D. John's good looks had much to do with this; he was then only nineteen, but was already perfectly2 developed.
He was of a good height, slim and altogether graceful3, because neatness was as much a part of him as flexibility4 is of fine-tempered steel.
He had fair hair, brushed up to the left in the form of a toupee5, a fashion made common by his imitators and called "à la Austriaca"; his beard, the same colour as his hair, was thin; his complexion6 pale, but rather sunburnt, which gave him a pleasing, manly7 appearance; big blue eyes, always clear and bright, which could be smiling and loving or grave and severe, as he wished.
He was debonair8 and very nice in his person, and ostentatious in his dress, which was always in the extreme of fashion, as may be seen in some of his pictures.
That which radiated from him and made him so irresistible9 was that "je ne sais quoi" belonging to very superior men, which attracts, enchants10, and subjugates11, and, according to a very profound writer, consists in the mysterious combination of grace, talent, and desire to please.
Such was the attractive figure of D. John when he began to be a real personage at the much-discussed Court of his brother.
Certainly that Court was not then, if it ever was, the gloomy, austere12 convent, represented to us by those who believe, or seem to believe, in an awesome13 legendary14 Philip II, surrounded by holocausts15 and gallows16, and Inquisitors and friars.
Nor was it either the united family of devout17 maidens18 and saintly matrons, venerable old men and immaculate pages, which those make out who would, in all good faith, imprison19 the colossal20 Philip II in the rickety form of a devout monk21.
The Court of Philip II was certainly the strictest of its day, but it was also the most magnificent, sumptuous22 and full of harmless amusement and the knight23 errantry of those times, without lacking, as was natural, intrigues24, plots and scandals between gallants and ladies. These D. Philip sometimes put down openly with a firm hand, at others corrected secretly, and not a few he pretended not to notice, for reasons which must always remain unknown.
The Court was divided, as nearly always happens, into two absolutely different camps—the courtly and the political.
The principal personages of the former at that time were two princesses, as remarkable26 for their virtue27 as for their beauty, and united by the bonds of the tenderest friendship. They were the Queen Isabel de Valois and the widowed Princess of Portugal, Do?a Juana, the first aged28 only twenty and the other thirty at this date.
Their circle included the numerous ladies of both their suites29, belonging to the highest Spanish nobility, although the Queen's included a few Frenchwomen and the Princess's several Portuguese30, and these foreigners were always at war with the Spanish women.
The Queen's ladies numbered over fifty, all spinsters, and they only remained at the palace until the King had found advantageous31 alliances for them.
There were also ten duennas of honour, all widows and ladies of high rank, and at their head the Camarera Mayor, who had to be a lady of quality, and was, at that time, the Dowager Condesa de Urena, Do?a Maria de la Cueva, a matron of great judgment32 and experience and the mother of the first Duque de Osuna.
Photo Anderson
ELIZABETH DE VALOIS. ISABEL DE LA PAZ,
THIRD WIFE OF PHILIP II
From her picture by Pantoja de La Cruz in Prado Gallery, Madrid
Princess Juana also had her ladies, her very respectable duennas, and her Camarera Mayor, Do?a Isabel de Qui?ones. Do?a Elenor Mascarenas, her former and beloved and revered33 governess, had already retired34 from the Court, and was then founding, in what is to-day the square of Santo Domingo, the convent of the Angels, where, years afterwards, she ended her holy life.
It pleased the Queen to amuse her ladies with riding, hunting, picnics in the groves35, balls, masquerades and theatricals36 in her apartments, in which they all, including the Queen, took part, and where they also played, at times so high, that in one night Prince Carlos, at a game called "el clavo," lost 100 golden crowns, according to the declaration of his barber Ruy Diaz de Quitanilla, who had lent them to the Prince.
To these entertainments the Queen was in the habit of inviting37 also all the great ladies who had no places at Court, but who lived in Madrid, or those who were only passing through, particularly the Princess of évoli, of whom she was always a great friend, and the Duquesa de Alba, Do?a Maria Enríquez, who was afterwards her Camarera Mayor, and at all times deserved the greatest affection and respect.
Princess Juana for her part was very fond of the country, and often retired to the Pardo, where she had brilliant concerts which were festivals of real pleasure and enjoyment38, with many musicians and singers, whom she kept in her service and paid.
In these high circles D. John of Austria sought and found his lady love, and here he performed his first deeds of arms and of gallantry, thinking, in his simplicity39, that the loves of youth might be found in the midst of dangers, in the platonic40 spheres of the fantastic Orianas, Angelicas, and Melisandres of whom his head was full, and who stirred his blood and heart.
All that was most select among the youth at the Court naturally grouped itself round D. John, and it was he who set the tone, arranged the tournaments, hunts, cane41 games, masquerades and "camisadas" which then formed the pleasures of the young nobles.
But although all sought his favour, only two became intimate with him, and continued so until death, the Conde de Orgaz and D. Rodrigo de Mendoza, second son of the Duque del Infantado.
At this time, too, there inserted himself first into D. John's acquaintance and then into his friendship, a very clever youth of mean birth and great personal charm, who afterwards brought D. John great misfortunes, and who at that time was driving him with great astuteness42 into one of the two parties which then divided the political camp at Court. His name was Antonio Pérez, the illegitimate son of the ecclesiastic43 Gonzalo Pérez, secretary first to the Emperor, then to Philip II.
