 ed; forming no bad picture of the , castle 
 yards whei^ Sancho and his master 
 met with 
 
 ** Variety of ^^ retchedness* ^ 
 
 In the dinner, consisting of fish, game, 
 venison, and pastry, excellently dressed, 
 no peculiarity appeared, but the serving 
 of the whole in large round dishes. In 
 the centre of one, a ranger, surrounded 
 by smaller fish ; in another, a fowl and
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 203 
 
 small birds; a third, containing a fruit 
 pie, garnished with paties, giving a sin- 
 gular appearance to the table. 
 
 After dinner, the sound of a guitar, 
 accompanied by a low, sweet voice, ex- 
 cited the attention of the ladies ; and 
 Montolieu retiring, to enquire for the 
 musician, returned, and v^hispered Mrs. 
 Layde, who rose immediately, followed 
 by the party. The scene they hastened 
 to witness was an affecting one. In the 
 hostess's apartment sat a blind Spanish 
 boy, of very pleasing countenance, about 
 seventeen; — by his side, and intent on 
 her young lover, to whom she addressed 
 the impassioned song of attachment, 
 stood a girl, about his own age, leaning 
 over her guitar, on whicli she played 
 with some skill ;— her voice, mellower 
 thau the usual Spanish note, was ex- 
 tremely pleasing; but not heeding the
 
 204 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 presence of the strangers, or their in- 
 treaty she would vary her song, she 
 persisted in repeating Pedro's; and the 
 ■words, simple and affecting, told her 
 story of the heart. 
 
 " Are these lovers to be married?'" 
 enquired Du Marr. 
 
 ** Felice is too young, "^ replied the 
 hostess: ** my nephew loves her; — but, 
 alas! he cannot support her! — They are 
 happier now as they are ; and when 
 both are older, both may alter."^ 
 
 Du Marr perceived Madame Du Rose 
 colour and turn aw ay : presently re- 
 turning, she pressed her purse in Fe- 
 lice's hand : — " Do not love any but your 
 unhappy Pedro," said she; '' God will 
 find a portion !'* 
 
 The girl looked wistfully in her face, 
 and gave the- gift to her lover. 
 
 The evening approached, and leaving
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 20S 
 
 the horses to speed over the sandy 
 plain, to meet the evening gun, the ma- 
 rine party gave their sail gently to the 
 breeze. 
 
 " St. Prieiix," said Montolieu, softly, 
 to Du Marr, " had strange temptations 
 in a boat; he wished to precipitate him- 
 self to the bottom of the lake with his 
 married mistress! — how prompts your 
 fancy?" 
 
 " To hand her out ;" said Du Marr, 
 presenting his arm to Madame Du 
 Rose. 
 
 Mrs. Layde gave one of her social 
 suppers. Her house, ornamented with 
 much taste, consisted of four public 
 rooms, united by a gallery, open on one 
 side by lattice work to the sea, and 
 filled with flowers. — Transparent marble 
 vases, containing tapers, emitted a soft 
 mellowed light on apartments, fur-
 
 206 THE FAIR AKDALTJSIAN. 
 
 nislied ^yith green silk haugings and 
 ottomans. 
 
 Cards ^vere declined, and Montolieu 
 and Du Marr sung Fresich songs. 
 
 " I regret you did not hear ^dadame 
 De Mondecar sing,' "said Mrs. Layde; 
 her voice is line, and her skill and taste 
 exquisite. What a charming woman ! — 
 her residence amongst us appears but 
 a pleasing dream T' 
 
 Montolie 1 sighed deeply; in idea, his 
 eye pursued Estella in the dance, dwelt 
 on e\ ery feature of her expressive coun- 
 tenance, and revelled ia her brilliant 
 eye I He endeavoured to sliake off the 
 shade of thought that had taken posses- 
 sion of his mind, but in vain. 
 
 " The governor has received pleasant 
 information,'' said General Layde, enter- 
 ing, after a shoit absence ; — " the prin- 
 cipal provinces of Spain are in revolt;
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 207 
 
 • 
 
 and the yoke of France is about to be 
 trampled under foot, by the abandon- 
 ment of indolence in a brave nation. 
 The £n2:iish will undoubtedly en^a^e 
 in the expected conflict ; and Ca.stanos 
 has had this evening: communication with 
 the garrison. Jt could not be expected 
 tlie last insult to their sovereign would be 
 tolerated. — I am opinion that the Spa- 
 niards are ca})able of great energies." 
 
