e palace was revealed. The place was
very silent, the soldiers and servants, excepting those on guard,
having gone within.

The Lady Leonora, whom the Count di Luna loved, was one of the suite
of the Princess of Arragon, and when all in the palace were sleeping
it was her custom to steal into the lovely gardens with her friend,
Inez. Of late, when she came there, she had hoped, secretly, to find a
mysterious young troubadour, who sang almost nightly beneath her
windows. She loved this troubadour and not the Count.

The first time she had met the handsome youth was at a tournament.
There he had come, dressed in a suit of black, and all unknown;
wearing a sweeping sable plume in his helmet; and when the jousting
took place, he had vanquished all the nobles. It was Leonora, herself,
who had placed the wreath of the victor upon his brow. From that very
moment they had loved. He had worn no device upon his shield by which
he could be known, but she had loved him for a gallant knight.

He belonged to the retinue of a neighbouring prince, who was an enemy
of the Princess of Arragon, and he risked his life each time he came
to sing in the gardens to Leonora.

"Ah, I fear some harm will come of this love of yours!" Inez said to
her friend and mistress. "The Princess awaits thee, dear Countess, and
we must go within. I hope your trust will never be betrayed by this
unknown knight and singer." The women mounted the gleaming marble
staircase, and then Leonora paused for a moment looking down into the
garden again.

She had no sooner gone than a man peered out from the shadow of the
trees. It was the Count di Luna, jealously watching for the knight who
sang beneath the lady's window. Also, he hoped to see Leonora,
herself, but all was still, and after watching the balcony a moment,
he started toward the marble steps. At that instant a beautiful voice
stole through the moonlight.

[Music:

Manrico.

Naught upon earth is left me,
Fate of all joy hath bereft me.]

It was Manrico the troubadour!

The Count paused upon the stair and looked down; but Leonora, too, had
heard, and ran out upon the balcony, then down the steps, throwing
herself into the Count's arms, mistaking him for Manrico. Manrico,
still hidden by the shadows, witnessed this, and becoming enraged at
the sight, believing Leonora faithless, he rushed upon them just as
the moon again shone forth and revealed to Leonora that she was in the
Count's ar