His youth, his dignified mien, his earnestness,
perhaps even his striking beauty, attracted the immediate attention of
the young Alfonso, and a bond of union of reciprocal affection from
that hour linked the youths together. It is useless arguing on the
folly and frivolity of such rapid attachments; there are those with
whom one day will be sufficient, not only to awaken, but to rivet,
those mysterious sympathies which are the undying links of friendship;
and others again, with whom we may associate intimately for
months--nay, years--and yet feel we have not one thought in common,
nor formed one link to sever which is pain.
During Alfonso's brief career, Ferdinand Morales displayed personal
qualities, and a wisdom and faithfulness in his cause, well deserving
not only the prince's love, but the confidence of all those who were
really Alfonso's friends. His deep grief and ill-concealed indignation
at the prince's mysteriously sudden death might, for the time, have
obtained him enemies, and endangered his own life; but the favor
of Isabella, whom it was then the policy of the confederates to
conciliate in all things possible, protected and advanced him. The
love borne by the Infanta for her young brother surpassed even the
tenderest affection of such relatives; all who had loved and served
him were dear to her; and at a time when so much of treachery and
insidious policy lurked around her, even in the garb of seeming
devotion to her cause, the unwavering fidelity and straightforward
conduct of Morales, combined as it was with his deep affection for
Alfonso, permitted her whole mind to rest on him, secure not only of
his faithfulness, but of vigilance which would discover and counteract
every evil scheming of seeming friends.
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