Intelligence of the accomplishment of Procida's purpose soon reached Eleanora ; hut the horrors of the massacre were suppressed, nor did Agnes ever know the cruel part her father had played in the grand tragedy of the Sicilian Vespers. She learned, indeed, that the Queen of Arragon had rescued the only son of D'Anjou from his pursuers, and conveyed him away in safety from the island ; but the insurrection had not reached its final triumph, when she left the court of England as the Duchess of Saxony ; and it was from that time the care of her husband that her gentle spirit should not be pained by a knowledge of the sanguinary scenes that resulted in the death of D'Anjou, and in the re-establishment of the house of Suabia upon the throne of Sicily. It would have been natural for Edward, in this struggle, to throw the weight of his influence on the side of his uncle D'Anjou ; but the circumstance of his daughter's betroth-ment to Alphonso of Arragon, held him neutral. He, however, negotiated a peace between the pope and Al-phonso, by which D'Anjou's son, Charles the Lame, was re-leased from his captivity in Arragon, and permitted to as-sume his authority in Naples. Eleanora's love for her husband, not less than her deli-cate appreciation of excellence, had led her to weigh with wise discrimination the effect of political events upon his character ; and the truth was reluctantly forced upon her, that ambition, nurtured by the- uniform success of his enter-prises, was gradually absorbing the nobler qualities of his nature, and steeling his heart against the claims of jus-tice and humanity. King Alexander III. of Scotland, the last direct heir in the male line from Maude, died 1285, and this circum-stance was the precursor of that period, fatal to Edward's honor, and to the long-established amity between the two kingdoms. To avert the consequences which she foresaw would fol-low Alexander's demise, 6he had influenced Edward to propose a matrimonial alliance between the Prince of HEROINES OF THE CRUSADES.