CHAPTER VII

Jeromín had a great fright on the morning of the 28th of August, 1556. He was doing his lessons with D. Guillén Prieto, when Doña Elizabeth de Alderete, first lady-in-waiting, appeared suddenly to tell him from Doña Magdalena to come to the parlour.

She considered his lesson time so sacred, and it was so extraordinary that she should send for him during this hour, that the boy, frightened, began hastily to examine himself to see what faults of commission or omission he could have been accused of. Then he saw a courier covered with dust passing through the cloister. He began to imagine that the strange power which governed him and took him from one place to another was claiming him once more, and was going to separate him from Doña Magdalena, which made the child so miserable that he arrived in the presence of the lady very crestfallen, and with eyes full of tears.

Doña Magdalena was standing, an open letter in her hand, and joy in her face, so that, with the discernment of a much-loved child, Jeromín was comforted at once. "My aunt would not look so happy if they were going to take me away," he said to himself. She came to meet him, holding out her arms.

"Come here, Jeromín, give me a kiss as a reward for good news," and she gave him one on the forehead with all the tenderness of a mother, and then added joyfully, "You shall be the first to know, Jeromín, that in three days Luis Quijada, my lord, will be here." Everyone present, duennas and maids, exclaimed with delight, and pleased with these demonstrations, Doña Magdalena, more beside herself with joy than Jeromín had everseen her, then said, "And now, Jeromín, amuse yourself all day and go with Juan Galarza wherever you please."

Meanwhile the news, carried by the courier, had run through the castle and village with many added details. The abdication of the Emperor was already a fact, and despoiled of all his power Charles V had embarked at Flushing for Spain, in order to shut himself up for the rest of his days in the convent of Yuste. For this purpose the Emperor was sending forward his steward Quijada, from whom he was inseparable, that he might await Charles's arrival in Laredo, after having spent a few weeks in the bosom of his family.

This news convulsed the castle, village, and most of all Jeromín, who had not a moment's peace during those three days, or passed a night without dreaming of the noble figure of Quijada, whom he only knew by hearsay, and imagined to be something gigantic.

It was a great race, that of Quijada, four centuries of honour sustained from generation to generation on the field of battle, and the present one had not spilled their blood less gloriously. Luis's eldest brother, Pedro, had been shot at the Emperor's side in Tunis. Juan, the youngest, had died at Teruanne fighting for Castille, and Luis, the only one left, had been wounded in the Goletta. He was the hero of Hesdin and the inseparable companion of the Emperor in Africa, Flanders, Germany and Italy, serving him loyally for thirty-five years. It pleased the boy to conjure up this pair, formidable by their deeds, dazzling in their glory, as Juan Galarza had so often described them to him in the battle of Landresies, where the squire also fought. The Emperor gave Luis Quijada his banner, and putting on his helmet said to the squadron of the Court, that the day had come and that they must fight like honourable gentlemen, and that if they saw him or his standard carried by Quijada fall, they were to raise the flag before raising him. There was no doubt about it: two great principles were taking hold of Jeromín without his knowing it. God and the helpless, as Doña Magdalena felt andtaught. The Emperor, the King, authority and justice came from heaven and were sisters, as their servant Quijada proclaimed!

And then the poor child became miserable and wrung his little hands—why? Because in three days he would see the glorious leader without having done anything for his God or his King.

Hearing him groaning and restless Doña Magdalena, who was also sleepless, ran to his help, thinking him ill; and when with childish confidence he told her his trouble, the noble dame could not do otherwise than laugh and be astonished at the same time.

All the neighbours in Villagarcia went to meet their lord half a league beyond the village, the men with arquebuses to fire a salute, the women in their best clothes and the children in two rows to sing the hymn of the Quijadas, according to ancient custom. Some of the neighbouring gentlemen, who were relations, went on horseback to Rioseco, where the last stage began, and all the clergy of the place went with uplifted cross as far as the hermitage of St. Lazarus, according to the privilege of the noble house of the Quijadas.

Night was already drawing in when the horn of the watchman, posted on the tower of homage, announced that the suite was approaching. They could hear the salvos and the voices of the girls and boys singing:

Los Quixadas son nombradosDe valientes y muy fieles;Azules y plateadosSin quenta, mas bien contadosTraen por armas jaqueles.[1]

Los Quixadas son nombrados

De valientes y muy fieles;

Azules y plateados

Sin quenta, mas bien contados

Traen por armas jaqueles.[1]

The bells of St. Pedro and St. Boil and the small bell of St. Lazarus all began to ring joyfully, and the clergyhastened to the hermitage to give the cross to be kissed by the lord of the place and the patron of the church.

