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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:40:36 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:40:36 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/12725-0.txt b/12725-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9e4af02 --- /dev/null +++ b/12725-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9783 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12725 *** + +THE VALE OF CEDARS; + +or, The Martyr + +BY GRACE AGUILAR, + +AUTHOR OF "HOME INFLUENCE," "WOMAN'S FRIENDSHIP," ETC. + +1851 + + + + + + + + "The wild dove hath her nest--the fox her cave-- + Mankind their country--Israel but the grave." + + BYRON. + + + + + +MEMOIR OF GRACE AGUILAR. + + +Grace Aguilar was born at Hackney, June 2nd, 1816. She was the eldest +child, and only daughter of Emanuel Aguilar, one of those merchants +descended from the Jews of Spain, who, almost within the memory of +man, fled from persecution in that country, and sought and found an +asylum in England. + +The delicate frame and feeble health observable in Grace Aguilar +throughout her life, displayed itself from infancy; from the age +of three years, she was almost constantly under the care of some +physician, and, by their advice, annually spending the summer months +by the sea, in the hope of rousing and strengthening a naturally +fragile constitution. This want of physical energy was, however, in +direct contrast to her mental powers, which developed early, and +readily. She learned to read with scarcely any trouble, and when once +that knowledge was gained, her answer when asked what she would like +for a present, was invariably "A book," which, was read, re-read, +and preserved with a care remarkable in so young a child. With the +exception of eighteen months passed at school, her mother was her sole +instructress, and both parents took equal delight in directing her +studies, and facilitating her personal inspection of all that was +curious and interesting in the various counties of England to which +they resorted for her health. + +From the early age of seven she commenced keeping a journal, which was +continued with scarce any intermission throughout her life. In 1825 +she visited Oxford, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Worcester, Ross, and Bath, +and though at that time but nine years old, her father took her to +Gloucester and Worcester cathedrals, and also to see a porcelain and +pin manufactory, &c., the attention and interest she displayed on +these occasions, affording convincing proof that her mind was alive +to appreciate and enjoy what was thus presented to her observation. +Before she had completed her twelfth year she ventured to try her +powers in composition, and wrote a little drama, called Gustavus Vasa, +never published, and only here recorded as being the first germ of +what was afterwards to become the ruling passion. + +In September, 1828, the family went to reside in Devonshire for the +health of Mr. Aguilar, and there a strong admiration for the beauties +and wonders of nature manifested itself: she constantly collected +shells, stones, seaweed, mosses, &c., in her daily rambles; and not +satisfied with admiring their beauty, sedulously procured whatever +little catechisms or other books on those subjects she could purchase, +or borrow, eagerly endeavoring by their study, to increase her +knowledge of their nature and properties. + +When she had attained the age of fourteen, her father commenced a +regular course of instruction for his child, by reading aloud, while +she was employed in drawing, needlework, &c. History was selected, +that being the study which now most interested her, and the first work +chosen was Josephus. + +It was while spending a short time at Tavistock, in 1830, that the +beauty of the surrounding scenery led her to express her thoughts in +verse. Several small pieces soon followed her first essay, and she +became extremely fond of this new exercise and enjoyment of her +opening powers, yet her mind was so well regulated, that she never +permitted herself to indulge in original composition until her duties, +and her studies, were all performed. + +Grace Aguilar was extremely fond of music; she had learned the piano +from infancy, and in 1831 commenced the harp. She sang pleasingly, +preferring English songs, and invariably selecting them for the beauty +or sentiment of the words; she was also passionately fond of dancing, +and her cheerful lively manners in the society of her young friends, +would scarcely have led any to imagine how deeply she felt and +pondered upon the serious and solemn subjects which afterwards formed +the labor of her life. She seemed to enjoy all, to enter into all, but +a keen observer would detect the hold that sacred and holy principle +ever exercised over her lightest act, and gayest hour. A sense of duty +was apparent in the merest trifle, and her following out of the divine +command of obedience to parents, was only equalled by the unbounded +affection she felt for them. A wish was once expressed by her mother +that she should not waltz, and no solicitation could afterwards tempt +her. Her mother also required her to read sermons, and study religion +and the Bible regularly; this was readily submitted to, first as a +task, but afterwards with much delight; for evidence of which we +cannot do better than quote her own words in one of her religious +works. + +"This formed into a habit, and persevered in for a life, would in +time, and without labor or weariness, give the comfort and the +knowledge that we seek; each year it would become lighter, and more +blest, each year we should discover something we knew not before, and +in the valley of the shadow of death, feel to our heart's core that +the Lord our God is Truth."--_Women of Israel_, Vol. II, page 43. + +Nor did Grace Aguilar only study religion for her own personal +observance and profit. She embraced its _principles_ (the principles +of all creeds) in a widely extended and truly liberal sense. She +carried her practice of its holy and benevolent precepts into every +minutiae of her daily life, doing all the good her limited means would +allow, finding time, in the midst of her own studies, and most +varied and continual occupations, to work for, and instruct her poor +neighbors in the country, and while steadily venerating and adhering +to her own faith, neither inquiring nor heeding the religious opinions +of the needy whom she succored or consoled. To be permitted to help +and comfort, she considered a privilege and a pleasure; she left the +rest to God; and thus bestowing and receiving blessings and smiles +from all who had the opportunity of knowing her, her young life flowed +on, in an almost uninterrupted stream of enjoyment, until she had +completed her nineteenth year. + +Alas! the scene was soon to change, and trials awaited that spirit +which, in the midst of sunshine, had so beautifully striven to prepare +itself a shelter from the storm. The two brothers of Miss Aguilar, +whom she tenderly loved, left the paternal roof to be placed far from +their family at school. Her mother's health necessitated a painful and +dangerous operation, and from that time for several years, alternate +hopes and fears through long and dreary watchings beside the sick bed +of that beloved mother, became the portion of her gifted child. But +even this depressing and arduous change in the duties of her existence +did not suspend her literary pursuits and labors. She profited by all +the intervals she could command, and wrote the tale of the "Martyr," +the "Spirit of Judaism," and "Israel Defended;" the latter translated +from the French, at the earnest request of a friend, and printed only +for private circulation. The "Magic Wreath," a little poetical work, +and the first our authoress ever published, dedicated to the Right +Honorable the Countess of Munster, also appeared about this time. + +In the Spring of 1835, Grace Aguilar was attacked with measles, and +never afterwards recovered her previous state of health, suffering +at intervals with such exhausting feelings of weakness, as to become +without any visible disease really alarming. + +The medical attendants recommended entire rest of mind and body; she +visited the sea, and seemed a little revived, but anxieties were +gathering around her horizon, to which it became evidently impossible +her ardent and active mind could remain passive or indifferent, and +which recalled every feeling, every energy of her impressible nature +into action. Her elder brother, who had long chosen music as his +profession, was sent to Germany to pursue his studies; the younger +determined upon entering the sea service. The excitement of these +changes, and the parting with both, was highly injurious to their +affectionate sister, and her delight a few months after, at welcoming +the sailor boy returned from his first voyage, with all his tales of +danger and adventure, and his keen enjoyment of the path of life he +had chosen, together with her struggles to do her utmost to share his +walks and companionship, contributed yet more to impair her inadequate +strength. + +The second parting was scarcely over ere her father, who had long +shown symptoms of failing health, became the victim of consumption. He +breathed his last in her arms, and the daughter, while sorrowing over +all she had lost, roused herself once more to the utmost, feeling that +she was the sole comforter beside her remaining parent. Soon after, +when her brother again returned, finding the death of his father, he +resolved not to make his third voyage as a midshipman, but endeavor +to procure some employment sufficiently lucrative to prevent his +remaining a burthen upon his widowed mother. Long and anxiously did he +pursue this object, his sister, whose acquaintance with literary and +talented persons had greatly increased, using all her energy and +influence in his behalf, and concentrating all the enthusiastic +feelings of her nature in inspiring him with patience, comfort, and +hope, as often as they failed him under his repeated disappointments. +At length his application was taken up by a powerful friend, for her +sake, and she had the happiness of succeeding, and saw him depart +at the very summit of his wishes. Repose, which had been so long +necessary, seemed now at hand; but her nerves had been too long and +too repeatedly overstrung, and when this task was done, the worn and +weary spirit could sustain no more, and sank under the labor that had +been imposed upon it. + +Severe illness followed, and though it yielded after a time to skilful +remedies and tender care, her excessive languor and severe headaches, +continued to give her family and friends great uneasiness. + +During all these demands upon her time, her thoughts, and her health, +however, the ruling passion neither slumbered nor slept. She completed +the Jewish Faith, and also prepared Home Influence for the press, +though very unfit to have taxed her powers so far. Her medical +attendant became urgent for total change of air and scene, and again +strongly interdicted _all_ mental exertion--a trip to Frankfort, to +visit her elder brother, was therefore decided on. In June, 1847, she +set out, and bore the journey without suffering nearly so much as +might have been expected. Her hopes were nigh, her spirits raised--the +novelty and interest of her first travels on the Continent gave her +for a very transient period a gleam, as it were, of strength. For a +week or two she appeared to rally, then again every exertion became +too much for her, every stimulating remedy to exhaust her. She +was ordered from Frankfort to try the baths and mineral waters of +Schwalbach, but without success. After a stay of six weeks, and +persevering with exemplary patience in the treatment prescribed, she +was one night seized with alarming convulsive spasms, so terrible that +her family removed her next morning with all speed back to Frankfort, +to the house of a family of most kind friends, where every attention +and care was lavishly bestowed. + +In vain. She took to her bed the very day of her arrival, and never +rose from it again; she became daily weaker, and in three weeks from +that time her sufferings ceased for ever. She was perfectly conscious +to within less than two hours before her death, and took an +affectionate leave of her mother and brother. Speech had been a +matter of difficulty for some time previous, her throat being greatly +affected by her malady; but she had, in consequence, learned to use +her fingers in the manner of the deaf and dumb, and almost the last +time they moved, it was to spell upon them feebly, "Though He slay me, +yet will I trust in Him." + +She was buried in the cemetery of Frankfort, one side of which is set +apart for the people of her faith. The stone which marks the spot +bears upon it a butterfly and five stars, emblematic of the soul in +heaven, and beneath appears the inscription-- + + "Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise + her in the gates."--Prov. ch. xxxi, v. 31. + +And thus, 16th September, 1847, at the early age of thirty-one, Grace +Aguilar was laid to rest--the bowl was broken, the silver cord was +loosed. Her life was short and checkered with pain and anxiety, +but she strove hard to make it useful and valuable, by employing +diligently and faithfully the talents with which she had been endowed. +Nor did the serious view with which she ever regarded earthly +existence, induce her to neglect or despise any occasion of enjoyment, +advantage, or sociality which presented itself. Her heart was ever +open to receive, her hand to give. + +Inasmuch as she succeeded to the satisfaction of her fellow beings, +let them be grateful; inasmuch as she failed, let those who perceive +it deny her not the meed of praise, for her endeavor to open the path +she believed would lead mankind to practical virtue and happiness, and +strive to carry out the pure philanthropic principles by which she was +actuated, and which she so earnestly endeavored to diffuse. + +OCTOBER, 1849. + + + + +THE VALE OF CEDARS; + +OR, + +THE MARTYR. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + "They had met, and they had parted; + Time had closed o'er each again, + Leaving lone the weary hearted + Mournfully to wear his chain."--MS. + + +A deliciously cool, still evening, had succeeded the intense heat of a +Spanish summer day, throwing rich shadows and rosy gleams on a wild, +rude mountain pass in central Spain. Massive crags and gigantic trees +seemed to contest dominion over the path, if path it could be called; +where the traveller, if he would persist in going onwards, could only +make his way by sometimes scrambling over rocks, whose close approach +from opposite sides presented a mere fissure covered with flowers and +brushwood, through which the slimmest figure would fail to penetrate; +sometimes wading through rushing and brawling streams, whose rapid +currents bore many a jagged branch and craggy fragment along with +them; sometimes threading the intricacies of a dense forest, +recognizing the huge pine, the sweet acorn oak, the cork tree, +interspersed with others of lesser growth, but of equally wild +perplexing luxuriance. On either side--at times so close that two +could not walk abreast, at others so divided that forests and streams +intervened--arose mountain walls seeming to reach the very heavens, +their base covered with trees and foliage, which gradually thinning, +left their dark heads totally barren, coming out in clear relief +against the deep blue sky. + +That this pass led to any inhabited district was little probable, for +it grew wilder and wilder, appearing to lead to the very heart of the +Sierra Toledo--a huge ridge traversing Spain. By human foot it had +evidently been seldom trod; yet on this particular evening a traveller +there wended his solitary way. His figure was slight to boyishness, +but of fair proportion, and of such graceful agility of movement, +that the obstacles in his path, which to others of stouter mould and +heavier step might have been of serious inconvenience, appeared by him +as unnoticed as unfelt. The deep plume of his broad-rimmed hat could +not conceal the deep blue restless eyes, the delicate complexion, and +rich brown clustering hair; the varying expression of features, which +if not regularly handsome, were bright with intelligence and +truth, and betraying like a crystal mirror every impulse of the +heart--characteristics both of feature and disposition wholly +dissimilar to the sons of Spain. + +His physiognomy told truth. Arthur Stanley was, as his name implied, +an Englishman of noble family; one of the many whom the disastrous +wars of the Roses had rendered voluntary exiles. His father and four +brothers had fallen in battle at Margaret's side. Himself and a twin +brother, when scarcely fifteen, were taken prisoners at Tewkesbury, +and for three years left to languish in prison. Wishing to conciliate +the still powerful family of Stanley, Edward offered the youths +liberty and honor if they would swear allegiance to himself. They +refused peremptorily; and with a refinement of cruelty more like +Richard of Gloucester than himself, Edward ordered one to the block, +the other to perpetual imprisonment. They drew lots, and Edwin Stanley +perished. Arthur, after an interval, succeeded in effecting his +escape, and fled from England, lingered in Provence a few months, +and then unable to bear an inactive life, hastened to the Court +of Arragon; to the heir apparent of which, he bore letters of +introduction, from men of rank and influence, and speedily +distinguished himself in the wars then agitating Spain. The character +of the Spaniards--impenetrable and haughty reserve--occasioned, in +general, prejudice and dislike towards all foreigners. But powerful +as was their pride, so was their generosity; and the young and lonely +stranger, who had thrown himself so trustingly and frankly on their +friendship, was universally received with kindness and regard. In men +of lower natures, indeed, prejudice still lingered; but this was +of little matter; Arthur speedily took his place among the noblest +chivalry of Spain; devoted to the interests of the King of Sicily, but +still glorying in the name and feeling of an Englishman, he resolved, +in his young enthusiasm, to make his country honored in himself. + +He had been five years in Spain, and was now four and twenty; but +few would have imagined him that age, so frank and free and full of +thoughtless mirth and hasty impulse was his character. These last +fifteen months, however, a shadow seemed to have fallen over him, not +deep enough to create remark, but _felt_ by himself. His feelings, +always ardent, had been all excited, and were all concentrated, on a +subject so wrapt in mystery, that the wish to solve it engrossed his +whole being. Except when engaged in the weary stratagem, the rapid +march, and actual conflict, necessary for Ferdinand's interest, but +one thought, composed of many, occupied his mind, and in solitude so +distractingly, that he could never rest; he would traverse the country +for miles, conscious indeed of what he _sought_, but perfectly +unconscious where he _went_. + +It was in one of these moods he had entered the pass we have +described, rejoicing in its difficulties, but not thinking where it +led, or what place he sought, when a huge crag suddenly rising almost +perpendicularly before him, effectually roused him from his trance. +Outlet there was none. All around him towered mountains, reaching +to the skies. The path was so winding, that, as he looked round +bewildered, he could not even imagine how he came there. To retrace +his steps, seemed quite as difficult as to proceed. The sun too had +declined, or was effectually concealed by the towering rocks, for +sudden darkness seemed around him. There was but one way, and Stanley +prepared to scale the precipitous crag before him with more eagerness +than he would a beaten path. He threw off his cloak, folded it in +the smallest possible compass, and secured it like a knapsack to his +shoulders, slung his sword over his neck, and, with a vigorous spring, +which conquered several paces of slippery rock at once, commenced the +ascent. Some brushwood, and one or two stunted trees, gave him now +and then a hold for his hands; and occasional ledges in the rock, a +resting for his foot; but still one false step, one failing nerve, and +he must have fallen backwards and been dashed to pieces; but to Arthur +the danger was his safety. Where he was going, indeed he knew not. He +could see no further than the summit of the crag, which appeared like +a line against the sky; but any bewilderment were preferable to the +strange stagnation towards outward objects, which had enwrapped him +ten minutes before. + +Panting, breathless, almost exhausted, he reached the summit, and +before him yawned a chasm, dark, fathomless, as if nature in some wild +convulsion had rent the rock asunder. The level ground on which +he stood was barely four feet square; behind him sloped the most +precipitous side of the crag, devoid of tree or bush, and slippery +from the constant moisture that formed a deep black pool at its base. +Stanley hazarded but one glance behind, then looked steadily forward, +till his eye seemed accustomed to the width of the chasm, which did +not exceed three feet. He fixed his hold firmly on a blasted trunk +growing within the chasm; It shook--gave way--another moment and he +would have been lost; but in that moment he loosed his hold, clasped +both hands above his head, and successfully made the leap--aware only +of the immense effort by the exhaustion which followed compelling him +to sink down on the grass, deprived even of energy to look around him. + +So marvellous was the change of scenery on which his eyes unclosed, +that he started to his feet, bewildered. A gradual hill, partly +covered with rich meadow grass, and partly with corn, diversified +with foliage, sloped downwards, leading by an easy descent to a small +valley, where orange and lime trees, the pine and chestnut, palm and +cedar, grew in beautiful luxuriance. On the left was a small dwelling, +almost hidden in trees. Directly beneath him a natural fountain threw +its sparkling showers on beds of sweet-scented and gayly-colored +flowers. The hand of man had very evidently aided nature in forming +the wild yet chaste beauty of the scene; and Arthur bounded down the +slope, disturbing a few tame sheep and goats on his way, determined on +discovering the genius of the place. + +No living object was visible, however; and with his usual reckless +spirit, he resolved on exploring further, ere he demanded the +hospitality of the dwelling. A narrow path led into a thicker wood, +and in the very heart of its shade stood a small edifice, the nature +of which Arthur vainly endeavored to understand. It was square, and +formed of solid blocks of cedar; neither carving nor imagery of any +kind adorned it; yet it had evidently been built with skill and care. +There was neither tower nor bell, the usual accompaniments of a +chapel, which Stanley had at first imagined it; and he stood gazing +on it more and more bewildered. At that moment, a female voice of +singular and thrilling beauty sounded from within. It was evidently +a hymn she chanted, for the strain was slow and solemn, but though +_words_ were distinctly intelligible, their language was entirely +unknown. The young man listened at first, conscious only of increasing +wonderment, which was quickly succeeded by a thrill of hope, so +strange, so engrossing, that he stood, outwardly indeed as if turned +to stone; inwardly, with every pulse so throbbing that to move or +speak was impossible. The voice ceased; and in another minute a door, +so skilfully constructed as when closed to be invisible in the solid +wall, opened noiselessly; and a female figure stood before him. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + "Farewell! though in that sound be years + Of blighted hopes and fruitless tears-- + Though the soul vibrate to its knell + Of joys departed--yet farewell." + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +To attempt description of either face or form would be useless. The +exquisite proportions of the rounded figure, the very perfection of +each feature, the delicate clearness of the complexion--brunette when +brought in close contact with the Saxon, blonde when compared with the +Spaniard--all attractions in themselves, were literally forgotten, or +at least unheeded, beneath the spell which dwelt in the _expression_ +of her countenance. Truth, purity, holiness, something scarcely of +this nether world, yet blended indescribably with all a woman's +nature, had rested there, attracting the most unobservant, and +riveting all whose own hearts contained a spark of the same lofty +attributes. Her dress, too, was peculiar--a full loose petticoat of +dark blue silk, reaching only to the ankle, and so displaying the +beautifully-shaped foot; a jacket of pale yellow, the texture seeming +of the finest woven wool, reaching to the throat; with sleeves tight +on the shoulders, but falling in wide folds as low as the wrist, and +so with every movement displaying the round soft arm beneath. An +antique brooch of curiously wrought silver confined the jacket at the +throat. The collar, made either to stand up or fall, was this evening +unclosed and thrown black, its silver fringe gleaming through the +clustering tresses that fell in all their native richness and raven +blackness over her shoulders, parted and braided on her brow, so as to +heighten the chaste and classic expression of her features. + +On a stranger that beautiful vision must have burst with bewildering +power: to Arthur Stanley she united _memory_ with _being_, the _past_ +with the _present_, with such an intensity of emotion, that for a few +minutes his very breath was impeded. She turned, without seeing him, +in a contrary direction; and the movement roused him. + +"Marie!" he passionately exclaimed, flinging himself directly in her +path, and startling her so painfully, that though there was a strong +and visible effort at self-control, she must have fallen had he not +caught her in his arms. There was an effort to break from his hold, a +murmured exclamation, in which terror, astonishment, and yet joy, were +painfully mingled, and then the heroine gave place to the woman, for +her head sunk on his shoulder and she burst into tears. + +Time passed. Nearly an hour from that strange meeting, and still they +were together; but no joy, nor even hope was on the countenance of +either. At first, Arthur had alluded to their hours of happy yet +unconfessed affection, when both had felt, intuitively, that they were +all in all to each other, though not a syllable of love had passed +their lips; on the sweet memories of those blissful hours, so brief, +so fleeting, but still Marie wept: the memory seemed anguish more than +joy. And then he spoke of returned affection, as avowed by her, when +his fond words had called it forth; and shuddered at the recollection +that that hour of acknowledged and mutual love, had proved the signal +of their separation. He referred again to her agonized words, that a +union was impossible, that she dared not wed him; it was sin even +to love him; that in the tumultuary, yet delicious emotions she had +experienced, she had forgotten, utterly forgotten in what it must +end--the agony of desolation for herself, and, if he so loved her, for +Stanley also--and again he conjured her to explain their meaning. They +had been separated, after that fearful interview, by a hasty summons +for him to rejoin his camp; and when he returned, she had vanished. +He could not trace either her or the friend with whom she had been +staying. Don Albert had indeed said, his wife had gone to one of the +southern cities, and his young guest returned to her father's home; +but where that home was, Don Albert had so effectually evaded, that +neither direct questionings nor wary caution could obtain reply. But +he had found her now; they had met once more, and oh, why need they +part again? Why might he not seek her father, and beseech his blessing +and consent? + +His words were eloquent, his tone impassioned, and hard indeed the +struggle they occasioned. But Marie wavered not in the repetition +of the same miserable truth, under the impression of which they +had separated before. She conjured him to leave her, to forget the +existence of this hidden valley, for danger threatened her father and +herself if it was discovered. So painful was her evident terror, that +Arthur pledged his honor never to reveal it, declaring that to +retrace the path by which he had discovered it, was even to himself +impossible. But still he urged her, what was this fatal secret? Why +was it sin to love him? Was she the betrothed of another? and the +large drops starting to the young man's brow denoted the agony of the +question. + +"No, Arthur, no," was the instant rejoinder: "I never could love, +never could be another's, this trial is hard enough, but it is all I +have to bear. I am not called upon to give my hand to another, while +my heart is solely thine." + +"Then wherefore join that harsh word 'sin,' with such pure love, my +Marie? Why send me from you wretched and most lonely, when no human +power divides us?" + +"No human power!--alas! alas!--a father's curse--an offended +God--these are too awful to encounter, Arthur. Oh do not try me more; +leave me to my fate, called down by my own weakness, dearest Arthur. +If you indeed love me, tempt me not by such fond words; they do but +render duty harder. Oh, wherefore have you loved me!" + +But such suffering tone, such broken words, were not likely to check +young Stanley's solicitations. Again and again he urged her, at least +to say what fatal secret so divided them; did he but know it, it +might be all removed. Marie listened to him for several minutes, with +averted head and in unbroken silence; and when she did look on him +again, he started at her marble paleness and the convulsive quivering +of her lips, which for above a minute prevented the utterance of a +word. + +"Be it so," she said at length; "you shall know this impassable +barrier. You are too honorable to reveal it. Alas! it is not that fear +which restrained me; my own weakness which shrinks from being to thee +as to other men, were the truth once known, an object of aversion and +of scorn." + +"Aversion! scorn! Marie, thou ravest," impetuously exclaimed Stanley; +"torture me not by these dark words: the worst cannot be more +suffering." + +But when the words were said, when with blanched lips and cheeks, and +yet unfaltering tone, Marie revealed the secret which was to separate +them for ever, Arthur staggered back, relinquishing the hands he had +so fondly clasped, casting on her one look in which love and aversion +were strangely and fearfully blended, and then burying his face in his +hands, his whole frame shook as with some sudden and irrepressible +anguish. + +"Thou knowest all, now," continued Marie, after a pause, and she stood +before him with arms folded on her bosom, and an expression of meek +humility struggling with misery on her beautiful features. "Señor +Stanley, I need not now implore you to leave me; that look was +sufficient, say but you forgive the deception I have been compelled to +practise--and--and forget me. Remember what I am, and you will soon +cease to love." + +"Never, never!" replied Stanley, as with passionate agony he flung +himself before her. "Come with me to my own bright land; who shall +know what thou art there? Marie, my own beloved, be mine. What to me +is race or blood? I see but the Marie I have loved, I shall ever love. +Come with me. Edward has made overtures of peace if I would return to +England. For thy sake I will live beneath his sway; be but mine, and +oh, we shall be happy yet." + +"And my father," gasped the unhappy girl, for the generous nature of +Arthur's love rendered her trial almost too severe. "Wilt thou protect +him too? wilt thou for my sake forget what he is, and be to him a +son?" He turned from her with a stifled groan. "Thou canst not--I knew +it--oh bless thee for thy generous love; but tempt me no more, Arthur; +it cannot be; I dare not be thy bride." + +"And yet thou speakest of love. 'Tis false, thou canst not love me," +and Stanley sprung to his feet disappointed, wounded, till he scarce +knew what he said. "I would give up Spain and her monarch's love for +thee. I would live in slavery beneath a tyrant's rule to give thee a +home of love. I would forget, trample on, annihilate the prejudices +of a life, unite the pure blood of Stanley with the darkened torrent +running through thy veins, forget thy race, descent, all but thine own +sweet self. I would do this, all this for love of thee. And for +me, what wilt thou do?--reject me, bid me leave thee--and yet thou +speakest of love: 'tis false, thou lovest another better!" + +"Ay!" replied Marie, in a tone which startled him, "ay, thou hast +rightly spoken; thy words have recalled what in this deep agony I had +well nigh forgotten. There is a love, a duty stronger than that I bear +to thee. I would resign all else, but not my father's God." + +The words were few and simple; but the tone in which they were spoken +recalled Arthur's better nature, and banished hope at once. A pause +ensued, broken only by the young man's hurried tread, as he traversed +the little platform in the vain struggle for calmness. On him this +blow had fallen wholly unprepared; Marie had faced it from the moment +they had parted fifteen months before, and her only prayer had been (a +fearful one for a young and loving heart), that Stanley would forget +her, and they might never meet again. But this was not to be; and +though she had believed herself prepared, one look on his face, one +sound of his voice had proved how vain had been her dream. + +"I will obey thee, Marie," Stanley said, at length, pausing before +her. "I will leave thee now, but not--not for ever. No, no; if indeed +thou lovest me time will not change thee, if thou hast one sacred tie, +when nature severs that, and thou art alone on earth, thou shalt be +mine, whatever be thy race." + +"Hope it not, ask it not! Oh, Arthur, better thou shouldst hate me, as +thy people do my race: I cannot bear such gentle words," faltered poor +Marie, as her head sunk for a minute on his bosom, and the pent-up +tears burst forth. "But this is folly," she continued, forcing back +the choking sob, and breaking from his passionate embrace. "There is +danger alike for my father and thee, if thou tarriest longer. Not that +way," she added, as his eye glanced inquiringly towards the hill by +which he had descended; "there is another and an easier path; follow +me--thou wilt not betray it?" + +"Never!" was the solemn rejoinder, and not a word more passed between +them. He followed her through what seemed to be an endless maze, and +paused before a towering rock, which, smooth and perpendicular as a +wall built by man, ran round the vale and seemed to reach to heaven. +Pushing aside the thick brushwood, Marie stood beside the rock, and by +some invisible movement, a low door flew open and disclosed a winding +staircase. + +"Thou wilt trust me, Arthur?" + +"Ay, unto death," he answered, springing after her up the rugged +stair. Narrow loopholes, almost concealed without by trees and +brushwood, dimly lighted the staircase, as also a low, narrow passage, +which branched off in zig-zag windings at the top, and terminated, as +their woody path had done, in a solid wall. But again an invisible +door flew open, closing behind them; and after walking about a hundred +yards through prickly shrubs and entangled brushwood that obscured his +sight, Marie paused, and Arthur gazed round bewildered. A seemingly +boundless plain stretched for miles around him, its green level +only diversified by rocks scattered about in huge masses and wild +confusion, as if hurled in fury from some giant's hand. The rock +whence he had issued was completely invisible. He looked around again +and again, but only to bewilder himself yet more. + +"The way looks more dreary than it is. Keep to the left: though it +seems the less trodden path thou wilt find there a shelter for the +night, and to-morrow's sun will soon guide thee to a frontier town; +thy road will be easy then. Night is falling so fast now, thou hadst +best not linger, Arthur." + +But he did linger, till once more he had drawn from her a confession +of her love, that none other could take his place, even while she +conjured him never to seek her again--and so they parted. Five minutes +more, and there was not a vestige of a human form on the wide-extended +plain. