ceaseless curiosity, and had they ever waited for the answers of Iduna
to their questions, the daughter of Hunniades might, perhaps, have been
somewhat puzzled to reconcile her responses with probability. Helena
answered the questions of Alexina; Lais anticipated even Helena. All
that Iduna had to do was to smile and be silent, and it was universally
agreed that Iskander was singularly shy as well as excessively
handsome. In the meantime, when Nicaeus met Iduna in the evening of the
second day of their visit, he informed her that he had been so
fortunate as to resume an acquaintance with an old companion in arms in
the person of a neighbouring noble, who had invited them to rest at his
castle at the end of their next day's journey. He told her likewise
that he had dispatched a courier to Croia to inquire after Iskander,
who, he expected, in the course of a few days, would bring them
intelligence to guide their future movements, and decide whether they
should at once proceed to the capital of Epirus, or advance into
Bulgaria, in case Hunniades was still in the field. On the morrow,
therefore, they proceeded on their journey. Nicaeus had procured a
litter for Iduna, for which her delicate health was an excuse to
Alexina and her sisters, and they were attended by a small body of
well-armed cavalry, for, according to the accounts which Nicaeus had
received, the country was still disturbed. They departed at break of
day, Nicaeus riding by the side of the litter, and occasionally making
the most anxious inquiries after the well-being of his fair charge. An
hour after noon they rested at a well, surrounded by olive-trees, until
the extreme heat was somewhat allayed; and then remounting, proceeded
in the direction of an undulating ridge of green hills, that partially
intersected the wide plain. Towards sunset the Prince of Athens
withdrew the curtains of the litter, and called the attention of Iduna
to a very fair castle, rising on a fertile eminence and sparkling in
the quivering beams of dying light.