"I knew him," she said, "when he was talking with his sister, and I heard her promise him to bring him into the private audience chamber of the Queen."

"And thou, also, wert there?"

"Am I the Margherita to be shown such favor? Nay, but I have an audience-chamber of my own from the window of my turret when there is no light within: and all that day I knew by the face of Alicia that there was some intrigue--which I was not one to miss through heedlessness!

Alicia was watching for him that night; and I knew his face when I saw them together on the terrace. And with them was another man--wrapped in a cloak--the feather of his hat drooping low over his face.--And his face--I never turned my eyes away from him and I saw it for a moment when the wind swept his feather aside--his face was the face of--_Rizzo!_" she whispered the name.

"Nay, nay, Ecciva--not he! It could not be _he_!"

"Nay, my trusting children; believe your betters, if you will! As for me--I trust these eyes, rather than the uncertain speech of those who teach us what we _may_ believe. These eyes are good eyes! They have not failed me yet!"

She laughed lightly, satisfied with the impression her tale had made, as she turned away indifferently; but they were eager for the rest.

"There is more, Ecciva!--that which cometh after?--_subito_--for the Lady of the Bernardini might return!" They were all clamoring about her.

"And Alicia verily brought him to the Queen's audience-chamber?"

"Nay--bide my time, chatterers, if you would hear the tale--for it hath a sequel--we do not often get one good enough to be spoiled by a too hasty telling.--Rizzo, for it was verily he--can any one forget Rizzo!--he turned from them and began to climb the mountain, there, where the signal fire glowed later. And Tristan, the handsome knight, came into the palace with his sister; and after them come following the holy sister Violante--she who came hither from Rhodes some days before."

"Go on!" they cried eagerly, crowding closer. She waved them away from her.

"There is no more," she answered provokingly--"save that which we all know; _the signal-fire_, and the _galley floating below by the coast, half hidden by the great rock_--for that also I saw from my turret--thanks be to the Madonna for lifting the mortal dulness! And I left sleep for better things that night; for it was well-nigh the hour of matins when the galley set sail for Venice."

"But the audience with the Queen?"

"There was no audience. For I bethought me of somewhat I had _forgotten_ in the ante-chamber--not to miss the knowledge of what was pa.s.sing--and I sped me thither. And then there was naught left to do but to hide me, somewhat weak of heart, in the tapestry of the ante-chamber; for the door was wide into the Queen's salon, and there was His Excellency the Bernardini, flashing scorn in his speech, so that one thought the air would break into flames--he, the while, standing still enough for an image of a wrathful Kinyras; the Queen's guard was around him, all in full armor--a doughty corps of men to meet those three!--Alicia, white as a spirit, weeping against Tristan; and Violante, shaken out of her holy calm, kneeling to pray His Excellency's grace!"

"And then----?"

"And then they left the Queen's chamber and I dared not creep forth until all was quiet again. But I heard His Excellency's speech as he stood bowing in the doorway when the guards led Tristan forth--a model of courtesy one would have said--for I could see him through a parting in the arras though I risked my life in standing there--'Her Majesty'

said the Bernardini--very fair of speech--'doth surely owe such escort to the Ill.u.s.trissimo, the Seigneur de Giblet, for the attention he would fain have offered in his own person to King Ja.n.u.s, in his Episcopal Palace before he wore the crown of the realm.' And the Seigneur de Giblet, not to be outdone--being Cyprian--answers him--very proud and cold--'Is your Excellency ever so faithful to reward a service _contemplated, but not achieved_?' For he had meant to smother the King in his sleep that night, if Ja.n.u.s had not escaped to Egypt."

They were all silent until Ecciva, less overcome by these tragic memories, resumed her story.

"And after that, Tristan came no more; nor his sister, the fair Alicia; nor Rizzo, the dark-browed. Nor was it many days ere Violante, the most holy sister, had left the court.--Ask the Provveditori!"

"But what message did they bring Her Majesty?"

"Am I a n.o.ble of _Venice_ that I should know this mystery which toucheth our realm of Cyprus?" she answered scornfully. "Ask the Bernardini, or the Dama Margherita--to whom he confesseth all his soul!"

"But Rizzo?" Eloisa asked, bewildered.

"And Rizzo--when he had lighted the signal fire on the mountain--thinking perchance, there had been time for the meeting with the Queen which Alicia had promised Tristan--and the galley had come to sh.o.r.e beneath and waited for him,--went on board, nothing doubting, thinking to return to Rhodes--who knoweth?--To Carlotta perchance;--but he found the galley _manned with mariners from the a.r.s.enal of Venice_; and Tristan coming to set sail for Venice, with the Queen's guard, all in full armor, to speed him on his way: _and a Venetian General in command, in lieu of the African Captain of the galley who brought him hither_. For one may seek in vain to outwit a Venetian; one must admire them for that, though it work us woe!"

