Daughters of Spain - Plaidy Jean - Страница 47

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‘Will you do me the honour of listening to me?’ asked the Archbishop.

There was a short silence. Then one of the alfaquis cried out: ‘Speak, oh Christian lord.’

‘You are an angry people, and you seek vengeance which, my friend, is not good for those who plan it nor for those who bear the brunt of it. It is a two-edged weapon, to harm those whom it strikes and those who strike. Do nothing rash. Pause and consider the inevitable result of your actions. Pray for guidance. Do not resort to violence.’

‘We have seen our beautiful manuscripts destroyed before our eyes, oh Talavera,’ cried one voice. ‘We have seen the flames rising in the squares of Granada. What next will be burned? Our mosques? Our bodies?’

‘Be calm. Pray for guidance.’

‘Death to the Christian dogs!’ cried a wild voice in the crowd.

There was a move forward and the alfaquis who had first spoken cried: ‘Wait! This is our friend. This is not that other. This man is not guilty. In all the years he has been with us he has been just and although he has tried to persuade us he has never sought to force us to that which we did not want.’

‘It is true,’ someone called out.

‘Yes,’ cried several voices then. ‘It is true. We have no quarrel with this man.’

‘Allah preserve him.’

‘He is not our enemy.’

Many remembered instances of his goodness. He had always helped the poor, Moor or Christian. They had no quarrel with this man.

One woman came forward and knelt at the side of Talavera’s horse and said: ‘You have been good to me and mine. I pray you, oh lord, give me your benediction.’

And Talavera placed his hands on this woman’s head and said: ‘Go in peace.’

Others came forward to ask his blessing, and when Tendilla rode into the Albaycin this was the scene he witnessed.

Tendilla came with half a dozen soldiers, and when the Moors saw his guards many hands tightened about their knives. But Tendilla’s first action was to take his bonnet from his head and throw it into their midst.

‘I give you my sign,’ he cried, ‘that I come in peace. Many of you are armed. Look at us. We have come among you unarmed.’

The Moors then saw that it was so, and they remembered too that from this man they had received nothing but justice and tolerance. He had come among them unarmed. They could have slain him and his few men together with the Archbishop and his chaplain without any loss to themselves.

This was certainly a sign of friendship.

‘Long life to the Alcayde!’ cried one, and the others took up this cry.

Tendilla lifted a hand.

‘My friends,’ he said, ‘I pray you listen to me. You are armed and plan violence. If you carry out this plan you might have some initial success here in Granada. And what then? Beyond Granada the whole might of Spain would be assembled and come against you. If you gave way to your feelings now you would bring certain disaster and death upon yourselves and your families.’

The leading alfaquis came to Tendilla and said: ‘We thank you, oh lord Alcayde, for coming to us this night. We have in your coming proof of the friendship of yourself and the Archbishop of Granada towards us. But we have suffered great wrongs. The burning of our works of art has caused us great distress.’

‘You have your grievances,’ Tendilla replied. ‘If you will go back to your homes and put all thoughts of rebellion from your minds I will bring your case before the Sovereigns.’

‘You yourself will do this?’

‘I will,’ said Tendilla. ‘Their Highnesses are now in Seville. As soon as I can put my affairs in order I will ride there and explain to them.’

Zegri, who had learned at first hand of what he had come to think of as Christian perfidy, elbowed his way to the side of their leader.

‘How can we know,’ he said, ‘that the Alcayde does not speak thus to gain time? How do we know that he will not become our enemy and bring the Christians against us?’

‘I give you my word,’ said Tendilla.

‘Oh lord Alcayde, I was invited to the house of the Archbishop of Toledo as a guest, and I found myself his prisoner. He changed towards me in the space of an hour. What if you should so change?’

There was a murmuring in the crowd. They were all remembering the experiences of Zegri.

Tendilla saw that the angry mood was returning, the fury which the conduct of Ximenes had aroused was bursting out again.

Tendilla made a decision. ‘I shall go to Seville,’ he said. ‘You well know the love I bear my wife and two children. I will leave them here with you as hostages. That will be a token of my good intentions.’

There was silence in the crowd.

Then the leading alfaquis said: ‘You have spoken, oh lord Alcayde.’

The crowd began to cheer. They did not love violence. They trusted Tendilla and Talavera to rid them of the trouble-making Ximenes that all might be peace once more in their beautiful city of Granada.

News of what had happened in the Albaycin was brought to Ximenes. He was now alarmed. He had hoped to continue with his proselytising unimpeded; he realised now that he must be wary.

Tendilla had come storming into his Palace and had not hesitated to say what he meant. He blamed Ximenes for the first trouble that had occurred in the city since the reconquest, adding that within the next few days he was leaving for Seville, and there he would lay the matter before the Sovereigns.

Ximenes coldly retorted that he would do all that he had done, over again, should the need arise, and the need was sore in Granada.

‘You will do nothing,’ retorted Tendilla, ‘until this matter has been laid before their Highnesses.’

And Ximenes had of course agreed to the wisdom of that.

As soon as Tendilla had left, Ximenes fell on his knees in prayer. This was a very important moment in his life. He knew that the version of this affair which Tendilla would carry to the Sovereigns would differ from the tale he had to tell; and it was all-important that Ferdinand and Isabella should hear Ximenes’s account first.

It might well be that on the following day Tendilla would set out for Seville. Ximenes must therefore forestall him.

He rose from his knees and sent for one of his Negro servants, a tall long-limbed athlete who could run faster than any other known in the district.

‘I shall want you to leave for Seville within half an hour,’ he said. ‘Prepare yourself.’

The slave bowed, and when he was alone Ximenes sat down to write his account of what had happened in Granada. The need to save souls was imperative. He wanted more power and, when he had it, he would guarantee to bring the Moors of Granada into the Christian fold. He had been unable to stand calmly aside and watch the heathenish habits which were practised in that community. He had acted under guidance from God, and he was now praying that his Sovereigns would not shut their eyes to God’s will.

He sent for the slave.

‘With all speed to Seville,’ he commanded.

And he smiled, well satisfied, believing that Isabella and Ferdinand would receive the news from him hours before they could possibly see Tendilla. By that time they would have read his version of the revolt, and all Tendilla’s eloquence would not be able to persuade them that Ximenes had been wrong in what he had done.

The Negro slave ran the first few miles. As he sped onwards there passed him on the road a Moor who was riding on a grey horse; and the Negro wished that he had a horse on which to ride, but he quickly forgot it and gave himself up to the pleasure of exercise.

He was noted for his fleetness of foot and proud of it. Anyone could ride a horse. None could match him for running speed.

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