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + "Now History unfolds her ample page, + Rich with the spoils of Time." + + +Clearly to comprehend the internal condition of Spain at the period +of our narrative (1479)--a condition which, though apparently purely +national, had influence over every domestic hearth--it is necessary to +glance back a few years. The various petty Sovereignties into which +Spain had been divided never permitted any lengthened period of peace; +but these had at length merged into two great kingdoms, under the +names of Arragon and Castile. The _form_ of both governments was +monarchical; but the _genius_ of the former was purely republican, +and the power of the sovereign so circumscribed by the Junta, the +Justicia, and the Holy Brotherhood, that the vices or follies of the +monarch were of less consequence, in a national point of view, in +Arragon, than in any other kingdom. It was not so with Castile. From +the death of Henry the Third, in 1404, a series of foreign and civil +disasters had plunged the kingdom in a state of anarchy and misery. +John the Second had some virtues as an individual, but none as a king; +and his son Henry, who succeeded him in 1450, had neither the one nor +the other. Governed as his father had been, entirely by favorites, +the discontent of all classes of his subjects rapidly increased; the +people were disgusted and furious at the extravagance of the monarch's +minion; the nobles, fired at his insolence; and an utter contempt of +the king, increased the virulence of the popular ferment. Unmindful of +the disgrace attendant on his divorce from Blanche of Navarre, Henry +sought and obtained the hand of Joanna, Princess of Portugal, whose +ambition and unprincipled intrigues heightened the ill-favor with +which he was already regarded. The court of Castile, once so famous +for chastity and honor, sank to the lowest ebb of infamy, the shadow +of which, seeming to extend over the whole land, affected nobles and +people with its baleful influence. All law was at an end: the people, +even while they murmured against the King, followed his evil example; +and history shrinks from the scenes of debauchery and licentiousness, +robbery and murder, which desecrated the land. But this state of +things could not last long, while there still remained some noble +hearts amongst the Castilians. Five years after their marriage, the +Queen was said to have given birth to a daughter, whom Henry declared +should be his successor, in lieu of his young brother Alfonso (John's +son, by a second wife, Isabella of Portugal). This child the nobles +refused to receive, believing and declaring that she was not Henry's +daughter, and arrogated to themselves the right of trying and passing +sentence on their Sovereign, who, by his weak, flagitious conduct had, +they unanimously declared, forfeited all right even to the present +possession of the crown. + +The confederates, who were the very highest and noblest officers of +the realm, assembled at Avita, and with a solemnity and pomp which +gave the whole ceremony an imposing character of reality, dethroned +King Henry in effigy, and proclaimed the youthful Alfonso sovereign in +his stead. All present swore fealty, but no actual good followed: the +flame of civil discord was re-lighted, and raged with yet greater +fury; continuing even after the sudden and mysterious death of the +young prince, whose extraordinary talent, amiability, and firmness, +though only fourteen, gave rise to the rumor that he had actually been +put to death by his own party, who beheld in his rising genius the +utter destruction of their own turbulence and pride. Be this as +it may, his death occasioned no cessation of hostilities, the +confederates carrying on the war in the name of his sister, the +Infanta Isabella. Her youth and sex had pointed her out as one not +likely to interfere or check the projects of popular ambition, and +therefore the very fittest to bring forward as an excuse for their +revolt. With every appearance of humility and deference, they offered +her the crown; but the proudest and boldest shrank back abashed, +before the flashing eye and proud majesty of demeanor with which she +answered, "The crown is not yours to bestow; it is held by Henry, +according to the laws alike of God and man; and till his death, you +have no right to bestow, nor I to receive it." + +But though firm in this resolution, Isabella did not refuse to +coincide in their plans for securing her succession. To this measure +Henry himself consented, thus appearing tacitly to acknowledge the +truth of the reports that Joanna was a surreptitious child, and for +a brief period Castile was delivered from the horrors of war. Once +declared heiress of Castile and Leon, Isabella's hand was sought by +many noble suitors, and her choice fell on Ferdinand, the young +King of Sicily, and heir-apparent to the crown of Arragon. Love was +Isabella's incentive. Prudence, and a true patriotic ambition, urged +the Archbishop of Toledo not only to ratify the choice, but to smooth +every difficulty in their way; he saw at once the glory which might +accrue to Spain by this peaceful union of two rival thrones. Every +possible and impossible obstacle was privately thrown by Henry to +prevent this union, even while he gave publicly his consent; his +prejudice against Ferdinand being immovable and deadly. But the +manoeuvres of the Archbishop were more skilful than those of the King. +The royal lovers--for such they really were--were secretly united +at Valladolid, to reach which place in safety Ferdinand had been +compelled to travel in disguise, and attended only by four cavaliers; +and at that period so straitened were the circumstances of the Prince +and Princess, who afterwards possessed the boundless treasures of the +new world, that they were actually compelled to borrow money to defray +the expenses of their wedding! + +The moment Henry became aware of this marriage, the civil struggle +recommenced. In vain the firm, yet pacific Archbishop of Toledo +recalled the consent he had given, and proved that the union not only +secured the after-glory of Spain, but Henry's present undisturbed +possession of his throne. Urged on by his wife, and his intriguing +favorite, the Marquis of Villena, who was for ever changing sides, he +published a manifesto, in which he declared on oath that he believed +Joanna to be his daughter, and proclaimed her heiress of Castile. +Ferdinand and Isabella instantly raised an array, regardless of the +forces of Portugal (to whose monarch Joanna had been betrothed), who +were rapidly advancing to the assistance of Henry. Ere, however, war +had regularly commenced, a brief respite was obtained by the death of +Henry, and instantly and unanimously Isabella was proclaimed Queen of +Leon and Castile. Peace, however, was not instantly regained; the King +of Portugal married Joanna, and resolved on defending her rights. Some +skirmishing took place, and at length a long-sustained conflict near +Fero decided the point--Ferdinand and the Castilians were victorious; +the King of Portugal made an honorable retreat to his own frontiers, +and the Marquis of Villena, the head of the malcontents, and by many +supposed to be the real father of Joanna, submitted to Isabella. Peace +thus dawned for Castile; but it was not till three years afterwards, +when Ferdinand had triumphed over the enemies of Arragon, and +succeeded his father as Sovereign of that kingdom, that any vigorous +measures could be taken for the restoration of internal order. + +The petty Sovereignties of the Peninsular, with the sole exception of +the mountainous district of Navarre, and the Moorish territories in +the south, were now all united; and it was the sagacious ambition of +Ferdinand and Isabella to render Spain as important in the scale of +kingdoms as any other European territory; and to do this, they knew, +demanded as firm a control over their own subjects, as the subjection +of still harassing foes. + +Above a century had elapsed since Spain had been exposed to the sway +of weak or evil kings, and all the consequent miseries of misrule and +war. Rapine, outrage, and murder had become so frequent and unchecked, +as frequently to interrupt commerce, by preventing all communication +between one place and another. The people acknowledged no law but +their own passions. The nobles were so engrossed with hatred of each +other, and universal contempt of their late sovereign, with personal +ambition and general discontent, that they had little time or leisure +to attend to any but their own interest. But a very brief interval +convinced both nobles and people that a new era was dawning for them. +In the short period of eighteen months, the wise administration of +Isabella and Ferdinand, had effected a sufficient change to startle +all ranks into the conviction that their best interests lay in prompt +obedience, and in exerting themselves in their several spheres, to +second the sovereign's will. The chivalric qualities of Ferdinand, his +undoubted wisdom and unwavering firmness, excited both love and fear; +while devotion itself is not too strong a term to express the national +feeling entertained toward Isabella. Her sweet, womanly gentleness, +blended as it was with the dignity of the sovereign; her ready +sympathy in all that concerned her people--for the lowest of her +subjects; doing justice, even if it were the proud noble who injured, +and the serf that suffered--all was so strange, yet fraught with such +national repose, that her influence every year increased; while every +emotion of chivalry found exercise, and yet rest in the heart of the +aristocracy for their Queen; her simple word would be obeyed, on the +instant, by men who would have paused, and weighed, and reasoned, +if any other--even Ferdinand himself--had spoken. Isabella knew her +power; and if ever sovereign used it for the good, the happiness of +her people, that proud glory was her own. + +In spite of the miserable condition of the people during the civil +struggles, the wealth of Spain had not decreased. It was protected +and increased by a class of people whose low and despised estate was, +probably, their safeguard--these were the Jews, who for many centuries +had, both publicly and secretly, resided in Spain. There were many +classes of this people in the land, scattered alike over Castile, +Leon, Arragon, Navarre, and also in the Moorish territories; some +there were confined to the mystic learning and profound studies of the +schools, whence they sent many deeply learned men to other countries, +where their worth and wisdom gained them yet greater regard than they +received in Spain: others were low and degraded in outward seeming, +yet literally holding and guiding the financial and commercial +interests of the kingdom;--whose position was of the lowest--scorned +and hated by the very people who yet employed them, and exposed to +insult from every class; the third, and by far the largest body of +Spanish Jews, were those who, Israelites in secret, were so completely +Catholic in seeming, that the court, the camp, the council, even the +monasteries themselves, counted them amongst them. And this had been +the case for years--we should say for centuries--and yet so inviolable +was the faith pledged to each other, so awful the dangers around them, +were even suspicion excited, that the fatal secret never transpired; +offices of state, as well as distinctions of honor, were frequently +conferred on men who, had their faith or race been suspected, would +have been regarded as the scum of the earth, and sentenced to torture +and death, for daring to pass for what they were not. At the period +of which we write, the fatal enemy to the secret Jews of more modern +times, known as the Holy Office, did not exist; but a secret and +terrible tribunal there was, whose power and extent were unknown to +the Sovereigns of the land. + +The Inquisition is generally supposed to have been founded by +Ferdinand and Isabella, about the year 1480 or '82; but a deeper +research informs us that it had been introduced into Spain several +centuries earlier, and obtained great influence in Arragon. Confiding +in the protection of the papal see, the Inquisitors set no bounds to +their ferocity: secret informations, imprisonments, tortures, midnight +assassinations, marked their proceedings; but they overreached +themselves. All Spain, setting aside petty rivalships, rose up against +them. All who should give them encouragement or assistance were +declared traitors to their country; the very lives of the Inquisitors +and their families were, in the first burst of fury, endangered; but +after a time, imagining they had sunk into harmless insignificance, +their oppressors desisted in their efforts against them, and +were guilty of the unpardonable error of not exterminating them +entirely.[A] + +[Footnote A: Stockdale's History of the Inquisition.] + +According to the popular belief, the dreaded tribunal slept, and so +soundly, they feared not, imagined not its awakening. They little +knew that its subterranean halls were established near almost all the +principal cities, and that its engines were often at work, even in the +palaces of kings. Many a family wept the loss of a beloved member, +they knew not, guessed not how--for those who once entered those fatal +walls were never permitted to depart; so secret were their measures, +that even the existence of this fearful mockery of justice and +Religion was not known, or at that time it would have been wholly +eradicated. Superstition had not then gained the ascendency which in +after years so tarnished the glory of Spain, and opened the wide gates +to the ruin and debasement under which she labors now. The fierce +wars and revolutions ravaging the land had given too many, and too +favorable opportunities for the exercise of this secret power; but +still, regard for their own safety prevented the more public display +of their office, as ambition prompted. The vigorous proceedings of +Ferdinand and Isabella rendered them yet more wary; and little did the +Sovereigns suspect that in their very courts this fatal power held +sway. The existence of this tribunal naturally increased the dangers +environing the Israelites who were daring enough to live amongst +the Catholics as one of them; but of this particular danger they +themselves were not generally aware, and their extraordinary skill +in the concealment of their faith (to every item of which they yet +adhered) baffled, except in a very few instances, even these ministers +of darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + "In war did never lion rage more fierce-- + In peace was never gentle lamb more mild, + Than was that young and princely gentleman." + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +The wars ravaging Spain had nursed many a gallant warrior, and given +ample opportunities for the possession and display of those chivalric +qualities without which, in that age, no manly character was +considered perfect. The armies of Ferdinand and Isabella counted some +of the noblest names and most valiant knights of Christendom. The +Spanish chivalry had always been famous, and when once organized under +a leader of such capacity and firmness as Ferdinand; when the notice +and regard of the Queen they idolized could only be obtained by manly +virtue as well as the warrior's ardor, a new spirit seemed to wake +within them; petty rivalships and jealousies were laid aside, all they +sought was to become distinguished; and never had chivalry shone with +so pure and glorious a lustre in the court of Spain as then, when, +invisibly and unconsciously, it verged on its decline. + +It was amongst all this blaze of chivalry that Arthur Stanley had had +ample opportunity to raise, in his own person, the martial glory of +his own still much loved and deeply regretted land. Ferdinand had +honored him with so large a portion of his coveted regard, that +no petty feelings on the part of the Spaniards, because he was a +stranger, could interfere with his advancement; his friends, however, +were mostly among the Arragonese; to Isabella, and the Castilians, he +was only known as a valiant young warrior, and a marked favorite of +the king. There was one person, however, whom the civil contentions of +Spain had so brought forward, that his name was never spoken, either +in council, court, or camp, palace or hut--by monarch or captive, +soldier or citizen--without a burst of such warm and passionate +attachment that it was almost strange how any single individual, and +comparatively speaking, in a private station, could so have won the +hearts of thousands. Yet it had been gradually that this pre-eminence +had been attained--gradually, and entirely by the worth of its +object. At the early age of sixteen, and as page to Gonzalos de +Lara, Ferdinand Morales had witnessed with all the enthusiasm of +a peculiarly ardent, though outwardly quiet nature, the exciting +proceedings at Avila. 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. Her constantly chosen +messenger to Ferdinand, he became known and trusted by both that +prince and his native subjects. His wealth, which, seemed exhaustless, +independent of his preferments, was ever at the service of either +Isabella or her betrothed; he it was from whom the necessary means for +her private nuptials were borrowed. At that scene he was, of course, +present, and, at his own desire, escorted Ferdinand back to his own +domains--an honorable but most dangerous office, performed with his +usual unwavering fidelity and skill. That one so faithful in adversity +should advance from post to post as soon as dawning prosperity +permitted Isabella and Ferdinand to reward merit as well as to evince +gratitude, was not surprising; but no royal favor, no coveted honors, +no extended power, could alter one tittle of his single-hearted +truth--his unrestrained intercourse with and interest in his equals, +were they of the church, court, or camp--his gentle and unassuming +manner to his inferiors. It was these things that made him so +universally beloved. The coldest natures, if thrown in contact with +him, unconsciously to themselves kindled into warmth; vice itself +could not meet the glance of that piercing eye without shrinking, for +the moment, in loathing from itself. + +Until Isabella and Ferdinand were firmly established on the throne, +and Arragon and Castile united, there had been little leisure amongst +their warriors to think of domestic ties, otherwise it might perhaps +have been noticed as somewhat remarkable that Ferdinand Morales +appeared to stand alone; kindred, indeed, he claimed with four or five +of the noblest amongst the Castilians, but he seemed to have no near +relative; and though he mingled courteously, and to some young hearts +far too pleasingly, amongst Isabella's court, it seemed as if he +would never stoop to love. The Queen often jested him on his apparent +insensibility, and entreating him to wed. At first he had smiled away +such words; but two or three months after the commencement of our +tale, he acknowledged that his affections had been for some years +engaged to one living so completely in retirement as to be unknown to +all; he had but waited till peace had dawned for Spain, and he might +offer her not only his love, but a secure and quiet home. He spoke +in confidence, and Isabella, woman-like, had listened with no little +interest, giving her royal approval of his choice, without knowing +more than his own words revealed; but feeling convinced, she said, +that Ferdinand Morales would never wed one whose birth or lineage +would tarnish his pure Castilian blood, or endanger the holy faith +of which he was so true a member. A red flush might have stained the +cheek of the warrior at these words, but the deep obeisance with +which he had departed from the royal presence concealed the unwonted +emotion. Ere a year from that time elapsed, not only the ancient city +of Segovia, where his large estates lay, but all Castile were thrown +into a most unusual state of excitement by the marriage of the popular +idol, Don Ferdinand Morales, with a young and marvellously lovely +girl, whom few, if any, had ever seen before, and whose very name, +Donna Marie Henriquez, though acknowledged as essentially Castilian, +was yet unfamiliar. The mystery, however, as to who she was, and where +he could have found her, was speedily lost in the universal admiration +of her exceeding and remarkable loveliness, and of the new yet +equally attractive character which, as a devoted husband, Morales +thenceforward displayed. Many had imagined that he was too grave, too +wrapt in his many engrossing duties, alike as statesman and general, +ever to play the lover; and he had seemed resolved that this +impression should remain, and shrunk from the exposure of such sacred +feelings; for none, save Isabella, knew he loved until they saw his +bride. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + "And we have won a bower of refuge now + In this fresh waste." + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +The Vale of Cedars, as described in our first chapter, had been +originally the work of a single individual, who had found there a +refuge and concealment from the secret power of the Inquisition, from +whose walls he had almost miraculously escaped: this individual was +Julien Henriquez, the grandfather of Marie. For five years he remained +concealed, working unaided, but successfully, in forming a comfortable +home and concealed retreat, not only for himself but for his family. +Nature herself appeared to have marked the spot as an impenetrable +retreat, and Julien's skill and energy increased and strengthened the +natural barriers. During these five years the secret search for his +person, at first carried on so vigilantly that his enemies supposed +nothing but death could have concealed him, gradually relaxed, and +then subsided altogether. Foes and friends alike believed him dead, +and when he did re-appear in the coarse robe, shrouding cowl, and +hempen belt, of a wandering friar, he traversed the most populous +towns in safety, unrecognized and unsuspected. It was with some +difficulty he found his family, and a matter of no little skill to +convey them, without exciting suspicion by their disappearance, to his +retreat; but all was accomplished at length, and years of domestic +felicity crowned every former effort, and inspired and encouraged +more. + +Besides his own immediate family, consisting of his wife, a son, +and daughter, Henriquez had the charge of two nephews and a niece, +children of his sister, whose husband had perished by the arm of the +same secret power from which Henriquez had escaped; their mother had +died of a broken heart, from the fearful mystery of her husband's +fate, and the orphans were to Julien as his own. + +As years passed, the Vale of Cedars became not only a safe, but a +luxurious home. Every visit to the world Julien turned to profit, by +the purchase first of necessaries, then of luxuries. The little temple +was erected by the active aid of the young men, and the solemn rites +of their peculiar faith adhered to in security. Small as the family +was, deaths, marriages, and births took place, and feelings and +sympathies were excited, and struggles secretly endured, making that +small spot of earth in very truth a world. The cousins intermarried. +Ferdinand and Josephine left the vale for a more stirring life; +Manuel, Henriquez's own son, and Miriam, his niece, preferred the +quiet of the vale. Julien, his nephew, too, had loved; but his +cousin's love was given to his brother, and he departed, unmurmuringly +indeed, but he dared not yet trust himself to associate calmly with +the object of his love: he had ever been a peculiarly sad and silent +boy; the fate of his father never for an instant seemed to leave his +mind, and he had secretly vowed to avenge him. Love, for a while, had +banished these thoughts; but when that returned in all the misery of +isolation to his own breast, former thoughts regained dominion, and he +tried to conquer the one feeling by the encouragement of the other. +His brother and his wife constantly visited the vale; if at no other +time, almost always at those solemn festivals which generally fell +about the period of the Catholic Easter and Michaelmas; often +accompanied by faithful friends, holding the same mysterious bond of +brotherhood, and to whom the secret of that vale was as precious and +secure as to its natural inmates. Its aged founder had frequently the +happiness of gathering around him from twenty to thirty of his secret +race, and of feeling that his work would benefit friends as well as +offspring. Julien alone never returned to the vale, and his family at +length mourned him as one amongst the dead. + +The career of his brother was glorious but brief; he fell fighting +for his country, and his widow and young son returned to the parental +retreat. Though the cousins had married the same day, the son of +Ferdinand was ten years older than his cousin Marie; Manuel and Miriam +having lived twelve years together ere the longed-for treasure was +bestowed. At first, therefore, she had been to the youthful Ferdinand +but as a plaything, to pet and laugh with: he left the vale as page +to his father's companion in arms, Gonzalos de Lara, when Marie was +little more than five years old; but still his love for her and his +home was such that whenever it was possible, he would snatch if it +were but half a day to visit them. Gradually, and to him it seemed +almost strangely, the plaything child changed into the graceful girl, +and then again into the lovely woman; and dearer than ever became his +boyhood's home, though years had snatched away so many of its beloved +inmates, that, at the period of our story, its sole occupants were +Marie and her father. + +Had her mother lived, perchance Marie had never been exposed to the +dangers of an introduction to the world. Betrothed, in the secret +hearts of not only her own parents, but of Ferdinand's mother, to her +cousin, if she lived to attain sufficient age, Miriam would not have +thought it so impossible as Manuel did, that the affections of his +child might be sought for by, and given to another, if she mingled +with the world; she would at least have waited till she was +Ferdinand's wedded wife, and then sent her forth secure. But such +subtle fears and feelings are peculiarly _woman's_; not the tenderest, +most devoted father, could of himself have either thought of, or +understood them. He might perhaps have owned their justice had they +been presented to him by the affectionate warnings of an almost +idolized wife; but that voice was hushed, her sweet counsels buried +in the grave; and the fond, proud father, only thought of his child's +brilliant beauty, and how she would be admired and beloved, could she +be but generally known. And so, for her sake, he actually did violence +to his own love for the quiet retirement of the vale, and bore her to +the care of Donna Emilie de Castro; seeing nothing, feeling nothing, +but the admiration she excited, and that she was indeed the loveliest +there. One wish he had, and that was, that his nephew could have been +there likewise; but being engaged at that time on some important +private business for the Queen, Ferdinand did not even know that his +cousin had ever left the vale. + +That his child's affections could be excited towards any but those of +her own race was a circumstance so impossible, and moreover a sin so +fearful, that it never entered Manuel's mind: he knew not woman's +nature, dreamed not of its quick impulses, its passionate yearnings, +its susceptibility towards all gentle emotions, or he could not have +so trustingly believed in the power of her peculiar faith and creed +to guard her from the danger. Even his dearest desire that she should +become the wife of her cousin she knew not; for the father shrunk from +revealing it to either his child or nephew, unless Ferdinand loved +and sought her himself. What therefore had she to warn her from the +precipice on which she stood, when new, strange, yet most exquisitely +sweet emotions gradually obtained possession of her heart in her daily +intercourse with Arthur Stanley? What they were indeed she knew not; +the word love was never uttered by either; she only knew that his +presence, his voice, the pressure of his hand, brought with it a +thrilling sensation of intense happiness, such as she had never known, +never imagined before. It was indeed but a brief dream, for when +he spoke, when he besought her to be his, then indeed she woke to +consciousness, not only that she loved, but of the dark and fatal +barrier between them, which no human effort could o'erleap. The +sacrifice of race, of faith, of family, indeed might be made; but to +do this never entered the mind and heart of Marie, so utterly was it +impossible. To her peculiar feelings it was sin enough thus to have +loved. + +Manuel Henriquez bore his child back to the vale, little dreaming of +the anguish to which his unguarded love had exposed her. She had ever +been rather a pensive and gentle girl, and therefore that she should +be still serious was no matter of surprise. For fifteen months she +had sought to banish every dream of Arthur, every thought but that in +loving him she had sinned against her God. Time and prayer had in some +measure softened the first acute agony of her feelings; she thought +she was conquering them altogether, when his unexpected appearance +excited every feeling anew. Yet in that harrowing interview still she +had been firm. She had even told him a secret, which it was almost +death to reveal, that he might forget her; for how could he wed with +her? And yet even that barrier he would have passed, and his generous, +his determined love, would linger on her memory spite of every effort +to think of him no more. + +It was a fearful struggle, and often and often she yearned to confess +all to her father, whom she loved with no common love; but she knew +too well, not only the grief such tidings would be to him, but what +his judgment must be, and she shrunk in agony from the condemnation +of her feelings by another, constantly as she was condemning them +herself. + +Henriquez had been absent from the vale during Stanley's unexpected +visit, and he tarried long enough to excite the alarm, not only of his +child but of their domestics; nor was its cause when explained likely +to ease Marie's anxiety. He had been attacked on the day of his +intended return by a strange sensation of giddiness, followed by +insensibility, which appeared to have weakened him more than he had +thought compatible with so brief an illness. He made light of it, but +still he was uneasy, not that he feared death himself, but that it +might take him from his Marie ere his wishes were accomplished, and +her earthly happiness, as he thought, secured. The first attack was +but the forerunner of others, sometimes very slight and brief, at +others longer and more alarming, rendering Marie more and more +determined to keep her fatal secret from him; for it appeared to her +that any stronger emotion than customary would be followed by those +attacks; and as her love for him seemed to increase in intensity with +the anxiety his precarious health occasioned, so did her dread of +occasioning him aught of grief. But how fruitless are our best and +wisest resolutions! One little hour, and every thought was changed. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + "Oh! praise me not-- + Look gently on me, or I sink to earth + Not thus." + + DE CHATILLON. + + +It was the custom of the inmates of the Vale of Cedars, once in every +year, and generally about the season of Michaelmas, to celebrate a +festival, which ordained the erection of a booth or tent of "branches +of thick trees," in which for seven days every meal was taken, and +greater part of the day (except the time passed in the little Temple) +was spent. Large branches of the palm and cedar, the willow, acacia, +and the oak, cut so as to prevent their withering for the seven days, +formed the walls of the tent; their leaves intermingling over head, so +as to form a shelter, and yet permit the beautiful blue of the heavens +to peep within. Flowers of every shade and scent formed a bordering +within; and bouquets, richly and tastefully arranged, placed in vases +filled with scented earth, hung from the branches forming the roof. +Fruit, too, was there--the purple grape, the ripe red orange, the +paler lemon, the lime, the pomegranate, the citron, all of which the +vale afforded, adorned the board (which for those seven days was +always spread within the tent), intermingled with cakes made by Marie. + +This was one of the festivals for which many of the secret race would +visit the vale; but it so happened that, this year, Manuel, his child, +and their retainers, kept it alone--a source of disappointment and +anxiety to the former, whose health was rapidly (but still to his +child almost invisibly) failing. At the close of the solemn fast which +always preceded by five days this festival of rejoicing, he had had +a recurrence of his deathlike fits of insensibility, longer and +more alarming than usual; but he had rallied, and attributed it so +naturally to his long fast, that alarm once more gave place to hope +in the heart of his daughter. Not thus, however, felt her +father--convinced that death could not be long delayed, he but waited +for his nephew's appearance and acknowledged love for his cousin, +at once to give her to him, and prepare her for the worst. Parental +anxiety naturally increased with every hour that passed, and Ferdinand +appeared not. + +It was the eve of the Sabbath; one from which in general all earthly +cares and thoughts were banished, giving place to tranquil and +spiritual joy. The father and daughter were alone within their lovely +tent, but both so wrapt in evidently painful thought, that a strange +silence usurped the usual cheerful converse. So unwonted was the +anxious gloom on Manuel's brow, that his child could bear it no +longer, and flinging her arms round his neck, she besought him in the +tenderest accents to confide in her, as he had ever done, since her +mother's death, to tell her what so pained him--might she not remove +it? Henriquez could not resist that fond yet mournful pleading. He +told her, that he felt health was departing, that death seemed ever +hovering near, but that its pain, its care, would all depart, could he +behold his long-cherished wish fulfilled, and his Marie the wife +of Ferdinand, whose every look and tone during his last visit had +betrayed his devoted love. + +Marie heard; and her cheek and lips blanched to such ashy whiteness, +that her father in alarm folded her to his breast; and sought to +soothe a grief, which he believed was occasioned merely by the sudden +and fearful thought of his approaching death; and sought to soothe, +by a reference to the endearing love, the cherished tenderness which +would still be hers; how Ferdinand would be to her all, aye more +than all that he had been, and how, with love like his, she would be +happier than she had been yet. Much he said, and he might have said +still more, for it was long ere the startled girl could interrupt him. +But when he conjured her to speak to him, not to look upon his death +so fearfully, the beautiful truth of her nature rose up against the +involuntary deceit. It was not his death which thus appalled her; +alas--alas!