The wise and respected Honorato Juan did not gain much credit from his three pupils. Certainly D. John and the Prince of Parma studied, but they did so because they were obliged to, and naturally progressed as they were sharp, understood easily, and had good memories. But the military proclivities of both, which afterwards made them such great generals, always kept their thoughts on other things, and they only gave a forced, listless attention to the literature and philosophy of Alcalá.

The Prince of the Asturias for his part did not even do this; apathetic and melancholy by nature, without other signs of character than pride or temper, he did not care for science, or letters, or arts, or arms, or wars, nor did healthy things amuse him; the only thing which pleased him was to do harm to his neighbour. Such was the very harsh judgment, according to our mind, of the Venetian Ambassador Paolo Tiepolo.

The Prince was, therefore, bored at Alcalá, and his boredom grew as his health improved.

In this dangerous state of mind it was proposed by one of his servants, of the sort who pander to the vices of their masters, that to amuse his leisure he should pay court to a girl, the daughter of the palace warden, who, according to probably true accounts, was named Mariana de Gardetas.

From a child the Prince had displayed an extraordinary aversion to women, going so far as to grossly insult several, without more reason than the sort of instinctive rage the sight of them caused him. He, however, gladly accepted the servant's evil idea, and, using him as an intermediary, presents and notes followed by assignations began between the Prince and the wench.

They met in the garden; she left her father's dwelling secretly, he descending a narrow staircase, barred by an iron gate, which ran inside the massive wall of the great, so-called, council chamber, and led into the orchard.

The vanity of D. Carlos did not allow him to keep the secret for long, and he confided it to D. John of Austria, asking his help. But D. John was too simple to understand the slippery ways of gallantry, and he laughed heartily at the Prince's extraordinary idea of making a warden's daughter into a Queen of Spain.

In his turn D. Carlos laughed at his uncle's innocence, and with evil intention tore off at a stroke the bandage which covered the still pure eyes of the victor of Lepanto. The part of confidant which the Prince had arranged for him in the unknown land opening before his eyes was repugnant to D. John, and he refused his help and withdrew in disgust. D. Carlos then sought other confidants, and found two very complaisant ones among the gentlemen of his bedchamber, who began to urge him with insistence along the dangerous path, on the pretence that love, as they understood it, would sharpen the Prince's intellectual faculties and build up his weak physique. But neither his tutor D. García de Toledo, nor his master of the horse Luis Quijada, shared their ideas, and, when they at last heard of the matter, with mutual consent, ordered that the little gate leading to the orchard should be shut. D. Carlos did not dare then to vent his rage on his tutor D. García, and contented himself with cruelly thrashing the servant who shut the gate. With great secrecy he procured another key, and on the 19th of April, 1562, which, being Sunday, was for the Prince the freest day, made an assignation with the girl for noon on the following day at the foot of the staircase.

That day D. Carlos dined very hurriedly and as if agitated, and the meal was hardly finished before he sent away all the servants and went out himself, leaving the Prince of Parma and D. John of Austria by themselves.

Photo Anderson

DON CARLOS, PRINCE OF THE ASTURIAS

By Sanchez Coello. Prado Gallery, Madrid

They had noticed the Prince's excitement, and, following him at a distance, saw him disappear by the little staircase of the council chamber without even troubling to shut the door.

The Princes looked at each other and smiled, knowing what this meant. At the same moment they heard a great noise on the staircase as of someone falling, and pitiful cries coming from the ground. D. John ran there with open arms, and Alexander Farnese very wisely informed D. García de Toledo and Luis Quijada.

They found the unfortunate Prince lying on the ground, with his head cut open and covered with blood. He had descended the staircase in blind haste, missed his footing on the last step, and fallen on his head, giving it a tremendous blow against the heavy gate.

From the first moment the doctors of the bedchamber Vega and Olivares treated him, and also the Licentiate Deza Chacón, surgeon to the King; and, as the Prince complained very much when he was being bandaged, the surgeon rather stayed his hand. Quijada, who always thought badly of the wound, said, "Tighter, tighter, Licentiate Deza. Do not treat him as a prince, but as a peasant."

D. García de Toledo at once sent off one of the Prince's gentlemen of the bedchamber, D. Diego de Acu?a, to tell the King what had happened, and by daybreak the next day, Monday, the 20th, he had already returned with Dr. Gutiérrez, first physician to the King, and the doctors Portugues and Pedro de Torres, his surgeons.

A few hours afterwards the King arrived in person, and in his presence all the doctors examined the wound; they unanimously declared that it was not dangerous; and, reassured by this, D. Philip went back to Madrid that same night.

But at daybreak on the 30th, the eleventh day, a high fever seized the Prince, with severe pains in the wound, neck, and right leg, which otherwise seemed dead.

The doctors were frightened, and then d............