CHAPTER XVII.

BERNARDO being returned to his pavilion, and the spoils of the battle having been collected, they displayed the prisoners; and among them was found Gerardo, Duke of Rosellon, whom we have already spoken of. This illustrious knight, although of somewhat advanced age, had not feared to expose himself to the fatigues of war, and following in this enterprise the banners of his sovereign, had lost his liberty. With him came a page or squire, who seemed to have for him a particular affection, for he did not for a moment leave his side. He was a youth of beautiful face, interesting figure, and delicate complexion. Both were brought before Bernardo, who received them in his tent with the greatest politeness, paying to the duke, by distinction of his rank, the most flattering attentions.

Meanwhile, some soldiers, who had received orders to examine the field and bring back the wounded, entered the tent of Bernardo with a knight of the Spanish army, who was mortally wounded, and who, as it appeared, had begged that he might be carried into the presence of the

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general. This having been done, Bernardo commanded them to relieve him of his arms and dress his wounds. But he, without allowing these cares, and exerting himself as much as his little strength would permit, asked Bernardo to listen to him, and said: "Do not care, generous lord of Carpio, for a life which I only wish to prolong some moments that I may make to you a declaration on which depends the honour of an illustrious family and the repose of my soul; and God grant that my repentance, although late, may diminish in some manner the greatness of my guilt, and atone for, if by chance there is yet time, the most cruel offence done to the most virtuous of men." Then heaving a profound sigh, he went on with a sorrowful and dying voice. "I had once a friend who honoured me with his entire confidence; and he had a wife who constituted all his felicity; for in virtue and beauty she was the Phoenix of her sex. Hear now the unworthy manner in which I repaid the friendship of this knight, and the infernal arts with which I endeavoured to lower in his conception his innocent spouse, of whose death I have been the cause.

"One night, (would it had been the last of my life!) and at a banquet, (oh that the viands I tasted had been poison to me !) a number of friends being present, the discourse turned upon the merit of women, and Rodrigo Arias de Mendoza

(that was the name of the knight whom I so basely betrayed), began to draw the portrait of Elvira his wife, who soon after became the victim of an atrocious calumny, which only a wretch like me was capable of framing."

Here the relation of the knight was interrupted by the page of the Duke Gerardo, who had been listening, and who now, overcome by a deathlike paroxysm, fell on the ground senseless. Bernardo and the rest who were present hastened to assist him; but what was the surprise of all when, in unfastening his vest, they discovered in the swooning page a woman. The Duke of Rosellon, not less astonished than the rest, awaited with impatience till the lady should return to herself, as it was she alone who could explain so strange an occurrence.

In a short time the lady came to herself, and fixing her eyes upon the dying knight, "Cruel man," ," said she, "author of all my misfortunes! fatal cause of my sorrows and ruin! Know that I am the victim of your wicked proceeding, the unhappy Elvira, the same whom you supposed dead, but who lives yet, if it can be called life to live without honour. Declare now your name, and the artifices that you employed to inspire my husband with that unjust jealousy which blinded his understanding, till it made him attempt my life. Strengthen your spirit, and before your

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tongue is mute for ever, endeavour to make some atonement for so much guilt."

"I will," said the dying man, "since Heaven has preserved your life, with me it rests to restore your honour. I, lady, am that Gonzalo de Benavides, who, if you will remember, came many years ago to Zamora, and presented himself in your house with letters from your husband, Rodrigo Arias.

"Moved by the praises he had bestowed upon your merit, I offered (rash undertaking!) to convince him in your person of the frailty of all the sex. With such perverse design, I made you the unworthy proposals that you know, and which were heard by you with the indignation they deserved. My project being thus frustrated, I recurred to a terrible piece of treachery, to abuse the credulity of Rodrigo Arias. You will easily bring to mind that the night before I left Zamora, I sent you a large trunk, asking you to take care of it for that night only in your house, and without losing sight of it, for that it contained effects of great value, which were not safe in my inn. Yielding to my wishes, you had the trunk placed in your own room, which was the very thing I wished; and far from supposing that you was favouring, to your own injury, the blackest treachery that ever was conceived, you took into your own apartment that Trojan horse which enclosed your ruin; for its contents were

no other than I myself, who had enclosed myself in it for the purpose which you shall hear.

"It was midnight, and silence and obscurity reigned in your house; you were asleep, and the occasion seemed favourable to my design. Then opening the trunk gently I got out of it without the least noise, and making myself sure that you were lying in a profound sleep, I lighted a little lantern with which I was provided, and set about examining your apartment. I observed all its furniture, its ornaments, the paintings, and their subjects; in short, I observed all, and committed all to memory, in order to serve as a support to an atrocious imposture that was to convince your husband of my triumph, and your dishonour. Not satisfied with this (pardon, lady, my audacity), I approached your bed, and running over with my eyes so much beauty as lay there buried in the insensibility of sleep, I saw that you had a mole on your left side; which mark, and this bracelet of which I robbed you at the same time, served afterward in a great measure to confirm the wicked testimony I bore against you, and which my heart has since wept for in tears of blood. Provided with these proofs, I re-entered the trunk, shutting it within by a contrivance I had; and remained in it expecting that on the following day they should come to carry it back, as indeed it happened.

"In fine, Rodrigo Arias, not being able to believe