"Upon my word, that's quite true," I said; "it is the first portrait I
have seen of him."
"I have every reason for believing that it is the only one," she replied
with a smile; "this was the most difficult victory I ever won over him."
We then began to discuss my uncle and his eccentricities, combined with
his remarkable talents. She related to me some events and features in
his life which would not be out of place in the legend of a hero of
antiquity; amongst other matters she told me the story of their
marriage, which runs briefly as follows:-My aunt, a daughter of one of the richest and noblest Greek families,
lived with her father at a castle in Thessaly, a country which is partly
Mahometan. During the feast of Bairam, the Turks commenced a massacre of
Christians, which lasted three days. Several families, taking refuge in
a church, had fortified themselves there, and with their servants were
defending themselves desperately against their assailants. The assassins
had already broken open the door of the sanctuary, and were about to cut
all their throats, when suddenly a man came galloping up, followed by a
few soldiers. He struck right and left with his scimitar in the thick of
the crowd outside, and reached the doorway, causing his horse to rear up
on the pavement. He slays some, and terrifies all. The Christians are
saved!
This cavalier with his scimitar was my uncle, who was then in command of
the province. The unhappy wretches who had escaped assassination pressed
about him, and surrounded him; the girls and the women threw themselves
at his feet. My aunt was one of these unfortunates; she was then fifteen
years old, and as beautiful as noonday. You may guess how her
imagination was wrought on by the sight of this noble saviour. My uncle
on his side was thunderstruck by the contemplation of so much beauty.
Having to judge and punish the rebels, he established his head-quarters
in the castle of the Cornalis. He sentenced twenty persons to death, and
demanded Eudoxia's hand in marriage. This, notwithstanding his
gratitude, the father refused to grant to a Turkish general.
The lovers were desperate, and separated, exchanging vows of eternal
fidelity. Finally, after three months of correspondence and clandestine
meetings, an elopement ensued, followed up quickly by marriage. It was
as the sequence of this event that my uncle, induced by love, and
moreover disgraced again for having exercised too much justice in favour
of the Christians, finally quitted the service of the Sultan. His pardon
by the Cornalis followed, and it was at this time that he obtained from
the Pope the title of Count of the Holy Empire.