Two nights later, on a scorching summer's evening, Pedro and Leopoldina alighted from their carriage outside the theatre, to loud cheers from the crowds who had gathered. A beggar came up to Leopoldina, asking her for money, and she unhesitatingly gave him enough money to buy bread: he smiled gratefully at her. Pedro meanwhile stationed his personal guard outside the building: he then took Leopoldina's hand and they entered the theatre together. To more cheers and applause from the patrons inside, Pedro and Leopoldina climbed the stairs to the royal box - Leopoldina somewhat gingerly owing to her heavily pregnant state. Once in the royal box, she carefully lowered herself onto her seat, while Pedro remained standing: down below, the theatre manager announced that the Prince Regent would be making a speech before the opera began. As one, the audience fixed its eyes on the royal box.
"Friends", announced Pedro, "As you all know, two days ago I made my decision that I would be staying in Brazil. I wish to emphasise, however, that I do not hate the Portuguese, whatever may be my reservations about the Cortes. There are, of course, many good men of Portuguese birth living in this kingdom, and I wish for nothing more than tranquillity and unity between Brazilians and Portuguese. There is only one more thing I wish to add: please enjoy tonight's performance."
Loud applause followed this speech: Pedro waved as he took his seat next to Leopoldina, who smiled proudly at him.
Barely minutes into the opera, loud bangs could be heard outside, followed by screams. The singers stopped in mid-performance, while the audience craned its necks this way and that, trying to find the source of the noise.
"What could be happening?", whispered Leopoldina.
Before Pedro could answer her, a messenger rushed in.
"Your Royal Highnesses", he shouted, looking up at the royal box, "Portuguese soldiers, led by Avilez, are rampaging through this city. They are breaking windows that have been lit up to celebrate your decision to stay, putting out lights and doing all sorts of horrible things."
Panic ensued, as the singers and the audience rushed for the exits.
"Stop!", shouted Pedro, jumping up from his seat: although inwardly he was furious, he knew it was incumbent on him to calm everyone down.
Everyone stopped and looked at him. Some were terrified, others looked hopeful.
"My personal guard is outside", Pedro reminded them, "and they are all Brazilians. They will protect you. If you run onto the streets, it will just add to the confusion and make the guard's task more difficult. I will issue an order to restore peace to the city. In the meantime, I urge you to stay calm and enjoy the rest of the opera with me and my wife."
The singers climbed back onto the stage, and the patrons returned to their seats. Pedro sat down again, and earned fulsome praise from Leopoldina for his calm and his quick-thinking.
As the evening continued, repeated messages were delivered to the royal box and military aides entered the box to discuss with Pedro. Pedro spent all his time drawing up plans and issuing orders. He regretted not being able to focus on the opera, but needs must. He learned that the Eleventh and Fifteenth Battalions were besieging Mount Castelo. Another message informed him that the Third Battalion would not join the mutiny, but would also not fight against their fellow Portuguese: Pedro drafted an order to them to guard Boa Vista Palace.
These interventions did not go unnoticed by either the performers or the audience, and panic slowly began to build up again. Pedro did not notice this, absorbed by the other business he had to deal with, but Leopoldina did. She got up from her seat, whispered to Pedro about what she was going to do, and slowly but determinedly made her way down the stairs, into the auditorium and onto the stage. A hush descended when the singers and the audience saw her.
"Keep calm", said Leopoldina, in a voice both authoritative and reassuring, "my husband has everything under control! He is just getting some advice and making plans on how to deal with the disturbance. Everything will be all right."
Everyone cheered her loudly: when Leopoldina returned to the royal box, Pedro greeted her with a proud smile. Other women could give him pleasure, he thought, but none was as intelligent or astute as Leopoldina.
Once the opera had finished, Pedro and Leopoldina got back in their coaches as quickly as decorum would allow, and hurried back to Boa Vista Palace. Outside the palace, they saw Avilez giving directions to his troops.
"You treacherous scumbag!", shouted Pedro. "You piece of filth! You son of a whore!"
It was telling that Leopoldina for once made no attempt to calm her husband: instead she stood by him, glaring at Avilez.
"I'm doing this because of you!", Avilez shouted back. "Because you disobeyed the Cortes! You are a traitor to the King and to the Portuguese nation!"
"I will not have your troops disturbing the peace of this city!", roared Pedro. "You are terrorising His Majesty's Brazilian subjects! I will drive you and your worthless men out of Rio, you'll see if I don't!"
He stormed away, with Leopoldina by his side. His entire body was shaking violently, but his facial expression was resolute.
