Princess Augusta Cesarina's Court

Princess Augusta Cesarina's Court is both a setting of aristocratic display and a turning point in Felismena's pursuit of Don Félix. Sent there by his father, Don Félix becomes the distant object of Felismena's journey; when she reaches the court in disguise, its splendid public scenes sharpen rather than settle her uncertainty about his affections.

A Nobleman's Destination

Don Félix's father sends him to the court of the great Princess Augusta Cesarina after learning of his growing attachment to Felismena. He argues that a young man of distinguished lineage should not spend his youth in his father's house, where idleness could teach him its vices. The decision removes Don Félix from Felismena without warning: he leaves so sorrowful that he does not tell her he is going, and she learns of his departure only afterward. The court thus enters the story first as an institution of family authority, capable of redirecting a private romance through a father's decision.

Felismena's Arrival

Fearful that Don Félix will forget her among women of greater beauty and rank, Felismena chooses to follow him. With help from a trusted friend who buys her men's clothes and a horse, she travels for twenty days and arrives at the court under the name Valerio. She lodges in a house set apart from conversation, concealing her presence while searching for a way to see Don Félix. The court is not simply a destination on her route: it is the place where her disguise becomes necessary to sustain her pursuit and protect her secret.

The Palace in Public View

Felismena's first glimpse of court life comes at night. Her host tells her that music is being performed in the street, and from her window she hears Don Félix's page and others announce that a lady is on a gallery above a garden. Cornets and a sackbut accompany the serenade. Felismena cannot see Don Félix in the darkness, and the music, which might promise intimacy to its intended listener, instead gives her evidence of her own exclusion.

The next morning she goes to the great palace, hoping to see him. From the square she observes ladies at the windows and galleries, adorned with jewels and elaborate clothes, while finely dressed knights ride below and look toward the women they serve. Don Félix arrives among richly liveried attendants, wearing white velvet and gold, pearls, and colored plumes, on a dapple-gray horse fitted with blue and gold trappings. He dismounts and goes up the stairs toward the princess's apartments. The detailed display makes the court's hierarchy and ceremony visible, even as Felismena watches from outside its intimate circles.

Courtship and Secrecy

Looking at the palace, Felismena imagines that courtly service conducted in such a public place would leave little room for a lover to obtain more than the chance to look, be looked at, or speak to the woman he served under the gaze of a crowd. But she believes Don Félix's love is pursued elsewhere, where that public scrutiny offers no such restraint. The contrast is central to the court's meaning in her story: its spectacle exposes status and desire to view, but cannot assure fidelity or disclose the private truth of a relationship. For Felismena, the palace provides the long-sought sight of Don Félix, not the certainty she came to find.