--and she hated herself for the fearful thought--she had +almost lost sight of that, in the words which followed. Breaking from +his embrace, she sunk down on her knees before him, and buying her +face upon his hand, in broken accents and with choking sobs, revealed +the whole. How could she do her noble kinsman such fearful wrong as +to wed him, when her whole heart, thoughts, nay, life itself, seemed +wrapt in the memory of another? And that other! Oh! who, what was +he? Once she looked up in her father's face, but so fearful were the +emotions written there--wrath struggling with love, grief, pity, +almost terror--that hastily she withdrew her glance, and remained +kneeling, bent even to the dust, long after the confession had been +poured forth, waiting in fear and anguish for his words. + +"Marie, Marie! is it my Marie, my sainted Miriam's, child, who thus +speaks? who hath thus sinned sole representative of a race of ages, in +whose pure thoughts such fearful sin hath never mingled. My child so +to love the stranger as to reject, to scorn her own! Oh God, my God, +why hast thou so forsaken me? Would I had died before!" And the heavy +groan which followed, confirmed the anguish breathed in those broken +words. + +"Father!" implored the unhappy girl, clasping his knees in an agony of +supplication, though she raised not her head--"Oh my father! in mercy +do not speak thus! Words of wrath, of reproach, fearful as they are +from thee, yet I can bear them, but not such woe! Oh, think what I +have borne, what I must still bear. If I have sinned, my sin will +bring, nay, it has already brought its own chastisement. Speak to me +but one word of love--or, if it must be, wrath.--but not, not such +accents of despair!" + +Her father struggled to reply; but the conflux of strong emotion was +too powerful, and Marie sprung up to support him as he fell. She had +often seen him insensible before, when there appeared no cause for +such attacks; but was it strange that at such a moment she should +feel that _she_ had caused it?--that her sin perchance had killed +her father; he might never wake more to say he forgave, he blessed +her,--or that in those agonized moments of suspense she vowed, if +he might but speak again, that his will should be hers, even did it +demand the annihilation of every former treasured thought! And the vow +seemed heard. Gradually and, it appeared, painfully life returned. His +first action was to clasp her convulsively to his heart; his next, to +put her gently yet firmly from him, and bury his face in his hands, +and weep. + +No sight is more terrible, even to an indifferent spectator, than +to behold tears wrung from the eyes of man--and to his child it was +indeed torture. But she controlled the choking anguish--calmly and +firmly she spoke, and gradually the paroxysm subsided. + +"That I have sinned in loving a stranger thus, I have long felt," she +said; "and had I been aware of the nature of these feelings, they +should never have gained ascendency. But I awoke too late--my +very being was enchained. Still I may break from these engrossing +thoughts--I would do so--pain shall be welcome, if it may in time +atone for the involuntary sin of loving the stranger, and the yet +more terrible one of grieving thee. Oh, my father, do what thou wilt, +command me as thou wilt--I am henceforth wholly thine." + +"And thou wilt wed Ferdinand, my child?" + +"Would he still wish it, father, if he knew the whole? And is it +right, is it just, to wed him, and the truth still unrevealed? Oh, if +he do love me, as you say, how can I requite him by deceit?" + +"Tell him not, tell him not," replied Henriquez, again fearfully +agitated; "let none other know what has been. What can it do, save to +grieve him beyond thy power to repair? No, no. Once his, and all these +fearful thoughts will pass away, and their sin be blotted out, in thy +true faithfulness to one who loves thee. His wife, and I know that +thou wilt love him, and be true, as if thou hadst never loved +another--" + +"Ay, could I not be true, I would not wed," murmured Marie, more to +herself than to her father; "and if suffering indeed, atone for sin, +terribly will it be redeemed. But oh, my father, tell me--I have sworn +to be guided by thee, and in all things I will be--tell me, in wedding +him whom thou hast chosen, do I not still do foul wrong, if not to him +(her voice faltered), unto another, whose love is mine as well?" + +"Better for him, as for thee, to wed another, Marie! Would'st thou wed +the stranger, wert thou free?" + +She buried her face in his bosom, and murmured, "Never!" + +"Then in what can this passion end, but in misery for both? In +constant temptation to perjure thy soul, in forsaking all for him. And +if thou didst, would it bring happiness? My child, thou art absolved, +even had aught of promise passed between you. Knowest thou not that +a maiden of herself hath no power to vow? Her father's will alone +absolves it or confirms. Thou doest him no wrong. Be Ferdinand's +bride, and all shall be forgiven, all forgotten--thou art my child, my +Miriam's child once more!" + +He pressed her again fondly to him; but though she made no reply, his +arguments could not convince her. She had indeed told Arthur that she +never could be his, but yet avowed that she loved him; and if he +did meet her as the wife of another, what must he believe her? And +Ferdinand, if he did so love her, that preoccupied heart was indeed a +sad requital. She had, however, that evening but little time to think, +for ere either spoke again, the branches at the entrance of the tent +were hastily pushed aside, and a tall manly form stood upon the +threshold. Marie sprang to her feet with a faint cry--could it be that +the vow of an hour was already called upon to be fulfilled?--but +the intruder attributed her alarm to a different cause, and hastily +flinging off his wrapping mantle and deep plumed morion, he exclaimed, +"What! alarmed by me, my gentle cousin? dearest Marie! am I +forgotten?" And Henriquez, forgetting all of bodily exhaustion, all of +mental suffering, in the deep joy his sudden appearance caused, could +only fold the warrior in his feeble arms, and drooping his head on his +shoulder, sob forth expressively, "My son! my son!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + "And thus how oft do life and death + Twine hand in hand together; + And the funeral shroud, and bridal wreath, + How small a space may sever!" + + MS. + + +One little week did Ferdinand spend within the home of his boyhood; +and in that brief interval the earthly fate of Marie Henriquez was +decided. He had deferred his visit till such peace and prosperity had +dawned for Spain, that he could offer his bride not only a home suited +to his rank, but the comfort of his presence and protection for +an indeterminate time. He had come there purposely to reveal his +long-cherished love; to conjure Marie to bless him with the promise of +her hand; and, if successful, to return, in two short months, for the +celebration of their marriage, according to their own secret rites, +ere the ceremony was performed in the sight of the whole Catholic +world. The intermarriages of first cousins had been so common an +occurrence in his family, that Ferdinand, in spite of some tremblings, +as a lover, had regarded his final union with Marie with almost as +much certainty, and as a thing of course, as his uncle himself. + +The effects of that agitating interview between father and daughter +had been visible to Ferdinand; but he attributed it, very naturally, +to the cause privately assigned for it by his kinsman--Marie's first +conviction that her father's days were numbered. He had been greatly +shocked at the change in Henriquez's appearance, and deeply affected +at the solemn and startling earnestness with which he consigned his +child to his care, beseeching him, under all circumstances, to love +and cherish her. His nephew could scarcely understand, then, such +earnest pleadings. Alas! ere his life closed, their cause was clear +enough. + +Unconscious that her father and cousin were together, or of the nature +of their conversation, Marie had joined them, unexpectedly, ere the +interview was over. From her father's lips, and in a tone of trembling +agitation, she heard that his long-cherished prayer was granted, and +that she was his nephew's plighted, bride. He joined their hands, +blessed them, and left them alone together, ere she had had power +to utter a single word; and when voice was recalled by the tender, +earnest accents of her cousin, beseeching her to ratify her father's +consent--to say she would learn to love him, if she did not then; that +she would not refuse the devotedness he proffered--what could she +answer? She had so long loved him, venerated him, gloried in his +achievements, his honors, as of an elder and much-loved brother, that, +had she followed the impulse of her nature, she would have thrown +herself as a sister on his neck, and poured forth her tale of sorrow. +But she had sworn to be guided by her father, and he had besought her +to reveal nothing; and therefore she promised to be his, even while +with tears she declared herself unworthy. But such words were of +little meaning to her enraptured lover save to bid him passionately +deny them, and excite his ardent affection more than ever--satisfied +that she could be not indifferent, listening as she did, with such +flushed cheek and glistening eye, to the theme of his life since they +had parted--the favor of the sovereigns, and the station he had won. + +During the two months which intervened between Don Ferdinand's +departure and promised return, Marie strained every nerve to face her +destiny, and so meet it with calmness. Had she not loved, it would +have been impossible to feel herself the cherished object of her +cousin's love without returning it, possessing, as he did, alike +inward and outward attraction to win regard. She studiously and +earnestly banished every thought of Arthur as it rose; she prayed only +for strength to be faithful, not only in outward seeming but in inward +thought; that Stanley might never cross her path again, or, if he did, +that his very affections might be estranged from her; that the secret +she had revealed might alone be thought upon, till all of love had +gone. The torture of such prayer, let those who love decide; but it +was the thought of his woe, did he ever know she was another's bride, +that haunted her. Her own suffering it was comparitively easy to bear, +believing as she did, that they were called for by her involuntary +sin: but his--so successfully had she conquered herself; that it was +only when his countenance of reproach would flit before her, that the +groan burst from her heart, and she felt bowed unto the earth. + +Infirmity itself seemed conquered in the rejoicing thankfulness with +which Henriquez regarded this fulfilment of his wishes. He appeared +actually to regain strength and energy; his alarming fainting fits had +not recurred since his nephew's visit, and Marie hoped he would +be spared her longer than he believed. He never recurred to her +confession, but lavished on her, if possible, yet more endearing love, +and constantly alluded to the intense happiness which her consent to +be her cousin's bride had given him. Once he left the vale, despite +his precarious health, taking with him his old retainer, Reuben, and +returned, laden with the richest gems and costliest silks, to adorn +his child, on her bridal day, as befitted the bride of Ferdinand. + +Time passed: the day specified by Ferdinand rapidly approached. He was +there to meet it--and not alone. Thoughtful of his Marie's feeling, he +had resolved that she should not stand beside the altar without +one female friend; and he brought one, the sight of whom awakened +associations with such overpowering strength, that Marie could only +throw herself upon her bosom, almost convulsed with tears. It was +Donna Emelie de Castro, at whose house she had joined the world; but +her emotion, supposed natural to the agitating ceremony impending, +and her father's precarious health, happily for her, passed without +further notice than sympathy and love. + +Henriquez, for once, was indifferent alike to the agitation of Marie, +or the presence of Ferdinand. His glance was fixed on one of a little +group, all of whom, with the exception of this individual, were +familiar to his home and heart. He was clothed as a monk; but his +cowl was thrown back, and his gaze so fixed on Marie that she blushed +beneath it, and turned away. + +"Do not turn from me, my child," he said; and Henriquez started at the +voice, it was so fraught with memories of the departed. "Stranger as +I must be, save in name, to thee--thou art none such to me. I seem +to feel thy mother once again before me--and never was sister more +beloved!--Manuel, hast thou, indeed, forgotten Julien?" + +Almost ere he ceased to speak, the long separated relatives were +clasped in each, other's arms. The five-and-twenty years, which had +changed the prime of manhood into advancing age, and blanched the hair +of each, had had no power to decrease the strong ties of kindred, +so powerful in their secret race. The agitation and excitement of +Henriquez was so excessive, not only then, but during the few days +intervening before the celebration of the bridal, that Marie, in spite +of the near approach of the dreaded day, could only think of him. + +Ferdinand was no exacting lover: his affection for her was so intense, +so true; his confidence in her truth so perfect, that, though he might +at times have fancied that she loved not then with fervor equal to +his own, he was contented to believe that his devotion would in time +create in her as powerful a feeling. He had so watched, so tended her +from infancy: she had so clung to and reverenced him, so opened her +young heart, without one reservation, to his view--so treated him as +her most cherished, most loved friend, that how could he dream she had +aught to conceal, or believe that, did she know there was, she could +have hesitated, one moment, to refuse his hand, preferring even the +misery of so grieving him, to the continued agony of deceit? It was +this perfect confidence, this almost childish trust, so beautiful in +one tried, as he had been, in the ordeal of the world, that wrung +Marie's heart with deepest torture. He believed her other than she +was;--but it was too late--she dared not undeceive him. + +The nuptial morning dawned. The party, not more than twelve or +fourteen in all, assembled within the little edifice, whose nature +had so puzzled Arthur. Its interior was as peculiar as its outward +appearance: its walls, of polished cedar, were unadorned with either +carving, pictures, or imagery. In the centre, facing the east, was a +sort of raised table or desk, surrounded by a railing, and covered +with a cloth of the richest and most elaborately worked brocade. +Exactly opposite, and occupying the centre of the eastern wall, was +a sort of lofty chest, or ark; the upper part of which, arched, and +richly painted, with a blue ground, bore in two columns, strange +hieroglyphics in gold: beneath this were portals of polished cedar, +panelled, and marked out with gold, but bearing no device; their +hinges set in gilded pillars, which supported the arch above. Before +these portals were generally drawn curtains, of material rich and +glittering as that upon the reading-desk. But this day not only were +the curtains drawn aside, but the portals themselves flung open, as +the bridal party neared the steps which led to it, and disclosed six +or seven rolls of parchment, folded on silver pins, and filled with +the same strange letters, each clothed in drapery of variously colored +brocade, or velvet, and surmounted by two sets of silver ornaments, +in which the bell and pomegranate were, though small, distinctly +discernible. A superb lamp, of solid silver, was suspended from the +roof; and one of smaller dimensions, but of equally valuable material, +and always kept lighted, hung just before the ark. + +Julien Morales, at his own particular request, was to read the +ceremony; and three hours after noon he stood within the portals, on +the highest step; a slab of white marble divided him from the bride +and bridegroom, over whom a canopy was raised, supported by four +silver poles. The luxuriant hair of the bride had been gathered +up, and, save two massive braids, shading her brow and cheek, was +concealed under a head-dress, somewhat resembling an eastern turban, +but well suited to her countenance. Her dress, of the fashion before +described, was all of white--the jacket or bodice richly woven with +gold threads; but so thick a veil enveloped face and form, that +her sweet face was concealed, until, at one particular part of the +mysterious rite (for such, to the Spaniards, this ceremony must have +been), the veil was uplifted for her to taste the sacred wine, and not +allowed to fall again. Neither the bridegroom (agitated himself, +for his was not a nature to think lightly of the nuptial rite), nor +Henriquez (whose excitement was extreme) was conscious of the looks +of alarm, blended with admiration, which the raising of the veil +attracted towards Marie. Lovely she was; but it was the loveliness of +a marble statue, not of life--her very lips were blanched, and every +feature still, indeed; but a stillness of so peculiar an expression, +so inexpressibly, so thrillingly sad, that admiration appeared +indefinably and strangely transformed to pain. The wedding ring was +placed upon her hand--a thin crystal goblet broken by Ferdinand, +on the marble at his feet--and the rites were concluded. An almost +convulsive embrace from her father--the unusual wildness of his voice +and manner, as he blessed, and called her his own precious child, who +this day had placed the seal upon his happiness, and confirmed twenty +years of filial devotedness and love--awoke her from that stagnating +trance. She folded her arms round his neck, and burst into passionate +tears; and there were none, not even Ferdinand, to chide or doubt that +emotion--it was but natural to her character, and the solemn service +of the day. + +Gay and joyous was the meal which followed the bridal. No +appurtenances of modern pomp and luxury, indeed, decorated the board: +its only ornaments were the loveliest flowers, arranged in alabaster +vases, and silver baskets filled with blushing fruit. The food was +simple, and the wines not choice; but the guests thought not of mere +sensual enjoyment. In these secret meetings, each felt there was +something holy; richer homes, more gorgeous feasts, were theirs in the +world, whenever they so willed; but such intercourse of brotherhood +seldom occurred, and when it came, was consequently hallowed. + +Some time they sat around the board; and so unrestrained, so full of +varied interest was their eager converse, that sunset came unheeded; +and the silver lamps, fed with sweet incense, were placed upon the +table. Julien then arose, and solemnly pronounced the usual blessing, +or rather thanksgiving, after the bridal feast. Marie did not look up +during its continuance; but as it concluded, she arose, and was about +to retire with Donna Emilie, when her eye caught her father, and a cry +of alarm broke from her. The burning flush had given place to a livid +paleness--the glittering of the eye to a fixed and glassy gaze. The +frame was, for a moment, rigid as stone, then fearfully convulsed; +and Reuben, starting forward, caught his master as he fell. There was +something so startling and unusual in the seizure, that even those +accustomed to his periods of insensibility were alarmed; and vain was +every effort of Ferdinand to awaken hope and comfort in the seemingly +frozen spirit of his bride. + +Henriquez was conveyed to his room, and every restorative applied; but +even the skill of Julien, well versed as he was in the healing art, +was without effect. More than an hour passed, and still he lay like +death; and no sound, no sob, broke from the torn heart of his hapless +child, who knelt beside his couch; her large dark eyes, distended +to even more than their usual size, fixed upon his face; her hands +clasped round one of his; but had she sought thus to give warmth she +would have failed, for the hand of the living was cold and damp as +that of the seeming dead. + +A slight, almost imperceptible flush floated over that livid +cheek--the eyes unclosed, but so quickly closed again that it was more +like the convulsive quivering of the muscle than the effort of the +will; and Marie alone had marked the change. + +"Father!" she almost shrieked in agony, "in mercy speak to me +again--say but you forgive--bless--" + +"Forgive" feebly repeated the dying man; and the strong feeling of +the father, for a brief interval, conquered even death--"Forgive?--my +beautiful--my own!--the word is meaningless, applied to thee. Art thou +not my Ferdinand's bride, and hast thou not so taken the sting, the +trial even from this dread moment? My precious one!--would I could see +that face once more--but it is dark--all dark--kiss me, my child!" + +She threw herself upon his bosom, and covered his cheek with kisses. +He passed his hand feebly over her face, as if the touch could once +more bring her features to his sight; and then extending his left +hand, feebly called--"Ferdinand!" + +His nephew caught the withered hand, and kneeling down, pressed it +reverentially and fondly to his lips. + +Henriquez's lips moved, but there came no word. + +"Doubt me not, my more than father! From boyhood to youth, from youth +to manhood, I have doted on thy child. Shall I love and cherish her +less now, that she has only me? Oh, trust me!--if devotion can give +joy, she will know no grief, that man can avert, again!" + +A strange but a beautiful light for a single minute dispersed the +fearful shadow creeping over Henriquez's features. + +"My son! my son!--I bless thee--and thou, too, my drooping flower. +Julien! my brother--lay me beside my Miriam. Thou didst not come for +this--but it is well. My children--my friends--send up the hymn of +praise--the avowal of our faith; once more awake the voice of our +fathers!" + +He was obeyed; a psalm arose, solemn and sweet, in accents familiar +as their mother tongue, to those who chanted; but had any other been +near, not a syllable would have been intelligible. But the voice which +in general led to such solemn service--so thrilling in its sweetness, +that the most indifferent could not listen to it unmoved--now lay +hushed and mute, powerless even to breathe the sobs that crushed +her heart. And when the psalm ceased, and the prayer for the dying +followed, with one mighty effort Henriquez raised himself, and +clasping his hands, uttered distinctly the last solemn words ever +spoken by his race, and then sunk back--and there was silence. +Minutes, many minutes, rolled by--but Marie moved not. Gently, and +tenderly, Don Ferdinand succeeded in disengaging the convulsive hold +with which she still clasped her parent, and sought to bear her from +that sad and solemn room. Wildly she looked up in his face, and then +on those beloved features, already fixed and gray in death;--with +frantic strength she pushed aside her husband, and sunk down by her +father's side. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + "Slight are the outward signs of evil thought: + Within, within--'twas there the spirit wrought. + Love shows all changes: hate, ambition, guile, + Betray no further than the bitter smile." + + BYRON. + + +Our readers must imagine that nearly a year and a half has elapsed +since the conclusion of our last chapter. During that interval the +outward life of Marie had passed in a calm, even stream; which, could +she have succeeded in entirely banishing thoughts of the past, would +have been unalloyed enjoyment. Her marriage, as we hinted in our +fourth chapter, had been solemnized in public, with all the form and +ceremony of the Catholic Church, and with a splendor incumbent on the +high rank and immense wealth of the bridegroom. In compliance with +Marie's wishes, however, she had not yet been presented to the +Queen; delicate health (which was the fact, for a terrible fever +had succeeded the varied emotions of her wedding day) and her +late bereavement, was her husband's excuse to Isabella for her +non-appearance--an excuse graciously accepted; the rather that the +Queen of Castile was then much engrossed with political changes and +national reforms, than from any failing of interest in Don Ferdinand's +bride. + +Changed as was her estate, from her lovely home in the Vale of Cedars, +where she had dwelt as the sole companion of an ailing parent, to the +mistress of a large establishment in one of the most populous cities +of Castile; the idolized wife of the Governor of the town--and, as +such, the object of popular love and veneration, and called upon, +frequently, to exert influence and authority--still Marie did not fail +performing every new duty with a grace and sweetness binding her more +and more closely to the doting heart of her husband. For her inward +self, Marie was calm--nay, at intervals, almost happy. She had neither +prayed nor struggled in vain, and she felt as if her very prayer was +answered in the fact that Arthur Stanley had been appointed to some +high and honorable post in Sicily, and they were not therefore likely +yet to meet again. The wife of such a character as Morales could not +have continued wretched unless perversely resolved so to be. But his +very virtues, while they inspired the deepest reverence towards him, +engendered some degree of fear. Could she really have loved him as--he +believed she did--this feeling would not have had existence; but its +foundation was the constant thought that she was deceiving him--the +remorse, that his fond confidence was so utterly misplaced--the +consciousness, that there was still something to conceal, which, if +discovered, must blight his happiness for ever, and estrange him from +her, were it only for the past deceit. Had his character been less +lofty--his confidence in her less perfect--his very love less fond +and trusting--she could have borne her trial better; but to one true, +ingenuous, open as herself, what could be more terrible than the +unceasing thought that she was acting a part--and to her husband? +Often and often she longed, with an almost irresistible impulse, to +fling herself at his feet, and beseech him not to pierce her heart +with such fond trust; but the impulse was forcibly controlled. What +would such confession avail her now?--or him, save to wound? + +Amongst the many Spaniards of noble birth who visited Don Ferdinand's, +was one Don Luis Garcia, whose actual rank and office no one seemed to +know; and yet, in affairs of church or state, camp or council, he was +always so associated, that it was impossible to discover to which of +these he was allied; in fact, there was a mystery around him, which no +one could solve. Notwithstanding his easy--nay, it was by some thought +fascinating manners, his presence generally created a restraint, felt +intuitively by all, yet comprehended by none. That there is such, an +emotion as antipathy mercifully placed within us, often as a warning, +we do most strenuously believe; but we seldom trace and recognize it +as such, till circumstances reveal its truth. + +The real character of Don Luis, and the office he held, our future +pages will disclose; suffice it here to state, that there was no +lack of personal attractions or mental graces, to account for the +universal, yet unspoken and unacknowledged dislike which he inspired. +Apparently in the prime of life, he yet seemed to have relinquished +all the pleasures and even the passions of life. Austere, even rigid, +in those acts of piety and personal mortifications enjoined by his +religion--voluntary fasts, privations, nights supposed to be past in +vigil and in penance; occasional rich gifts to patron saints, and +their human followers; an absence of all worldly feeling, even +ambition; some extraordinary deeds of benevolence--all rendered him an +object of actual veneration to the priests and monks with which the +goodly city of Segovia abounded; and even the populace declared him +faultless, as a catholic and a man, even while their inward shuddering +belied the words. + +Don Ferdinand Morales alone was untroubled with these contradictory +emotions. Incapable of hypocrisy himself, he could not imagine it +in others: his nature seemed actually too frank and true for the +admission even of a prejudice. Little did he dream that his name, +his wealth, his very favor with the Queen, his influence with her +subjects, had already stamped him, in the breast of the man to whom +his house and heart alike were open, as an object of suspicion and +espial; and that ere a year had passed over his wedded life, these +feelings were ripened, cherished--changed from the mere thought of +persecution, to palpable resolve, by personal and ungovernable hate. + +Don Luis had never known love; not even the fleeting fancy, much less +the actual passion, of the sensualist, or the spiritual aspirings of +true affection. Of the last, in fact, he was utterly incapable. +No feeling, with him, was of an evanescent nature: under the cold +austerity of the ordinary man, lay coals of living fire. It mattered +not under what guise excited--hate, revenge, ambition, he was capable +of all. At love, alone, he had ever laughed--exulting in his own +security. + +The internal condition of Spain, as we have before said, had been, +until the accession of Isabella and Ferdinand, one of the grossest +license and most fearful immorality. Encouraged in the indulgence of +every passion, by the example of the Court, no dictates of either +religion or morality ever interfered to protect the sanctity of home; +unbridled desires were often the sole cause of murderous assaults; and +these fearful crimes continually passing unpunished, encouraged the +supposition that men's passions were given to be their sole guide, +before which, honor, innocence, and virtue fell powerless. + +The vigorous proceedings of Ferdinand and Isabella had already +remedied these terrible abuses. Over the public safety and reform they +had some power; but over the hearts of individuals they had none; and +there were still some with whom past license was far more influencing +than present restraint and legal severity; still some who paused at +no crime so that the gratification of their passions was ensured; and +foremost amongst these, though by his secret office pledged to the +annihilation of all domestic and social ties, as regarded his own +person, was Don Luis Garcia. + +For rather more than a year, Don Ferdinand Morales had enjoyed the +society of his young wife uninterruptedly, save by occasional visits, +of brief duration, to Valladolid and Leon, where Isabella alternately +held her court. He was now, however, summoned to attend the +sovereigns, on a visit to Ferdinand's paternal dominions, an office +which would cause his absence for a much longer interval. He obeyed +with extreme reluctance--nor did Marie feel the separation less. There +was, in some measure, a feeling of security in his presence, which, +whenever he was absent, gave place to fearful tremblings as to what +might transpire to shake her faith in her, ere he returned. + +Resolved that not the very faintest breath of scandal should touch +_his_ wife, Marie, during the absence of Morales, always kept herself +secluded. This time her retirement was stricter than ever; and great, +then, was her indignation and astonishment, when about a fortnight +before her husband's expected return, and in direct contradiction +to her commands, Don Luis Garcia was admitted to her presence; and +nothing but actual flight, for which she was far too proud and +self-possessed, could have averted the private interview which +followed. The actual words which passed we know not, but, after a very +brief interval of careless converse on the part of Garcia--something +he said earnestly, and in the tones of pitying sympathy, which caused +the cheek and lips of Marie to blanch to marble, and her whole frame +to shiver, and then grow rigid, as if turned to stone. Could it be +that the fatal secret, which she believed was known only to herself +and Arthur, that she had loved another ere she wedded Ferdinand, had +been penetrated by the man towards whom she had ever felt the most +intense abhorrence? and that he dared refer to it as a source of +sympathy--as a proof that he could feel for her more than her +unsuspecting husband? Why was speech so frozen up within her, that she +could not, for the moment, answer, and give him back the lie? But that +silence of deadly terror lasted not long: he had continued to speak; +at first she was unconscious of his change of tone, words, and even +action; but when his actual meaning flashed upon her, voice, strength, +energy returned in such a burst of womanly indignation, womanly +majesty, that Garcia himself, skilled in every art of evil as he was, +quailed beneath it, and felt that he was powerless, save by violence +and revenge. + +While that terrible interview lasted, the wife of Morales had not +failed; but when once more alone, the most deadly terror took +possession of her. She had, indeed, so triumphed as to banish Garcia, +defeated, from her presence; but fearful threats of vengeance were in +that interview divulged--allusions to some secret power, over which +he was the head, armed with authority even greater than that of +the sovereign's--mysteriously spoken, but still almost strangely +intelligible, that in her betrayal or her silence lay the safety or +the danger of her husband--all compelled the conviction that her +terror and her indignation at the daring insult must be buried deep in +her own breast; even while the supposition that Don Luis knew all the +past (though how, her wildest imagination could not discover), and +that therefore she was in his power, urged her yet more to a full +confession to her husband. Better if his heart must be wrung by her, +than by a foe; and yet she shrunk in anguish from the task. + +She was, however, deceived as to the amount of Garcia's knowledge of +her past life. Accustomed to read human nature under all its varied +phases--employing an unusually acute penetration so to know his +fellows as to enable him, when needed, to create the greatest amount +of misery--he had simply perceived that Marie's love for her husband +was of a different nature to his for her, and that she had some secret +to conceal. On this he had based his words: his suspicions were, +unhappily, confirmed by the still, yet expressive agony they had +occasioned. Baffled, as in some measure he had been, his internal rage +that he should have so quailed before a woman, naturally increased the +whirlwind of contending passions: but schooled by his impenetrable +system of hypocrisy to outward quietness and control, he waited, +certain that circumstances would either of themselves occur, or be so +guided by him as to give him ample means of triumph and revenge. