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Barbara's voice had lent a special charm to this magnificent motet, and, when she concluded the "Quia amore langueo" "Because I yearn for love" to which she had long given the preference when she felt impelled to relieve her heart from unsatisfied yearning, she had seen Gombert look at the choir leader, and understood the "inimitable" which was not intended for her, but for his fellow-artist.
How should he not have heard gladly that the monarch, at every interview with Barbara, listened to her singing with special pleasure? At first she chose grave, usually even religious songs, and among them Charles's favourite was the "Quia amore langueo." To listen to these deeply felt tones of yearning always seemed to possess a fresh charm for him. No wonder!
With the entreaty to spare him in future the pain of refusing any wish of the woman he loved, the disagreeable affair had been dismissed. When Barbara took the lute, he had begged the fairest of all troubadours to sing once more, before any other song, his beloved "Quia amore langueo," and the most vigorous applause was bestowed on every one which she afterward executed.
"God grant it!" replied the Emperor dully, and then, with a shrug of the shoulders, added: "Besides, I can not imagine whence such joy should come to me. A boy's bell-like voice sang to me yesterday, 'Quia amore langueo. This heart, too, longs for love, but it will never find it on earth." "Why not, if your Majesty sends forth to seek it?" replied the confessor eagerly.
The Emperor then carried on a short conversation with Quijada, which was unintelligible to Barbara; and after he had retired to summon the marquise, Charles profited, like an impetuous youth, by the brief period in which he was again alone with his love, and entreated her to consider that, if she remained absent long, the "amore langueo" would rob him of his reason.
This time it gave the most beautiful portion of Joscluin de Pres's hymn to the Virgin, "Ecce tu pulchra es"; and when Barbara's "Quia amore langueo" reached his ear and heart with its love-yearning melody, he nodded to his sister with wondering delight, and then listened, as if rapt from the world, until the last notes of the motet died away.
How should he not have heard gladly that the monarch, at every interview with Barbara, listened to her singing with special pleasure? At first she chose grave, usually even religious songs, and among them Charles's favourite was the "Quia amore langueo." To listen to these deeply felt tones of yearning always seemed to possess a fresh charm for him. No wonder!
Only when one or another article was taken from a casket or box did she pause in her walk. Among the things selected was the pearl necklace which Charles had given her, and the only note her royal lover had ever written, which ran, "This evening, quia amore langueo."
Only when one or another article was taken from a casket or box did she pause in her walk. Among the things selected was the pearl necklace which Charles had given her, and the only note her royal lover had ever written, which ran, "This evening, quia amore langueo."
The clang against the jambs told Barbara that she was alone with the ruler of half the world, whom she dared to love. But she was not granted a moment to collect her thoughts; the Emperor Charles already stood before her, and with the exclamation, "Quia amore langueo!" opened his arms.
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