Kara Aziek entered into all his feelings; her daughter, deprived of this faithful protector, whom power and influence rendered more valuable than the humbler though equally devoted Gaspar, pressed on her heart, and called aloud for succour. Upon the affection of the Duke and Duchess of Medina, she slightly calculated, (for we do not receive strong impressions by mere description, we must witness attachment, to rely on its existence) Kara Aziek only saw her inexperienced daughter, alone, desolate, and sad, going amongst strangers, to whose honour she must trust for generous treatment. Distracted, bewildered, unconscious of what to wish or to propose, she fell into a passion of grief which Sebastian understood but too well. He was standing buried in thought: at the sound of her sobs he started, and approaching her to support her, said in a composed tone: “We have indeed lost our best friend, my Aziek! he cannot be replaced. Ought I not to consider his death as the vice of Heaven calling me to abandon this solitude and appear on the scene myself? Even in his most sanguine moments De Castro regarded England with suspicion, and knew her to be guided by self-interest: that base principle may as easily lead to her betraying my affairs, as to her advancing them. What then would be the fate of our Blanche? rouse yourself my beloved! we must stand the shock of peril together--my resolution is taken--I quit Brazil.” At these words Kara Aziek flung herself on his bosom with a cry of joy; she had lost sight of every object except her daughter, and contemplating her desolate state, possible danger to her husband was forgotten. “O my Sebastian!” she exclaimed, “let us indeed brave the world united; give me back my child, and then whatever be the destiny awarded us, we shall meet it with courage. Here, our peaceful days are over--long, long have they been over, without Blanche we live on, bereft of our soul.--Shall we ever see her again? O thought too blissful!” She ceased, overcome with an emotion which Sebastian endeavoured to moderate, by assuring her that when once they had regained their daughter, no political motive should induce him to resign her a second time. The letter from Caspar was again read; and a long postscript which Sebastian had overlooked in his first consternation, now served to guide him in his plan for the future. This postscript informed him that Juan (the cousin of Don Emanuel) had set off for England with the intelligence of their loss; and that the detention of Blanche had been agreed upon amongst them, until Queen Elizabeth should fulfil her promise by sending part of the stipulated subsidy. This caution, together with the length of time which must pass ere Don Juan could return, (in consequence of the secret and circuitous route by which all voyages to an enemy’s country were necessarily taken) animated Sebastian to hope that his daughter had not yet left Sicily, and that he might find her still at Messina.