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + "You would have thought the very windows spake; + So many greedy looks of young and old + Through casements darted their desiring eyes." + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +In an apartment, whose pale, green hangings, embroidered with +richly-colored flowers, and whose furniture and ornaments, all of +delicate material and refined taste, marked it as a meet boudoir for +gentle blood, sat Marie and her husband. She occupied her favorite +seat--a cushion at his feet, and was listening with interest to his +animated history of the Sovereign's welcome to Saragossa, the popular +ferment at their appearance, the good they had accomplished, and would +still accomplish, as their judicious plans matured. It was clear, he +said, that they had resolved the sovereign power should not be merely +nominal, as it had been. By making himself proclaimed and received +as grand master of the three great orders of knighthood--Saint +Iago, Compostella, and Alcantara--the immense influence of those +associations must succumb to, and be guided by, Ferdinand alone; the +power of the nobles would thus be insensibly diminished, and the mass +of the kingdom--the PEOPLE--as a natural consequence, become of more +importance, their position more open to the eyes of the sovereigns, +and their condition, physically and morally, ameliorated and improved. + +"I feel and acknowledge this, dearest; though one of the class whose +power must be diminished to accomplish it;" he continued, "I am too +anxious for the internal prosperity of my country to quarrel with any +measures which minds so enlightened as its present sovereigns may deem +requisite. But this is but a grave theme for thee, love. Knowest +thou that her Grace reproached me with not bringing thee to join the +Arragonese festivities? When Donna Emilie spoke of thee, and thy +gentle worth and feminine loveliness, as being such as indeed her +Grace would love, my Sovereign banished me her presence as a disloyal +cavalier for so deserting thee; and when I marked how pale and thin +thou art, I feel that she was right; I should have borne thee with +me." + +"Or not have left me. Oh, my husband, leave me not again!" she +replied, with sudden and involuntary emotion, which caused him to +throw his arm round her, and fondly kiss her brow. + +"Not for the court, dearest; but that gentle heart must not forget +thou art a warrior's wife, and as such, for his honor's sake, must +sometimes bear the pang of parting. Nay, thou tremblest, and art still +paler! Ere such summons come, thou wilt have learned to know and love +thy Queen, and in her protecting favor find some solace, should I be +called to war." + +"War! talk they of war again? I thought all was now at peace?" + +"Yes, love, in our sovereign's hereditary dominions; but there can be +no lasting peace while some of the fairest territory of Spain still +dims the supremacy of Castile, and bows down to Moorish masters. It is +towards Grenada King Ferdinand looks, yearning for the day when, all +internal commotions healed, he can head a gallant army to compel +subjection; and sad as it will be to leave thee, sweet, thou wilt +forgive thy soldier if he say, would that the day were come!" + +"And will not their present extent of kingdom suffice the sovereigns? +When they recall their former petty domains, and compare them with the +present, is it not enough?" + +Morales smiled. "Thou speakest as a very woman, gentle one, to whom +the actual word 'ambition' is unknown. Why, the very cause thou namest +urges our sovereigns to the conquest of these Moors. They are the blot +upon a kingdom otherwise as fair and great as any other European land. +They thirst to raise it in the scale of kingdoms--to send down their +names to posterity, as the founders of the Spanish monarchy--the +builders and supporters of a united throne, and so leave their +children an undivided land. Surely this is a glorious project, one +which every Spanish warrior must rejoice to aid. But fear not a speedy +summons, love; much must be accomplished first. Isabella will visit +this ancient city ere then, and thou wilt learn to love and reverence +her as I do." + +"In truth, my husband, thou hast made me loyal as thyself; but say +they not she is severe, determined, stern?" + +"To the guilty, yes; even the weak crafty will not stand before her +repelling glance: but what hast thou to fear, my love? Penetrative as +she is, seeming to read the heart through the countenance, she can +read nought in thee save qualities to love. I remember well the eagle +glance she fixed on King Ferdinand's young English favorite, Senor +Stanley, the first time he was presented to her. But she was +satisfied, for he ranks as deservedly high in her favor as in her +husband's. Thou hast heard me speak of this young Englishman, my +Marie?" + +Her face was at that moment turned from him, or he might have started +at its sudden flush; but she assented by a sign. + +"He was so full of joyousness and mirth, that to us of graver nature +it seemed almost below his dignity as man; and now they tell me he +is changed so mournfully; grave, sad, silent, maturity seems to have +descended upon him ere he has quite passed boyhood; or he has some +secret sorrow, too sacred to be revealed. There is some talk of his +recall from Sicily, he having besought the king for a post of more +active and more dangerous service. Ferdinand loves such daring +spirits, and therefore no doubt will grant his boon. Ha! Alberic, what +is it?" he continued, eagerly, as a page entered, and delivered a +packet secured with floss silk, and sealed with the royal signet, +adding that it had been brought by an officer of the royal guard, +attended by some men at arms. "Give him welcome suited to his rank, +boy: I will but peruse these, and attend him instantly." + +The page withdrew, and Don Ferdinand, hastily cutting the silk, was +speedily so engrossed in his despatches, as to forget for the time +even the presence of his wife; and well it was so; for it enabled her +with a strong effort to conquer the deadly sickness Morale's careless +words had caused--the pang of dread accompanying every thought of +Arthur's return to Spain--to still the throbbing pulse and quivering +lip, and, outwardly unmoved, meet his joyous glance once more. + +"'Tis as I thought and hoped," he said, with animation: "the +sovereigns hold their court for some months in this city; coeval, +in antiquity, associations, and loyalty, with Valladolid and Leon, +Isabella, with her characteristic thought for all her subjects, has +decided on making it occasionally the seat of empire alternately with +them, and commissions me, under her royal seal, to see the castle +fittingly prepared. Listen, love, what her Grace writes further--'Take +heed, my good lord, and hide not in a casket the brightest gem which +we have heard adorns thy home. We would ourselves judge the value of +thy well-hoarded jewel--not that we doubt its worth; for it would be +strange, indeed, if he who hath ever borne off the laurel wreath from +the competitors for glory, should not in like manner seek and win +the prize of beauty. In simple language, let Donna Marie be in +attendance.' And so thou shalt, love; and by thy gentle virtues and +modest loveliness, add increase of honor to thy husband. Ha! what +says Gonzalo de Lara?" he added, as his eye glanced over another +paper--"'Tumults in Sicily--active measures--Senor Stanley--enough on +which to expend his chivalric ardor, and evince his devotedness to +Ferdinand; but Sicily quieted--supposed the king will still grant +his request--assign him some post about his person, be at hand for +military service against the Moors.' Good! then the war is resolved +on. We must bestir ourselves, dearest, to prepare fit reception for +our royal guests; there is but brief time." + +He embraced and left her as he spoke; and for several minutes Marie +remained without the power even to rise from her seat: one pang +conquered, another came. Arthur's recall appeared determined; would +it be so soon that he would join this sovereigns before they reached +Segovia? She dared not think, save to pray, with wild and desperate +fervor, that such might not be. + +Magnificent, indeed, were Don Ferdinand's preparations for the banquet +with which he intended to welcome his sovereigns to Segovia. The +castle was to be the seat of their residence, and the actual _locale_ +of their court; but it was at his own private dwelling he resolved, by +a sumptuous entertainment, to evince how deeply and reverentially +he felt the favor with which he was regarded by both monarchs, more +especially by Isabella, his native Sovereign. + +In the many struggles which were constantly occurring between the +Spaniards and Moors, the former had become acquainted with the light +yet beautiful architecture and varied skill in all the arts peculiar +to the latter, and displayed their improved taste in both public and +private buildings. Morales, in addition to natural taste, possessed +great affluence, which enabled him to evince yet greater splendor in +his establishment than was usual to his countrymen. + +There was one octangular room, the large panels forming the walls of +which were painted, each forming a striking picture of the principal +events in the history of Spain, from the descent of Don Palayo, and +the mountaineers of Asturias, who struck the first blow for Spanish +freedom, to the accession of Ferdinand and Isabella. The paintings +were not detached pictures, but drawn and colored on the wall itself, +which had been previously prepared for the reception of the colors by +a curious process, still in use among the Orientals.[A] The colors, +when dry, were rubbed, till the utmost brilliancy was attained; and +this, combined as it was with a freedom and correctness of drawing, +produced an effect as striking then as it would be novel to modern +eyes. One side, divided into three compartments, contained in one a +touching likeness of the young Alfonso. His figure, rather larger than +life, was clothed in armor, which shone as inlaid with gold. His head +was bare, and his bright locks flowed over his shoulders as he wore +them in life. His brilliant eye, his lofty brow, and peculiarly sweet +expression of mouth, had been caught by the limner, and transferred to +his painting in all their original beauty. Round him were grouped +some of the celebrated cavaliers of his party; and the back-ground, +occupied by troops not in regular battalions, but as impelled by some +whelming feeling of national excitement, impossible to be restrained. +Answering to this was a full length of the infanta Isabella I., in +the act of refusing the crown offered by the confederates. The centre +compartment represented the union of Castile and Arragon by the +nuptials of their respective sovereigns in the cathedral church of +Valladolid. Over these pictures were suspended golden lamps, inlaid +with gems; so that, day or night, the effect should remain the same. +Opposite the dais, huge folding-doors opened on an extensive hall, +where the banquets were generally held, and down which Don Ferdinand +intended to range the tables for his guests of lesser rank, leaving +the octangular apartment for the royal tables, and those of the most +distinguished nobles; the one, however, so communicating with the +other, as to appear one lengthened chamber. On the right hand of the +dais, another large door opened on a withdrawing-room, the floor of +which was of marble, curiously tinted; and the walls hung with Genoa +velvet, ruby-colored, and bordered by a wide fringe of gold. Superb +vases of alternate crystal and frosted silver, on pedestals of +alabaster and of aqua-marine, were ranged along the walls, the +delicate beauty of their material and workmanship coming out well +against the rich coloring of the hangings behind. The roof, a lofty +dome, displayed the light Arabesque workmanship, peculiar to Moorish +architecture, as did the form and ornaments of the windows. This +apartment opened into another, much smaller, each side of which, +apparently formed of silver plate, reflected as mirrors every object; +and the pillars supporting the peculiarly light roof of the same +glittering material. Some parts of the extensive gardens Morales +intended to illuminate; and others, for the effect of contrast, to be +left in deepest shadow. + +[Footnote A: See Art Union Journal, August, 1845.] + +Nothing was omitted which could do honor to the royal guests, or +cast a reproach upon the magnificent hospitality of their hosts. The +preparations were but just completed, when an advance guard arrived at +Segovia with the tidings of the rapid approach of the sovereigns; and +Morales, with a gallant troop of his own retainers, and a procession +of the civil and military officers of Segovia, hastened to meet and +escort them to the town. + +With an uncontrollable impulse, Marie had followed the example of +almost every female in Segovia, and, wrapt in her shrouding veil, had +stationed herself, with some attendants at a casement overlooking the +long line of march. The city itself presented one scene of gladsome +bustle and excitment: flags were suspended from every "turret, dome, +and tower," rich tapestries hung over balconies, which were filled +with females of every rank and grade, vying in the richness and +elegance of their apparel, and their coquettish use of the veil and +fan, so as to half-hide and half-display their features, more or less +beautiful--for beautiful as a nation, the Spanish women undoubtedly +are. Bells were ringing from every church; ever and anon came a burst +of warlike music, as detached troops galloped in the town, welcomed +with shouts as the officer at their head was recognized. Even the +priests themselves, with their sober dresses and solemn countenances, +seemed touched with the universal excitement, relaxing into smiles and +hearty greeting with the laymen they encountered. As the hours waned, +popular excitement increased. It was the first visit of Isabella to +the city; and already had her character been displayed in such actions +as to kindle the warmest love towards the woman, in addition to the +enthusiastic loyalty towards the Queen. + +At length the rumor rose that the main body was approaching--in little +more than a hour the sovereigns would pass the gates, and excitement +waxed wilder and wilder, and impatience was only restrained by the +interest excited towards the gallant bodies of cavalry, which now in +slow and measured march approached, forming the commencement of a +line, which for three hours continued to pour within the city in one +unbroken strain. + +Even Marie herself, pre-occupied as she was in the dread search for +one object, could not glance down on the moving multitude beneath her +without in some degree sharing the enthusiasm of her countrymen. There +were gallant warriors of every age, from the old man to the beardless +youth; chargers, superb in form and rich in decoration; a field of +spears glittering in the broad sunshine, some bearing the light gay +pennoncelle, others absolutely bending beneath the heavy folds of +banners, which the light breeze at times extended so as to display +their curious heraldic bearings, and then sunk heavily around their +staffs. Esquires bearing their masters' shields, whose spotless +fields flung back a hundred-fold the noonday sun--plumes so long and +drooping, as to fall from the gilded crest till they rested on the +shoulder--armor so bright as to dazzle the eyes of the beholders, save +when partly concealed under the magnificent surcoats and mantles, +amongst which the richest velvets, slashed with gold or silver, +distinguished the highest nobles. Pageantry like this mingled with +such stirring sounds as the tramp of the noble horse, curveting, +prancing, rearing, as if disdaining the slow order of march--the +thrilling blast of many trumpets, the long roll, or short, sharp call +of the drum; and the mingled notes of martial instruments, blending +together in wild yet stirring harmony, would be sufficient even +in this prosaic age to bid the heart throb and the cheek burn, +recognizing it, as perhaps we should, merely as the _symbol_, not the +_thing_. What, then, must it have been, when men felt such glittering +pageant and chivalric seeming, the _realities_ of life? + +At length came the principal group; the pressure of the crowds +increased, and human hearts so throbbed, that it seemed as if they +could not breathe, save in the stunning shouts, bidding the very +welkin ring. Surrounded by a guard of honor, composed indiscriminately +of Castilians and Arragonese, mounted on a jet black steed, which +pawed the ground, and shook his graceful head, as conscious of his +princely burden, magnificently attired, but in the robes of peace, +with a circlet of gold and gems enwreathing his black velvet cap, his +countenance breathing this day but the kindly emotions of his more +youthful nature, unshadowed by the wile and intrigue of after-years, +King Ferdinand looked the mighty monarch, whose talents raised his +country from obscurity, and bade her stand forth among the first of +European nations. But tumultuary as were the shouts with which he was +recognized, they were faint in comparison to those which burst forth +at sight of the Princess at his side. Isabella had quitted her litter +on re-entering her own dominions, and now rode a cream-colored +charger, which she managed with the grace and dignity of one well +accustomed to the exercise, alike in processions of peace and scenes +of war. + +The difference of age between the sovereigns was not perceivable,[A] +for the grave and thoughtful character of Ferdinand gave him rather +the appearance of seniority; while the unusual fairness of Isabella's +complexion, her slight and somewhat small stature, produced on her the +contrary effect. The dark gray eye, the rich brown hair and delicate +skin of the Queen of Castile deprived her, somewhat remarkably, of +all the characteristics of a Spaniard, but, from their very novelty +attracted the admiration of her subjects. Beautiful she was not; but +her charm lay in the variable expression of her features. Peculiarly +and sweetly feminine, infused, as Washington Irving observes, with "a +soft, tender melancholy," as was their general expression, they could +yet so kindle into indignant majesty, so flash with reproach or scorn, +that the very color of the eye became indistinguishable, and the +boldest and the strongest quailed beneath the mighty and the holy +spirit, which they could not but feel, that frail woman form +enshrined. + +[Footnote A: Isabella was eight or ten years Ferdinand's senior.] + +Round the sovereigns were grouped, in no regular order of march, but +forming a brilliant _cortége_, many of the celebrated characters of +their reign--men, not only of war, but of literature and wisdom, whom +both monarchs gloried in distinguishing above their fellows, seeking +to exalt the honor of their country, not only in extent of dominion, +but by the shining qualities of her sons. It was to this group the +strained gaze of Marie turned, and became riveted on the Queen, +feeling strangely and indefinably a degree of comfort as she gazed; to +explain wherefore, even to herself, was impossible; but she felt as if +she no longer stood alone in the wide world, whose gaze she dreaded; +a new impulse rose within her, urging her, instead of remaining +indifferent, as she thought she should, to seek and win Isabella's +regard. She gazed and gazed, till she could have fancied her +very destiny was in some way connected with the Queen's visit to +Segovia--that some mysterious influences were connecting her, +insignificant as she was, with Isabella's will. She strove with the +baseless vision; but it would gain ground, folding up her whole mind +in its formless imaginings. The sight of her husband, conversing +eagerly with the sovereign, in some degree startled her back to the +present scene. His cheek was flushed with exercise and excitement; his +large dark eyes glittering, and a sunny smile robbing his mouth of +its wonted expression of sternness. On passing his mansion he looked +eagerly up, and with proud and joyous greeting doffed his velvet cap, +and bowed with as earnest reverence as if he had still to _seek_ and +win her. The chivalry of Don Ferdinand Morales was proved, yet more +_after_ marriage than _before_. + +It was over: the procession had at length passed: she had scanned +every face and form whose gallant bearing proclaimed him noble; but +Arthur Stanley was not amongst them, and inexpressibly relieved, Marie +Morales sunk down on a low seat, and covering her face with her hands, +lifted up her whole soul in one wild--yet how fervent!--burst of +thanksgiving. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + "Yet was I calm. I knew the time + My breast would thrill before thy look; + But now, to tremble were a crime: + We met, and not a nerve was shook." + + BYRON. + + +The excitement of the city did not subside with the close of the +procession. The quiet gravity and impressive appearance of age, which +had always marked Segovia, as a city more of the past than present, +gave place to all the bustling animation peculiar to a provincial +residence of royalty. Its central position gave it advantages over +Valladolid, the usual seat of the monarchs of Castile and Leon, to +sovereigns who were seeking the internal peace and prosperity of their +subjects, and were resolved on reforming abuses in every quarter of +their domains. The deputation from the city was graciously received; +their offering--a golden vase filled with precious stones--accepted, +and the seal put to their loyal excitement by receiving from +Isabella's own lips, the glad information that she had decided on +making Segovia her residence for the ensuing year, and that she +trusted the loyalty which the good citizens of Segovia had so warmly +proffered would be proved, by their endeavors in their own households +to reform the abuses which long years of misrule and misery had +engendered. She depended on them, her people, to aid her with heart +and hand, and bade them remember, no individual was so insignificant +as to remove his shoulder from the wheel on plea of uselessness. She +trusted to her citizen subjects to raise the internal glory of her +kingdom, as she did to her nobles to guard their safety, elevate her +chivalry, and by their untarnished honor and stainless valor, present +an invincible front to foreign foes. Isabella knew human nature well; +the citizens returned to their houses bound for ever to her service. + +Don Luis Garcia had joined the train of Morales when he set forth to +meet the sovereigns. His extraordinary austerity and semblance of +lowly piety, combined as they were with universal talent, had been so +much noised abroad as to reach the ears of Ferdinand and Isabella; and +Morales, ever eager to promote the interests of a countryman, took +the earliest opportunity of presenting him to them. He was graciously +enough received: but, though neither spoke it, an indefinable feeling +of disappointment took possession of their minds, the wherefore they +knew not. Don Luis had conversed well, both as to the matter and +the manner; but neither Ferdinand nor Isabella felt the smallest +inclination to advance him to any post about themselves. In virtue +of his supposed rank, however, he of course mingled with the courtly +crowd, which on the appointed evening thronged the mansion of Don +Ferdinand. + +Tremblingly as Marie looked forward to that evening, she spared no +pains to gratify her husband in the choice of her toilet. Sorrow had +never made her indifferent, and she sought to please him even in the +most trifling occurrences of life. Her beautiful hair still lay in +soft, glossy bands against the delicate cheeks, and was gathered up +behind in a massive plait, forming, as it were, a diadem at the back +of the exquisitely shaped head, from which fell a white veil--rather, +perhaps, a half mantle, as it shaded the shoulders, not the face--of +silver tissue, so delicately woven as to resemble lace, save in its +glittering material. A coronet of diamonds was wreathed in and out +the plait, removing all semblance of heaviness from the headgear, and +completely divesting it of gaudiness. Her robe, of blue brocade, so +closely woven with silver threads as to glisten in the light of a +hundred lamps almost like diamonds, had no ornament save the large +pearls which looped up the loose sleeves above the elbow, buttoned +the bodice or jacket down the front, and richly embroidered the wide +collar, which, thrown back, disclosed the wearer's delicate throat and +beautiful fall of the shoulders, more than her usual attire permitted +to be visible. The tiny white silk slipper, embroidered in pearl, a +collaret and bracelets of the same beautiful ornament, of very large +size, completed her costume. + +Not even the presence of royalty could restrain the burst of +undisguised admiration which greeted Marie, as, led forward by her +eager husband, she was presented to the sovereigns, and knelt to do +them homage. Ferdinand himself gazed on her a moment astonished; then +with animated courtesy hastily raised her, and playfully chid the +movement as unmeet from a hostess to her guests. + +A strange moisture had risen to the eyes of the Queen as she first +beheld Marie. It might have been that marvellous perfection of face +and form which caused the emotion; for if all perfection, even from +man's hand, is affecting even to tears, what must be the work of God? +It might have been that on that young, sweet face, to the Queen's +mental eye, a dim shadow from the formless realms of the future +hovered--that, stealing from that outward form of loveliness, she +beheld its twin sister, sorrow. Whatever it might have been, kind and +gentle as Isabella's manner ever was, especially to her own sex, to +Marie it was kinder and gentler still. + +How false is the charge breathed from man's lips, that woman never +admires woman!--that we are incapable of the lofty feeling of +admiration of our own sex either for beautiful qualities or beauteous +form! There is no object in creation more lovely, more fraught with +intensest interest (if, indeed, we are not so wholly wrapt in the +petty world of self as to have none for such lofty sympathies) than a +young girl standing on the threshold of a new existence; beautiful, +innocent, and true; offspring as yet of joy and hope alone, but +before whom stretches the dim vista of graver years, and the yearning +thoughts, unspoken griefs, and buried feelings, which even in the +happiest career must still be woman's lot. There may be many who can +see no charm and feel no interest in girlhood's beauty: but not in +such is woman's best and holiest nature; and therefore not by such +should she be judged. + +"We will not chide thee, Senor, for thy jealous care of this most +precious gem," said Isabella, addressing Don Ferdinand, while her eye +followed Marie, who, re-assured by the Queen's manner, had conquered +her painful timidity, and was receiving and returning with easy grace +and natural dignity the greetings and gallantries of her guests: "she +is too pure, too precious to meet the common eye, or breathe a courtly +atmosphere." + +Don Ferdinand's eye glistened. "And yet I fear her not," he rejoined: +"she is as true, as loving, as she is loved and lovely." + +"I doubt it not: nay, 'tis the spotless purity of soul breathing in +that sweet face, which I would not behold tainted, by association with +those less pure. No: let her rest within the sanctuary of thy heart +and hearth, Don Ferdinand. We do not command her constant attendance +on our person, as we had intended." + +Conscious of the inexpressible relief which this assurance would be to +his wife, Morales eagerly and gratefully expressed his thanks; and the +Queen passed on, rejoicing in the power of so easily conferring joy. + +We may not linger on the splendor of this scene, or attempt +description of the varied and picturesque groups filling the gorgeous +suite of rooms, pausing at times to admire the decorations of the +domed chamber, or passing to and fro in the hall of mirrors, gayly +reflected from the walls and pillars. The brilliant appearance of the +extensive gardens; their sudden and dazzling illuminations as night +advanced; their curious temples, and sparkling fountains sending up +sheets of silver in the still air and darkening night, and falling in +myriads of diamonds on innumerable flowers, whose brilliant coloring, +illuminated by small lamps, concealed beneath their foliage, shone +forth like gems; the groups of Moorish slaves, still as statues in +their various attitudes; the wild, barbaric music, startling, yet +delighting all who listened, and causing many an eager warrior to +grasp his sword, longing even at such a moment to exchange that +splendid scene for the clash and stir of war--we must leave all to +the imagination of our readers, and bid them follow us to the banquet +hall, where, summoned by the sound of the gong, the numerous guests +sat down to tables, groaning beneath the profuse hospitality of their +host, and the refined magnificence of the display. + +All the warrior stirred the soul of the King, as, on taking his seat +at the dais, he glanced round and beheld the glorious triumphs of his +country so strikingly portrayed. But Isabella saw but one picture, +felt but one thought; and Marie never forgot the look she fixed on the +breathing portrait of Alfonso, nor the tone with which she inquired-- + +"Hadst thou ever a brother, Marie?" + +"Never, royal Madam." + +"Then thou canst not enter into the deep love I bore yon princely boy, +nor the feeling that picture brings. Marie, I would cast aside my +crown, descend my throne without one regretful murmur, could I but +hold him to my heart once more, as I did the night he bade me his glad +farewell. It was for ever! Thy husband speaks of him sometimes?" + +"Often, often, my gracious liege, till his lip has quivered and his +eye has glistened!" + +Isabella pressed her hand, and with even more than her wonted +graciousness, turned to receive from the hand of her host the gemmed +goblet of wine, which, in accordance with established custom, Don +Ferdinand knelt down to present, having first drunk of it himself. + +Inspiringly sounded the martial music during the continuance of the +banquet. Brightly sparkled the brimming goblets of the far-famed +Spanish wine. Lightly round the table ran the gay laugh and gayer +jest. Soft and sweet were the whispers of many a gallant cavalier +to his fair companion; for, in compliment to Isabella, the national +reserve of the daughters of Spain was in some degree laid aside and a +free intercourse with their male companions permitted. Each, indeed, +wore the veil, which could be thrown off, forming a mantle behind, or +drawn close to conceal every feature, as coquettish fancy willed; nor +were the large fans wanting, with which the Spanish woman is said to +hold as long and desperate a flirtation as the coquette of other lands +can do with the assistance of voice and eye. Isabella's example had, +however, already created reformation in her female train, and +the national levity and love of intrigue, had in a great degree +diminished. + +The animation of the scene was at its height when suddenly the music +ceased, a single gong was heard to sound, and Alberic, the senior +page, brought tidings of the arrival of new guests; and his master, +with native courtesy, hastened down the hall to give them welcome. + +Marie had not heard, or, perhaps, had not heeded the interruption +in the music; for, fascinated by the manner and conversation of the +Queen, she had given herself up for the time wholly to its influence, +to the forgetfulness even of her inward self. The sound of many +footsteps and a rejoicing exclamation from the King, excited the +attention at once of Isabella and her hostess. Marie glanced down the +splendid hall; and well was it for her that she was standing behind +the Queen's seat, and somewhat deep in shadow. Momentary as was all +_visible_ emotion, its effect was such as must have caused remark and +wonder had it been perceived: on herself, that casual glance, was as +if she had received some invisibly dealt, yet fearful blow. Her brain +reeled, her eyes swam, a fearful, stunning sound awoke within her +ears, and such failing of bodily power as compelled her, spite of +herself, to grasp the Queen's chair for support. But how mighty--how +marvellous is the power of _will_ and _mind_! In less than a minute +every failing sense was recalled, every slackened nerve restrung, and, +save in the deadly paleness of lip, as well as cheek, not a trace of +that terrible conflict remained. + +Aware that it was at a gay banquet he was to meet the King, Arthur +Stanley had arranged his dress with some care. We need only +particularize his sword, which was remarkable for its extreme +simplicity, the hilt being of the basket shape, and instead of being +inlaid with precious stones, as was the general custom of this day, +was composed merely of highly burnished steel. He had received it from +his dying father: and it was his pride to preserve it unsullied, as +it had descended to him. He heeded neither laughter at its uncouth +plainness, nor even the malicious sneer as to the poor Englishman's +incapacity to purchase a handsomer one; rejecting every offer of a +real Toledo, and declaring that he would prove both the strength and +brightness of English steel, so that none should gainsay it. + +"Welcome, Don Arthur! welcome, Senor Stanley! By St. Francis, I shall +never learn thy native title, youth!" exclaimed the monarch, frankly, +as he extended his hand, which Stanley knelt to salute. "Returned with +fresher laurels, Stanley? Why, man, thou wilt make us thy