 That evening the merchants of Gibral- 
 tar gave a supply of money to Casta- 
 nos, for which they would accept no 
 interest; and which Mas as honourably 
 repaid as advanced. Communicating 
 boats came now daily ; the Spanish 
 people, aM aking into energy, astonished 
 the continental powers by their efforts 
 to free themselves from their invaders ; 
 and for a ^^ hile gave a bright example 
 of heroism and resolution.
 
 208 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 In the course of our narrative, the 
 fatal causes of their failure will be 
 slightly touched on, with every delicacy 
 to a nation, who, however unfortunate in 
 their armies, have the sacred names of 
 Sara^ossa and Gerona enrolled in their 
 annal§ of fame !
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 209 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 r 
 
 *' What might's! thou do, that honour would 
 
 thee do, 
 *' Were all thy children kind and natural ! 
 " But see thy fault ; — France hath in thee found 
 
 " out 
 ** A nest of hollow bosoms, which he fills 
 •' With treacherous crowns I" 
 
 Spain had fov many months presented 
 a dawn of freedom, at which sinking 
 Europe revived. The spectacle of her 
 genius emerging from vine-decked ca- 
 verns of repose, and converting even the 
 relics of superstition, and the priei^^ts of 
 her altars, to the soldier's supply, and 
 the soldier's companion, argued greatly 
 of the future; and resting on their arms,
 
 210 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 the nations awaited in suspense the 
 eventful combat. 
 
 The energy of Spain in the commence- 
 ment of her struggle surpassed example. 
 Their confidence betrayed, — their sove- 
 reign inswlted, — the respect to the altar 
 and the veil withdrawn, — her people rose 
 en masse^ and the tide of indignation 
 awhile swept all before it. Whether it 
 was the " incumbrance of help," or the 
 factious spirit of the Junta, that cramped 
 this arm of strength, the flame soon 
 ceased to appear, in other than faint 
 flashes of valour; only serving to dra\y 
 the demon of destruction to the spot 
 •whence it rose. 
 
 Castanos, no mean agent in the nego* 
 
 ciations of his country with E , 
 
 though no statesman, was a firm patriot; 
 nor does his disgrace militate against 
 this assertion. A master-stroke of po- 
 licy removed from the cabinet aaid the
 
 THE FAIR ANDALU5;IAN. 211 
 
 field, all M'hose efforts were feared by 
 the friends of France ; and the deluded 
 multitude needed but the cry of treason, 
 to raise their arms against those who had 
 led them to laurelled fields. 
 
 A generous and able nation came 
 forward with noble ardour to the sup- 
 port of Spain. What was her rej^ly ?— 
 " Give us money, arms, cloathing, am- 
 munition, but no troops ; or only garri- 
 son our sea-ports, and allow their armed 
 inhabitants to join the armies of the in- 
 terior. Your soldiers cannot subsist as 
 ours : — their habits are different ; — above 
 all, their faith. Their route must be 
 marked by famine : — the cross opposes 
 their entrance to our abodes : — hatred, 
 disunion, and reproach must ensue !" — 
 Prophetic words! — registered by the 
 ghosts of an army, — veriiied by the 
 feilure of every effort I 
 
 Amid the changing characters of the
 
 212 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 Spanish page, none appears so promi- 
 nent in the revolution, as Pedro de Ca- 
 Tallos, the friend of his de^Taded king, 
 the follower of his fortunes, the reprover 
 of his enemy ; yet admiration is cheek- 
 ed by the Spanish shade; — stratagem 
 and finesse are the boast of the states- 
 man. Cavallos, it may be urged, sa- 
 crificed his own feelings to the urgency 
 of the times. Who does not, in the 
 contemplation of this distinguished cha- 
 racter, lament the necessity of such aa 
 offering. 
 