Luis Quijada came, riding a powerful mule, his thin tabard of taffeta soiled by the dust of the journey, and wearing a head-dress of unbleached linen on account of the heat. He was more than fifty, tall, powerful, and spare, sunburnt until he seemed sallow, with a thick black beard, his look intelligent but hard, his head bald beyond his years from the continual friction of his helmet. Bending over his saddle he kissed the cross of the parish with his head uncovered, and answered the responses in correct Latin, trying to soften his naturally rough, harsh voice; and putting his mule at a walk he rode, surrounded by the whole village, followed by the gentlemen and men-at-arms and more than twenty mules with baggage and provisions.

He got off at the gate of the castle, for on the threshold Doña Magdalena and all the household were awaiting him, in front of her Jeromín in his best clothes, holding a tray covered with a rich cloth with the keys of the castle, which he was to present to the master on bended knee when he alighted.

There was a moment of expectant curiosity; those present were breathless and silent from the lady to the lowest villein of Villagarcia. The suspicion that Jeromín was Luis Quijada's son had spread through the castle, and had rooted itself in the village as a certainty, and all wished to see the meeting of father and son, which they thought would be dramatic.

Whether Quijada had come prepared, or whether it was really a spontaneous impulse, he sprang lightly off the mule, and without taking the keys or looking at Jeromín, went straight up to Doña Magdalena and embraced her tenderly with much joy and signs of affection.

Everyone shouted, the artillery of the castle burst forth with salvos which made the old walls echo and shake; fireworks whizzed through the air, and from the cloister minstrels, who had come there on purpose, saluted the arrival of the master with trumpets, drums, and other instruments accompanying the hymn of the Quijadas:

LUIS QUIJADA, LORD OF VILLAGARCIAIn possession of the Conde de Santa Coloma

De la casa de RolandQue es casa de gran substanciaCon gran trabajo y afanVino un muy gentil galanÁ Castilla de su Francia.[2]

De la casa de Roland

Que es casa de gran substancia

Con gran trabajo y afan

Vino un muy gentil galan

Á Castilla de su Francia.[2]

The coming of the lord of Villagarcia did not alter Jeromín's position in the castle. Quijada treated him with the same affection and prudent precautions as Doña Magdalena did, and never lost an opportunity of studying Jeromín's nature and the springs of his character, and those impulses of manliness and energy which are the base of real valour.

One day when Quijada was in the armoury cleaning a gun and Jeromín at his side giving him the pieces, he said suddenly, "Jeromín, would you be capable of shooting off a gun?" and the boy answered him with perfect confidence, "I should be ready to shoot off a gun or to receive a shot."

The answer pleased Quijada, who from that time gave him leave to remain covered in his presence, and gave him a little sword, more a childish toy than an arm of defence.

But very shortly Jeromín covered himself with still greater glory, according to the detailed account of the licenciado Porreño. On the occasion of a bull-fight in Villandrando, a very fierce bull charged the barrier and put everyone to flight except Jeromín, who, sheltered by the woodwork, faced the animal and tried to wound it with his little sword in the head, making the bull go back to the arena, to the astonishment of everyone, who did not attribute the deed to mad daring, but rather to bravery or a real miracle.

On which, says Porreño, "The ladies at the windowsof the bull-ring sang his praises and the whole crowd applauded the courage and daring of the lad, who had firmly withstood this savage animal, and congratulated Luis Quijada on the bravery, which under an humble garb his protégé showed, judging that beneath the sackcloth there was the...."

CHAPTER VIII

At three o'clock in the morning of the 2nd of October, 1556, a horseman arrived at Villagarcia by road from Valladolid, and knocked furiously on the door of the castle. The night watchman hastened at the noise from the top of the wall, and asked who went there.

"Praised be God," said the person below.

"And the Virgin, Our Lady," replied he on the wall.

Cap in hand, the horseman then added pompously, "A letter from Her Highness the very Serene Princess Governess."

This naturally made a stir throughout the castle. Luis Quijada himself came out to meet the messenger, half dressed, with his spectacles in his hand. He read the Princess's letter and then handed it to Doña Magdalena gloomily, for he was one of those people who are all self-sacrifice and abnegation in their acts, but grumbling and cross in their words. This is what the letter said:

"The Princess.

Luis Méndez Quijada, Steward to the Emperor my Lord, this morning I have received tidings that the Emperor, my Lord, and the Very Serene Queens, my aunts, arrived last Monday, the eve of St. Michael, at Laredo, and that H.M. disembarked that day, and they on the following one, and that they are well, for which much thanks to Our Lord, and were received with due pleasure and contentment. And as you are wanted for the journey, and as it is convenient to know where to lodge them in this town, I pray you that as soon as you receive this you will start and go at once to H.M. by post, and that when you are arrived you will give an account of the two apartmentswhich we had arranged and let me know, with all diligence, which one H.M. would prefer, and that you will say whether any stoves shall be put in them or other things, so that it may be done ready for his arrival.

