The Cornhill Magazine Volume 18 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1868 edition. Excerpt: ...Her father, Don Juan, had incurred the deadly enmity of his sister-in-law, the Queen of Portugal, who had been plain Dona Leonor Tellez. After enacting a small domestic tragedy in Portugal (in fact he had put to death his wife, who was the sister of Leonor Tellez, because Leonor Tellez had, with views of her own, caused Don Juan to believe his wife was unfaithful), he was obliged to seek refuge in Castile in the life-time of Don Henrique. Don Henrique had married him in his lifetime to his half-sister, the Infante Dona Cn:4uur.-i, and of this marriage came tvro daughters, Dona Maria and Doiia Beatriz: Dona Beatriz thus was a royal heiress both in Spain and in Portugal. She was first affianced to a son of the Regent, but the King of Aragon having demanded her hand of Don Fernando, the Regent for political reasons resigned for his son the alliance with Dona Beatriz. But the King of Aragon died, and Doiia Beatriz, not a little disgusted at being tossed about thus from one to another, determined to look out for a husband for herself. The court was at Valladolid, and great fetes, and joustings and jueyos de cahas were being celebrated there, for the Queen of Navarre had come to Spain to visit her uncle, Don Fernando the Regent, with a suite of grand seigneurs and noble knights, and at all the joustings and jereed matches, Pero Nino, (who was now thirty-one, and a known performer in this line, ) with five knights wearing the arms of his house, cut a splendid figure, and attracted the attention of Dofia Beatriz, who herself was now about twenty-four years of age. The first occasion on which she remarked Pero Nino was at a tournament held in the street in which her house was situate at Vulladolid. Pero Nino having unhorsed one of the greatest..