debtor in +good earnest!" + +"Nay, my gracious liege: that can never be!" replied Stanley, +earnestly. "Grateful I am, indeed, when there is opportunity to evince +fidelity and valor in your Grace's service; but believe me, where so +much has been and is received, not a life's devotion on my part can +remove the impression, that I am the debtor still." + +"I believe thee, boy! I do believe thee! I would mistrust myself ere I +mistrusted thee. We will hear of thy doings to-morrow. Enough now to +know we are well satisfied with thy government in Sicily, and trust +our native subject who succeeds thee will do his part as well. Away to +thy seat, and rejoice that thou hast arrived ere this gay scene has +closed. Yet stay: our lovely hostess hath not yet given thee welcome. +Where is the Senora? Isabella, hast thou spirited her hence? She was +here but now." + +"Nay, good my Lord: she has vanished unwittingly," replied Isabella, +as she turned towards the spot where Marie had been standing. "Don +Ferdinand, we must entreat thee to recall her!" + +"It needs not, royal Madam: I am here:" and Marie stepped forward from +the deep shade of the falling drapery behind the royal seats which +had concealed her, and stood calmly, almost proudly erect beside the +Queen, the full light falling on her face and form. But there was +little need for light to recognize her: the voice was sufficient; and +even the vivid consciousness of where he stood, the hundred curious +eyes upon him, could not restrain the sudden start--the bewildered +look. Could that be Marie? Could that be the wife of Ferdinand +Morales? If she were the one, how could she be the other, when +scarcely eighteen months previous, she had told him that which, if +it were true, must equally prevent her union with Morales as with +himself? In what were they different save in the vast superiority of +wealth and rank? And in the chaos of bewildering emotions, so trustful +was he in the truth of her he loved, that, against the very evidence +of his own senses, he for the moment disbelieved in the identity +of the wife of Morales with the Marie Henriquez of the Cedar Vale. +Perhaps it was well he did so, for it enabled him to still the +tumultuous throbbing of his every pulse as her voice again sounded in +his ear, saying he was welcome, most welcome as her husband's friend, +and to retire without any apparent emotion to his seat. + +He had merely bowed reverentially in reply. In any other person the +silence itself would have caused remark: but for the last three years +Stanley's reserve and silence in the company of women had been such, +that a departure from his general rule even in the present case would +have been more noticed than his silence. Thoughts of painful, almost +chaotic bewilderment indeed, so chased each other across his mind as +to render the scene around him indistinct, the many faces and eager +voices like the phantasma of a dream. But the pride of manhood roused +him from the sickening trance, and urged him to enter into the +details, called for by his companions in arms, of the revolt of the +Sicilians, with even more than usual animation. + +One timid glance Marie had hazarded towards her husband, and it was +met by such a look and smile of love and pride that she was re-assured +to perform the duties of the evening unfalteringly to the end. Alas! +she little knew that her momentary emotion and that of Arthur had +alike been seen, commented upon, and welcomed with fiend-like glee, +as the connecting link of an until then impalpable plot, by one +individual in that courtly crowd, whose presence, hateful as it was, +she had forgotten in the new and happier thoughts which Isabella's +presence and notice had occasioned. + +And who was there, the mere spectator of this glittering pageant, +but would have pronounced that there, at least, all was joy, and +good-will, and trust, and love? Who, even did they acknowledge the +theory that one human heart, unveiled, would disperse this vain dream +of seeming unalloyed enjoyment, would yet have selected the right +individual for the proof, or would not have shrunk back awed and +saddened had the truth been told? Surely it is well for the young, +the hopeful, and the joyous, that in such scenes they see but life's +surface--not its depths. + +The festive scene lasted some time longer, nor did it conclude with +the departure of the King and Queen: many still lingered, wandering at +their own will about the rooms and gardens, and dispersing gradually, +as was then the custom, without any set farewell. + +Her attendance no longer required by the Queen, and aware that her +presence was not needed by her guests, Marie sought the gardens; her +fevered spirit and aching head yearning to exchange the dazzling +lights and close rooms for the darkness and refreshing breeze of +night. Almost unconsciously she had reached some distance from the +house, and now stood beside a beautiful statue of a-water-nymph, +overlooking a deep still pool, so clear and limpid, that when the moon +cast her light upon it, it shone like a sheet of silver, reflecting +every surrounding object. There were many paths that led to it, +concealed one from the other by gigantic trees and overhanging shrubs. +It was a favorite spot with. Marie, and she now stood leaning against +the statue, quite unconscious that tears were falling faster and +faster from her eyes, and mingling with the waters at her feet. + +"Marie!" exclaimed the voice of Stanley at that moment: "Canst thou be +Marie? so false, so--" but his words were checked, for the terror, the +tumult of feeling, while it impelled her to start from him, deprived +her of all power; and a rapid movement on his part alone prevented her +from falling in the deep pool beneath their feet. It was but a moment: +she withdrew herself from his supporting arms, and stood erect before +him, though words she had none. + +"Speak to me!" reiterated Arthur, his voice sounding hollow and +changed; "I ask but one word. My very senses seem to play me false, +and mock me with thy outward semblance to one I have so loved. Her +name, too, was Marie; her voice soft and thrilling as thine own: +and yet, yet, I feel that 'tis but semblance--'tis but mockery--the +phantasy of a disordered brain. Speak, in mercy! Say that it is but +semblance--that thou art not the Marie I have so loved." + +"It is true--I am that Marie. I have wronged thee most cruelly, most +falsely," she answered, in a tone low and collected indeed, but +expressive of intense suffering. "It is too late now, either to atone +or to explain. Leave me, Senor Stanley: I am another's!" + +"Too late to explain? By heaven but thou shalt!" burst fiercely and +wrathfully from Stanley. "Is it not enough, that thou hast changed my +whole nature into gall, made truth itself a lie, purity a meaningless +word, but thou wilt shroud thyself under the specious hood of duty to +another, when, before heaven, thou wast mine alone. Speak!" + +"Ay, I will speak--implore thee by the love thou didst once bear me, +Arthur, leave me now! I can hear no more to-night." + +"On condition thou wilt see me in private once again. Marie, thou +darest not refuse me this! Thou canst not have so fallen as to give no +reason for this most foul wrong--fancied weak, futile as it may be. We +part now, but we meet again!" And with a strong effort at control he +strode hastily from her. + +The moon at that moment breaking from thick clouds, darted her full +light upon the pool, till it shone like an illuminated mirror amidst +the surrounding darkness; and though Arthur had disappeared, its clear +surface distinctly reflected the outline of another closely shrouded +figure. Marie turned in terror, and beheld, gleaming with the triumph +of a fiend, the hated countenance of Don Luis Garcia. One look told +her that he Lad seen all, heard all; but she had no power to speak or +move. Keeping his basilisk gaze fixed on her, he withdrew backwards +into the deep shade till he had entirely disappeared. + +Summoning all her energy, Marie fled back towards the house, and at +the moment she reached it, Don Ferdinand crossed the deserted hall. + +"Marie, dearest, here and alone? Pale, too, and trembling! In heaven's +name, what hath chanced?" + +A moment more, and she would have flung herself at his feet and told +him all--all, and beseeching his forgiveness, conjure him to shield +her from Arthur, from herself; but as she looked up in his face, +and met its beaming animation, its manly reflection of the pure +gratification that evening had bestowed, how could she, how dared she +be the one to dash it with woe? And, overpowered with this fearful +contention of feeling, she threw her arms around him as he bent +tenderly over her, and burying her head in his bosom, burst into +tears. + +"Thou art exhausted, mine own love! It has been too exciting, too +wearying a scene for thee. Why, what a poor, weak girl thou art! How +fortunate for thee that thy Queen demands not thy constant attendance, +and that thy husband is not ambitious to behold thee shining in the +court, as thy grace and beauty might! I am too glad to feel thee all, +all my own. Smile on me, love, and then to thy couch. A few hours' +quiet rest, and thou wilt be thyself again." And he bore her himself +with caressing gentleness to her apartment. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + "Then Roderick from the Douglas broke, + As flashes flame through sable smoke, + Kindling its wreaths long, dark, and low. + To one broad blaze of ruddy glow; + So the deep anguish of despair + Burst in fierce jealousy to air." + + SIR WALTER SCOTT. + + +"Sure, now, Pedro, the poor young Senor cannot be entirely in his +right mind; he does nothing but tramp, tramp, tramp, the whole night +long, and mutters so fiercely to himself, and such dark words, it +would make one tremble were they not belied by His sweet face and sad +smile," was the observation of old Juana Lopez to her husband some ten +days after Arthur Stanley had been domiciled in their dwelling. The +old man muttered something about his being a foreigner from the Wild +Island, where they had all been busy cutting one another's throats, +and what could she expect otherwise?" + +"Expect? why that he must have become Spanish born and bred since he +has been in King Ferdinand's service so long, and was such a boy when +he left England." + +"Stuff, woman; there's no taking the foreign blood out of him, try as +you will," growled the old man, who in common with many of his class, +was exceedingly annoyed that a foreigner should possess so much of +the King's confidence, and not a little displeased that his dwelling +should have been fixed on for the young officer's quarters. "It would +not have been Isabella, God bless her! to have chosen such a minion; +she tolerates him for Ferdinand's sake; but they will find him out one +day. Saint Iago forbid the evil don't fall first." + +"Now that is all prejudice, Viego Pedro, and you know it. Bless his +beautiful face! there is no thought of evil there, I'd stake my +existence. He is tormented in his mind about something, poor youth; +but his eyes are too bright and his smile too sad for any thing evil." + +"Hold your foolish tongue: you women think if a man is better looking +than his fellows, he is better in every respect--poor fools as ye are; +but as for this Englisher, with such a white skin and glossy +curls, and blue eyes--why I'd be ashamed to show myself amongst +men--pshaw--the woman's blind." + +"Nay, Viego Pedro, prejudice has folded her kerchief round your eyes, +not mine," retorted the old dame; and their war of words concerning +the merits and demerits of their unconscious lodger continued, till +old Pedro grumbled himself off, and his more light-hearted helpmate +busied herself in preparing a tempting meal for her guest, which, to +her great disappointment, shared the fate of many others, and left his +table almost untouched. + +To attempt description of Stanley's feelings would be as impossible as +tedious; yet some few words must be said. His peculiarly enthusiastic, +perhaps romantic disposition, had caused him to cling tenaciously to +the memory of Marie, even after the revelation of a secret which to +other men would have seemed to place an impassable barrier between +them. To Arthur, difficulties in pursuit of an object only rendered +its attainment the more intensely desired. Perhaps his hope rested +on the conviction not so much of his own faithful love as on the +unchangeable nature of hers. He might have doubted himself, but to +doubt her was impossible. Conscious himself that, wrong as it might +be, he could sacrifice every thing for her--country, rank, faith +itself, even the prejudice of centuries, every thing but honor--an +ideal stronger in the warrior's mind than even creed--he could not and +would not believe that her secret was to her sacred as his honor to +him, and that she could no more turn renegade from the fidelity which +that secret comprised, than he could from his honor. She had spoken +of but one relation, an aged father; and he felt in his strong +hopefulness, that it was only for that father's sake she had striven +to conquer her love, and had told him they might never wed, and that +when that link was broken he might win her yet. + +Loving and believing thus, his anguish in beholding her the wife of +another may be imagined. The more he tried to think, the more confused +and mystifying his thoughts became. Every interview which he had with +her, and more especially that in the Vale of Cedars, was written in +indelible characters on his heart and brain; and while beholding her +as the wife of Morales contradicted their every word, still it could +not blot them from his memory; and he would think, and think, in the +vain search for but one imaginary reason, however faint, however +unsatisfactory, for her conduct, till his brain turned, and his senses +reeled. It was not the mere suffering of unrequited love; it was the +misery of having been deceived; and then, when racked and tortured +by the impossibility of discovering some cause for this deceit, her +secret would flash across him, and the wild thought arise that both he +and Don Ferdinand were victims to the magic and the sorcery, by means +of which alone her hated race could ever make themselves beloved. + +Compelled as he was to mingle with the Court as usual, these powerful +emotions were of course always under strong restraint, except when in +the solitude of his own quarters. That when there he should give them +vent, neither conscious of, nor caring for the remarks they excited +from his host and hostess, was not very remarkable; perhaps he was +scarcely aware how powerfully dislike towards Don Ferdinand shared his +thoughts with his vain suggestions as to the cause of Marie's falsity. +The reason for this suddenly aroused dislike he could not indeed +have defined, except that Morales had obtained without difficulty a +treasure, to obtain which he had offered to sacrifice so much. So +fourteen days passed, and though firmly resolved to have one more +interview with Marie, no opportunity had presented itself, nor in fact +could he feel that he had as yet obtained the self-command necessary +for the cold, calm tone which he intended to assume. It happened that +once or twice the King had made Arthur his messenger to Don Ferdinand; +but since the night of the entertainment he had never penetrated +farther than the audience chamber, there performed his mission +briefly, and departed. Traversing the principal street of Segovia one +morning, he was accosted somewhat too courteously, he thought, for +their slight acquaintance, by Don Luis Garcia. + +"And whither so early, Senor Stanley?" he inquired so courteously that +it could not give offence, particularly as it followed other queries +of a graceful greeting, and was not put forth abruptly. + +"To the mansion of Don Ferdinand Morales," replied the young +Englishman, frankly. + +"Indeed! from the King?" + +Stanley answered in the affirmative, too deeply engrossed with his own +thoughts, to attend much to his companion, whose interrogations he +would undoubtedly in a more natural mood have felt inclined to resent. + +"Don Ferdinand Morales ranks as high in the favor of the people as +of the King--a marvellous conjunction of qualities, is it not, Senor +Stanley?" continued Garcia, after walking by his side some minutes in +silence. "A Monarch's favorite is seldom that of his subjects; but +Morales is unusually deserving. I wonder not at the love he wins." + +"Neither Ferdinand nor Isabella bestows favors on the undeserving," +briefly, almost sternly answered Stanley, with an unconscious change +of tone and manner, which did not escape his companion. + +"And he is so singularly fortunate, every thing he touches seems to +turn to gold--an universal idol, possessed too of such wealth and +splendor, and, above all, with such a being to share them with him. +Fortune has marked him favored in all things. Didst ever behold a +creature equal in loveliness to Donna Marie, Senor Stanley?" + +A momentary, and to any other but Don Luis, incomprehensible emotion, +passed over the countenance of Stanley at these words; but though +it was instantly recalled, and indifference both in expression of +countenance and voice resumed, it passed not unobserved; and Don Luis, +rejoicing in the pain he saw he was inflicting, continued an eloquent +panegyric on the wife of Morales, the intense love she bore her +husband, and the beautiful unity and harmony of their wedded life, +until they parted within a short distance of the public entrance to +Don Ferdinand's mansion, towards which Stanley turned. + +Don Luis looked after his retreating form, and folding his arms in his +mantle, bent down his head, assuming an attitude which to passers-by +expressed the meek humility of his supposed character. There was a +wild gleam of triumph, in his eyes which he knew, and therefore they +were thus bent down, and there were thoughts in his heart which might +thus be worded:--"I have it all, all. Waiting has done better for me +than acting; but now the watch is over, and the coil is laid. There +have been those who, standing on the loftiest pinnacle, have fallen +by a touch to earth; none knew the how or wherefore." And shrouding +himself closer in his wrapping mantle, he walked rapidly on till he +reached a side entrance into the gardens, which stretched for many +acres around Don Ferdinand's mansion. Here again he paused, looked +cautiously around him, then swiftly entered, and softly closed the +door behind him. + +Already agitated by the effort to retain calmness during Garcia's +artful words, it was no light matter for Stanley to compose himself +for his interview with Morales. Vain was the gentle courtesy of the +latter, vain his kindly words, vain his confidential reception of the +young Englishman, to remove from Arthur's heart the wild torrent of +passion called forth by Garcia's allusion to Marie's intense love +for her husband. To any one but Morales, his abrupt and unconnected +replies, his strange and uncourteous manners, must have excited +irritation; but Don Ferdinand only saw that the young man was +disturbed and pained, and for this very reason exerted his utmost +kindliness of words and manner to draw him from, himself. They parted +after an interval of about half an hour, Morales to go to the castle +as requested; Arthur to proceed, as he thought, to the environs of the +city. But in vain did he strive with himself. The window of the room +in which he had met Don Ferdinand looked into the garden, and there, +slowly pacing a shaded path, he had recognized the figure of Marie. +The intense desire to speak with her once more, and so have the fatal +mystery solved, became too powerful for control. Every feeling of +honor and delicacy perished before it, and hardly knowing what he did, +he retraced his steps, entered unquestioned, passed through the hall +to the gardens beyond, and in less than ten minutes after he had +parted from her husband, stood in the presence of Marie. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + "If she be false, oh, then Heaven mock itself! + I'll not believe it." + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +Don Ferdinand had scarcely quitted his mansion ere fleet steps +resounded behind him, and turning, he beheld Don Luis Garcia, who +greeted him with such a marked expression, both in voice and face, +of sadness, that Morales involuntarily paused, and with much +commiseration inquired what had chanced. + +"Nothing of personal misfortune, my friend; but there are times when +the spirit is tortured by a doubtful duty. To preserve silence is +undoubtedly wrong, and may lead to wrong, yet greater; and yet, to +speak, is so painfully distressing to my peace-loving disposition, +that I am tossed for ever on conflicting impulses, and would gladly be +guided by another." + +"If you would be guided by my counsel, my good friend, I must entreat +a clearer statement," replied Morales, half smiling. "You have spoken +so mysteriously, that I cannot even guess your meaning. I cannot +imagine one so straightforward and strong-minded as yourself +hesitating and doubtful as to duty, of whatever nature." + +"Not if it concerned myself: but in this case I must either continue +to see wrong done, with the constant dread of its coming to light, +without my interference; or inflict anguish where I would gladly give +but joy; and very probably, in addition, have my tale disbelieved, +and myself condemned, though for that matter, personal pain is of no +consequence, could I but pursue the right." + +"But how stands this important case, my good friend?" + +"Thus: I have been so unfortunate as to discover that one is false, +whom her doting husband believes most true--that the lover of her +youth has returned, and still holds her imagination chained--that she +meets him in secret, and has appointed another clandestine interview, +from which who may tell the evil that may ensue? I would prevent this +interview--would recall her to her better nature, or put her husband +on his guard: but how dare I do this--how interfere thus closely +between man and wife? Counsel me, my friend, in pity!" + +"If you have good foundation for this charge, Don Luis, it is your +duty to speak out," replied Morales, gravely. + +"And to whom?" + +"To the lawful guardian of this misguided one--her husband." + +"But how can I excite his anguish--how turn his present heaven of joy +to a very hell of woe, distrust, suspicion?" + +"Does the leech heed his patient's anguish when probing a painful +wound, or cutting away the mortified flesh? His office is not +enviable, but it is necessary, and; if feelingly performed, we love +him not the less. Speak out. Don Luis, openly, frankly, yet gently, to +the apparently injured husband. Do more: counsel him to act as openly, +as gently with his seemingly guilty wife; and that which now appears +so dark, may be proved clear, and joy dawn again for both, by a few +words of mutual explanation. But there must be no mystery on your +part--no either heightening or smoothing what you may have learnt. +Speak out the simple truth; insinuate nought, for that love is +worthless, that husband false to his sacred charge, if he believes in +guilt ere he questions the accused." + +Don Luis looked on the open countenance before him for a few minutes +without reply, thinking, not if he should spare him, but if his plans +might not be foiled, did Morales himself act as he had said. But the +pause was not long: never had he read human countenance aright, if +Arthur Stanley were not at that moment with Marie. He laid his hand +on Don Ferdinand's arm, and so peculiar was the expression on his +countenance, so low and plaintively musical the tone in which be +said, "God give you strength, my poor friend," that the rich color +unconsciously forsook the cheek of the hardy warrior, leaving him +pallid as death; and so sharp a thrill passed through his heart, that +it was with difficulty he retained his feet; but Morales was not +merely physically, he was mentally brave. With a powerful, a mighty +effort of will, he called life, energy, courage back, and said, +sternly and unfalteringly, "Don Luis Garcia, again I say, speak out! I +understand you; it is I who am the apparently injured husband. Marie! +Great God of heaven! that man should dare couple her pure name with +ignominy! Marie! my Marie! the seemingly guilty wife! Well, put forth +your tale: I am not the man to shrink from my own words. Speak truth, +and I will hear you; and--and, if I can, not spurn you from me as a +liar! Speak out!" + +Don Luis needed not a second bidding: he had remarked, seen, and +heard quite enough the evening of Don Ferdinand's banquet, to require +nothing more than the simple truth, to harrow the heart of his hearer, +even while Morales disbelieved his every word. Speciously, indeed, +he turned his own mere suspicions as to Marie's unhappiness, and her +early love for Arthur, into realities, founded on certain information, +but with this sole exception--he told but the truth. Without moving +a muscle, without change of countenance, or uttering a syllable of +rejoinder, Don Ferdinand listened to Garcia's recital, fixing his +large piercing eye on his face, with a gaze that none but one so +hardened in hypocrisy could have withstood. Once only Morales's +features contracted for a single instant, as convulsed by some spasm. +It was the recollection of Marie's passionate tears, the night of the +festival; and yet she had shed them on _his_ bosom. How could she be +guilty? And the spasm passed. + +"I have heard you, Don Luis," he said, so calmly, as Garcia ceased, +that the latter started. "If there be truth in this strange tale, I +thank you for imparting it: if it be false--if you have dared pollute +my ears with one word that has no foundation, cross not my path +again, lest I be tempted to turn and crush you as I would a loathsome +reptile, who in very wantonness has stung me." + +He turned from him rapidly, traversed the brief space, and disappeared +within his house. Don Luis looked after him with a low, fiendish +laugh, and plunged once more into the gardens. + +"Is the Senora within?" Inquired Don Ferdinand, encountering his +wife's favorite attendant at the entrance of Marie's private suit of +rooms; and though his cheek was somewhat pale, his voice was firm as +usual. The reply was in the negative; the Senora was in the gardens. +"Alone? Why are you not with her as usual, Manuella?" + +"I was with her, my Lord; she only dismissed me ten minutes ago." + +Without rejoinder, Don Ferdinand turned in the direction she had +pointed out. It was a lovely walk, in the most shaded parts of the +extensive grounds, walled by alternate orange and lemon trees; some +with the blossom, germ, and fruit all on one tree; others full of +the paly fruit; and others, again, as wreathed with snow, from the +profusion of odoriferous flowers. An abrupt curve led to a grassy +plot, from which a sparkling fountain sent up its glistening showers, +before a luxurious bower, which Morales's tender care had formed of +large and healthy slips, cut from the trees of the Vale of Cedars, and +flowery shrubs and variegated moss from the same spot; and there he +had introduced his Marie, calling it by the fond name of "Home!" As he +neared the curve, voices struck on his ear--Marie's and another's. She +was not alone! and that other!--could it be?--nay, it was--there was +neither doubt nor hesitation--it was his--his--against whom Don Luis +had warned him. Was it for this Marie had dismissed her attendant? +It could not be; it was mere accident, and Don Ferdinand tried to go +forward to address them as usual; but the effort even for him was too +much, and he sunk down on a rustic bench near him, and burying his +head in his hands, tried to shut out sight and sound till power and +calmness would return. But though he could close his eyes on all +outward things, he could not deaden hearing; and words reached him +which, while he strove not to hear, seemed to be traced by a dagger's +point upon his heart, and from very physical agony deprived him of +strength to move. + +"And thou wilt give me no reason--idle, weak as it must be--thou wilt +refuse me even an excuse for thy perjury?" rung on the still air, in +the excited tones of Arthur Stanley. "Wealth, beauty, power--ay, they +are said to be omnipotent with thy false sex; but little did I dream +that it could be so with thee; and in six short months--nay, less +time, thou couldst conquer love, forget past vows, leap over the +obstacle thou saidst must part us, and wed another! 'Twas short space +to do so much!" And he laughed a bitter, jibing laugh. + +"It was short, indeed!" faintly articulated Marie; "but long enough to +bear." + +"To bear!" he answered; "nay, what hadst thou to bear? The petted +minion of two mighty sovereigns, the idol of a nation--came, and +sought, and won--how couldst thou resist him? What were my claims to +his--an exile and a foreigner, with nought but my good sword, and a +love so deep, so faithful (his voice softened), that it formed my very +being? But what was love to thee before ambition? Oh, fool, fool that +I was, to believe a woman's tongue--to dream that truth could dwell in +those sweet-sounding words--those tears, that seemed to tell of grief +in parting, bitter as my own--fool, to believe thy specious tale! +There could be no cause to part us, else wherefore art thou Morales's +wife? Thou didst never love me! From the first deceived, thou calledst +forth affection, to triumph in thy power, and wreck the slender joys +left to an exile! And yet I love thee--oh, God, how deeply!" + +"Arthur!" answered Marie, and her bloodless lips so quivered, they +could scarcely frame the word--"wrong I have done thee, grievous +wrong; but oh! blast not my memory with injuries I have not inflicted. +Look back; recall our every interview. Had I intended to deceive, to +call forth the holiest feelings of the human heart, to make them a +mock and scorn, to triumph in a power, of whose very existence till +thou breathed love I was unconscious--should I have said our love +was vain--was so utterly hopeless, we could never be other than +strangers--should I have conjured thee to leave--aye, and to forget +me, had I not felt that I loved too well, and trembled for myself yet +more than for thee? Oh, Arthur, Arthur, do not add to the bitterness +of this moment by unjust reproaches! I have injured thee enough by my +ill-fated beauty, and too readily acknowledged love: but more I have +not done. From the first I said that there was a fate around us--thine +I might never be!" + +"Then wherefore wed Morales? Is he not as I am, and therefore equally +unmeet mate for thee--if, indeed, thy tale be true? Didst thou not +tell me, when I implored thee to say if thy hand was pledged unto +another, that such misery was spared thee--thou wert free, and free +wouldst remain while thy heart was mine?" + +"Ay," faltered Marie, "thou rememberest all too well." + +"Then didst thou not deceive? Art thou not as perjured now as I once +believed thee true--as false as thou art lovely? How couldst thou +love, if so soon it was as nought?" + +"Then believe me all thou sayest," replied Marie, more +firmly--"believe me thus false and perjured, and forget me, Senor +Stanley; crush even my memory from thy heart, and give not a thought +to one so worthless! Mystery as there was around me when we first met, +there is a double veil around me now, which I may not lift even to +clear myself with thee. Turn thy love into the scorn which my perjury +deserves, and leave me." + +"I will not!" burst impetuously from Arthur, as he suddenly flung +himself at her feet. "Marie, I will not leave thee thus; say but that +some unforeseen circumstances, not thine own will, made thee the +wife of this proud Spaniard; say but that neither thy will nor thy +affections were consulted, that no word of thine could give him hope +he was beloved--that thou lovest me still; say but this, and I will +bless thee!" + +"Ask it not, Senor Stanley. The duty of a wife would be of itself +sufficient to forbid such words; with me gratitude and reverence +render that duty more sacred still. Wouldst thou indeed sink me so low +as, even as a wife, to cease to respect me? Rise, Senor Stanley! such +posture is unsuited to thee or me; rise, and leave me; we must never +meet alone again." + +Almost overpowered with contending emotions, as he was, there was +a dignity, the dignity of truth in that brief appeal, which Arthur +vainly struggled to resist. She had not attempted a single word of +exoneration, and yet his reproaches rushed back into his own heart as +cruel and unjust, and answer he had none. He rose mechanically, and +as he turned aside to conceal the weakness, a deep and fearful +imprecation suddenly broke from him; and raising her head, Marie +beheld her husband. + +Every softened feeling fled from Stanley's breast; the passionate +anger which Marie's words had calmed towards herself, now burst fourth +unrestrained towards Morales. His sudden appearance bringing the +conviction that he had played the spy upon their interview, roused +his native irritation almost into madness. His sword flew from its +scabbard, and in fearful passion he exclaimed--"Tyrant and coward! How +durst thou play the spy? Is it not enough that thou hast robbed me of +a treasure whose value thou canst never know? for her love was mine +alone ere thou earnest between us, and by base arts and cruel force +compelled her to be thine. Ha! wouldst thou avoid me? refuse to cross +my sword! Draw, or I will proclaim thee coward in the face of the +whole world!" + +With a faint cry, Marie had thrown herself between them; but strength +failed with the effort, and she would have fallen had not Morales +upheld her with his left arm. But she had not fainted; every sense +felt wrung into unnatural acuteness Except to support her, Morales had +made no movement; his tall figure was raised to its fullest height, +and his right arm calmly uplifted as his sole protection against +Arthur. "Put up your sword," he said firmly, and fixing his large dark +eyes upon his irritated adversary, with a gaze far more of sorrow than +of anger, "I will not fight thee. Proclaim me what thou wilt. I fear +neither thy sword nor thee. Go hence, unhappy boy; when this chafed +mood is past, thou wilt repent this rashness, and perchance find it +harder to forgive thyself than I shall to forgive thee. Go; thou art +overwrought. We are not equals now." + +Stanley involuntarily dropped the point of his sword. "I obey thee," +he said, in that deep concentrated tone, which, betrays strong passion +yet more than violent words; "obey thee, because I would not strike an +undefended foe; but we shall meet again in a more fitting place and +season. Till then, hear me, Don Ferdinand! We have hitherto been as +companions in arms, and as friends, absent or together; from this +moment the tie is broken, and for ever. I am thy foe! one who hath +sworn to take thy life, or lose his own. I will compel thee to meet +me! Ay, shouldst thou shun me, to the confines of the world I will +track and find thee. Coward and spy! And yet men think thee noble!" + +A bitter laugh of scorn concluded these fatal words. He returned his +sword violently to its sheath; the