Page:The woman in battle .djvu/362

322 with anguish at such a charge being brought against him, but was sorely perplexed to know what had become of the lady; and, as day after day passed by, and no tidings of her were received, he at length forced himself to believe that she had proved false to him, had accepted the page for a lover, and had fled with him. In the mean time the indignation against him increased, and the suspicions that he was the murderer of his mistress grew into certainty in many minds. His trial, on the charge of murder, was therefore ordered ; but, determined not to be made the victim of a false woman's treachery if he could avoid it, he made his escape from prison, and, flying to Italy, entered the army of the emperor, Charles V., as a common soldier.

In the mean while, Estela, after passing through many strange adventures in the land of the Moors, at length succeeded in making her escape, in male attire, and she, too, joined the army of the emperor, which was then besieging some Moorish town. In a skirmish which occurred soon after, she had the good fortune to save the life of the emperor, who, finding that she was a person of education and talents, appointed her little suspecting her to be a woman to an important position near his own person. Estela soon became the emperor's favorite officer, and he delighted in heaping honors upon her, she, all the while, longing only for an opportunity to return to her own country, for the purpose of seeking her lover.

One day, however, she was amazed to behold a soldier in the ranks who reminded her greatly of Don Carlos, and, on engaging in conversation, found that it was indeed he. She, therefore, took him to her tent, and, by degrees, succeeded in inducing him to tell his story. That he should have suffered so much on her account, grieved her exceedingly; but her womanly pride was touched that he should suspect her honor, and she resolved to try and induce him to have a better opinion of her than he professed, before revealing herself. Appointing Don Carlos to the post of secretary, she engaged him, almost daily, in conversation about his lost love, and endeavored, by various means, to persuade him that Estela might be guiltless.

The melancholy of Don Carlos, however, increased the more the matter was talked about. He could not help confessing that he still loved Estela tenderly, despite her unworthiness, but it was impossible to induce him to think that she