"Also I beg you that you will ascertain from H.M. if he wishes that foot and horse guards should be sent for his escort or that of the Very Serene Queens, my aunts. If it will be necessary for any Grandees or knights to come as escort. Also if he wishes that there should be any reception in Burgos or here for H.M. or the Queens, my aunts, and of what kind.

"If he wishes the Prince, my nephew, to go to meet them on the road, and where. If he would like me to do the same, or the councillors who are here. That you may advise me with all diligence, particularly as to his wish in everything.

"Also that you should undertake the charge, which I give you, of seeing that His Majesty is well provided on the road with everything necessary, and also the Very Serene Queens, my aunts, and to see that the taxes are well collected, advising the Alcalde Durango what it appears to you necessary for him to provide, that nothing be lacking, and me here what it is convenient to provide for him, in doing which you will please me much. From Valladolid, 1st of October, 1556.

"The Princess."

Doña Magdalena returned the letter, after reading it, to Quijada, saying sadly that he would be obliged to set out that afternoon or the next day at latest, to which Quijada answered irritably that he saw no need to wait until the afternoon when on the Emperor's service, and that he would start at once. And he gave his orders so quickly, and so expeditious was everyone in executing them, that two hours later, at five in the morning, Quijada and his people were all ready to set out. Jeromín came to kiss his hand with eyes full of tears; but shaking him roughly by the shoulders Quijada told him "to keep those tears for when he confessed his sins, that only atthe feet of a confessor it became men to cry." Ashamed, the boy swallowed his tears, and then Quijada, thinking that he had been over-severe, gave him his hand to be kissed, making the sign of the cross on his forehead, and promised him the suit of Milanese armour the first time he should break a lance in public.

Luis Quijada made the journey from Villagarcia to Laredo in three days and a half, according to the letter he wrote himself to the Princess's secretary, Juan Vázguez, on the 6th of October.

"Illustrious Sir,

I arrived here from Villagarcia in three days and a half, with great difficulty, as I could not find posts or animals to hire." And further, he adds, "Nothing more occurs to me to say except that it does nothing but rain, that the roads are bad, and the lodgings worse. God keep us; we shall have work, but not so much as I have gone through this journey. I tell your Honour the truth, I have never passed through worse or greater dangers, because I could already see myself knocking off the tops of thirty peaks, as a mule fell with me across a wide gap, and if it had been to the left, I should have had a still worse fall. From Bilbao, 6th of October, 1556, sent from Laredo.—

Luis Quijada."

Luis Quijada then met those three august ruins the Emperor and his two sisters, the widowed Queens of Hungary and France, in Laredo, who, despoiled of everything, and weary of acting great parts in the world's drama, were come to die in the peace of the Lord, each one in a different corner of Spain.

The eldest of the three was Queen Elinor, widow by a first marriage of D. Manuel the Fortunate of Portugal and by a second of the magnificent Francis I of France. Doña Elinor was fifty-eight, but more than years, troubles, anxieties and the dreadful asthma she suffered from had aged her, so that no one would have recognised in this sad, bent old woman the former brilliant Queen of Portugal and France. But neither age, nor illness, nor her many and bitter disappointments had been able to alter the serenity of her character or her goodness, which made D. Luis de Ávila and Zúñiga say in a letter written to the secretary,Juan Vázguez, "She was really an innocent saint, and I think she had no more malice than an old dove."

The Queen of Hungary, on the other hand, was masculine and decided. As quick to see as she was prudent and energetic to execute. Her brother loved her beyond everything, and Doña Maria repaid his fraternal affection with interest, and was always his greatest admirer, upholding his policy with great ability. Her energy and talent got him out of grave difficulties and real troubles during the twenty-five years this great Princess was Regent of Flanders. At the time of her return to Spain she was fifty-two, but had no signs of age except grey hair, and in spite of her years, and the heart disease from which she suffered, would have performed the journey on horseback by the side of her brother's litter if the weakness of the Queen of France had not kept her at her sister's side. Doña Elinor, recognising the affection and superiority of her sister, always sought advice and help from her, which Doña Maria gave, as the most loving mother might to the most trusting daughter. The sisters were also physically a contrast. At that time Doña Elinor was a little, short, dried-up old woman, with very white hair and such a peaceful, sweet face that she attracted by this imposing but gentle majesty, which was placed in relief by virtue of her rank.

Doña Maria was tall for a woman, with a good figure and extremely stately, though not in the same way as her sister, but with that other majesty which stamps the fact of superiority by merit, rather than that of superiority by birth. Neither of the Queens dressed in Spanish fashion, but richly and plainly in the Flemish style, with double skirts caught up, and severe coif of black velvet, linen collars, and black veils which covered them from head to foot.