tread of his armed heel was heard +for a few seconds, and then all was silent. + +Morales neither moved nor spoke, and Marie lifted her head to look on +his face in terror. The angry words of Arthur had evidently fallen +either wholly unheeded, or perhaps unheard. There was but one feeling +expressed on those chiseled features, but one thought, but one +conviction; a low, convulsive sob broke from her, and she fainted in +his arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + "Why, when my life on that one hope, cast, + Why didst thou chain my future to her past? + Why not a breath to say she loved before?" + + BULWER. + + "Oh leave me not! or know + Before thou goest, the heart that wronged thee so + But wrongs no more." + + BULWER. + + +In the first painful moments of awakening sense, Marie was only +conscious of an undefined yet heavy weight on heart and brain; but as +strength returned she started up with a faint cry, and looked wildly +round her. The absence of Morales, the conviction that he had left her +to the care of others, that for the first time he had deserted her +couch of pain, lighted up as by an electric flash the marvellous links +of memory, and the whole of that morning's anguish, every word spoken, +every feeling endured, rushed back upon her with such overwhelming +force as for the moment to deprive her of the little strength she +had regained. Why could she not die? was the despairing thought that +followed. What had she to live for, when it was her ill fate to wreck +the happiness of all who loved her? and yet in that moment of agony +she never seemed to have loved her husband more. It was of him she +thought far more than of Arthur, whose angry words and fatal threat +rung again and again in her ears. + +"My Lord had only just left when you recovered consciousness, Senora," +gently remarked her principal attendant, whose penetration had +discovered the meaning of Marie's imploring look and passive silence, +so far at least that it was Don Ferdinand she sought, and that his +absence pained her. "He tarried till life seemed returning, and then +reluctantly departed for the castle, where he had been summoned, he +said, above an hour before." + +"To the castle!" repeated Marie internally. "Ay, he will do his duty, +though his heart be breaking. He will take his place and act his part, +and men will report him calm, wise, collected, active as his wont, and +little dream his wife, his treasured wife, has bowed his lofty spirit +to the dust, and laid low his light of home. Tell me when he returns," +she said aloud, "and bid all leave me but yourself." + +Two hours passed, and Marie lay outwardly still and calm, neither +speaking nor employed. But at the end of that time she started up +hastily, resumed the robe which had been cast aside, and remained +standing, as intently listening to some distant sound. Several minutes +elapsed, and though she had sunk almost unconsciously on the seat +Manuella proffered, it was not till full half an hour that she spoke. + +"The Senor has returned," she said calmly; "bid Alberic hither." + +The page came, and she quietly inquired if any strangers had entered +with his master. + +"No, Senora, he is alone." + +"Has he long returned?" + +"Almost half an hour, Senora. He went directly to his closet, desiring +that he might not be disturbed." + +Ten minutes more, and Marie was standing in her husband's presence, +but unobserved. For the first time in his whole life had her light +step approached him unheard. For two hours he had borne a degree of +mental suffering which would either have crushed or roused any other +man into wildest fury--borne it with such an unflinching spirit, that +in neither look nor manner, nor even tone, had he departed from his +usual self, or given the slightest occasion for remark. But the +privacy of his closet obtained, the mighty will gave way, and the +stormy waves rolled over him, deadening every sense and thought and +feeling, save the one absorbing truth, that he had never been beloved. +Father and child had deceived him; for now every little word, every +trifling occurrence before his marriage in the Vale of Cedars +rushed back on his mind, and Henriquez imploring entreaty under all +circumstances to love and cherish her was explained. + +"Ferdinand!" exclaimed a voice almost inarticulate from sobs; and +starting, he beheld his wife kneeling by his side. "Oh! my husband, do +not turn from me, do not hate me. I have none but thee." + +He tried to withdraw his hand, but the words, the tone, unmanned him, +and throwing his arm round her, he clasped her convulsively to his +heart, and she felt his slow scalding tears fall one by one, as wrung +from the heart's innermost depths, upon her cheek. + +For several minutes there was silence. The strong man's emotion is as +terrible to witness as terrible to feel. Marie was the first to regain +voice; and in low beseeching accents she implored him to listen to +her--to hear ere he condemned. + +"Not thus," was his sole reply, as he tried to raise her from her +kneeling posture to the cushion by his side. + +"Yes, thus my husband. I will not rise till thou say'st thou canst +forgive; wilt take the loving and the weak back to thy heart, if not +to love as thou hast loved, to strengthen and forgive. I have not +wronged thee. Were I false in word or thought I would not kneel to ask +forgiveness, but crawl to thy feet and die! If thou couldst but know +the many, many times I have longed to confess all; the agony to +receive thy fond caress, thy trusting confidence, and know myself +deceiving; the terror lest thou shouldst discover aught from other +than myself; oh! were it not for thy deep woe, I could bless this +moment, bidding me speak Truth once more!" + +"And say thou hast never loved me? Wert true from duty, not from love? +Marie, can I bear this?" + +"Yes--for I do love thee. Oh! my husband, I turn to thee alone, under +my God, for rest and peace. If I might not give thee the wild passions +of my youth, when my heart was sought, and won ere I was myself +conscious of the precipice I neared, I cling to thee now alone--I +would be thine alone. Oh, take me to thy heart, and let me lie there. +Ferdinand, Ferdinand! forgive me!--love--save me from myself!" + +"Ay, now and ever! Come to my heart, beloved one!" answered her +husband, rousing himself from all of personal suffering to comfort +her; and he drew her to him till her head rested on his bosom. "Now +tell me thy sorrowing tale, to me so wrapt in mystery. Fear not +from me. It is enough thou clingest to me in such sweet guileless +confidence still." + +She obeyed him; and the heavy weight of suffering years seemed +lightening as she spoke. From her first meeting Arthur, to that +morning's harrowing interview, every feeling, every incident, every +throb of reproach and dread were revealed with such touching and +childlike truth, that even in his suffering, Morales unconsciously +clasped his wife closer and closer to him, as if her very confidence +and truth, rendered her yet dearer than before, and inexpressibly +soothed at the very moment that they pained. Their interview was long, +but fraught with mutual comfort. Morales had believed, when he entered +his closet that day, that a dense cloud was folded round him, sapping +the very elements of life; but though he still felt as if he had +received some heavy physical blow, the darkness had fled from his +spirit, and light dawned anew for both, beneath the heavenly rays of +openness and Truth. + +"And Arthur?" Marie said, as that long commune came to a close; and +she looked up with the fearless gaze of integrity in her husband's +face. "Thou wilt forgive him, Ferdinand? he knew not what he said." + +"Trust me, beloved one. I pity and forgive him. He shall learn to love +me, despite himself." + +Great was the astonishment and terrible the disappointment of Don Luis +Garcia at the visible failure of one portion of his nefarious schemes. +Though seldom in Don Ferdinand's actual presence, he was perfectly +aware that instead of diminishing, Morales' confidence in and love +for his wife had both increased, and that Marie was happier and more +quietly at rest than she had been since her marriage. But though +baffled, Garcia was not foiled. The calm, haughty dignity which, +whenever they did chance to meet, now characterized Don Ferdinand's +manner towards him; the brief, stern reply, if words were actually +needed; or complete silence, betraying as it did tire utter contempt +and scorn with which his crafty design was regarded, heightened his +every revengeful feeling, and hastened on his plans. + +Two or three weeks passed: a calm security and peaceful happiness had +taken the place of storm and dread in Marie's heart. She felt that +it had been a secret consciousness of wrong towards her husband, the +dread of discovery occasioning estrangement, the constant fear of +encountering Stanley, which had weighed on her heart far more than +former feelings; and now that the ordeal was past, that all was known, +and she could meet her husband's eye without one thought concealed; +now that despite of all he could love and cherish, aye, trust her +still, she clung to him with love as pure and fond and true as ever +wife might feel; and her only thought of Stanley was prayer that peace +might also dawn for him. It was pain indeed to feel that the real +reason of her wedding Ferdinand must for ever remain concealed. Could +that have been spoken, one little sentence said, all would have been +explained, and Stanley's bitter feelings soothed. + +It was the custom of Ferdinand and Isabella to gather around +them, about once a month, the wisest and the ablest of their +realm--sometimes to hold council on public matters, at others merely +in friendly discussion on various subjects connected with, politics, +the church, or war. In these meetings merit constituted rank, and mind +nobility. They commenced late, and continued several hours through the +night. To one of these meetings Don Ferdinand Morales had received a +summons as usual. As the day neared, he became conscious of a strange, +indefinable sensation taking possession of heart and mind, as +impossible to be explained as to be dismissed. It was as if some +impassable and invisible, but closely-hovering evil were connected +with the day, blinding him--as by a heavy pall--to all beyond. He +succeeded in subduing the ascendency of the sensation, in some +measure, till the day itself; when, as the hours waned, it became more +and more overpowering. As he entered his wife's apartment, to bid her +farewell ere he departed for the castle, it rose almost to suffocation +in his throat, and he put his arm round her as she stood by the +widely-opened casement, and remained by her side several minutes +without speaking. + +"Thou art not going to the castle yet, dearest?" she inquired. "Is it +not much earlier than usual?" + +"Yes, love; but I shall not ride to-night. I feel so strangely +oppressed, that I think a quiet walk in the night air will recover me +far more effectually than riding." + +Marie looked up anxiously in his face. He was very pale, and his hair +was damp with the moisture on his forehead. "Thou art unwell," she +exclaimed; "do not go to-night, dearest Ferdinand,--stay with me. Thy +presence is not so imperatively needed." + +He shook his head with a faint smile. "I must go, love, for I have no +excuse to stay away. I wish it were any other night, indeed, for I +would so gladly remain with thee; but the very wish is folly. I never +shrunk from the call of duty before, and cannot imagine what has come +over me to-night; but I would sacrifice much for permission to stay +within. Do not look so alarmed, love, the fresh air will remove this +vague oppression, and give me back myself." + +"Fresh air there is none," replied his young wife, "the stillness is +actually awful--not a leaf moves, nor a breeze stirs. It seems too, +more than twilight darkness; as if a heavy storm were brooding." + +"It may be; oppression in the air is often the sole cause of +oppression in the mind. I should be almost glad if it came, to explain +this sensation." + +"But if thou must go, thou wilt not loiter, Ferdinand." + +"Why--fearest thou the storm will harm me, love? Nay, I have +frightened thee into foreboding. Banish it, or I shall be still more +loth to say farewell!" + +He kissed her, as if to depart, but still he lingered though neither +spoke; and then, as with an irresistible and passionate impulse, he +clasped her convulsively to his heart, and murmuring hoarsely, "God +for ever and ever bless thee, my own beloved!" released her, and was +gone. + +On quitting his mansion and entering the street, the dense weight +of the atmosphere became more and more apparent. The heat was so +oppressive that the streets were actually deserted--even the artisans +had closed their stores; darkness had fallen suddenly, shrouding +the beautiful twilight peculiar to Spain as with a pall. Morales +unconsciously glanced towards the west, where, scarcely half-an-hour +before, the sun had sunk gloriously to rest; and there all was not +black. Resting on the edge of the hill, was a far-spreading crimson +cloud, not the rosy glow of sunset, but the color of blood. So +remarkable was its appearance, that Don Ferdinand paused in +involuntary awe. The blackness closed gradually round it; but +much decreased, and still decreasing in size, it floated +onwards--preserving its blood-red hue, in appalling contrast with +the murky sky. Slowly Morales turned in the direction of the castle, +glancing up at times, and unable to suppress a thrill of supernatural +horror, as he observed this remarkable appearance floating just before +him wherever he turned. Denser and denser became the atmosphere, and +blacker the sky, till he could not see a single yard before him; +thunder growled in the distance, and a few vivid flashes of lightning +momentarily illumined the gloom, but still the cloud remained. Its +course became swifter; but it decreased in size, floating onwards, +till, to Morales' strained gaze, it appeared to remain stationary over +one particularly lonely part of the road, known by the name of the +Calle Soledad, which he was compelled to pass; becoming smaller and +smaller, till, as he reached the spot, it faded into utter darkness, +and all around was black. + +That same evening, about an hour before sunset, Arthur Stanley, +overpowered by the heat, and exhausted with some fatiguing military +duties, hastily unbuckled his sword, flung it carelessly from him, +and, drinking off a large goblet of wine, which, as usual, stood ready +for him on his table, threw himself on his couch, and sunk into a +slumber so profound that he scarcely seemed to breathe. How he had +passed the interval which had elapsed since his interview with Marie +and her husband, he scarcely knew himself. His military duties were +performed mechanically, a mission for the king to Toledo successfully +accomplished; but he himself was conscious only of one engrossing +thought, which no cooling and gentler temper had yet come to subdue. +It was a relief to acquit Marie of intentional falsehood--a relief to +have some imaginary object on which to vent bitterness and anger; and +headstrong and violent without control or guide, when his passions +were concerned, he encouraged every angry feeling against Morales, +caring neither to define nor subdue them, till the longing to meet him +in deadly combat, and the how to do so, became the sole and dangerous +occupation of heart and mind. + +Stanley's heavy and unnatural sleep had lasted some hours, when he was +suddenly and painfully awakened by so loud and long a peal of thunder +that the very house seemed to rock and shake with the vibration. He +started up on his couch; but darkness was around him so dense that +he could not distinguish a single object. This sleep had been +unrefreshing, and so heavy an oppression rested on his chest, that he +felt as if confined in a close cage of iron. He waved his arms to feel +if he were indeed at liberty. He moved in free air, but the darkness +seemed to suffocate him; and springing up, he groped his way to the +window, and flung it open. Feverish and restless, the very excitement +of the night seemed to urge him forth, thus to disperse the oppressive +weight within. A flash of lightning playing on the polished sheath of +his sword, he secured it to his side, and threw his mantle over his +shoulders. As he did so his hand came in contact with the upper part +of the sheath, from which the hilt should have projected; but, to his +astonishment and alarm, no hilt was there--the sheath was empty. + +In vain he racked his memory to ascertain whether he had left his +sword in its scabbard, or had laid the naked blade, as was his custom, +by him while he slept. The more he tried to think the more confused +his thoughts became. His forehead felt circled with burning iron, +his lips were dry and parched, his step faltering as if under the +influence of some potent spell. He called for a light, but his voice +sounded in his own ears thick and unnatural, and no one answered. His +aged hosts had retired to rest an hour before, and though they had +noticed and drew their own conclusions from his agitated movements, +his call was unregarded. In five minutes more they heard him rush from +the house; and anxious as she was to justify all the ways and doings +of her handsome lodger, old Juanna was this night compelled to lean +to her husband's ominously expressed belief, that no one would +voluntarily go forth on such an awful night, save for deeds of evil. + +His rapid pace and open path were illumined every alternate minute +with, the vivid lightning, and the very excitement of the storm +partially removed the incomprehensible sensations under which Stanley +labored. He turned in the direction of the castle, perhaps with the +unconfessed hope of meeting some of his companions in arms returning +from the royal meeting, and in their society to shake off the spell +which chained him. As he neared the Calle Soledad the ground suddenly +became slippery, as with some thick fluid, of what nature the dense +darkness prevented his discovering, his foot came in contact with some +heavy substance lying right across his path. He stumbled and fell, and +his dress and hands became literrally dyed with the same hue as the +ground. He started up in terror; a long vivid flash lingering more +than a minute in the air, disclosed the object against which he had +fallen; and paralyzed with horror, pale, ghastly, as if suddenly +turned to stone, he remained. He uttered no word nor cry; but flash +after flash played around him, and still beheld him gazing in +stupefied and motionless horror on the appalling sight before him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + 1st MONK.--The storm increases; hark! how dismally + It sounds along the cloisters! + + BERNARD.--As on I hastened, bearing thus my light, + Across my path, not fifty paces off, + I saw a murdered corse, stretched on its back, + Smeared with new blood, as though but freshly slain. + + JOANNA BAILLIE. + + +The apartment adjoining the council-room of the castle, and selected +this night as the scene of King Ferdinand's banquet, was at the +commencement of the storm filled with the expected guests. From forty +to fifty were there assembled, chosen indiscriminately from the +Castilians and Arragonese, the first statesmen and bravest warriors +of the age. But the usual animated discussion, the easy converse, and +eager council, had strangely, and almost unconsciously, sunk into a +gloomy depression, so universal and profound, that every effort +to break from it, and resume the general topics of interest, was +fruitless. The King himself was grave almost to melancholy, though +more than once he endeavored to shake it off, and speak as usual. Men +found themselves whispering to each other as if they feared to speak +aloud--as if some impalpable and invisible horror were hovering round +them. It might have been that the raging storm without affected all +within, with a species of awe, to which even the wisest and the +bravest are liable when the Almighty utters His voice in the tempest, +and the utter nothingness of men comes home to the proudest heart. +But there was another cause. One was missing from the council and the +board; the seat of Don Ferdinand Morales was vacant, and unuttered but +absorbing anxiety occupied every mind. It was full two hours, rather +more, from the given hour of meeting; the council itself had been +delayed, and was at length held without him, but so unsatisfactory did +it prove, that many subjects were postponed. They adjourned to the +banquet-room; but the wine circled but slowly, and the King leant back +on his chair, disinclined apparently for either food or drink. + +"The storm increases fearfully," observed the aged Duke of Murcia, +a kinsman of the King, as a flash of lightning blazed through the +casements, of such extraordinary length and brilliance, that even the +numerous lustres, with which the room was lighted, looked dark when +it disappeared. It was followed by a peal of thunder, loud as if a +hundred cannons had been discharged above their heads, and causing +several glasses to be shivered on the board. "Unhappy those compelled +to brave it." + +"Nay, better out than in," observed another. "There is excitement in +witnessing its fury, and gloom most depressing in listening to it +thus." + +"Perchance 'tis the shadow of the coming evil," rejoined Don Felix +d'Estaban. "Old legends say, there is never a storm like this, without +bringing some national evil on its wings." + +"Ha! say they so?" demanded the King, suddenly, that his guests +started. "And is there truth in it?" + +"The lovers of such marvels would bring your Grace many proofs that, +some calamity always followed such a tempest," replied Don Felix. "It +may or may not be. For my own part, I credit not such things. We are +ourselves the workers of evil--no fatality lurking in storms." + +"Fated or casual, if evil has occurred to Don Ferdinand Morales, +monarch and subject will alike have cause to associate this tempest +with national calamity," answered the King, betraying at once the +unspoken, but engrossing subject of his thoughts. "Who saw him last?" + +Don Felix d'Estaban replied that he had seen him that day two hours +before sunset. + +"And where, my Lord--at home or abroad?" + +"In his own mansion, which he said he had not quitted that day," was +the rejoinder. + +"And how seemed he? In health as usual?" + +"Ay, my liege, save that he complained of a strange oppressiveness, +disinclining him for all exertion." + +"Did he allude to the council of to-night?" + +"He did, my Lord, rejoicing that he should be compelled to rouse +himself from his most unwonted mood of idleness." + +"Then some evil has befallen him," rejoined the King; and the +contraction of his brow denied the calmness, implied by his unmoved +tone. "We have done wrong in losing all this time, Don Alonzo," he +added, turning to the Senor of Aguilar, "give orders that a band of +picked men scour every path leading hence to Morales' mansion: head +them thyself, an thou wilt, we shall the more speedily receive +tidings. Thine eyes have been more fixed on Don Ferdinand's vacant +seat, than on the board this last hour; so hence, and speed thee, man. +It may be he is ill: we have seen men stricken unto death from one +hour to the other. If there be no trace of him in either path, hie +thee to his mansion; but return not without news. Impalpable evil is +ever worse than the tangible and real." + +Don Alonzo scarcely waited the conclusion of the King's speech, so +eager was he to depart; and the longing looks cast after him betrayed +how many would have willingly joined him in his search. + +"His wife?" repeated the King, in answer to some suggestions of his +kinsman's. "Nay, man; hast thou yet to learn, that Morales' heart +would break ere he would neglect his duty? No: physical incapacity +would alone have sufficient power to keep him from us--no mental ill." + +If the effort to continue indifferent conversation had been difficult +before, it now became impossible. The very silence felt ominous. What +evil could have befallen? was asked internally by each individual; but +the vague dread, the undefined horror of something terrible impending, +prevented all reply; and so nearly an hour passed, when, far removed +as was the council-room from the main body of the castle, a confusion +as of the entrance of many feet, and the tumultuary sound of eager +voices, was distinguished, seeming to proceed from the great hall. + +"It cannot be Don Alonzo so soon returned," remarked the Duke of +Murcia; but even as he spoke, and before the King had time to make an +impatient sign for silence, so intently was he listening, the Lord of +Aguilar himself re-entered the apartment. + +"Saints of heaven!" ejaculated the King, and his exclamation was +echoed involuntarily by all around. The cheek of the warrior, never +known to blanch before, was white as death; his eye haggard and wild; +his step so faltering, that his whole frame reeled. He sunk on the +nearest seat, and, with a shuddering groan, pressed both hands before +his eyes. + +"Wine! wine! give him wine!" cried Ferdinand impetuously, pushing a +brimming goblet towards him. "Drink, man, and speak, in Heaven's name. +What frightful object hast thou seen, to bid thee quail, who never +quailed before? Where is Morales? Hast thou found him?" + +"Ay," muttered Don Alonzo, evidently struggling to recall his +energies, while the peculiar tone of the single monosyllable caused +every heart to shudder. + +"And where is he? Why came he not hither? Why neglect our royal +summons?" continued the King, hurrying question after question with +such an utter disregard of his usual calm, imperturbable cautiousness, +that it betrayed far more than words how much he dreaded the Senor's +reply. "Speak, man; what has detained him?" + +"_Death_!" answered the warrior, his suppressed grief and horror +breathing in his hollow voice; and rising, he approached the King's +seat, and kneeling down, said in that low, concentrated tone, which +reaches every ear, though scarce louder than a whisper, "Sire, he is +murdered!" + +"Murdered!" reiterated the King, as the word was echoed in all the +various intonations of horror, grief, and indignation from all around; +and he laid his hand heavily on Aguilar's shoulder--"Man, man, how can +this be? Who would dare lift up the assassin's hand against him--him, +the favorite of our subjects as of ourselves? Who had cause of +enmity--of even rivalship with him? Thou art mistaken, man; it +_cannot_ be! Thou art scared with the sight of murder, and no marvel; +but it cannot be Morales thou hast seen." + +"Alas! my liege, I too believed it not; but the murdered corpse now +lying in the hall will be too bloody witness of my truth." + +The King released his hold, and without a word of rejoinder, strode +from the apartment, and hastily traversing the long galleries, and +many stairs, neither paused nor spoke, till, followed by all his +nobles, he reached the hall. It was filled with soldiers, who, with +loud and furious voices, mingled execrations deep and fearful on +the murderer, with bitter lamentations on the victim. A sudden +and respectful hush acknowledged the presence of the Sovereign; +Ferdinand's brows were darkly knit, his lip compressed, his eyes +flashing sternly over the dense crowd; but he asked no question, nor +relaxed his hasty stride till he stood beside the litter on which, +covered with a mantle, the murdered One was lying. For a single minute +he evidently paused, and his countenance, usually so controlled as +never to betray emotion, visibly worked with some strong feeling, +which seemed to prevent the confirmation of his fears, by the trifling +movement of lifting up the mantle. But at length, and with a hurried +movement, it was cast aside; and there lay that noble form, cold, +rigid in death! The King pushed the long, jetty hair, now clotted with +gore, from the cheek on which it had fallen; and he recognized, too +well, the high, thoughtful brow, now white, cold as marble; the large, +dark eye, whose fixed and glassy stare had so horribly replaced the +bright intelligence, the sparkling lustre so lately there. The +clayey, sluggish white of death was already on his cheek; his lip, +convulsively compressed, and the left hand tightly clenched, as if the +soul had not been thus violently reft from the body, without a strong: +pang of mortal agony. His right hand had stiffened round the hilt +of his unsheathed sword, for the murderous blow had been dealt from +behind, and with such fatal aim, that death must have been almost +instantaneous, and the tight grasp of his sword the mere instinctive +movement of expiring nature. Awe-struck, chilled to the heart, did the +noble friends of the departed gather round him. On the first removal +of the mantle, an irresistible yell of curses on the murderer burst +forth from the soldiery, wrought into fury at thus beholding their +almost idolized commander; but the stern woe on the Sovereign's face +hushed them into silence; and the groan of grief and horror which +escaped involuntarily from Ferdinand's lips, was heard throughout the +hall. + +"The murderer?" at length demanded many of the nobles at the same +moment. "Who has dared do this awful deed? Don Alonzo, is there no +clue to his person--no trace of his path?" + +"There is trace and clue enough," was the brief and stern reply. "The +murderer is secured!" + +"Ha!" exclaimed the King, roused at once; "secured, sayest thou? In +our bitter grief we had well-nigh forgotten justice. Bring forth the +dastardly craven; we would demand the reason of this cowardly blow ere +we condemn him to the death of torture which his crime demands. Let +him confront his victim. Why do you pause, my Lord? Produce the +murderer." + +Still Don Alonzo stood irresolute, and a full minute passed ere he +signed to the men who had accompanied him. A figure was instantly led +forward, his arms strongly secured in his own mantle, and his hat so +slouched over his face, that not a feature could be distinguished. +Still there was something in his appearance that struck a cold chill +of doubt to the heart of the King, and in a voice strangely expressive +of emotion, he commanded--"Remove his hat and mantle: we should know +that form." + +He was obeyed, for there was no resistance on the part of the +prisoner, whose inner dress was also stained with blood, as were his +hands. His cheek was ashy pale; his eye bloodshot and pale; and his +whole appearance denoting such excessive agitation, that it would have +gone far to condemn him, even had there been no other proof. + +"Stanley!" burst from the astonished King, as a wild cry ran round +the hall, and "Death to the ungrateful foreigner!"--"Death to the +base-born Englishman!"--"Tortures and death!" escaped, in every +variety of intonation, from the fierce soldiery, who, regardless even +of their Sovereign's presence, drew closer and closer round, clashing +their weapons, and with difficulty restrained from tearing him to +pieces where he stood. + +"He was my foe," muttered the prisoner, almost unconscious of the +import of his words, or how far they would confirm the suspicions +against him. "He robbed me of happiness--he destined me to misery. I +hated him; but I did not murder him. I swore to take his life or lose +my own; but not thus--not thus. Great God! to see him lying there, and +feel it might have been my hand. Men, men! would ye quench hatred, +behold its object stricken before you by a dastard blow like this, and +ye will feel its enormity and horror. I did not slay him; I would +give my life to the murderer's dagger to call him back, and ask his +forgiveness for the thoughts of blood I entertained against him; but I +touched him not--my sword is stainless." + +"Thou liest, false traitor!" exclaimed Don Felix, fiercely, and he +held up the hilt and about four inches of a sword, the remainder of +which was still in the body. "Behold the evidence to thy black lie! +My liege, this fragment was found beside the body deluged in gore. +We know the hilt too well to doubt, one moment, the name of its +possessor; there is not another like it throughout Spain. It snapt in +the blow, as if more honorable than its master, it could not survive +so foul a stain. What arm should wield it save his own?" + +A universal murmur of execration, acknowledged this convincing +evidence; doubly confirmed, as it seemed to be by the fearful start +and muttered exclamation, on the part of the prisoner the moment it +was produced. The nobles thronged round the King, some entreating him +to sentence the midnight assassin to instant execution; others, to +retain him in severest imprisonment till the proofs of his guilt could +be legally examined, and the whole European World hear of the crime, +and its chastisement; lest they should say that as a foreigner, +justice was refused to him. To this opinion the King leaned. + +"Ye counsel well and wisely, my lords," he said. "It shall not be +said, because the murdered was our subject, and the murderer an alien, +that he was condemned without examination of proofs against him, or +being heard in his own defence. Seven suns hence we will ourselves +examine every evidence for or against him, which, your penetration, my +lords, can collect. Till then, Don Felix, the prisoner is your +charge, to be produced when summoned; and now away with the midnight +assassin--he has polluted our presence too long. Away with the base +ingrate, who has thus requited our trust and love; we would look on +him no more." + +With, a rapid movement the unfortunate young man broke from the guard, +which, at Don Felix's sign, closed round and sought to drag him from +the hall, and flung himself impetuously at Ferdinand's feet. + +"I am no murderer!" he exclaimed, in a tone of such passionate agony, +that to any less prejudiced than those around, it must at least have +raised doubt as to his guilt. "I am not the base ingrate you would +deem me. Condemn me to death an thou wilt, I kneel not to sue for +life; for, dishonored and suspected, I would not accept it were it +offered. Let them bring forward what they will, I am innocent. Here, +before ye all, in presence of the murdered victim, by all held sacred +in Heaven or on Earth, I swear I slew him not! If I am guilty I call +upon the dead himself to rise, and blast me with his gaze!" + +Involuntarily every eye turned towards the corpse; for, vague as such +an appeal might seem now, the age was then but barely past, when the +assistance of the murdered was often required in the discovery of the +murderer. Many a brave heart grew chill, and brown cheeks blanched, in +anticipation of the unearthly sign, so fully were they convinced of +Stanley's guilt, but none came. The stagnated blood did not flow forth +again--the eye did not glare with more consciousness than before--the +cold hand did not move to point its finger at the prisoner; and Don +Felix, fearing the effect of Stanley's appeal upon the King, signed to +the guards, who rudely raised and bore him from the hall. + +The tumults of these events had naturally spread far and wide over the +castle, reaching the apartments of the Queen who, perceiving the awe +and terror which the raging tempest had excited in her attendants, +though incapable of aught like fear herself, had refrained from +dismissing them as usual. The confusion below seeming to increase with +every moment, naturally excited her surprise; and she commanded one +of her attendants to learn its cause. Already terrified, none seemed +inclined to obey, till a young girl, high spirited, and dauntless +almost as Isabella herself, departed of her own free will, and in a +few minutes returned, pale and trembling, with the dread intelligence, +that Don Ferdinand Morales lay murdered in the hall, and that Arthur +Stanley was his murderer. + +Isabella paused not a moment, though the shock was so terrible that +for the minute she became faint and sick, and hastily quitting her +apartments, she entered the great hall at the moment the prisoner was +being borne from it. Stupefied with contending feelings. Ferdinand did +not perceive her entrance. The nobles, drawn together in little knots, +were conversing in low eager tones, or endeavoring to reduce the +tumultuary soldiery to more order; and the Queen moved on unperceived, +till she stood beside the corpse. She neither shrunk from it, nor +paled; but bending over him, murmured in a tone, that from its +startling indication of her unexpected presence, readied the ear of +all--"His poor, _poor_ Marie!" + +The effect was electric. Until that moment horror and indignation had +been the predominant feeling; but with those words came the thought +of his young, his beautiful, his treasured wife--the utter, utter +desolation which that fearful death would bring to her; the contrast +between her present position, and that in which they had so lately +beheld her; and there was scarcely a manly spirit there, that did not +feel unwonted moisture gather in his eyes, or his heart swell with an +emotion never felt before. + +"Now blessings on thy true woman's heart, my Isabel!" exclaimed the +King, tenderly drawing her from the couch of the dead. "I dare vouch +not one of us, mourning the noble dead, has, till now, cast a thought +upon the living. And who shall breathe these fearful tidings? Who +prepare the unfortunate Marie for the loss awaiting her, and yet tarry +to behold and soothe her anguish?" + +"That will I do," replied the Queen, instantly. "None else will +prepare her so gently, so kindly; for none knew her husband's worth so +well, or can mourn his loss more deeply. She shall come hither. And +the murderer," she continued after a brief pause, and the change +was almost startling from the tender sympathy of the Woman to the +indignant majesty of the Queen--"Ferdinand, have they told me true as +to his person--is he secured?" + +"Ay," answered the King, briefly and bitterly: and from respect to his +feelings, Isabella asked no more. Orders were issued for the body to +be laid in one of the state apartments; a guard to be stationed at the +entrance of the chamber, and measures taken to keep the events of that +fatal night profoundly secret, lest confusion should be aroused in the +easily excited populace, or her terrible loss too rudely reach the +ears of the most painfully bereaved. These orders were punctually +obeyed. