kingdom. It was under her care that the two children, Francesco and
Vittoria, pursued their studies together and acquired every grace of
scholarship and accomplishment of society. The circles which the
Duchessa drew around her included many gentlewomen from Sicily and from
Naples; and "the life at Castel d'Ischia was synonymous with everything
glorious and elegant," recorded Visconti, "and its fame has been
immortalized." Although Francesco (the future Marchese di Pescara) was
born in Italian dominions, yet the d'Avalos family were of Spanish
ancestry and traditions. The musical Castilian was the language of the
household. The race ideals of Spain--the poetic, the impassioned, the
joy in color and movement--pervaded the very atmosphere of Castel
d'Ischia. Vittoria's earliest girlhood revealed her exceptional beauty
and charm, and gave evidence that the gods loved her and had dowered her
with their immortal gifts and genius, which flowered, under the
sympathetic guidance and stimulus of such a woman as the Principessa
(the Duchessa di Francavilla) and the society she drew around her, as
the orange and the myrtle flower under the southern sunshine.

The literature of biography presents no chapter that can rival this in
the idyllic beauty of the lives of those two children on the lovely
island in the violet sea. The perpetual conflicts that were waged in
both Rome and Naples awakened no echoes in this romantic and isolated
spot, whose atmosphere was that of the peace of scholarly pursuits and
lofty thought that is found where the arts and the muses hold their
sway.

But in 1496 came the tragedy of the death of the young king and queen of
Naples; four years later Rome celebrated a jubilee in which Naples took
part, sending a splendid procession as escort to the famous Madonna that
was carried from Naples to Rome and back, working miracles, it is said,
on both journeys, as a Madonna should. A year later Frederick of Naples
and the queen, and two of the king's sisters,--ladies of high
nobility,--came as guests to the castle in Ischia,--royal exiles seeking
shelter. Five years later the new king and queen were welcomed with
gorgeous parade and acclamation. A pier was thrown out over one hundred
feet into the sea; on this a tent of gold was erected, and all the
nobility of Naples, in the richest costumes of velvet and jewels,
thronged to meet the royal guests. Over the sunlit Bay of Naples
resounded the thunder of the guns i