Note 883 — Chapter XXIX

The queen, who was a daughter of Henry IV. of France, was one day passing through a gallery of the palace, when some one came behind her and covered her eyes with his hands. “What is that for, Count?” she exclaimed. But, unhappily for her, it was not the Count;—it was the king. Soon afterwards Villamediana received a hint to be on his guard, as his life was in danger. He neglected the friendly notice, and was assassinated the same evening. He had been very open in his admiration of the queen, having, on occasion of a tournament, covered his person with silver reals and taken the punning motto,—“Mis amores son reales.” (Velazquez, Dieze, Göttingen, 1796, 8vo, p. 255.) An edition of his Works, Madrid, 1634, 4to, is a little more ample than that of Çaragoça, 1629, 4to; but not the better for it. The story of the Count’s unhappy presumption and fate may be found in Mad. d’Aulnoy’s “Voyage d’Espagne,” ed. 1693, Tom. II. pp. 17-21, and in the striking ballads of the Duke of Rivas, Romances Históricos, Paris, 1841, 8vo.