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + "Yet again methinks + Some unknown sorrow, ripe in Future's womb, + Is coming towards me; and my inward soul + With nothing trembles. At something it grieves + More than the parting with my lord." + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +Long did Marie Morales linger where her husband had left her after his +strangely passionate farewell. His tone, his look, his embrace haunted +her almost to pain--all were so unlike his wonted calmness: her full +heart so yearned towards him that she would have given worlds, if she +had had them, to call him to her side once more--to conjure him again +to forgive and assure her of his continued trust--to tell him she was +happy, and asked no other love than his. Why had he left her so early? +when she felt as if she had so much to say--so much to confide. And +then her eye caught the same ominous cloud which had so strangely +riveted Don Ferdinand's gaze, and a sensation of awe stole over her, +retaining her by the casement as by some spell which she vainly strove +to resist; until the forked lightnings began to illumine the murky +gloom, and the thunder rolled awfully along. Determined not to give +way to the heavy depression creeping over her, Marie summoned her +attendants, and strenuously sought to keep up an animated conversation +as they worked. Not expecting to see her husband till the ensuing +morning, she retired to rest at the first partial lull of the storm, +and slept calmly for many hours. A morning of transcendent loveliness +followed the awful horrors of the night. The sun seemed higher in the +heavens than usual, when Marie started from a profound sleep, with a +vague sensation that something terrible had occurred; every pulse +was throbbing, though, her heart felt stagnant within her. For some +minutes she could not frame a distinct thought, and then her husband's +fond farewell flashed back; but what had that to do with gloom? +Ringing a little silver bell beside her, Manuella answered the +summons, and Marie anxiously inquired for Don Ferdinand. Had he +not yet returned? A sensation of sickness--the deadly sickness of +indefinable dread--seemed to stupefy every faculty, as Manuella +answered in the negative, adding, it was much beyond his usual hour. + +"Send to the castle, and inquire if aught has detained him," she +exclaimed; hastily rising as she spoke, and commencing a rapid toilet. +She was scarcely attired before Alberic, with a pale cheek and voice +of alarm, brought information that a messenger and litter from the +palace were in the court, bringing the Queen's mandate for the instant +attendance of Donna Marie. + +"Oh! lady, dearest lady, let me go with thee," continued the boy, +suddenly clasping her robe and bursting into tears. "My master--my +good, noble master--something horrible has occurred, and they will not +tell me what. Every face I see is full of horror--every voice seems +suppressed--every--" + +"Hush!" angrily interposed Manuella, as she beheld Marie's very lips +lose their glowing tint, and her eyes gaze on vacancy. "For God's +sake, still thine impudent tongue; thou'lt kill her with thy +rashness." + +"Kill! who is killed?" gasped Marie. "What did he say? Where is my +husband?" + +"Detained at the palace, dearest lady," readily answered Manuella. +"This foolish boy is terrified at shadows. My lord is detained, and +her Grace has sent a litter requiring thine attendance. We must haste, +for she wills no delay. Carlotta, my lady's mantilla; quick, girl! +Alberic, go if thou wilt: my Lord may be glad of thee! Ay, go," she +continued some little time afterwards, as her rapid movements speedily +placed her passive, almost senseless mistress, in the litter; and she +caught hold of the page's hand with a sudden change of tone, "go; and +return speedily, in mercy, Alberic. Some horror is impending; better +know it than this terrible suspense." + +How long an interval elapsed ere she stood in Isabella's presence, +Marie knew not. The most incongruous thoughts floated, one after +another, through her bewildered brain--most vivid amongst them all, +hers and her husband's fatal secret: had it transpired? Was he +sentenced, and she thus summoned to share his fate? And then, when +partially relieved by the thought, that such a discovery had +never taken place in Spanish annals--why should she dread an +impossibility?--flashed back, clear, ringing, as if that moment +spoken, Stanley's fatal threat; and the cold shuddering of every limb +betrayed the aggravated agony of the thought. With her husband she +could speak of Arthur calmly; to herself she would not even think his +name: not merely lest he should unwittingly deceive again, but that +the recollection of _his_ suffering--and caused by her--ever created +anew, thoughts and feelings which she had vowed unto herself to bury, +and for ever. + +Gloom was on every face she encountered in the castle. The very +soldiers, as they saluted her as the wife of their general, appeared +to gaze upon her with rude, yet earnest commiseration; but neither +word nor rumor reached her ear. Several times she essayed to ask of +her husband, but the words died in a soundless quiver on her lip. Yet +if it were what she dreaded, that Stanley had fulfilled his threat, +and they had fought, and one had fallen--why was she thus summoned? +And had not Morales resolved to avoid him; for her sake not to avenge +Arthur's insulting words? And again the thought of their fatal secret +obtained ascendency. Five minutes more, and she stood alone in the +presence of her Sovereign. + + * * * * * + +It was told; and with such deep sympathy, so gently, so cautiously, +that all of rude and stunning shock was averted; but, alas! who could +breathe of consolation at such a moment? Isabella did not attempt it; +but permitted the burst of agony full vent. She had so completely +merged all of dignity, all of the Sovereign into the woman and the +friend, that Marie neither felt nor exercised restraint; and words +mingled with her broken sobs and wild lament, utterly incomprehensible +to the noble heart that heard. The awful nature of Don Ferdinand's +death, Isabella had still in some measure concealed; but it seemed as +if Marie had strangely connected it with violence and blood, and, in +fearful and disjointed words, accused herself as its miserable cause. + +"Why did not death come to me?" she reiterated; "why take him, my +husband--my noble husband? Oh, Ferdinand, Ferdinand! to go now, when I +have so learnt to love thee! now, when I looked to years of faithful +devotion to prove how wholly the past was banished--how wholly I was +thine alone! to atone for hours of suffering by years of love! Oh, how +couldst thou leave me friendless--desolate?" + +"Not friendless, not desolate, whilst Isabella lives," replied the +Queen, painfully affected, and drawing Marie closer to her, till her +throbbing brow rested on her bosom. "Weep, my poor girl, tears must +flow for a loss like this; and long, long weeks must pass ere we may +hope for resignation; but harrow not thyself by thoughts of more +fearful ill than the reality, my child. Do not look on what might be, +but what has been; on the comfort, the treasure, thou wert to the +beloved one we have lost. How devotedly he loved thee, and thou--" + +"And I so treasured, so loved. Oh, gracious Sovereign!" And Marie sunk +down at her feet, clasping her robe in supplication. "Say but I may +see him in life once more; that life still lingers, if it be but to +tell me once more he forgives me. Oh, let me but hear his voice; but +once, only once, and I will be calm--quite calm; I will try to bear +this bitter agony. Only let me see him, hear him speak again. Thou +knowest not, thou canst not know, how my heart yearns for this." + +"See him thou shalt, my poor girl, if it will give thee aught of +comfort; but hear him, alas! alas! my child, would that it might be! +Would for Spain and her Sovereign's sake, then how much more for +thine, that voice could be recalled; and life, if but for the briefest +space, return! Alas! the blow was but too well aimed." + +"The blow! what blow? How did he die? Who slew him?" gasped Marie; her +look of wild and tearless agony terrifying Isabella, whose last words +had escaped unintentionally. "Speak, speak, in mercy; let me know the +truth?" + +"Hast thou not thyself alluded to violence, and wrath, and hatred, +Marie? Answer me, my child; didst thou know any one, regarding the +generous Morales with such feelings? Could there be one to regard him +as his foe?" + +Crouching lower and lower at Isabella's feet, her face half burled in +her robe, Marie's reply was scarcely audible; but the Queen's brow +contracted. + +"None?" she repeated almost sternly; "wouldst thou deceive at such a +moment? contradict thyself? And yet I am wrong to be thus harsh. Poor +sufferer!" she added, tenderly, as she vainly tried to raise Marie +from the ground; "thou hast all enough to bear; and if, indeed, the +base wretch who has dared thus to trample on the laws alike of God +and man, and stain his own soul with the foul blot of midnight +assassination, be him whom we have secured, thou couldst not know him +as thy husband's foe. It is all mystery--thine own words not least; +but his murder shall be avenged. Ay, had my own kinsman's been the +hand to do the dastard deed." + +"Murder! who was his murderer?" repeated Marie, the horror of such a +fate apparently lost in other and more terrible emotion; "who could +have raised his sword against my husband? Said I he had no foe? Had he +not one, and I, oh, God! did not I create that enmity? But he would +not have murdered him; oh, no--no: my liege, my gracious liege, tell +me in mercy--my brain feels reeling--who was the murderer?" + +"One thou hast known but little space, poor sufferer," replied the +Queen, soothingly; "one whom of all others we could not suspect of +such a deed. And even now, though appearances are strong against him, +we can scarce believe it; that young foreign favorite of my royal +husband, Arthur Stanley." + +"STANLEY!" repeated Marie, in a tone so shrill, so piercing, that the +wild shriek which it formed rung for many and many a day in the ears +of the Queen. And as the word passed her lips she started to her feet, +stood for a second erect, gazing madly on her royal mistress, and +then, without one groan or struggle, dropped perfectly lifeless at her +feet. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + List! hear ye, through the still and lonely night, + The distant hymn of mournful voices roll + Solemn and low? It is the burial rite; + How deep its sadness sinks into the soul, + As slow the passing bell wakes its far ling'ring knoll. + + CHARLES SWAIN. + + +Spain has often been regarded as an absolute monarchy; an opinion, +no doubt, founded on the absolute measures of her later sovereigns. +Ferdinand and Isabella certainly laid the foundation of the royal +prerogative by the firmness and ability with which they decreased the +power of the nobles, who, until their reign, had been like so many +petty sovereigns, each with his independent state, and preserving his +authority by the sword alone. When Ferdinand and Isabella, however, +united their separate kingdoms under one denomination, neither Castile +nor Arragon could be considered as an absolute monarchy. In Castile, +the people, as representatives of the cities, had, from, early ages, +obtained seats in the Cortes, and so in some measure balanced the +power of the aristocracy. The Cortes, similar to our houses of +parliament, could enact laws, impose taxes, and redress grievances, +often making the condition of granting pecuniary aid to the Sovereign, +his consent to the regulations they had laid down, and refusing the +grant if he demurred. In addition to these privileges of the Cortes +of Castile, the Junta of Arragon could coin money, declare war, and +conclude peace; and what was still more remarkable, they could be +neither prorogued nor dissolved by their Sovereign without their own +consent. Alluding to the Castilians, a few years after the period of +our tale, Robertson says-- + + "The principles of liberty seem to have been better understood, + by the Castilians than by any other people in Europe. They had + acquired more liberal notions with respect to their own rights + and privileges. They had formed more bold and generous sentiments + concerning government, and discovered an extent of political + knowledge to which the English themselves did not attain till + nearly a century afterwards." + +When we compare this state of things with the misery and anarchy +pervading Castile before the accession of Isabella, we may have +some idea of the influence of her vigorous measures, and personal +character, on the happiness and freedom of her subjects. The laws +indeed existed before, but they wanted the wisdom and moderation of an +enlightened Sovereign, to give them force and power to act. + +In the kingdom of Arragon, besides the Junta, or National Assemblage, +there was always a Justizia, or supreme judge, whose power, in some +respects, was even greater than the King's; his person was sacred; he +could remove any of the royal ministers whom he deemed unworthy of the +trust, and was himself responsible to none but the Cortes or Junta by +whom he had been elected. The personal as well as the national rights +of the Arragonese, were also more accurately defined than was usual +in that age: no native of Arragon could be convicted, imprisoned, or +tortured, without fair and legal evidence.[A] + +[Footnote A: See History of Spain, by John Bigland.] + +Such being the customs of the kingdom of Arragon, the power of the +crown was more limited than Ferdinand's capacious mind and desire +of dominion chose to endure: the Cortes, or nobles, there were +pre-eminent; the people, as the Sovereign, ciphers, save that the +rights of the former were more cared for than the authority of the +latter. But Ferdinand was not merely ambitious; he had ability and +energy, and so gradually were his plans achieved that he encountered +neither rebellion nor dislike. The Cortes found that he frequently and +boldly transacted business of importance without their interference; +intrusted offices of state to men of inferior rank, but whose +abilities were the proof of his discernment; took upon himself the +office of Justizia, and, in conjunction with Isabella, re-established +an institution which had fallen into disuse through the civil wars, +but which was admirably suited for the internal security of their +kingdom by the protection of the peasantry and lower classes: it was +an association of all the cities of Castile and Arragon, known as the +Sainta Hermandad, or Holy Brotherhood, to maintain a strong body of +troops for the protection of travellers, and the seizure of criminals, +who were brought before judges nominated by the confederated cities, +and condemned according to their crime, without any regard to feudal +laws. Against this institution the nobles of both kingdoms were most +violently opposed, regarding it as the complete destroyer, which in +reality it was, of all their feudal privileges, and taking from +them the long possessed right of trying their own fiefs, and the +mischievous facility of concealing their own criminals. + +Thus much of history--a digression absolutely necessary for the clear +elucidation of Ferdinand and Isabella's conduct with regard to the +events just narrated. The trial of Arthur Stanley they had resolved +should be conducted with all the formula of justice, the more +especially that the fact of his being a foreigner had prejudiced many +minds against him. Ferdinand himself intended to preside at the trial, +with a select number of peers, to assist in the examination, and +pronounce sentence, or confirm the royal mandate, as he should think +fit. Nor was this an extraordinary resolution. Neither the victim, +nor the supposed criminal, was of a rank which allowed a jury of +an inferior grade. Morales had been fief to Isabella alone; and on +Ferdinand, as Isabella's representative, fell the duty of his avenger. +Arthur Stanley owned no feudal lord in Spain, save, as a matter of +courtesy, the King, whose arms he bore. He was accountable, then, +according to the feudal system, which was not yet entirely extinct, +to Ferdinand alone for his actions, and before him must plead his +innocence, or receive sentence for his crime. As his feudal lord, or +suzerain, Ferdinand might at once have condemned him to death; but +this summary proceeding was effectually prevented by the laws of +Arragon and the office of the Holy Brotherhood; and therefore, in +compliance with their mandates, royal orders were issued that every +evidence for or against the prisoner should be carefully collected +preparatory to the trial. More effectually to do this, the trial was +postponed from seven to fourteen days after the discovery of the +murder. + +The excitement which this foul assassination excited in Segovia was so +extreme, that the nobles were compelled to solicit Isabella's personal +interference, in quieting the populace, and permitting the even course +of justice: they had thronged in tumultuary masses round the prison +where Stanley was confined, with wild shouts and imprecations, +demanding his instant surrender to their rage, mingling groans and +lamentations with yells and curses, in the most fearful medley. Old +Pedro, who had been Arthur's host, unwittingly added fuel to the +flame, by exulting in his prophecy that evil would come of Ferdinand's +partiality for the white-faced foreigner; that he had seen it long, +but guessed not how terribly his mutterings would end. By the Queen's +permission, the chamber of state in which the body lay was thrown open +to the eager citizens, who thronged in such crowds to behold the sole +remains of one they had well nigh idolized, that the guards were +compelled to permit the entrance of only a certain number every +day. Here was neither state nor pomp to arrest the attention of the +sight-loving populace: nought of royalty or gorgeous symbols. No; men +came to pay the last tribute of admiring love and sorrow to one who +had ever, noble as he was by birth, made himself one with them, +cheering their sorrows, sharing their joys; treating age, however poor +or lowly, with the reverence springing from the heart, inspiring +youth to deeds of worth and honor, and by his own example, far more +eloquently than by his words, teaching all and every age the duties +demanded by their country and their homes, to their families and +themselves. And this man was snatched from them, not alone by the +ruthless hand of death, but by midnight murder. Was it marvel, the +very grief his loss occasioned should rouse to wildest fury men's +passions against his murderer? + +It was the evening of the fifth day after the murder, that with a +degree of splendor and of universal mourning, unrivalled before in the +interment of any subject, the body of Ferdinand Morales was committed +to the tomb. The King himself, divested of all insignia of royalty, +bareheaded, and in a long mourning cloak, headed the train of chief +mourners, which, though they counted no immediate kindred, numbered +twenty or thirty of the highest nobles, both of Arragon and Castile. +The gentlemen, squires, and pages of Morales' own household followed: +and then came on horse and on foot, with arms reversed, and lowered +heads, the gallant troops who had so often followed Morales to +victory, and under him had so ably aided in placing Isabella on her +throne; an immense body of citizens, all in mourning, closed the +procession. Every shop had been closed, every flag half-masted; +and every balcony, by which the body passed, hung with black. The +cathedral church was thronged, and holy and thrilling the service +which consigned dust to dust, and hid for ever from the eyes of his +fellow men, the last decaying remains of one so universally beloved. +The coffin of ebony and silver, partly open, so as to disclose the +face of the corpse, as was customary with Catholic burials of those of +high or priestly rank, and the lower part covered with a superb velvet +pall, rested before the high altar during the chanted service; at the +conclusion of which the coffin was closed, the lid screwed down, and +lowered with slow solemnity into the vault beneath. A requiem, chanted +by above a hundred of the sweetest and richest voices, sounding in +thrilling unison with the deep bass and swelling notes of the organ, +had concluded the solemn rites, and the procession departed as +it came; but for some days the gloom in the city continued; the +realization of the public loss seemed only beginning to be fully felt, +as excitement subsided. + +Masses for the soul of the Catholic warrior, were of course sung for +many succeeding days. It was at midnight, a very short time after +this public interment, that a strange group were assembled within the +cathedral vaults, at the very hour that mass for the departed was +being chanted in the church above their heads; it consisted of monks +and travelling friars, accompanied by five or six of the highest +nobility; their persons concealed in coarse mantles and shrouding +hoods; they had borne with them, through the subterranean passages +of the crypt, leading to the vaults, a coffin so exactly similar in +workmanship and inscription to that which contained the remains of +their late companion, that to distinguish the one from the other was +impossible. The real one, moved with awe and solemnity, was conveyed +to a secret recess close to the entrance of the crypt, and replaced +in the vault by the one they had brought with them. As silently, as +voicelessly as they had entered and done their work, so they departed. +The following night, at the same hour, the coffin of Morales, over +which had been nailed a thick black pall, so that neither name, +inscription, nor ornament could be perceived, was conveyed from +Segovia in a covered cart, belonging, it appeared, to the monastery of +St. Francis, situated some leagues southward, and attended by one or +two monks and friars of the same order. The party proceeded leisurely, +travelling more by night than by day, diminishing gradually in number +till, at the entrance of a broad and desolate plain, only four +remained with the cart. Over this plain they hastened, then wound +through a circuitous path concealed in prickly brushwood, and paused +before a huge, misshapen crag, seemingly half buried in the earth: in +this a door, formed of one solid stone, flew back at their touch; +the coffin, taken with reverence from the cart, was borne on their +shoulders through the dark and narrow passage, and down the winding +stair, till they stood in safety in the vale; in the secret entrance +by which they entered, the lock closed as they passed, and was +apparently lost in the solid wall. Three or four awaited them--nobles, +who had craved leave of absence for a brief interval from the court, +and who had come by different paths to the secret retreat (no doubt +already recognized by our readers as the Vale of Cedars), to lay +Morales with his fathers, with the simple form, yet solemn service +peculiar to the burials of their darkly hidden race. The grave was +already dug beside that of Manuel Henriquez; the coffin, resting +during the continuance of a brief prayer and psalm in the little +temple, was then borne to the ground marked out, which, concealed by +a thick hedge of cypress and cedar, lay some little distance from the +temple; for, in their secret race, it was not permitted for the house +destined to the worship of the Most High, to be surrounded by the +homes of the dead. A slow and solemn hymn accompanied the lowering of +the coffin; a prayer in the same unknown language; a brief address, +and the grave was filled up; the noble dead left with his kindred, +kindred alike in blood as faith; and ere the morning rose, the living +had all departed, save the few retainers of the house of Henriquez and +Morales, to whose faithful charge the retreat had been intrusted. No +proud effigy marked those simple graves; the monuments of the dead +were in the hearts of the living. But in the cathedral of Segovia a +lordly monument arose to the memory of Ferdinand Morales, erected, +not indeed for idle pomp, but as a tribute from the gratitude of a +Sovereign--and a nation's love. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + ANGELO. We must not make a scarecrow of the law, + Setting it up to fear the birds of prey; + And let it keep one shape, till custom make it + Their perch, and not their terror. + + ESCALUS. Ay, but yet + Let us be keen, and rather cut a little, + Than fall and bruise to death. + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +On the evening preceding the day appointed for the trial, Isabella, +unattended and unannounced, sought her husband's private closet; she +found him poring so intently over maps and plans, which strewed the +tables before him, that she spoke before he perceived her. + +"Just come when most wished for, dear wife, and royal liege," was his +courteous address, as he rose and gracefully led her to a seat beside +his own. "See how my plans for the reduction of these heathen Moors +are quietly working; they are divided within themselves, quarrelling +more and more fiercely. Pedro Pas brings me information that the road +to Alhama is well nigh defenceless, and therefore the war should +commence in that quarter. But how is this, love?" he added, after +speaking of his intended measures at some length, and perceiving that +they failed to elicit Isabella's interest as usual. "Thy thoughts are +not with me this evening." + +"With thee, my husband, but not with the Moors," replied the Queen, +faintly smiling. "I confess to a pre-occupied mind; but just now my +heart is so filled with sorrowing sympathy, that I can think but +of individuals, not of nations. In the last council, in which the +question of this Moorish war was agitated, our faithful Morales was +the most eloquent. His impassioned oratory so haunted me, as your +Grace spoke, that I can scarcely now believe it hushed for ever, save +for the too painful witness of its truth." + +"His lovely wife thou meanest, Isabel? Poor girl! How fares she?" + +"As she has been since that long faint, which even I believed was +death; pale, tearless, silent. Even the seeing of her husband's body, +which I permitted, hoping the sight would break that marble calm, +has had no effect, save to increase, if possible, the rigidity of +suffering. It is for her my present errand." + +"For her!" replied the King, surprised. "What can I do for her, apart +from thee?" + +"I will answer the question by another, Ferdinand. Is it true that she +must appear as evidence against the murderer in to-morrow's trial?" + +"Isabella, this must be," answered the King, earnestly. "There seems +to me no alternative; and yet surely this cannot be so repugnant to +her feelings. Would it not be more injustice, both to her, and to the +dead, to withhold any evidence likely to assist in the discovery of +the murderer?" + +"But why lay so much stress on her appearance? Is there not sufficient +evidence without her?" + +"Not to satisfy me as to Stanley's guilt," replied the King. "I +have heard indeed from Don Luis Garcia quite enough, _if it be true +evidence_, to condemn him. But I like not this Garcia; it is useless +now to examine wherefore. I doubt him so much, that I would not, if +possible, lay any stress upon his words. He has declared on oath that +he saw Stanley draw his sword upon Morales, proclaim aloud his undying +hatred, and swear that he would take his life or lose his own; but +that, if I were not satisfied with this assurance, Donna Marie herself +had been present, had seen and heard all, and could no doubt give a +very efficient reason, in her own beautiful person, for Stanley's +hatred to her husband, as such matters were but too common in Spain. +I checked him with a stern rebuke; for if ever there were a +double-meaning hypocrite, this Don Luis is one. Besides, I cannot +penetrate how he came to be present at this stormy interview. He has +evaded, he thinks successfully, my questions on this head; but if, as +I believe, it was dishonorably obtained, I am the less inclined to +trust either him or his intelligence. If Marie were indeed present, +which he insists she was, her testimony is the most important of any. +If she confirm Don Luis's statement, give the same account of the +interview between her husband and Stanley, and a reason for this +suddenly proclaimed enmity; if she swear that he did utter such +threatening words, I will neither hope nor try to save him; he is +guilty, and must die. But if she deny that he thus spoke; if she +declares on oath that she knew of no cause for, nor of the existence +of any enmity, I care not for other proofs, glaring though they be. +Accident or some atrocious design against him, as an envied foreigner, +may have thrown them together. Let Marie swear that this Garcia has +spoken falsely, and Stanley shall live, were my whole kingdom to +implore his death. In Donna Marie's evidence there can be no deceit; +she can have no wish that Stanley should be saved; as her husband's +supposed murderer, he must be an object of horror and loathing. Still +silent Isabel? Is not her evidence required?" + +"It is indeed. And yet I feel that, to demand it, will but increase +the trial already hers." + +"As how?" inquired the King, somewhat astonished. "Surely thou canst +not mean--" + +"I mean nothing; I know nothing," interrupted Isabella hastily. "I can +give your Grace no reason, save my own feelings. Is there no way to +prevent this public exposure, and yet serve the purpose equally?" + +Ferdinand mused. "I can think of none," he said. "Does Marie know of +this summons? and has her anguish sent thee hither? Or is it merely +the pleadings of thine own heart, my Isabel?" + +"She does not know it. The summons appeared to me so strange and +needless, I would not let her be informed till I had sought thee." + +"But thou seest it is not needless!" answered the King anxiously, for +in the most trifling matter he ever sought her acquiescence. + +"Needless it is not, my liege. The life of the young foreigner, who +has thrown himself so confidingly on our protection and friendship, +must not be sacrificed without most convincing proofs of his guilt. +Marie's evidence is indeed important; but would not your Grace's +purpose be equally attained, if that evidence be given to me, her +native Sovereign, in private, without the dread formula which, if +summoned before a court of justice, may have fatal effects on a +mind and frame already so severely tried? In my presence alone the +necessary evidence may be given with equal solemnity, and with less +pain to the poor sufferer herself." + +King Ferdinand again paused in thought. "But her words must be on +oath, Isabel. Who will administer that oath?" + +"Father Francis, if required. But it will surely be enough if she +swear the truth to me. She cannot deceive me, even if she were so +inclined. I can mark a quivering lip or changing color, which others +might pass unnoticed." + +"But how will this secret examination satisfy the friends of the +murdered?" again urged the cautious King. "How will they be satisfied, +if I acquit Stanley from Donna Marie's evidence, and that evidence be +kept from them?" + +"Is not the word of their Sovereign enough? If Isabella say so it is, +what noble of Castile would disgrace himself or her by a doubt as to +its truth?" replied the Queen proudly. "Let me clearly understand all +your Grace requires, and leave the rest to me. If Marie corroborates +Garcia's words, why, on his evidence sentence may be pronounced +without her appearance in it at all; but if she deny in the smallest +tittle his report, in my presence they shall confront each other, and +fear not the truth shall be elicited, and, if possible, Stanley saved. +I may be deceived, and Marie not refuse to appear as witness against +him; if so, there needs not my interference. I would but spare her +increase of pain, and bid her desolate heart cling to me as her mother +and