 The same enthusiasm that urged the 
 land of freedom to aid Spain in her 
 glorious struggle, difiused its spirit t(V 
 every British bosom in her distant poS'^ 
 sessions. Montolieu, considering luan 
 in his inactive state as degraded, panted 
 for permission to enter a Service pre- 
 senting its contrast of enterpiize, 
 glory, and hope, to the tediou* xou-
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 213 
 
 tine of duty in the prison of a garri- 
 «son : — he gave in his wishes to the gover- 
 nor, and awaited his acquiescence with 
 no common anxiety. 
 
 Du Marr, on hearing his resolution, 
 suffered the idea of Estella to sully the 
 Avarmth of his praise. He could not 
 believe her remembrance had not great 
 sway in the determination of his friend. 
 He had been a silent observer of his 
 manner towards the fair Spaniard, and 
 marked, that he feared to trust himself 
 with the mention of her. Montolieu 
 indeed felt for Estella sentiments no 
 other woman had ever inspired. In his 
 silence he gave unequivocal proofs of 
 the sincerity and ardour of his passion. 
 Romance, in the delineation of love, 
 errs widely in this point. It seeks no 
 confidant; and, buried in the bosom, it 
 enshrines the image of its devotion from 
 every " profane eye." Du Marr had
 
 214 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 indeed confided the story of Josephine 
 to his friend ; but the union and reserve 
 of his mistress, his own principles, 
 and above all, the traces of time, had 
 weakened the flame of younger days. 
 Montolieu would have gladly concealed 
 his infant passion from himself. Love 
 without hope, for an object whose ha- 
 bits, manners, and ideas must be dissi- 
 milar; and who, at the close of a life 
 of happiness, would chose a difl'erent 
 path to heaven, could not be admitted, 
 without reason slumbering on its post. 
 Certain it is, no idea of Estella niingled 
 with his wish of joining the patriots of 
 her country. Here Du Marr wronged 
 him. The impulse of glory was dis- 
 tinct from that of a passion he would 
 rather have dissipated than encouraged, 
 by the active scenes he panted to engage 
 in. It is in the inactivity of peace, the 
 calms of life, the passions gains donii-
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 215 
 
 tiion. From the field of valour, the 
 spirit of euterprize, the active expecta- 
 tion of every changing hour, Love spreads 
 its light wings; and speeds to the indo- 
 lence of the palace, the rural scenes of 
 the cottage^ and even the closet of the 
 philosopher. 
 
 In a few weeks news arrived of the 
 battle of Baylan, where Castanos, at the 
 head of an army, consisting mostly of 
 peasantry, gave glorious proofs of pa- 
 triot valour, Montolieu received per- 
 mission soon after to quit the garrison; 
 and the few days of his stay were mostly 
 spent Mith the Count Valmont and Du 
 Marr : the former, though resigned and 
 composed to the afflictions that had 
 singularly weighed on his heart, seemed 
 gradually to approach the close of life; 
 nor could his friends regret it. The 
 world was a blank, presenting no en- 
 dearing relative, no joyous scene ; and
 
 216 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 €ven the conversations of friendship 
 wandered far from present scenes, to 
 recall recollections sacred to the heart. 
 Montolieu's character had attracted the 
 the attention of the count, and suc- 
 ceeded in withdrawing him a moment 
 from thought; but when he found, be- 
 neath the mask of humour, a heart 
 above price, accessible to every touch 
 of feeling, their converse, as they walked 
 among the remote paths of the rock, 
 assumed a graver cast. De Yalmont 
 did not part with his young friend with- 
 out regret: — "You teach me, young 
 gentleman," said he, " my heart is not 
 quite withered." 
 
 Du Marr passed the evening previous 
 to his departure with Montolieu. Estella 
 was not mentioned ; but Madame Dti 
 Rose, who at the moment was attend- 
 ing Valmont with a daughter's affection, 
 became tlie object of their warm pane-
 
 THE FAIR Andalusia^:. 21> 
 
 g}'ric. " I conjure you,'' cried Moiito- 
 lieu, *' by the memory of the pai^t, to 
 suffer none to suspect you have felt 
 any beyond the common interest her 
 virtues excite. As yet slie has con- 
 quered even envy by the blameless 
 tenor of her life ; but a whisper may 
 destroy her peace and yours. You tell 
 me love has changed to friendship: — 
 the heart is deceitful on these points ;— 
 never trust it." 
 