Photo LacosteEMPEROR CHARLES V. CHARLES I OF SPAINBy Titian. Prado Gallery, Madrid

Between these ruins came that of the no less august and worn-out majesty, the invincible Emperor, vanquished only by years, wars, worries and his gluttony, for this really great man who had controlled two worlds could never control his own excessive appetite, and this had overcome him, crippling his hands and paralysing his knees. His wide forehead was bald, and his under-lip, already a characteristic of this great race and still distinguishing it, fell more than ever. On the 6th of October the Emperor set out from Laredo after dinner, and in one march reached Ampuero, where he made the first halt. The road did not permit all the suite to travel together, and they were divided in this way. First went the Alcalde Durango with fifty alguaciles with wands, and behind came the litter of the Emperor with Quijada at his side; it looked more like the procession of a prisoner than the escort of the greatest monarch on earth. As a matter of precaution there was also a sedan-chair in which they could place His Majesty in difficult places, and behind came valets and several mules with the things indispensable to the Emperor wherever he was.

At the distance of one march followed the litters of the Queens and their ladies, some of whom went on horseback; also sedan-chairs in case of necessity, and a mule and a horse saddled for the Queen of Hungary, who liked to ride occasionally. The third group consisted of the rest of the suite of the Emperor and the Queens and more than a hundred mules laden with baggage.

This modest escort was Quijada's despair, as only five alguaciles guarded the Emperor like a prisoner, and he had several discussions on this point, giving his opinion with his usual peevish frankness. The Emperor sent him to the devil, as was his custom, and Quijada, annoyed and in a bad temper, was silent till the next opportunity.

The Constable of Castille and D. Francisco Baamonde came out to meet them at Burgos, and accompanied them to Valladolid with a very brilliant guard. At Cabezón, two leagues from Valladolid, the Emperor met Prince Carlos; his grandson went to greet him with some gentlemen of his household. The Emperor did not know this unfortunate Prince, who was afterwards so tragically celebrated, and was very pleased to see him. D. Carlos was then eleven, and as the day was rather cold had put on a very richly lined doublet, which, according to a letterfrom Francisco Osorio to Philip II, suited him very well, and His Highness looked a "foreigner." The bravery of his attire, however, could not hide the Prince's feeble frame, or the notable disproportion of his head to the rest of his body. His grandfather and the two Queens gave him their hands to kiss, which the Prince did very politely and respectfully. But the first moment of shyness passed, the boy returned to his usual restlessness and self-will, and began to make a noise and upset the room with very little respect for those great personages. And seeing a portable stove, which served to warm the Emperor's room during the journey, a thing then unknown in Spain, he asked his grandfather to give it to him. This was refused, and, the child still persisting, the Emperor, almost angry, said sternly, "Be silent, D. Carlos. After my death you will have time to enjoy it." It did not please the Prince that the Emperor and the two Queens talked French among themselves, as they usually did, as he could not understand this language, which drew down upon him another reproof from his grandfather, who told him very severely that his was the fault for having taken so little pains to learn it.

Meanwhile the good Queen Elinor begged her brother to tell the child something of his campaigns; this the Emperor gladly did, and the Prince listened with great attention. But when he referred to his flight from Innspruck before the Elector Maurice, the Prince interrupted him abruptly and disrespectfully, saying that he should not have run away. The grandfather laughed at his grandson's outburst, and explained that want of money, finding himself alone, and the state of his health had obliged him to make this flight.

"It does not matter. You ought not to have run away." His persistence amused the Emperor, who went on arguing, "But if your own pages wished to seize you and you were alone among them, you would have to run away to escape from them." "No," said the Prince proudly and with anger, "I should never run away." The Emperor laughed at this haughty persistence, which pleased him, but hewas not altogether very well satisfied with the heir to the throne, as he said to his sister, the Queen of France.

"He seems very noisy, and his manner and temper please me little. One does not know what may become of such a hot-tempered youth."

CHAPTER IX

Luis Quijada hoped that, once established at Yuste, the Emperor would allow him to return to his castle of Villagarcia and rest by the side of Doña Magdalena. The Emperor, however, thought otherwise, and all his generosity consisted in giving Quijada a few days' leave two months after his arrival, in April, 1557.

