In the Netherlands Prince Maurice also was hotly contending against the arms of the Duke of Alva:--unless encouraged by France and England, and aided by the insurrection of Portugal, he feared to animate the fury of his invaders by a rash declaration in favor of the Protestant Prince, and therefore frankly confessed, that the only service in his power was that of continuing to employ the stoutest troops of Spain. These negociations proceeded not with the rapidity of ordinary affairs: sometimes they ebbed, sometimes they flowed; the events of one day would accelerate their motion, the changes of another, suspend them altogether. Time passed, and so long was the period, that the inhabitants of Cachoeira nearly abandoned expectation: they heard from De Castro of his attempts, his risks, his mortifications, his suddenly raised, and as suddenly blasted hopes, his busy goings hither and thither, his narrow escapes of discovery, and all the long et ceteras of an important and concealed mission. They heard this at first with lively emotions that corresponded only too faithfully with his own: but by degrees anxiety became exhausted, frequent disappointment broke the spring of hope, and each in secret resigned themselves to a life of retirement in Brazil. Bitter were the tears shed by Gaspar whenever he pondered over such a prospect: but he dared not interrupt by his complaints that serious calm which Sebastian had succeeded in diffusing over his feelings: he wept alone, or in company with the young Blanche, who compassionated his sadness, though she knew not the cause. Ships from Europe came to St. Salvador twice a year: their arrival uniformly produced great agitation in Sebastian and Kara Aziek: the former anticipated the news they might bring, with ungoverned eagerness, the other dreaded to learn them, lest they should call her husband into danger. But on each, the same cause produced the same effect: it gave them a habit of trouble and anticipation; it destroyed that delightful serenity, that tranquillity of the soul, which reflects in all their beauty the various images of surrounding happiness: they no longer moved through the paradise they had created, with looks that said, “here is our world;” care and disquiet sat on their brows, and plunged in frequent reveries, they gave evident proof of having deeper interest far away. It was from observing this change in Kara Aziek, that Sebastian first learnt to note the alteration in himself: that instant he decided on his course. He ceased to talk of Portugal and De Castro, he called on his family to follow his example, and courageously striving to restore his mind to that self-commanding state from which he had suffered it to be driven, he resumed his former occupations with his former energy.