 " If 1 know myself," cried Du Marr, 
 ** I can avow it impossible the autunui 
 of my passion should produce the flow- 
 ers of its spring. — Fear me not ; — I only 
 hitreat of fate, I may shew Josephine 
 her honour is dearer to m^ than her 
 Ueautv ! ' 
 
 VOL. It
 
 218 THE FAIR A-NDALCSUN. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 " !5ee liow the golden groves around me sniile, 
 " I'liat shun the coast of Britam's stormy isle ! 
 ** Here kindly warmth their mountain juice fer- 
 
 ** ments, 
 '" To nobler tastes, and more exalted scents : 
 ** E'en the rough rocks with tender myrtle bloom, 
 ** And trodde4i weeds send out a rich perfume ; 
 *' Blossoms, and fruits, and flow'rs together rise, 
 '* And th€ whole year in gay coiifusion lies'' 
 
 1 HE Sim had prepared the nectareoiis 
 juices of the grape, and hung its purple 
 clusters in rich ^ profusion over the lat- 
 ticed casa and mountain's brow; yet 
 spared awhile its intense ray. It was 
 early in July ; and the embraces of 
 Flora and Pt^mona gave birth to per-
 
 ffiE FAin ANDALUSIAX. ^\f> 
 
 tlmie. Pursuing the banks of the Gua- 
 daranque, ^Montolieu arrived the third 
 day at Ximena, built on a rock> and 
 presenting the lirst features of moun- 
 tain scenery. It was his intention to 
 proceed to Seville by the way of Ronday 
 in preference to the route extending by 
 the coast. A Spaniard from the garri- 
 son accompanied jdm as his servant ; 
 and, dressed in the Spanish uniforin, 
 well ormed and mounted, tlie traveller?; 
 proceeded through a country singularly 
 picturesque, meeting only at intervals^ 
 the mountaineer or tlie mayoral. The 
 varieties of foliage gave a changing cha- 
 racter to the scenery : — pale and melan- 
 choly olives; woods of cork, casting 
 gigaiitic shadows near the *' frequent 
 cross;" golden oranges, pendent vine- 
 yards, and ample chesnut, led up the 
 mountain, and resigned the traveller to 
 ^teep rocksi, decked with tlie i?cark't
 
 2*20 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAX; 
 
 flov.ers of the opuntia, and thix)ngh 
 \vliose intei\stices the mountain streams 
 glided witli the retarded pace of sum- 
 mer. The peasant's cabin supplied 
 goats milk, in bowls of Sargentum clay; 
 grapes, in purpling bloom ; and pyra- 
 mids of figs, glittering ^vith dew. 
 
 When a countryman's abode present- 
 ed itself, Montolieu gave it the pre- 
 ference to the Possada. At the season in 
 which he travelled, the latter, present- 
 ins; so mauv inconveniences to a fo- 
 reigner, was divested of most of those 
 evils. The neon-day refreshment was 
 spread beneath the cork-trees ; and the 
 idle village group scattered at the 
 voice of the rising armies, A few old 
 men, wandering with their guitars, and 
 composing patriot songs, mingled with 
 the families of the absent, alternately 
 raising their enthusiasm by strains of 
 ralouj;, or melting the wife and the
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAX. -221 
 
 mother by praise of those who " gTeatly 
 fell." At Adajate, after entering the 
 bosom of the mountains of Vargausin, 
 Montolieii sat at the door of the venta, 
 and taking his tablets, copied the simple 
 song of an itinerant musician, round 
 Avhom the renmant of the vine dresser:^ 
 gathered. It Vvas thus the news of (he 
 patriot armies was circulated through 
 the mountains of Spain. 
 
 BALLAD. 
 
 *^ Have you heard how brave CastaN(5.s^ 
 
 Late at Baylan fac'd the foe? 
 Have ye heard how, ere the sun-set. 
 
 Many thousand French were low t 
 
 *' How» brave advancing, met the charge. 
 
 All our Andalusian youth? — • 
 Flow'rs of valour, none are faded ; 
 
 Still they live in fame and truth ! 
 L 3
 
 ::322 the fair andalusl^x. 
 