The Emperor set out from Valladolid on the 4th of November, 1556, at half-past three in the afternoon, after having dined in public, and forbidding absolutely that anyone besides his servants should take leave of him beyond the Puerta del Campo. In this second march he took an escort of cavalry and forty halberdiers. The first stop was at Medina del Campo, in the house of a celebrated money-lender named Rodrigo de Dueñas, who, like all those who unexpectedly become rich, was vain and ostentatious and wished to make a parade of his wealth, putting in the Emperor's room a brazier of massive gold, and instead of ordinary fuel fine cinnamon from Ceylon. This show, however, displeased the Emperor, and the smell of the cinnamon affected his throat, so he ordered the brazier to be taken away, and the money-lender to be paid for his hospitality, to humble his ostentatious, vulgar vanity. Another five marches brought them to Tornavacas on the 11th of November. Tornavacas is on the side of the range which bounds the Vera of Plasencia. From here it is only one march to Jarandilla, the next halt, but it was a very troublesome one, as a horrible defile, called the Black Pass, had to be traversed, which had no real road, only a track across torrents, byprecipices, and through dark chestnut woods which covered the steep sides of the mountain.

The Emperor decided to follow this shorter but more difficult route, and left early on the 12th, preceded by many peasants with pikes and staves to make the way practicable. In front went the Emperor, sometimes in his litter, at others in his sedan-chair, or carried on men's shoulders, according to the state of the road. At his side walked Quijada, a pike in his hand, directing the march. Thus they went for three leagues.

The rest of the suite came behind without order and only careful not to leave their bones among the precipices. On arriving at the top of the Puerta the view of the beautiful Vera de Plasencia stretched before the gaze of the Emperor, and far away at the end of the valley on a little hillock, surrounded by orange and lemon trees, was the monastery of Yuste, which was to be his sepulchre. He looked on it for a time in silence, and then, turning round towards the Puerta, through which he had just come, said solemnly and sadly to Quijada, "I shall never go through another pass in my life except that of death."

The Emperor lodged in Jarandilla, in the castle of the Conde de Oropesa, D. Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, and stayed there three months, waiting until his rooms at Yuste were ready for him, and for money to pay the servants who had accompanied him so far, and who were not to follow him to the monastery. They amounted to about ninety, counting among them Italians, Burgundians, and Flemings. At last the Emperor definitely set out for Yuste, on the 3rd of February, 1557. At the door of his room he took leave of his servants, amid their tears, and with no little emotion on his part. After that everything was as silent and solemn as a funeral. Punctually at three o'clock he got into his litter, accompanied by the Conde de Oropesa riding on his right, Quijada on his left, and the Lord Chamberlain La Chaux behind.

The litter passed between two lines of halberdiers formed up at the gates of the castle, and no sooner had it passed than the guards threw down their halberds sorrowfully,as if they no longer wished to use these arms, after having done so in the service of so great an Emperor. The afternoon was rather foggy and the country dreary, and there was much that was impressive and funereal in the passing of this modest procession, which crossed the valley in silence and wound slowly up the hill on which the monastery stands. The litter stopped at the door of the church, among some orange trees, and the Emperor got out; they put him like a corpse into a chair and carried him up the steps of the High Altar. The Conde de Oropesa on his right, Luis Quijada on his left. The Prior, Fr. Martin de Angulo, then intoned the Te Deum. "The bells were overwhelmed and seemed to make more noise than usual," says the ingenuous account of the anonymous monk of Yuste.

The Emperor did not live at Yuste like a simple monk, as so many historians have averred. His household consisted of more than fifty persons, without counting the fifty-three friars who in various ways were connected with his service, and were selected with great care and sent to Yuste from the other convents of the Order. His house was large and comfortable, though not sumptuous, as can still be seen, for, thanks to its proprietors, the Marqueses de Mirabel, it remains intact. On one side it joined the church, the other three looked on the brothers' shady garden, which had been given up to the Emperor. The building consisted of eight big, square rooms, four on the ground-floor for summer, and four above for winter, which were those that the Emperor used. On each floor, from east to west, went galleries, the lower one running round both ends of the garden, the upper one leading to two large terraces, planted with flowers, oranges and lemons, and embellished with beautiful fountains, where, as in a stew-pond, were magnificent trout.

The rooms were hung with twenty-four pieces of Flemish tapestry, representing landscapes and scenes with animals. The study, or room, where the Emperor received was in the deepest mourning. At the time it was fitted up he was wearing mourning for his mother QueenJuana, so it was put up and so it still remains. It was hung with long black cloths and floating curtains and had a canopy and six big chairs of black velvet; twelve chairs of walnut and artistically worked leather, and six benches, which opened and shut, lined with black cloth. In the centre and almost under the canopy was a large table with a black velvet cover and an enormous arm-chair of a particular shape, with six very soft cushions and wheels to move it about, where the Emperor sat.

The bedroom had two beds, a big one and a little one, and a window in front which was also a door, and opened on to the same level as the High Altar of the church. Through it the Emperor heard mass from his bed when he did not get up, and through it the brothers came to give him the Pax and the Holy Communion when he received it, which he frequently did.

