he next day he met with the glorious army of Don Alonso de Aguilar, by
whom he was welcomed with a friendly and parental solicitude. He had the
good fortune to act a conspicuous part in the encounter which El Feri
sustained at Gergal, and which ultimately led to the complete overthrow
of the Moors at Alhacen, and the destruction of that town. Don Lope
proceeded to Granada with the prisoners, and to offer his services to
the queen upon his arrival. He soon found in the resources of his mind
specious pretexts to cover his long absence from Granada, and his
apparent dilatory conduct, notwithstanding the notification of his
safety sent to him by his future bride. But Leonor de Aguilar, though
proud and lofty, was still a woman in her affections, and willingly
received the most feeble excuses, when urged as they now were by the
eloquence of a favored lover.

Thus Gomez Arias, whilst his victim was abandoned to all the horrors of
her fate, whilst her venerable father drank deep the bitter draught of
affliction--Gomez Arias, the heartless perpetrator of so much misery,
now fondly rioted in the anticipated pleasures of his approaching
nuptials, and the splendid honors that awaited his union with Leonor de
Aguilar.

CHAPTER IX.

Ecco l'ora--Nel sonno immerso giace
----E gli occhi all'alma luce
Non aprira piu mai? Questa mia destra
Per farsi or sta del suo morir ministra?....

_Alfieri._

Est-ce une illusion soudaine
Qui trompe mes regards surpris?
Est-ce un songe dont l'ombre vaine
Trouble mes timides esprits?

_J. B. Rousseau._

The night was far advanced, and the numerous guests whom the hospitality
of Don Alonso had summoned together, began to retire from the joyous
scene of revelry and feasting. The noisy pleasure was wearing fast away,
and those antique halls no longer echoed with the boisterous mirth of so
many joyous hearts; for in Aguilar's palace that night every heart was
happy,--every heart save one,--one which, desolate and solitary amidst
this world of rejoicing, was a prey to the canker sorrow that had
fastened upon its core.

But now the convivial assemblage had retired, and the banqueting hall
was left to the undisputed dominion of silence and lonely repose. No
longer ornamented with all the panoplies of war, and the verdant and
perfumed spoils of the garden, those glittering scenes which dazzled th