 *' Them tlie Holy Virgin guarded^ 
 Casting round her sacred ray:"-' 
 
 Some to future deeds awarding,— 
 Some to Honor's deathless day. 
 
 *' .Sig!i no more^ ye Spanish fail* ones ! 
 
 Wither not your youthful charms I 
 Know, than Love are other duties; 
 
 Called are youth to other arms^ 
 
 ^ Repkie no more at Honor's meedj. 
 Mothers fond and Sires Iwary : — • 
 
 Rejoice your sons atchiev'd the day, 
 And^ conqu'ring,. rose to glory. 
 
 *^ Bless the Saints, that brave CASTANOSy 
 
 Late at Baylan slew the foe ; 
 ^* BlcsS the Saints, that ere the sun-set, 
 
 Many thousand French m ere low." 
 
 The few inhabitants of the late po- 
 pulous village formed an interesting^ 
 group round the itinerant singer, intent 
 on the words of his irregular and ex^
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSTAN. 22S 
 
 tempore verse. The servant of Monto- 
 lieu mingling* with these, \yas eager to 
 communicate his master and himself 
 were on their way to join the heroes of 
 tlie song. To avoid the .notice this 
 drew on the brave E/iglesa, he walked 
 up heights rich with the promised vint- 
 age leaving the musician to conclude 
 his address to the politicians of th^ 
 Possada: — 
 
 -*' Have ye heard, how great Cavallos 
 Round the throne his council pours T — 
 
 Ascending steeps crowned with the 
 wreaths of the JBaccJiayite, he beheld, 
 ** a speck in distance," the last glimpse 
 of Gibraltar. Like the imperfect sha- 
 dows left by departed intimates on the 
 tablet of memory, every scene of hap- 
 piness brightened on his recollection, 
 whilst all the fancied ills with which
 
 224 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 his ** imprisoned spirit" ^vas wont to 
 torment itself, mellowed M'ith the dis- 
 tance, till they blended with pleasures. 
 The evening soon veiled the object of 
 his gaze ; lie turned ^away with regret, 
 and forgetting " time and space," waved 
 his adieus, as he remembered friendshi|x 
 liallowed its scenes, and love had there 
 tried his infant wins:. 
 
 Journeying through mountain scenery^ 
 the travellers approached Ronda. The 
 road led up the curvatures of a pre- 
 cepitous rock, on whose paths even the 
 step of the mule momentarily paused, 
 winding over huge and fallen branches 
 of gigantic corks, to the citadel, sur- 
 rounded by craggy mountains and natu- 
 ral fortifications of rock, through which a 
 minor river forms its moat. All around 
 ^^s.s wild and picturesque ; unless where 
 on the north-east, nature smiled in or- 
 d)ardf5, rich in fruit and flower : on the
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 22-3 
 
 opposite, hung the cabin, its sides 
 formed by rock, and thatched by vines, 
 whose purple clusters swelled from their 
 foliage. The wild genius of the scene, 
 stretchhig his gigantic limbs to the abyss 
 below, bathed his rugged feet in the 
 mountain torrent, now lulled bv the aen- 
 tier airs of summer, and scarce mur- 
 muring at its Impediments of rock and 
 foliaged roots. 
 
 To the soldiers eye the remains of 
 works that long braved the Moorish 
 arms, and defended the wild passes of 
 the mountains from their progress, are 
 interesting. The walls of Ronda v, ere 
 regarded by ^lontolieu with veneration ; 
 and he mused as he paced tlieir works, 
 on the spirit of the buried hero, and 
 the kindling fiame now rapidly spread- 
 ing through the Spanish provinces. The 
 appearance of the commandant of the 
 fortress, and a few ill-cloathed centinek 
 
 L '3
 
 tJ2(i THE FAIR ANIliVLrsiAN. 
 
 roused him from the dreams of past and 
 future. Don Diego Petronella de Le- 
 vos, after satisfying himself, Montoiieu 
 had not changed his faith ^vith his ser- 
 - vice, expressed no further interest, and 
 became so obstinately taciturn, that the 
 Englishman, who expected the whole 
 indolence of Spain had been roused by 
 the patriot cause, was eager to shake 
 off this representative of the Siesto ; 
 and hastened towards Ossuna. 
 