He had also brought some family portraits with him and some of his favourite painter Titian's wonderful pictures, rich jewels, and curious clocks by Giovanni Torriano, who was called Juanelo, and abundant plate for the use of his chapel, himself, and his table, little enough, however, for one who had exchanged the kingdom of two worlds for this corner.

The valets, barbers, cooks, bakers, and clock-makers, Juanelo and his assistant Valín, lived in a different part of the cloisters from that inhabited by the monks. The doctor Mathys, the apothecary Overstraeten, and the brewer Dugsen lodged in the hospice of the convent, while the secretary Martin Gastelu, the keeper of the wardrobe Morón, and Luis Quijada were boarded in the best houses of the village of Cuacos, whence they came each day to the monastery.

Having arranged all this difficult installation, Quijada waited patiently for the Emperor to grant him permission to retire, as he had already done to the Lord Chamberlain La Chaux. But the Emperor gave no sign, and the days and weeks and months passed and Quijada poured out his ill-temper in letters to the secretary Juan Vázquez, above all when he had to wait on the illustrious personageswho came to visit the Emperor at Yuste and lodge them in his house at Cuacos. But all the same he did not cease to care for the Emperor with the love and watchfulness of a mother for a spoilt child, or to aid him at all times with the light of his good sense and great prudence in those important affairs in which the Emperor took part even after his retirement to Yuste, with his observations, his counsel, and not seldom with his orders.

But at last the Emperor made up his mind, and on the 28th of March he told Quijada that he might go to Villagarcia, if such were his pleasure, and there await orders. Quijada gladly promised this, and on the same day adds this postscript to his letter to Juan Vázguez: "His Majesty has been very good. He has ordered me, of his own freewill, to go home, and says that he will tell me what to do. I assure your Honour that I shall not return to Estramadura to eat asparagus and truffles."

Quijada stopped in Valladolid to execute important commands of the Emperor's for the Princess Governess Juana, and from there he wrote on the 8th of April to his mysterious correspondent to whom alone he wrote about Jeromín's affairs:

"It seems to H.M. that as to the service of his person and house, everything is in order and as it should be, and it is his pleasure to send me to my house, as I have been there so little since he came, and for many reasons my presence there is necessary."

He found nothing changed in Villagarcia, Doña Magdalena was still the model of all virtues and the helper of the poor, and Jeromín the joy of the castle and the sun which shed light and movement and happiness around him. An extraordinary event occurred at this time to strengthen more and more the belief that Jeromín was Quijada's son and to expel the bitter suspicion, on the contrary, from the noble heart of Doña Magdalena. One night, while all slept, a severe fire broke out in the castle, which spread to the rooms of Doña Magdalena and Jeromín, which, as we have said, were contiguous. Quijada saw the great danger they both ran, and without hesitation dashedfirst to save the child and then afterwards Doña Magdalena.

All saw in this the love of the father triumphing over that of the husband; but Doña Magdalena, knowing how she was loved by him, saw the noble nature of Quijada overcoming this immense love, and thought how great must be the honour which Jeromín's custody conferred on Quijada, that he should sacrifice to it what was dearest to him in the world—namely herself.

CHAPTER X

The selfishness of the Emperor could not long bear the absence of Quijada, and a messenger was sent to Villagarcia on the 10th of August, 1557, ordering him to return to Yuste. Quijada did not suspect the plot which the whole of the diminished Court had made against him, with the Emperor at its head. On the 17th of August the secretary Gastelu, who much esteemed Quijada, wrote with much mystery from Cuacos to the Secretary of State, Juan Vázguez, "If Luis Quijada comes here and there is anything that you can do for him, will you do all you can to carry out all his wishes, for I can assure you that he well deserves it, and it is politic to gratify him now that it is a question of his staying here and bringing his wife—but this for yourself."

On the 23rd of August Quijada arrived at Yuste, and the next day, directly after dinner, the Emperor himself opened the subject, by asking him plainly to stay altogether with him, and to bring Doña Magdalena and all his household to Cuacos. The proposal frightened Quijada, and thinking, perhaps, first about Jeromín, and then of the various pros and cons, he could give no answer. This same day, the 24th, by order of the Emperor, Gastelu wrote to the secretary Vázguez, "Illustrious Sir, the Emperor put before Señor Luis Quijada, just after dinner to-day, the reasons for not leaving his service. Up till now he (Quijada) has not settled to stay by reason of the many difficulties in the way, not being able to do so alone, and the greater ones of bringing his wife here, and it being so necessary to be in her company. Things being so (the Emperor) has ordered me to write to your Honour thatyou should inform him what is given to D. Garcia de Toledo, as he is steward to the Lady Princess and also was so to the Serene Queen of Bohemia, when she was in those kingdoms, and also to the King, our Lord, and to the Marqués de Denia, who was so to the Queen, our Lady, that informed about everything, he may see what is just to do, and you may tell him your Honour's opinion, and that secretly, without anyone understanding what he wants to know, and that the answer should come at the first opportunity, because time presses; meanwhile the affair will be brought to an end, although I find some difficulty in doing so."