"Take the children", he said to Leopoldina. "Take them to Santa Cruz."
Leopoldina nodded.
"Good luck", she said. "I have every faith in you."
They kissed each other, before going their separate ways.
As Avilez retreated to Mount Castelo to organise his troops, Pedro spent the early hours of the morning mobilising Brazilian troops and local militia units.
"Brazilians!", he told them. "Avilez and his Portuguese troops have mutinied, all because of my solemn promise to stay in this country. They do not want Brazil to be an equal partner with Portugal, they want Portugal to be our master again. I know perfectly well that my august father the King would not want this, and nor do I. Are you prepared to fight for this country?"
Loud cheers of assent.
"To Mount Castelo then!", shouted Pedro.
They marched all the way to Mount Castelo, arriving there just before dawn. Pedro ordered his troops to surround the mountain. Avilez, standing on the summit, soon realised his position was hopeless. He was trapped, with no food or water. He was outnumbered too. However, he also knew that reinforcements from Portugal were on their way: maybe if he could negotiate a withdrawal, he could wait it out until the new troops arrived. At about 11 o'clock in the morning he came down from the mountain and knelt before Pedro.
"Dom Pedro", he said. "I most sincerely regret my treacherous and ill-conceived rebellion against Your Royal Highness, and I beg leave to be allowed to surrender."
"I accept", said Pedro at once, "and I command you to leave this country forthwith."
"May I propose", said Avilez, "that I be allowed to take my men and their weapons with me. We could cross the bay to Niterói: ships will be arriving there bringing troops from Portugal, and we could travel back on those vessels."
Pedro gave him a suspicious look, but he also knew that he did not have ships of his own at his disposal, and he wanted Avilez out of Rio as soon as possible.
"Very well", he said. "I agree to your proposal. Go and inform your men, but also tell them that any soldier who wishes to remain in Brazil can do so, if he is separated from his division."
Avilez did so, and was rather put out when several hundred of his men deserted to the Prince Regent.
As he watched Avilez and his remaining troops disappearing over the horizon, Pedro spoke to one of his own soldiers.
"Go and find Dona Leopoldina and tell her of our great victory."
Leopoldina meanwhile had rushed inside the palace as quickly as she could manage. First she woke up Maria.
"We need to get out of here, quickly", she said.
"Why, Mama", asked Maria, "what's going on?"
"Some very bad men are doing some very bad things", explained Leopoldina. "Don't worry", she added, noticing Maria's alarmed expression, "Papa will sort things out. But you need to get dressed quickly."
While Maria got dressed, Leopoldina woke up the baby João Carlos, doing as much she could to sooth the crying boy.
They made their way down various flights of stairs, Maria just in front, Leopoldina holding João Carlos in both arms, trying to move as fast as she could while holding onto her son and being heavily pregnant. Once outside the palace building, they could hear the loud bangs of the soldiers' guns, and the screams of the population. Maria took fright and clung onto her mother's skirts, while João Carlos began to cry once more. They clambered inside the same carriage that had taken Pedro and Leopoldina to and from the opera. The road was bumpy, the night was very hot and it was a 12-hour journey, causing more distress to the children. As the journey went on, João Carlos's crying became louder and more strangled, and it soon became apparent to his mother and sister that this was something much more serious than an upset and confused baby. Maria began to gently stroke her brother's head, but he got no better.
"Is he all right, Mama?", she asked.
"He's very ill", said Leopoldina. Privately she thought it was an inflammation of the liver.
"Will he get better?", asked Maria.
Leopoldina wanted to say yes, but in truth she wasn't sure.
"He will", said Maria: Leopoldina gave her daughter an affectionate smile.
Suddenly, a horse could be heard neighing outside the carriage door. Leopoldina turned her head and saw that the man riding it was trying to get her attention. She ordered the coachman to stop and opened the door to the messenger.
"Your Royal Highnesses", he said, bowing, "I have great news. Dom Pedro has defeated Avilez. You can all return to Rio."
"Thank you ever so much", said Leopoldina, full of relief and admiration for her husband.
"And there's more", the messenger added. "I've heard that José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva is near, on his way to Rio."
"Then tell him he can travel with us", said Leopoldina.
The messenger bowed again, and within five minutes had returned with José Bonifácio, who took his seat opposite the royals.
"Dona Leopoldina", he said, "I know it must be a great burden to you to take me with you, and I humbly thank you."
"Not at all", she replied.
"I cannot tell you", said José Bonifácio, "what a great honour I feel to be summoned by Dom Pedro to be his chief minister. He is a truly great man, and a friend of Brazil."
