h sacred
feelings; for none, save Isabella, knew he loved until they saw his
bride.

CHAPTER V.

"And we have won a bower of refuge now
In this fresh waste."

MRS. HEMANS.

The Vale of Cedars, as described in our first chapter, had been
originally the work of a single individual, who had found there a
refuge and concealment from the secret power of the Inquisition, from
whose walls he had almost miraculously escaped: this individual was
Julien Henriquez, the grandfather of Marie. For five years he remained
concealed, working unaided, but successfully, in forming a comfortable
home and concealed retreat, not only for himself but for his family.
Nature herself appeared to have marked the spot as an impenetrable
retreat, and Julien's skill and energy increased and strengthened the
natural barriers. During these five years the secret search for his
person, at first carried on so vigilantly that his enemies supposed
nothing but death could have concealed him, gradually relaxed, and
then subsided altogether. Foes and friends alike believed him dead,
and when he did re-appear in the coarse robe, shrouding cowl, and
hempen belt, of a wandering friar, he traversed the most populous
towns in safety, unrecognized and unsuspected. It was with some
difficulty he found his family, and a matter of no little skill to
convey them, without exciting suspicion by their disappearance, to his
retreat; but all was accomplished at length, and years of domestic
felicity crowned every former effort, and inspired and encouraged
more.

Besides his own immediate family, consisting of his wife, a son,
and daughter, Henriquez had the charge of two nephews and a niece,
children of his sister, whose husband had perished by the arm of the
same secret power from which Henriquez had escaped; their mother had
died of a broken heart, from the fearful mystery of her husband's
fate, and the orphans were to Julien as his own.

As years passed, the Vale of Cedars became not only a safe, but a
luxurious home. Every visit to the world Julien turned to profit, by
the purchase first of necessaries, then of luxuries. The little temple
was erected by the active aid of the young men, and the solemn rites
of their peculiar faith adhered to in security. Small as the family
was, deaths, marriages, and births took place, and feelings and
sympathies were excited, and struggles secretly endured, making that
small spot of earth in very truth a world.