Six days later, on August 31st, Gastelu wrote again to the Secretary of State Juan Vázguez, "The Lord Luis Quijada, after much talk over his going or staying, has settled, in spite of all the difficulties of bringing his wife and of her staying here, to conform to the will of H.M. and to please him and to stay here, as he has probably written to your Honour; and the emolument which he (the Emperor) has to give, waits the answer of what I wrote to your Honour by the said post. His Majesty is well, and very pleased about Señor Luis Quijada staying. Please God he and his wife will be so in time."

And when the note asked for from Juan Vázguez arrived the Emperor himself wrote to Philip II:

"Son, on the 8th ult. I wrote last in answer to your letters, and I have heard that Ruy Gómez received mine in Laredo. Since then Luis Quijada has arrived here, and I have talked to him about remaining and bringing his wife; I ordered Gastelu to do it as if I were there present, and although there were difficulties in the way he agreed, however, of which I am glad, as it is a thing I much wished. And desiring afterwards to talk to him about the salary, he excused himself and left it to me. And to find out more about this Juan Vázguez was written to, that he might inform me what had been done as regards other persons who had served under similar conditions, and he has sent the report, of which I send you a copy. By ityou will see the result of the enquiry: and as I do not know what Ruy Gómez says about this, nor has he told me beyond sending me a copy of the letter which you wrote to him on June 10, in which reference is made to it, I write to you so that in case he should not have sailed, he should give you full information and his opinion about the money aid that should be given (to Quijada); taking into account that nothing has been given him since his arrival in this Kingdom, and the expenses he has and those he may have to incur in bringing his wife and household and establishing himself in the house at Cuacos; with the order that, if the said Ruy Gómez has left, the messenger should go on and overtake him, or go wherever you are, that in view of all that is mentioned above, you may learn what I should do and thereupon tell me."

Once it was settled that Quijada should stay in the service of the Emperor and that Doña Magdalena and Jeromín and all the household should come to the neighbouring village of Cuacos, prompt as usual he lost no time in finding the necessary accommodation. For this purpose he bought two more houses contiguous to the one he occupied, making them into one, and as comfortable as possible in such a wretched place. When everything was prepared, he set out for Villagarcia to fetch and accompany Doña Magdalena and his household on the arduous journey. He wrote from Yuste to his mysterious correspondent,

"Since August I have been here without going home. Now H.M. is willing that I should go and fetch my wife, and that we should establish ourselves, and although you must understand what a work it is to live here, I do it, in spite of the inconveniences, knowing that it is H.M.'s pleasure, so I go and shall return with the companion you know." As soon as he had returned from his journey and had established Doña Magdalena and the "companion" in Cuacos, he hastens to apprise the mysterious correspondent, sending the news this time in a prudent "the rest," the innocent Jeromín being all unconscious of their supervision. "After having done whatyou asked in your letter in Valladolid and having found out everything and how everybody was there, I went home, leaving again as quickly as possible with Doña Magdalena and 'the rest,' and arrived here on the 1st inst. (July). We found the Emperor very well and fatter than when I left, and with a very good colour and in good spirits."

Doña Magdalena arrived at Cuacos on the 1st of July, as the preceding letter relates. The same day the Emperor sent her a courteous letter of welcome and a substantial present of "cecina," the meat of sheep fed only on bread, and other victuals with which the larder of Yuste overflowed, as Kings, Princes, Grandees and prelates disputed for the honour of supplying it, and each sent the best produce of their estates.

Jeromín came with delight to Cuacos, with the hope of knowing the legendary hero of his martial dreams, the Emperor, whom he always painted to himself as wearing a plumed helmet on his head, his shining armour crossed by a red sash, riding the Andalusian horse caparisoned with velvet and gold, as he is painted in his famous Muhlberg picture by Titian, or as a thousand times Juan Galarza and Luis Quijada, eye-witnesses, had described him. The boy quite understood that in his humble position of an unknown child he would not see the Emperor close, or kiss his hand, or hear his voice, but he counted on seeing him from afar, and he knew from Quijada that the Emperor walked in the garden and sometimes even dined in the open air on the terrace of the house.