 The character of the country chang- 
 mg as he descended from the mountains, 
 was melancholy; a grey saddened soil 
 gave root to the pale olive ; and with 
 the exception of the ruined fort of Can- 
 nete, which he alighted to sketch, in- 
 troducing a traveller in the foreground, 
 he met with little to divert his disap- 
 pointment at the commandant of famed 
 Ronda. The Spaniard, who stood lean- 
 ing on a long staff, resembling the crook
 
 THE FAIR ANIXALUSIAN. 227 
 
 of the Sierra shepherds, allowed him to 
 sketch his figure and national costume. 
 His waistcoat consisted of a fleece ; 
 leather slips covered his knees ; his legs 
 were bare, and his feet shod with 
 hempen sandals: a Montero cap and 
 cloak, folded on the shoulder, completed 
 the dress. A horn cup and bread were 
 all the precautions he had taken for a 
 journey, he informed xMontolieu, was of 
 great length: — a cork tree shaded his 
 bed of leaves at night. 
 
 " What soldiers such men must make !'* 
 exclaimed Montolieu. 
 
 "Success to the patriots! said the 
 Andalusian, as he went on his way. 
 
 '' The country improves," thought 
 our traveller : " we are rapidly leaving 
 all traces of Ronda." 
 
 At Ossuna an excellent inn recruited 
 the fatigues of travelling; and in the 
 cool of the evening, Montolieu walked
 
 228 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 
 
 out to survey the town. Round the al- 
 meyda are built several handsome 
 houses ; in its centre a fountain rises, 
 and two pillars, with Arabic characters, 
 placed on each side, form its support. 
 Montolieu, seating himself on one of 
 the stone benches that surround the 
 square, surveyed with pleasure the dif- 
 ferent balconies, adorned with pots of 
 rich carnations ; the lattices, half un- 
 closed, afforded him a view of the fair 
 owners, who chose the evening hour to 
 refresh their flowers, and sprinkle, with 
 arms of snow, their drooping beauty. 
 He was roused from so pleasing a con- 
 templation by a voice, whose tones seena^ 
 ed familiar to his ear, and turning his 
 regards, beheld Ximenes. The reader 
 must have traversed a solitary country, 
 with every necessity of rec^nving advice 
 in the plan he may be about to pursue, 
 to imagine the joy with which Montolievi
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAX. 220 
 
 yecognised an acquaintance fully compe- 
 tent to give sucii information, and who 
 had received from him attentions a ge- 
 nerous spirit would undoubtedly feel 
 pleasure in returning. 
 
 Ximenes heard Montolieu's intention 
 of joining the Spanish armies with un- 
 feigned surprise. He could not Vvith- 
 hold the praise his spirited conduct 
 claimed ; but after his compliment con^ 
 versed more of the Junta and its poli- 
 ticks, than the army and its heroes. 
 The Marquis Mondecar, he informed 
 Montolieu, had been nominated to the 
 council ; and from his interest in Anda- 
 lusia and Leon, might be expected to 
 liave great weight in public measures. 
 Ximenes did not affect to conceal his in- 
 fluence over Mondecar. His manner, 
 always imperious, seemed secure in au- 
 thority. His advice of Montolieu's pro- 
 ceeding to Seville, and his remaining
 
 2o0 ^rHE FAIR ANDA>Li:SIAN. 
 
 till the nobility bad ' raised their levies^ 
 met, however, bis ^yishes ; and, at the 
 invitation of Ximenes, Montolieu con- 
 tinued in his company the remaindel* 
 of his jonrney. 
 
 During their progress, Estella was fre- 
 quently mentioned by the Father, in terms 
 that convinced Montolieu she counter^ 
 acted his influence with the Marquis. 
 
 " The Lady Estella is not at Seville,'^ 
 said Ximenes, in answer to Montolieu » 
 enquiry ; *' but resides at one of the 
 Marquis's estates, some leagues further 
 on the banks of the Guadalquiver. Re- 
 tirement suits her best. With all the late 
 Marchioness's beauty, she possesses her 
 high and haughty spirit ; and affects a 
 voice in her father's councils displeas- 
 ing to him. The enthusiasm she dis- 
 plays in the patriot cause renders her 
 unmindful of appearances. 
 
