In the Palace of the King | Page 7

the old man pretended that he
saw nothing, and made no answering gesture. Some one in the crowd of
courtiers laughed lightly. Old Mendoza's face never changed; but his
knees must have pressed the saddle suddenly, for his black horse stirred
uneasily, and tried to rear a little. Don John stopped short, and his eyes
hardened and grew very light before the smile could fade from his lips,
while he tried to find the face of the man whose laugh he had heard.
But that was impossible, and his look was grave and stern as he went in
under the great gate, the multitude cheering after him.
From her high window Dolores had seen and heard also, for she had
followed every movement he made and every change of his expression,
and had faithfully told her sister what she saw, until the laugh came,
short and light, but cutting. And Inez heard that, too, for she was
leaning far forward upon the broad stone sill to listen for the sound of
Don John's voice. She drew back with a springing movement, and a
sort of cry of pain.
"Some one is laughing at me!" she cried. "Some one is laughing
because I am trying to see!"
Instantly Dolores drew her sister to her, kissing her tenderly, and
soothing her as one does a frightened child.
"No, dear, no! It was not that--I saw what it was. Nobody was looking
at you, my darling. Do you know why some one laughed? It hurt me,
too. He smiled and waved his hand to our father, who took no notice of
him. The laugh was for that--and for me, because the man knew well
enough that our father does not mean that we shall ever marry. Do you
see, dear? It was not meant for you."

"Did he really look up at us when you said so?" asked Inez, in a
smothered voice.
"Who? The man who laughed?"
"No. I mean--"
"Don John? Yes. He looked up to us and smiled--as he often does at
me--with his eyes only, while his face was quite grave. He is not
changed at all, except that he looks more determined, and handsomer,
and braver, and stronger than ever! He does each time I see him!"
But Inez was not listening.
"That was worth living for--worth being blind for," she said suddenly,
"to hear the people shout and cheer for him as he came along. You who
can see it all do not understand what the sound means to me. For a
moment--only for a moment--I saw light--I know I saw a bright light
before my eyes. I am not dreaming. It made my heart beat, and it made
my head dizzy. It must have been light. Do you think it could be,
Dolores?"
"I do not know, dear," answered the other gently.
But as the day faded and they sat together in the early dusk, Dolores
looked long and thoughtfully at the blind face. Inez loved Don John,
though she did not know it, and without knowing it she had told her
sister.
* * * * *
CHAPTER II
When Don John had disappeared within the palace the people lingered
a little while, hoping that something might happen which would be
worth seeing, and then, murmuring a little in perfectly unreasonable
disappointment, they slowly dispersed. After that old Mendoza gave his
orders to the officers of the guards, the men tramped away, one

detachment after another, in a regular order; the cavalry that had ridden
up with Don John wheeled at a signal from the trumpets, and began to
ride slowly back to the city, pressing hard upon the multitude, and
before it was quite dark the square before the palace was deserted again.
The sky had cleared, the pavement was dry again, and the full moon
was rising. Two tall sentinels with halberds paced silently up and down
in the shadow.
Dolores and her sister were still sitting in the dark when the door
opened, and a grey-haired servant in red and yellow entered the room,
bearing two lighted wax candles in heavy bronze candlesticks, which
he set upon the table. A moment later he was followed by old Mendoza,
still in his breastplate, as he had dismounted, his great spurs jingling on
his heavy boots, and his long basket-hilted sword trailing on the marble
pavement. He was bareheaded now, and his short hair, smooth and
grizzled, covered his energetic head like a close-fitting skull cap of
iron-grey velvet. He stood still before the table, his bony right hand
resting upon it and holding both his long gloves. The candlelight shone
upward into his dark face, and gleamed yellow in his angry eyes.
Both the girls rose instinctively as their father entered; but they stood
close