"It is thine own tale, verily, Ecciva; thou speakest to mock us!"

"Nay--faith of Sant'Elena, it is true and sad enough--if there were not sadder to come. For Tristan, the gallant, handsome knight, being in chains, and fearing worse awaited him when he should reach Venice, wrenched the diamond from a ring he wore and kneaded it into the bread they served him for his breakfast, and swallowed it--and so there was an end."

They still looked at her incredulously--"How shouldst thou know this tale of horror more than others--if it were true?"

She shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "If one maketh wise use of opportunity, one need not always wait the telling. But to-morrow the court will be ringing with the tale; it cometh but now from Venice."

"But Rizzo?"

"He is there in Venice in the _pozzi_; and the end will not be easy like that of Tristan. For he is the greatest traitor of them all--verily a traitor almost sublime. It were not so difficult to admire the nerve of the man!--Rizzo----"

But her further speech was lost in the babel of expostulation and question that broke forth, and which would have lasted long but for the return of Madama di Thenouris and Dama Margherita.

x.x.xI

The court had been recently thrown into consternation by the discovery of a plot to seize the various citadels of the island and hold them for Carlotta. It was evidently well supported and far advanced, as disclosed by the intercepted letters addressed to some unknown person, which had been laid before the Council; all who were mentioned as partisans or confidants in this intrigue were designated under a.s.sumed names, but the knowledge which these papers gave the Council was of immense value, enabling them to provide that all the garrisons of Cyprus should be commanded by men of known loyalty to the Queen. Meanwhile vigorous efforts were being made to discover the ident.i.ty of the person addressed as

"_L'Ill.u.s.trissima, Madama di Niuna._"

But no light had been thrown upon the matter, although it had been openly discussed in the court-circle.

Dama Margherita had noticed with uneasiness that Ecciva de Montferrat, who was usually on the alert for any excitement, had seemed singularly apathetic when this subject had been broached, and she felt that the trust reposed in her by the Admiral required her to mention her suspicions to Madama di Thenouris, although she shrank from this duty the more because she knew that Dama Ecciva was supposed to be exerting some secret influence against herself.

"Dear Madama di Thenouris," she said appealingly, "it seems so much the more ungracious on my part. Yet it is treachery to our Queen. And if it should be that Dama Ecciva hath been receiving these letters and holding such part in these intrigues--to leave her where she hath free access to the court-circle.--But it cannot be true; she is too young to be so faithless! And if she need not know that I have hinted of my fears? It would seem like some petty revenge--yet I cannot be false to my trust!"

"Thank heaven thou canst not, Margherita, since others find it easy! Yet we must watch for our own a.s.surance, and may thy fears prove naught!

Comfort thy soul, for _some_ one is guilty, and the finding of the culprit will clear all others of suspicion."

"It is most strange about these letters," Madama di Thenouris said later, as the young maids of honor sat around her with their embroidery frames. "Tell me, Ecciva----"

There was a sudden convulsive movement of the girl's arm and she gave an exclamation of annoyance as the golden thread snapped in her needle; but she did not look up.

Madama di Thenouris, closely watching, saw that her fingers trembled so that she could scarcely hold her needle.

"Tell me," she pursued in her leisurely fashion, after a slight pause, while Ecciva's needle still remained unthreaded, "what method shall we take to discover the ident.i.ty of this unknown 'ill.u.s.trissima'--this _Madama di Niuna_?"

The girl's alarm grew evidently less; but it was a moment more before she answered:

"Why doth your Excellency thus honor me, in calling me in counsel? There are others whose opinion would carry more weight."

"Nevertheless, since I have asked thee, give me thy thought."

"_Madama di Niuna_," the young maid of honor exclaimed petulantly, forgetting her deference, "there is no Madama di Niuna!--How should I know?" The silk was hopelessly knotted and twisted about the tiny pearl she had just threaded, requiring close attention; Madama di Thenouris also seemed to watch her work with interest.

"Thou art right, my child, thou art over-young to have any knowledge of so despicable an intrigue. But the matter is naturally of deep concern for us all," she added, as Ecciva, having recovered her perfect self-control lifted her eyes to Madama di Thenouris with a smile that was intended to thank her for her trust, while a.s.suring her that there was no possible ground for supposing that she had any knowledge of this intrigue.

But the gray-haired court-lady met her gaze searchingly and with no answering smile--she who could be so gracious.

"The Council will follow a clue upon which they have just chanced, and which may lead to the discovery. If Madama di Niuna would come forward to confess," she pursued with quiet emphasis, "it might lessen the penalty for partic.i.p.ation in this intrigue--which some among the Council tell us can be nothing less than death."