However, day followed day, and in spite of all his vigilance Jeromín never caught a glimpse of the Emperor in the garden or on the terrace. When at last, one night after supper, Doña Magdalena called him and told him that his desire was to be more than fulfilled, as the next day he was to accompany her, as page of honour, to visit the Emperor, it gave the boy such a shock, and he turned so white, that the lady was frightened and took him in her arms. Jeromín, throwing his round her neck, with the affection that he felt for her, told her ingenuously that the idea of speakingto the Emperor terrified him, and that he should not know what to answer.

The Emperor had invited Doña Magdalena to go and see him, and Quijada had arranged that Jeromín should accompany her as page of honour, taking a present which Doña Magdalena was to offer. This visit must have taken place in the early days of July, as Gastelu writes on the 19th to Vázguez and refers to it as a thing already long past. "Lord Luis Quijada," he says, "is well, and so is my Lady Doña Magdalena, whom H.M. was careful to order to visit him, and the other day she went to Yuste to kiss hands, and he was all kindness."

We have not been able to ascertain what Doña Magdalena's present was, but it was probably either gloves or handkerchiefs that were taken the next day to Yuste on a silver tray covered with embroidered damask. Doña Magdalena set out at three o'clock in her litter, Jeromín riding beside her on the little Roman mule which Luis Quijada had inherited from his brother Álvaro de Mendoza; he was very smart in his new page's dress and looked like a little painted statuette.

Behind came Juan Galarza and the other squire mounted on good, strong mules. They alighted at the door of the church, according to Quijada's arrangement, and went to the High Altar, where he awaited them. Then he took them by the glazed door into the Emperor's bedroom; he handed Jeromín the present on the tray of silver, and the two went into the Emperor's room, Jeromín following.

The darkness added to the funereal aspect of the room, as the curtains had been drawn and the windows closed because of the heat. Jeromín, as Quijada had ordered him, groped his way to the wall on one side, and there stood very straight, with the tray in his hand. At first he could distinguish nothing, except a sort of mountain of black things, a white spot in the centre, and heavy breathing like that of an asthmatic old man. The Emperor received Doña Magdalena "con todo favor," as Juan Vázguez wrote to the secretary Gastelu. She was the only lady he received in Yuste except the Queens, DoñaElinor and Doña Maria; he sat up in his chair as much as his swollen knees allowed, and took off his thin silk cap. He gave his hand to be kissed, and, with all the grace and gallantry of his youth, then asked Quijada's permission to kiss the lady's. He ordered an arm-chair to be put near him, as if she had been a princess of the blood, and also ordered the curtains to be undrawn and the windows to be opened.

Then the light streamed in, and Jeromín could see what remained of that great Emperor, that hero of many battles: a bent old man, with a white beard, a sunken head, and a tired voice. He was lost in the cushions of his enormous chair, his legs covered with a rich and light quilt stuffed with feathers, a present from his daughter Princess Juana. At his side on a perch a beautiful parrot, and on his knees he had two tiny Indian kittens, which had been sent him a short time before by his sister Doña Catalina, the great widowed Queen of Portugal.

Jeromín remained awestruck before this ruin, till gaining courage he dared to look at him face to face. But at that moment the Emperor raised his head, and, as if by accident, his glance fell on the child. Jeromín shut his eyes and shrank up as if he saw a mountain falling on him. There was the Emperor, the hero of so many battles—he saw the eagle's glance which still had genius and glory in it, and which also had, as it looked on the child, something strange and deep, which was neither stern nor indifferent, but rather gentle and loving, though mixed with something which oppressed and terrified Jeromín, without his knowing why, because it was impossible for his innocent soul to perceive the dim shadows which remorse sheds on love.

All this only lasted a moment; Doña Magdalena spoke of her present, and Quijada ordered the child to approach and offer it. Jeromín did so, trembling like quicksilver, and knelt before the Emperor, lifting up the tray to him. The Emperor took what was on the tray with many expressions of pleasure and thanks, and placed the present on the table. Then he stretched out his crippled hand forJeromín to kiss, and laid it for a moment on the fair head. At a sign from Luis Quijada, Jeromín returned to his place.

Meanwhile one of the Emperor's kittens had got away and ran to Jeromín and began to make friends and scramble up his legs. The Emperor laughed, and Jeromín, very confused, gently pushed the kitten away with his foot to make it go back to its place. The Emperor said, "Carry it here." Jeromín picked up the little animal and presented it to the Emperor on his knees.

The Emperor again gave his hand to be kissed, and placed it for a second time, for a moment, as if in benediction or as a caress, on Jeromín's head. They left as they had come in. On entering the church Jeromín pulled Doña Magdalena's skirt, and throwing himself into her arms began to cry. Astonished, she asked him what was the matter, and putting his little red mouth close to her ear, he whispered between his sobs, "I do not know, Lady Aunt, I do not know." Luis Quijada came and saw him crying, but did not ask the reason or reprove him, this time, for his tears.

Back to Index Next