 Montolieu felt indulgence ; the w eak-
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 231 
 
 jics?, if it could be termed so, was his 
 own ; but hazarded no observation, re- 
 maining? silently attentive. 
 
 " Estella,'" continued the Father, "has 
 received the accomplishment of educa- 
 tion : she understands several languages; 
 and is a musician : — vou have seen her 
 dance!" 
 
 Montolien coloured: he fancied Xi* 
 menes had read the impression her 
 graceful manner made. 
 
 *' Thus far," continued the priest, " she 
 studied the graceful accomplishments of 
 a Spanish lady; but Estella reads, acts, 
 and argues at will ; and has a most per- 
 tinacious obstinacy of opinion, that 
 bends not even to the church. Her 
 cousin, the Countess B , has en- 
 couraged this ; and in consecpience in- 
 curred her nncle's displeasure. The 
 ladies, when together, ride spirited 
 horses half the dav, consume the
 
 252 THE FAIR ANDALUSIA:??. 
 
 hours of the Siesto in reaclhig' histof}'^, 
 and those of tlie night in singing* their 
 own verses. They part as lovers, and 
 correspond daily. The countess is now 
 at Seville." 
 
 On his arrival Montolieu was re- 
 ceivetl by the Marquis with e^ ery mark 
 of esteem. The cold cl^urchman, of ob- 
 scure birth, and debarred from arms, 
 had not justly appreciated his charac- 
 ter, or welcomed the volunteer with 
 ardour : — With Mondecar it was other* 
 %yise. He insisted on Montoiieu's resi* 
 dence with him; and introducing him 
 to the nobility that now were assembled 
 at Seville, as a man of rank and a pa-^ 
 triot, secured him their attentions. 
 
 The beautiful Countess B , 
 
 sister to the ministering angel of Sara- 
 gossa, understanding he had known her 
 loved Estella, deliglited to turn the
 
 THE Fair andalusian. %V3 
 
 ^t)nversation on her merits ; and re- 
 gretted an absence she scrupled not to 
 mipute to Xinienes. Montolieu sighed 
 on her praises with a lovers fervour, 
 hnt a lover's secrecy. He was anxious 
 to learn if his narrative of Carlos and 
 Theresa had been perused by the coun- 
 tess^; but finding her ignorant of its ex- 
 istence, he argued iavourably of his 
 cause. 
 
 Seville displayed more of the gaiety 
 «f victory than the deliberations of a 
 ^state ; the grandees being more intent 
 on the display of equipage and parade, 
 than th^ important duties they were 
 called to fulfill. 
 
 Amid the captivating fair ones, the 
 fr«equent T^rtullias and Refrescos intro- 
 duced him to, no Estella appeared to 
 o^ur hero, bright as her his hosom che- 
 rished. The countess only seemed
 
 234 THE FAIR Ax\DALUSIAN\ 
 
 lovely \vhilst conversing of her friend ^ 
 and to her his attentions were devoted. 
 The Refresco is the most admired of 
 the Spanish parties : sweetmeats, cho- 
 colate, and ro,9ar/a5, dissolved in water, 
 constitute refreshments ; wit, equivoque, 
 and boleros, the amusement; to which 
 the ladies soilietimes' add their voices, 
 accompanying* VSV^'w^////«5 by their gui- 
 tars. 
 
 *' These women are captivating and 
 seductive," allowed Montolieu : " but 
 the novelty of their manner past, they 
 M'ant the expression of the heart: — 
 their eyes, their air, and step are elo* 
 quent ; but their speech is that of in- 
 diflerence : — its repartee, its mingled de- 
 votion, and voluptuousness, convey not 
 the language of feehng." 
 
 When a lover is absent from a mis- 
 tress as lovely as Estella, he may be
 
 THE FAIR ANDALUSIAN. 235 
 
 l^ardoned observations as unjust as 
 Montolieu directed to tlie Marquis de 
 Santa Croix, the wit inspired Molinas, 
 and the Grace of the Guaracha, Movir 
 4ieros> 
 
 END OF VOX. I. 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF ILUNOIS-URBANJ 
 
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