"My children,you have heard my last wishes.I have bidden you all to my deathbed,that you may see how the glory of the world passes away.Those whom men name the great ones of the earth have more duties to perform,and after death more accounts to render:it is in this that their greatness lies.I have reigned thirty-three years,and God before whom I am about to appear,God to whom my sighs have often arisen during my long and painful life,God alone knows the thoughts that rend my heart in the hour of death.Soon shall I be lying in the tomb,and all that remains of me in this world will live in the memory of those who pray for me.But before I leave you for ever,you,oh,you who are twice my daughters,whom I have loved with a double love,and you my nephews who have had from me all the care and affection of a father,promise me to be ever united in heart and in wish,as indeed you are in my love.I have lived longer than your fathers,I the eldest of all,and thus no doubt God has wished to tighten the bonds of your affection,to accustom you to live in one family and to pay honour to one head.I have loved you all alike,as a father should,without exception or preference.I have disposed of my throne according to the law of nature and the inspiration of my conscience:Here are the heirs of the crown of Naples;you,Joan,and you,Andre,will never forget the love and respect that are due between husband and wife,and mutually sworn by you at the foot of the altar;and you,my nephews all;my barons,my officers,render homage to your lawful sovereigns;Andre of Hungary,Louis of Tarentum,Charles of Durazzo,remember that you are brothers;woe to him who shall imitate the perfidy of Cain!May his blood fall upon his own head,and may he be accursed by Heaven as he is by the mouth of a dying man;and may the blessing of the Father,the Son,and the Holy Spirit descend upon that man whose heart is good,when the Lord of mercy shall call to my soul Himself!"The king remained motionless,his arms raised,his eyes fixed on heaven,his cheeks extraordinarily bright,while the princes,barons,and officers of the court proffered to Joan and her husband the oath of fidelity and allegiance.When it was the turn of the Princes of Duras to advance,Charles disdainfully stalked past Andre,and bending his knee before the princess,said in a loud voice,as he kissed her hand--"To you,my queen,I pay my homage."
All looks were turned fearfully towards the dying man,but the good king no longer heard.Seeing him fall back rigid and motionless,Dona Sancha burst into sobs,and cried in a voice choked with tears "The king is dead;let us pray for his soul."At the very same moment all the princes hurried from the room,and every passion hitherto suppressed in the presence of the king now found its vent like a mighty torrent breaking through its banks.
"Long live Joan!"Robert of Cabane,Louis of Tarentum,and Bertrand of Artois were the first to exclaim,while the prince's tutor,furiously breaking through the crowd and apostrophising the various members of the council of regency,cried aloud in varying tones of passion,"Gentlemen,you have forgotten the king's wish already;you must cry,'Long live Andre!'too";then,wedding example to precept,and himself making more noise than all the barons together,he cried in a voice of thunder--"Long live the King of Naples!"
But there was no echo to his cry,and Charles of Durazzo,measuring the Dominican with a terrible look,approached the queen,and taking her by the hand,slid back the curtains of the balcony,from which was seen the square and the town of Naples.So far as the eye could reach there stretched an immense crowd,illuminated by streams of light,and thousands of heads were turned upward towards Castel Nuovo to gather any news that might be announced.Charles respectfully drawing back and indicating his fair cousin with his hand,cried out--"People of Naples,the King is dead:long live the Queen!""Long live Joan,(queen of Naples!"replied the people,with a single mighty cry that resounded through every quarter of the town.
The events that on this night had followed each other with the rapidity of a dream had produced so deep an impression on Joan's mind,that,agitated by a thousand different feelings,she retired to her own rooms,and shutting herself up in her chamber,gave free vent to her grief.So long as the conflict of so many ambitions waged about the tomb,the young queen,refusing every consolation that was offered her,wept bitterly for the death of her grandfather,who had loved her to the point of weakness.The king was buried with all solemnity in the church of Santa Chiara,which he had himself founded and dedicated to the Holy Sacrament,enriching it with magnificent frescoes by Giotto and other precious relics,among which is shown still,behind the tribune of the high altar,two columns of white marble taken from Solomon's temple.There still lies Robert,represented on his tomb in the dress of a king and in a monk's frock,on the right of the monument to his son Charles,the Duke of Calabria.