The two parties in the Court fought over the little power which the all-absorbing personal government of Philip left to his ministers. At the head of one was the great Duque de Alba, who represented the purely44 warlike policy of force; the other was led by the Prince of évoli, D. Ruy Gómez, representing the opposite policy of diplomacy45, intrigue25 and peace.
The followers46 of the first were the Prior D. Antonio de Toledo, the Prince of Mélito, the Marqués de Aguilar, and the secretary, Zayas; the partisans47 of the other were the Archbishop of Toledo, D. Gaspar de Quiroga, the Marqués de los Vélez, Mateo Vázguez, Santoyo and Gonzalo Pérez.
It is most extraordinary that the open, generous nature of D. John did not lead him to the side of the Duque de Alba, and that, on the contrary, he joined the Prince of évoli, who rather represented the lawyers and churchmen, but no doubt the explanation must be sought in the cleverness which this party displayed in attracting him, guessing the genuine great qualities of the illustrious youth.
They first provided Antonio Pérez, who with adroit48 flatteries, in which he was a past master, and with studied confidences as between man and man, made D. John understand how much he was appreciated by the coterie49 of Ruy Gómez, the great hopes they placed in his bravery and influence, and how much they were trying to work on the King to name him Captain-General of the Mediterranean50 galleys51, as he had already promised.
All of which, it is unnecessary to say, assumed a great air of truth in the mouth of the son of Gonzalo Pérez, who through this channel might well know what was happening, since it was intended that he should succeed his father in the appointment.
When the ground was sufficiently52 prepared for such an important personage to step in without danger, Ruy Gómez arranged a meeting, as if by accident, with D. John, and repeated the same things in a different way, adding that his appointment was already settled and that it was a magnificent one, as also was the ship "Capitana," which was being got ready at Barcelona, that it would not be long before his desire of fighting the Turks was gratified at the head of a brilliant squadron, and that was a foregone conclusion.
Gonzalo Pérez died this year (1566), and Philip II resisted the efforts of Ruy Gómez to obtain his father's vacant secretaryship for Antonio Pérez, giving as a pretext53, not his youth, for he was thirty-two, but the laxity of his life and the depravity of his morals.
Taking, however, as a sign of repentance54 and amendment55 Antonio Pérez's marriage with Do?a Juana de Coello Bozmediano, which was celebrated56 on the 3rd of January, 1567, D. Philip hastened to bestow57 on him Gonzalo Pérez's secretaryship, which delighted D. John as much as if it were the summit of his ambitions or the triumph of his interests.
Once having caught the Prince on the weak side of his ambitions, they wished to do so on that of his platonic love. The Princess de évoli undertook this, attracting him to her house, giving in his honour balls and banquets, and putting before his eyes, and even within his reach, the lady, the object of his then honest intentions, Do?a Maria de Mendoza, one of the ladies of the Palace, and it is thought a near kinswoman of the restless, intriguing58 Princess. Such artifices59 did the Princess use to influence the will and gain the confidence of the grateful D. John, that years afterwards, when she was no longer the intriguing, restless lady of former times, but the shameless, criminal woman who plotted with Antonio Pérez perfidious60 treasons which were, incidentally, to ruin D. John himself, the latter wrote, nevertheless, to his friend D. Rodrigo de Mendoza with the utmost affection and blind confidence: "I kiss the hands of my one-eyed lady, and I do not say her eyes until I write it to her, in order that she may remember this her friend, so much her friend now, who cannot do more, nor has anything else to offer her in payment of his debt. And the reason that this message is sent with so much prudence61 is that, coming from such a distance, it cannot be otherwise."
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1
idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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flexibility
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| n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性 | |
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toupee
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| n.假发 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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debonair
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| adj.殷勤的，快乐的 | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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enchants
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| 使欣喜，使心醉( enchant的第三人称单数 )； 用魔法迷惑 | |
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subjugates
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| v.征服，降伏( subjugate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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awesome
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| adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的 | |
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legendary
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| adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学） | |
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15
holocausts
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| n.大屠杀( holocaust的名词复数 ) | |
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gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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imprison
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| vt.监禁，关押，限制，束缚 | |
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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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sumptuous
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| adj.豪华的，奢侈的，华丽的 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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intrigues
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| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
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intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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suites
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| n.套( suite的名词复数 )；一套房间；一套家具；一套公寓 | |
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Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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advantageous
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| adj.有利的；有帮助的 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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revered
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| v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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theatricals
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| n.（业余性的）戏剧演出，舞台表演艺术；职业演员；戏剧的( theatrical的名词复数 )；剧场的；炫耀的；戏剧性的 | |
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inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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platonic
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| adj.精神的；柏拉图（哲学）的 | |
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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42
astuteness
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| n.敏锐；精明；机敏 | |
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ecclesiastic
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| n.教士，基督教会；adj.神职者的，牧师的，教会的 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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partisans
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| 游击队员( partisan的名词复数 )； 党人； 党羽； 帮伙 | |
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48
adroit
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| adj.熟练的，灵巧的 | |
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49
coterie
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| n.(有共同兴趣的)小团体，小圈子 | |
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50
Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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51
galleys
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| n.平底大船，战舰( galley的名词复数 )；（船上或航空器上的）厨房 | |
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52
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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repentance
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| n.懊悔 | |
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amendment
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| n.改正，修正，改善，修正案 | |
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56
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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57
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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58
intriguing
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| adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心 | |
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59
artifices
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| n.灵巧( artifice的名词复数 )；诡计；巧妙办法；虚伪行为 | |
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perfidious
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| adj.不忠的，背信弃义的 | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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