"He is indeed", said Leopoldina.
"And so are you, I gather", said José Bonifácio. "I have heard about what a generous woman you are, and how dedicated you are to this country."
"Well, thank you", said Leopoldina somewhat embarrassedly. What a charming man, she thought.
"And what about these delightful children?", inquired José Bonifácio.
Leopoldina smiled, and pointed to her stricken son, and her anxious daughter.
"These two Brazilians are your compatriots", she said, "and I beg you to treat them with paternal love."
Just for a moment, José Bonifácio's eyes watered slightly. For the rest of the journey, he and Leopoldina conversed, especially about minerology and other interests. Leopoldina was pleased to have made a new friend, and be distracted from her son's desperate condition.
It was in the early evening when the party arrived at Boa Vista Palace. Pedro was standing outside the building waiting for them, anxiously tapping his foot: when he saw the coach pull in, he shouted for joy, but his joy turned to horror when he saw his son's condition. After ordering the boy to be taken inside and receive the best possible care, Pedro embraced Leopoldina and Maria, Maria sobbing loudly and uncontrollably. Then, after sending his wife and daughter into the palace, he turned to address José Bonifácio, who bowed low.
"Welcome to Rio, José Bonifácio", said Pedro. "I invite you to form a new ministry."
"This great honour I accept", replied José Bonifácio, "provided that Your Royal Highness promises never to leave Brazil, no matter what may befall."
"This I agree to do", said Pedro.
"And", asked José Bonifácio, "will Your Royal Highness undertake to send men and ships to drive Avilez out of Niterói before the Portuguese troops arrive?"
"He has promised me that he will leave when the Portuguese ships arrive", answered Pedro, "but I promise I will drive him out if he breaks his word."
"So", said José Bonifácio, addressing his newly formed Cabinet, "we all have a great duty laid upon us. Dom Pedro has entrusted us with protecting the interests of the Kingdom of Brazil against the usurpations and depredations of the Portuguese Cortes. Those fanatics, those men who took our King away from us, will never rest until Brazil has been reduced, once more, to slavery. They will never succeed! All of us here today, we shall fight till our last breath rather than have our institutions stolen from us by the robbers in Lisbon. While those men harbour such ill thoughts towards Brazil, we here feel no animosity towards Portugal: we simply want to be a self-governing kingdom within the Portuguese nation - two kingdoms under one crown. To this end, I hereby announce that no law of the Portuguese Cortes shall apply in Brazil until the Prince Regent has seen it and determined that it is applicable to the conditions in this country. I shall also send out a call to the juntas in all the provinces, urging them to promote their unity under the wise and benevolent leadership of Dom Pedro."
He sat down again, and was met by applause from the ministers.
Three weeks later, Pedro, Leopoldina and Maria were by João Carlos's bedside. Despite all their hopes, he had got no better, and his breathing was slowly but surely getting fainter. An ominous atmosphere pervaded the room.
At length, João Carlos ceased breathing altogether. Leopoldina threw herself onto her son's dead body, weeping, Pedro burst into tears and cried out loudly in his anguish, while Maria looked at one parent, and then the other, looking confused.
"Is he dead?", she asked eventually.
"Yes", said Leopoldina through her tears: she reached out and drew Maria into her, and the little girl screamed and bawled.
"Avilez killed him!", cried out Pedro: anger mingled with grief.
"You are right", said Leopoldina: there was a rare steel in her voice.
Several minutes passed before the adults managed to regain their composure: Leopoldina caressed Maria, reassuring her that João Carlos's sufferings were over, and that he was now in Heaven.
"You'll soon have another brother or sister as well", she added.
"Let's hope he or she will be a comfort to us", said Pedro.
Leopoldina nodded.
"But one thing that is definitely not a comfort", said Pedro, "is Avilez. He hasn't evacuated when he said he would. I will send troops to drive him out."
"Yes, do it", said Leopoldina. "Look at what he did", she added, pointing to João Carlos's body.
Pedro quickly mustered troops, and send a note to Avilez, telling him to evacuate at dawn, or Pedro would regard his troops as enemies and give them no quarter. Outnumbered, and with the Portuguese troops yet to arrive, Avilez surrendered, and he and his men sailed away from Brazil. A month later, when the Portuguese fleet finally arrived, Brazilians forts blocked them from entering the harbour. Any Portuguese soldiers who wished to stay in Brazil and serve Pedro were allowed to do so: the remaining soldiers, and all of the ships, were sent back to Portugal.
