And you may be sure he was
too good a Venetian and too loyal a Cornaro not to turn it to the
best advantage. So he stimulated the young king's evident
inclination as cunningly as he was able. His niece Catarina, he
assured the king, was as good as she was beautiful, and as clever
as she was both.
"But then," he declared, "Venice hath many fair daughters, sire,
whom the king's choice would honor, and Catarina is but a young
maid yet. Would it not be wiser, when you choose a queen, to
select some older donzella for your bride? Though it will, I can
aver, be hard to choose fairer."
It is just such half-way opposition that renders nature like that
of this young monarch all the more determined. No! King Giacomo
would have Catarina, and Catarina only, for his bride and queen.
Messer Cornaro must secure her for him.
But shrewd Uncle Andrea still feared the jealousy of his
fellow-Venetians. Why should the house of Cornaro, they would
demand, be so openly preferred? And so, at his suggestion, an
ambassador was despatched to Venice soliciting an alliance with
the Great Republic, and asking from the senate the hand of some
high-born maid of Venice in marriage for his highness, the King
of Cyprus.
Pages:
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145