her friend. When my subjects look upon me thus, my husband, then, +and then only is Isabella what she would be." + +"And do they not already thus regard thee, my own Isabel?" replied the +King, gazing with actual reverence upon her; "and as such, will future +ages reverence thy name. Be it as thou wilt. Let Marie's own feelings +decide the question. She _must_ take part in this trial, either in +public or private; she _must_ speak on oath, for life and death hang +on her words, and her decision must be speedy. It is sunset now, and +ere to-morrow's noon she must have spoken, or be prepared to appear." + +Ere Queen Isabella reached her own apartments her plan was formed. Don +Luis's tale had confirmed her suspicions as to the double cause of +Marie's wretchedness; she had herself administered to her while in +that dead faint--herself bent over her, lest the first words of +returning consciousness should betray aught which the sufferer might +wish concealed; but her care had been needless: no word passed those +parched and ashy lips. The frame, indeed, for some days was powerless, +and she acceded eagerly to Isabella's earnest proffer (for it was not +command) to send for her attendants, and occupy a suite of rooms in +the castle, close to her royal mistress, in preference to returning to +her own home; from which, in its desolate grandeur, she shrunk almost +in loathing. + +For seven days after her loss she had not quitted her apartment, seen +only by the Queen and her own woman; but after that interval, at +Isabella's gently expressed wish, she joined her, in her private +hours, amongst her most favored attendants; called upon indeed for +nothing save her presence! And little did her pre-occupied mind +imagine how tenderly she was watched, and with what kindly sympathy +her unexpressed thoughts were read. + +On the evening in question, Isabella was seated, as was her frequent +custom, in a spacious chamber, surrounded by her female attendants, +with whom she was familiarly conversing, making them friends as well +as subjects, yet so uniting dignity with kindness, that her favor was +far more valued and eagerly sought than had there been no superiority; +yet, still it was more for her perfect womanhood than her rank that +she was so reverenced, so loved. At the farther end of the spacious +chamber were several young girls, daughters of the nobles of Castile +and Arragon, whom Isabella's maternal care for her subjects had +collected around her, that their education might be carried on under +her own eye, and so create for the future nobles of her country, wives +and mothers after her own exalted stamp. They were always encouraged +to converse freely and gayly amongst each other; for thus she learned +their several characters, and guided them accordingly. There was +neither restraint nor heaviness in her presence; for by a word, a +smile, she could prove her interest in their simple pleasures, her +sympathy in their eager youth. + +Apart from all, but nearest Isabella, silent and pale, shrouded in the +sable robes of widowhood--that painful garb which, in its voiceless +eloquence of desolation, ever calls for tears, more especially when +it shrouds the young; her beautiful hair, save two thick braids, +concealed under the linen coif--sat Marie, lovely indeed still, but +looking like one + + "Whose heart was born to break-- + A face on which to gaze, made every feeling ache." + +An embroidery frame was before her, "but the flowers grew but slowly +beneath her hand. About an hour after Isabella had joined her +attendants, a light signal was heard at the tapestried door of the +apartment. The Queen was then sitting in a posture of deep meditation; +but she looked up, as a young girl answered the summons, and then +turned towards her Sovereign. + +"Well, Catherine?" + +"Royal madam, a page, from his Grace the King, craves speech of Donna +Marie." + +"Admit him then." + +The boy entered, and with a low reverence advanced towards Marie. +She looked up in his face bewildered--a bewilderment which Isabella +perceived changed to a strong expression of mental torture, ere he +ceased to speak. + +"Ferdinand, King of Arragon and Castile," he said, "sends, with all +courtesy, his royal greeting to Donna Marie Henriquez Morales, and +forthwith commands her attendance at the solemn trial which is held +to-morrow's noon; by her evidence to confirm or refute the charge +brought against the person of Arthur Stanley, as being and having been +the acknowledged enemy of the deceased Don Ferdinand Morales (God +assoilize his soul!) and as having uttered words of murderous import +in her hearing. Resolved, to the utmost of his power, to do justice to +the living as to avenge the dead, his royal highness is compelled thus +to demand the testimony of Donna Marie, as she alone can confirm or +refute this heavy and most solemn charge." + +There was no answer; but it seemed as if the messenger required +none--imagining the royal command all sufficient for obedience--for he +bowed respectfully as he concluded, and withdrew. Marie gazed after +him, and her lip quivered as if she would have spoken--would have +recalled him; but no word came, and she drooped her head on her hands, +pressing her slender fingers strongly on her brow, as thus to bring +back connected thought once more. What had he said? She must appear +against Stanley--she must speak his doom? Why did those fatal words +which must condemn him, ring in her ears, as only that moment spoken? +Her embroidery fell from her lap, and there was no movement to replace +it. How long she thus sat she knew not; but, roused by the Queen's +voice uttering her name, she started, and looked round her. She +was alone with Isabella; who was gazing on her with such unfeigned +commiseration, that, unable to resist the impulse, she darted +forwards, and sinking at her feet, implored-- + +"Oh, madam--gracious madam! in mercy spare me this!" + +The Queen drew her tenderly to her, and said, with evident emotion-- + +"What am I to spare thee, my poor child? Surely thou wouldst not +withhold aught that can convict thy husband's murderer? Thou wouldst +not in mistaken mercy elude for him the justice of the law?" + +"No--no," murmured Marie; "let the murderer die; but not Stanley! Oh, +no--no; he would not lift his hand against my husband. Who says he +slew him? Why do they attach so foul a crime to his unshadowed name? +Let the murderer die; but it is not Arthur: I know it is not. Oh, do +not slay him too!" + +Marie knew not the wild entreaty breathing in her words: but the +almost severely penetrating gaze which Isabella had fixed upon her, +recalled her to herself; a crimson flush mounted to cheek and brow, +and, burying her face in the Queen's robe, she continued less wildly-- + +"Oh, madam, bear with me; I know not what I say. Think I am mad; +but oh, in mercy, ask me no question. Am I not mad, to ask thee to +spare--spare--him they call my husband's murderer? Let him die," and +the wild tone returned, "if he indeed could strike the blow; but oh, +let not my lips pronounce his death-doom! Gracious Sovereign, do not +look upon me thus--I cannot bear that gaze." + +"Fear me not, poor sufferer," replied Isabella, mildly; "I will ask no +question--demand nought that will give thee pain to answer--save that +which justice compels me to require. That there is a double cause for +all this wretchedness, I cannot but perceive, and that I suspect its +cause I may not deny; but guilty I will not believe thee, till +thine own words or deeds proclaim it. Look up then, my poor child, +unshrinkingly; I am no dread Sovereign to thee, painful as is the +trial to which I fear I must subject thee. There are charges brought +against young Stanley so startling in their nature, that, much as we +distrust his accuser, justice forbids our passing them unnoticed. On +thy true testimony his Grace the King relies to confirm or refute +them. Thy evidence must convict or save him." + +"My evidence!" repeated Marie. "What can they ask of me of such +weight? Save him." she added, a sudden gleam of hope irradiating her +pallid face, like a sunbeam upon snow? "Did your Grace say _I_ could +save him? Oh, speak, in mercy!" + +"Calm this emotion then, Marie, and thou shalt know all. It was for +this I called thee hither. Sit thee on the settle at my feet, and +listen to me patiently, if thou canst. 'Tis a harsh word to use to +grief such as thine, my child," she added, caressingly, as she laid +her hand on Marie's drooping head; "and I fear will only nerve thee +for a still harsher trial. Believe me, I would have spared thee if I +could; but all I can do is to bid thee choose the lesser of the two +evils. Mark me well: for the Sovereign of the murdered, the judge of +the murderer, alike speak through me." And clearly and forcibly she +narrated all, with which our readers are already acquainted, through +her interview with the King. She spoke very slowly, as if to give +Marie time to weigh well each sentence. She could not see her +countenance; nay, she purposely refrained from looking at her, lest +she should increase the suffering she was so unwillingly inflicting. +For some minutes she paused as she concluded; then, as neither word +nor sound escaped from Marie, she said, with emphatic earnestness--"If +it will be a lesser trial to give thine evidence on oath to thy +Queen alone, we are here to receive it. Our royal husband--our loyal +subjects--will be satisfied with Isabella's report. Thy words will be +as sacred--thy oath as valid--as if thy testimony were received in +public, thy oath administered by one of the holy fathers, with all the +dread formula of the church. We have repeated all to which thy answers +will be demanded; it remains for thee to decide whether thou wilt +speak before his Grace the King and his assembled junta, or here and +now before thy native Sovereign. Pause ere thou dost answer--there is +time enough." + +For a brief interval there was silence. The kind heart of the Queen +throbbed painfully, so completely had her sympathy identified her with +the beautiful being, who had so irresistibly claimed her cherishing +love. But ere she had had time to satisfy herself as to the issue of +the struggle so silently, yet so fearfully at work in her companion, +Marie had arisen, and with dignity and fearlessness, strangely at +variance with the wild agony of her words and manner before, stood +erect before her Sovereign; and when she spoke, her voice was calm and +firm. + +"Queen of Spain!" she said. "My kind, gracious Sovereign! Would that +words could speak one-half the love, the devotion, all thy goodness +has inspired; but they seem frozen, all frozen now, and it may be that +I may never even prove them--that it will be my desolate fate, to seem +less and less worthy of an affection I value more than life. Royal +madam! I will appear at to-morrow's trial! Your Grace is startled; +deeming it a resolve as strange as contradictory. Ask not the +wherefore, gracious Sovereign: it is fixed unalterably. I will obey +his Grace's summons. Its unexpected suddenness startled me at first; +but it is over. Oh, madam," she continued--tone, look, and manner +becoming again those of the agitated suppliant, and she sunk once more +at Isabella's feet: "In my wild agony I have forgotten the respect and +deference due from a subject to her Sovereign; I have poured forth my +misery, seemingly as regardless of kindness, as insensible to the wide +distance between us. Oh, forgive me, my gracious Sovereign; and in +token of thy pardon, grant me but one boon!" + +"Nought have I to forgive, my suffering child," replied the Queen, +powerfully affected, and passing her arm caressingly round her +kneeling favorite; "what is rank--sovereignty itself--in hours of +sorrow? If I were so tenacious of dignity as thou fearest, I should +have shrunk from that awful presence--affliction from a Father's +hand--in which his children are all equals, Marie. And as for thy +boon: be it what it may, I grant it." + +"Thou sayest so now, my liege; but when the hour to grant it comes, +every feeling will revolt against it; even thine, my Sovereign, kind, +generous, as thou art. Oh, Madam, thou wilt hear a strange tale +to-morrow--one so fraught with mystery and marvel, thou wilt refuse to +believe; but when the trial of to-morrow is past, then think on what +I say now: what thou nearest will be TRUE--true as there is a heaven +above us; I swear it! Do not look upon me thus, my Sovereign; I am not +mad--oh, would that I were! Dark, meaningless as my words seem now, +to-morrow they will be distinct and clear enough. And then--then, +if thou hast ever loved me, oh, grant the boon I implore thee now: +whatever thou mayest hear, do not condemn me--do not cast me wholly +from thee. More than ever shall I need thy protecting care. Oh, my +Sovereign--thou who hast taught me so to love thee, in pity love me +still!" + +"Strange wayward being," said Isabella, gazing doubtingly on the +imploring face upturned to hers; "towards other than thyself such +mystery would banish love for ever; but I will not doubt thee. Darkly +as thou speakest, still I grant the boon. What can I hear of thee, to +cast thee from me?" + +"Thou wilt hear of deceit, my liege," replied Marie, very slowly, and +her eyes fell beneath the Queen's gaze; "thou wilt hear of long years +of deceit and fraud, and many--many tongues will speak their scorn and +condemnation. Then wilt thou grant it--then?" + +"Even then," replied Isabella fearlessly; "an thou speakest truth +at last, deceit itself I will forgive. But thou art overwrought and +anxious, and so layest more stress on some trivial fault than even I +would demand. Go to thy own chamber now, and in prayer and meditation +gain strength for to-morrow's trial. Whatever I may hear, so it be not +meditated and unrepented guilt, (which I know it cannot be,) I will +forgive, and love thee still. The holy saints bless and keep thee, my +fair child!" + +And as Marie bent to salute the kind hand extended to her, Isabella +drew her towards her, and fondly kissed her cheek. The unexpected +caress, or some other secret feeling, subdued the overwrought energy +at once; and for the first time since her husband's death, Marie burst +into natural tears. But her purpose changed not; though Isabella's +gentle and affectionate soothing rendered it tenfold more painful to +accomplish. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + LEONTES.--These sessions, to our great grief, we pronounce + Even pushes 'gainst our heart. + Let us be cleared + Of being tyrannous, since we openly + Proceed in justice--which shall have due course, + Even to the guilt, or the purgation. + Produce the prisoner!--SHAKSPEARE. + + +The day of trial dawned, bright, sunny, cloudless, as was usual +in beautiful Spain--a joyous elasticity was in the atmosphere, a +brilliance in the heavens, which thence reflected on the earth, so +painfully contrasted with misery and death, that the bright sky +seemed to strike a double chill on the hearts of those most deeply +interested. + +Never had the solemn proceedings of justice created so great an +excitement; not only in Segovia itself, but the towns and villages, +many miles round, sent eager citizens and rustic countrymen to learn +the issue, and report it speedily to those compelled to stay at home. +The universal mourning for Morales was one cause of the popular +excitement; and the supposition of the young foreigner being his +murderer another. + +The hall of the castle was crowded at a very early hour, Isabella +having signified not only permission, but her wish that as many of her +citizen subjects as space would admit should be present, to witness +the faithful course of justice. Nearest to the seat destined for the +King, at the upper end of the hall, were ranged several fathers from +an adjoining convent of Franciscans, by whom a special service had +been impressively performed that morning in the cathedral, in which +all who had been summoned to preside at the trial had solemnly joined. + +The Monks of St. Francis were celebrated alike for their sterling +piety, great learning, and general benevolence. Their fault, if such +it could be termed in a holy Catholic community, was their rigid +exclusiveness regarding religion; their uncompromising and strict love +for, and adherence to, their own creed; and stern abhorrence towards, +and violent persecution of, all who in the slightest degree departed +from it, or failed to pay it the respect and obedience which they +believed it demanded. At their head was their Sub-Prior, a character +whose influence on the after position of Spain was so great, that we +may not pass it by, without more notice than our tale itself perhaps +would demand. To the world, as to his brethren and superiors, in the +monastery, a stern unbending spirit, a rigid austerity, and unchanging +severity of mental and physical discipline, characterized his whole +bearing and daily conduct. Yet, his severity proceeded not from the +superstition and bigotry of a weak mind or misanthropic feeling. +Though his whole time and thoughts appeared devoted to the interest +of his monastery, and thence to relieving and guiding the poor, and +curbing and decreasing the intemperate follies and licentious conduct +of the laymen, in its immediate neighborhood; yet his extraordinary +knowledge, not merely of human nature, but of the world at large--his +profound and extensive genius, which, in after years was displayed, +in the prosecution of such vast schemes for Spain's advancement, that +they riveted the attention of all Europe upon him--naturally won him +the respect and consideration of Ferdinand and Isabella, whose acute +penetration easily traced the natural man, even through the thick veil +of monkish austerity. They cherished and honored him, little thinking +that, had it not been for him, Spain would have sunk at their death, +into the same abyss of anarchy and misery, from which their vigorous +measures had so lately roused, and, as they hoped, So effectually +guarded her. + +When Torquemada, Isabella's confessor, was absent from court, which +not unfrequently happened, for his capacious mind was never at peace +unless actively employed--Father Francis, though but the Sub-Prior of +a Franciscan monastery, always took his place, and frequently were +both sovereigns guided by his privately asked and frankly given +opinions, not only on secular affairs, but on matters of state, and +even of war. With such a character for his Sub-Prior, the lordly Abbot +of the Franciscans was indeed but a nominal dignitary, quite contented +to enjoy all the indulgences and corporeal luxuries, permitted, or +perhaps winked at, from his superior rank, and leaving to Father +Francis every active duty; gladly, therefore, he deputed on him +the office of heading the Monks that day summoned to attend King +Ferdinand. + +Not any sign of the benevolence and goodness--in reality the +characteristics of this extraordinary man--was visible on his +countenance as he sat. The very boldest and haughtiest of the +aristocracy, involuntarily perhaps, yet irresistibly, acknowledged his +superiority. Reverence and awe were the emotions first excited towards +his person: but already was that reverence largely mingled with +the love which some three years afterwards gave him such powerful +influence over the whole sovereignty of Spain. Next to the holy +fathers, and ranged according to rank and seniority, were the nobles +who had been selected to attend, the greater number of whom, were +Castilians, as countrymen of the deceased. Next to them were the +Santa Hermandad, or Brethren of the Associated Cities, without whose +presence and aid, no forms of justice, even though ruled and guided by +royalty itself, were considered valid or complete. A semicircle was +thus formed, the centre of which was the King's seat; and opposite to +him, in the hollow, as it were of the crescent, a space left for the +prisoner, accusers, and witnesses. Soldiers lined the hall; a treble +guard being drawn up at the base of the semicircle, and extending in a +wide line right and left, behind the spot destined for the prisoner. +There was still a large space left, and this was so thronged with +citizens, that it presented the appearance of a dense mass of human +heads, every face turned in one direction, and expressive in various +ways of but one excitement, one emotion. + +There was not a smile on either of the stern countenances within the +hall. As the shock and horror of Don Ferdinand's fate in some measure +subsided, not only the nobles, but the soldiers themselves, began to +recall the supposed murderer in the many fields of honorable warfare, +the many positions of mighty and chivalric bearing in which they had +hitherto seen the young Englishman play so distinguished a part; and +doubts began to arise as to the possibility of so great a change, and +in so short a time. To meet even a supposed enemy in fair field, +and with an equality of weapons, was the custom of the day; such, +therefore, between Stanley and Morales, might have excited marvel as +to the _cause_, but not as to the _act_. But murder! it was so wholly +incompatible with even the very lowest principles of chivalry (except +when the unfortunate victim was of too low a rank to be removed by any +other means), that when they recalled the gallantry, the frankness of +speech and deed, the careless buoyancy, the quickly subdued passion, +and easily accorded forgiveness of injury, which had ever before +characterized young Stanley, they could not believe his guilt: but +then came the recollection of the startling proofs against him, and +such belief was almost involuntarily suspended. There was not a +movement in that immense concourse of human beings, not a word spoken +one to the other, not a murmur even of impatience for the appearance +of the King. All was so still, so mute, that, had it not been for the +varied play of countenances, any stranger suddenly placed within the +circle might have imagined himself in an assemblage of statues. + +Precisely at noon, the folding-doors at the upper end of the hall were +thrown widely but noiselessly back, and King Ferdinand, attended by a +few pages and gentlemen, slowly entered, and taking his seat, gazed +a full minute, inquiringly and penetratingly around him, and then +resting his head on his hand, remained plunged in earnest meditation +some moments before he spoke. + +It was a strange sight--the noiseless, yet universal rising of the +assemblage in honor to their Sovereign, changing their position as by +one simultaneous movement. Many an eye turned towards him to read +on his countenance the prisoner's doom; but its calm, almost stern +expression, baffled the most penetrating gaze. Some minutes passed ere +Ferdinand, rousing himself from his abstraction, waved his hand, +and every seat was instantaneously resumed, and so profound was the +silence, that every syllable the Monarch spoke, though his voice was +not raised one note above his usual pitch, was heard by every member +of those immense crowds, as individually addressing each. + +"My Lords and holy Fathers, and ye Associated Brethren," he said, "the +cause of your present assemblage needs no repetition. Had the murdered +and the supposed murderer been other than they are, we should have +left the course of justice in the hands of those appointed to +administer it, and interfered not ourselves save to confirm or annul +the sentence they should pronounce. As the case stands, we are deputed +by our illustrious Consort and sister Sovereign, Isabella of Castile, +to represent her as Suzerain of the deceased (whom the saints +assoilize), and so ourselves guide the proceedings of justice on his +murderer. Our prerogative as Suzerain and Liege would permit us to +condemn to death at once; but in this instance, my Lords and holy +Fathers, we confess ourselves unwilling and incapable of pronouncing +judgment solely on our own responsibility. The accused is a friendless +foreigner, to whom we have been enabled to show some kindness, and +therefore one towards whom we cannot feel indifference: he has, +moreover, done us such good service both in Spain and Sicily, that +even the grave charge brought against him now, cannot blot out the +memories of the past. We find it difficult to believe that a young, +high-spirited, honorable warrior, in whose heart every chivalric +feeling appeared to beat, could become, under any temptation, under +any impulse, that base and loathsome coward--a midnight murderer! On +your counsels, then, we implicitly depend: examine, impartially and +deliberately, the proofs for and against, which will be laid before +you. But let one truth be ever present, lest justice herself be but a +cover for prejudice and hate. Let not Europe have cause to say, that +he who, flying from the enemies and tyrants of his own land, took +refuge on the hearths of our people, secure there of kindness and +protection, has found them not. Were it a countryman we were about to +judge, this charge were needless; justice and mercy would, if it were +possible, go hand in hand. The foreigner, who has voluntarily assumed +the name and service of a son of Spain, demands yet more at our hands. +My Lords and holy Fathers, and ye Associated Brethren, remember +this important truth, and act accordingly: but if, on a strict, +unprejudiced examination of the evidence against the prisoner, ye +pronounce him guilty, be it so: the scripture saith, 'blood must flow +for blood!'" + +A universal murmur of assent filled the hall as the King ceased: his +words had thrilled reprovingly on many there present, particularly +amongst the populace, who felt, even as the Monarch spoke, the real +cause of their violent wrath against the murderer. Ere, however, they +had time to analyze why the violent abhorrence of Stanley should be +so calmed merely at the King's words, the command, "Bring forth the +prisoner!" occasioned an intensity of interest and eager movement +of the numerous heads towards the base of the hall, banishing every +calmer thought. The treble line of soldiers, forming the base of the +crescent, divided in the centre, and wheeling backwards, formed two +files of dense thickness, leaving a lane between them through which +the prisoner and his guards were discerned advancing to the place +assigned. He was still heavily fettered, and his dress, which he had +not been permitted to change, covered with dark, lurid stains, hung so +loosely upon him, that his attenuated form bore witness, even as the +white cheek and haggard eye, to the intense mental torture of the last +fortnight. His fair hair lay damp and matted on his pale forehead; but +still there was that in his whole bearing which, while it breathed of +suffering, contradicted every thought of guilt. He looked round him +steadily and calmly, lowered his head a moment in respectful deference +to the King, and instantly resumed the lofty carriage which suffering +itself seemed inadequate to bend. King Ferdinand fixed his eyes upon +him with an expression before which the hardiest guilt must for the +moment have quailed; but not a muscle of the prisoner's countenance +moved, and Ferdinand proceeded to address him gravely, yet feelingly. + +"Arthur Stanley," he said, "we have heard from Don Felix d'Estaban +that you have refused our proffered privilege of seeking and +employing some friends, subtle in judgment, and learned in all the +technicalities of such proceedings, as to-day will witness, to +undertake your cause. Why is this? Is your honor of such small amount, +that you refuse even to accept the privilege of defence? Are you so +well prepared yourself to refute the evidence which has been collected +against you, that you need no more? Or have we indeed heard aright, +that you have resolved to let the course of justice proceed, without +one effort on your part to avert an inevitable doom? This would seem a +tacit avowal of guilt; else, wherefore call your doom inevitable? If +conscious of innocence, have you no hope, no belief in the Divine +Justice, which can as easily make manifest innocence as punish +crime? Ere we depute to others the solemn task of examination, and +pronouncing sentence, we bid you speak, and answer as to the wherefore +of this rash and contradictory determination--persisting in words that +you are guiltless, yet refusing the privilege of defence. Is life so +valueless, that you cast it degraded from you? As Sovereign and Judge, +we command you answer, lest by your own rash act the course of justice +be impeded, and the sentence of the guilty awarded to the innocent. +As man to man, I charge thee speak; bring forward some proof of +innocence. Let me not condemn to death as a coward and a murderer, +one whom I have loved and trusted as a friend! Answer--wherefore this +strange callousness to life--this utter disregard of thine honor and +thy name?" + +For a moment, while the King addressed him as man to man, the pallid +cheek and brow of the prisoner flushed with painful emotion, and there +was a scarcely audible tremulousness in his voice as he replied: + +"And how will defence avail me? How may mere assertion deny proof, and +so preserve life and redeem honor? My liege, I had resolved to attempt +no defence, because I would not unnecessarily prolong the torture of +degradation. Had I one proof, the slightest proof to produce, which +might in the faintest degree avail me, I would not withhold it; +justice to my father's name would be of itself sufficient to command +defence. But I have none! I cannot so perjure myself as to deny one +word of the charges brought against me, save that of murder! Of +thoughts of hate and wrath, ay, and blood, but such blood as honorable +men would shed, I am guilty, I now feel, unredeemably guilty, but not +of murder! I am not silent because conscious of enacted guilt. I will +not go down to the dishonored grave, now yawning for me, permitting, +by silence, your Highness, and these your subjects, to believe me +the monster of ingratitude, the treacherous coward which appearances +pronounce me. No!" he continued, raising his right hand as high as +his fetters would permit, and speaking in a tone which fell with +the eloquence of truth, on every heart--"No: here, as on the +scaffold--now, as with my dying breath, I will proclaim aloud my +innocence; I call on the Almighty Judge himself, as on every Saint +in heaven, to attest it--ay, and I believe it WILL be attested, when +nought but my memory is left to be cleared from shame--I am not the +murderer of Don Ferdinand Morales! Had he been in every deed my +foe--had he given me cause for the indulgence of those ungovernable +passions which I now feel were roused against him so causelessly and +sinfully, I might have sought their gratification by honorable combat, +but not by midnight murder! I speak not, I repeat, to save my life: it +is justly forfeited for thoughts of crime! I speak that, when in after +years my innocence will be made evident by the discovery of the real +assassin, you will all remember what I now say--that I have not so +basely requited the King and Country who so generously and trustingly +befriended me--that I am no murderer!" + +"Then, if so convinced of innocence, young man, wherefore not attempt +defence?" demanded the Sub-Prior of St. Francis. "Knowest thou not +that wilfully to throw away the life intrusted to you, for some +wise purpose, is amenable before the throne of the Most High as +self-committed murder? Proofs of this strongly asserted innocence, +thou must have." + +"I have none," calmly answered the prisoner, "I have but words, and +who will believe them? Who, here present, will credit the strange +tale, that, tortured and restless from mental suffering, I courted the +fury of the elements, and rushed from my quarters on the night of the +murder _without_ my sword?--that, in securing the belt, I missed the +weapon, but still sought not for it as I ought?--who will believe that +it was accident, not design, which took me to the Calle Soledad? and +that it was a fall over the murdered body of Don Ferdinand which +deluged my hands and dress with the blood that dyed the ground? Who +will credit that it was seeing him thus which chained me, paralyzed, +horror-stricken, to the spot? In the wild fury of my passions I had +believed him my enemy, and sworn his death; then was it marvel that +thus beholding him turned me well-nigh to stone, and that, in my +horror, I had no power to call for aid, or raise the shout after the +murderer, for my own thoughts arose as fiends, to whisper, such might +have been nay work--that I had wished his death? Great God! the awful +wakening from the delusion of weeks--the dread recognition in that +murdered corse of my own thoughts of sin!" He paused involuntarily, +for his strong agitation completely choked his voice, and shook his +whole frame. After a brief silence, which none in the hall had heart +to break, he continued calmly, "Let the trial proceed, gracious +Sovereign. Your Highness's generous interest in one accused of a +crime so awful, comprising the death, not of a subject only, but of a +friend, does but add to the heavy weight of obligation already mine, +and would of itself excite the wish to live, to prove that I am not +so utterly unworthy; but I feel that not to such as I, may the Divine +mercy be so shown, as to bring forward the real murderer. The misery +of the last fortnight has shown me how deeply I have sinned in +thought, though not in deed; and how dare I, then, indulge the wild +dream that my innocence will be proved, until too late, save for +mine honor? My liege, I have trespassed too long on the time of this +assemblage; let the trial proceed." + +So powerful was the effect of his tone and words, that the impulse was +strong in every heart to strike off his fetters, and give him life +and freedom. The countenance of the Sub-Prior of St. Francis alone +retained its unmoved calmness, and its tone, its imperturbable +gravity, as he commanded Don Felix d'Estaban to produce the witnesses; +and on their appearance, desired one of the fathers to administer the +oath. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + "His unaltering-cheek + Still vividly doth hold its natural hue, + And his eye quails not. Is this innocence?" + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +During the examination of Don Alonzo of Aguilar, and of old Pedro and +Juana, the prisoner remained with his arms calmly folded and head +erect, without the smallest variation of feature or position denoting +either anxiety or agitation. Don Alonzo's statement was very simple. +He described the exact spot where he had found the body, and the +position in which it lay; the intense agitation of Stanley, the bloody +appearance of his clothes, hands, and face, urging them to secure his +person even before they discovered the broken fragment of his sword +lying beside the corse. His account was corroborated, in the very +minutest points, by the men who had accompanied him, even though +cross-questioned with unusual particularity by Father Francis. Old +Pedro's statement, though less circumstantial, was, to the soldiers +and citizens especially, quite as convincing. He gave a wordy +narrative of Senor Stanley's unnatural state of excitement from the +very evening he had become his lodger--that he had frequently heard +him muttering to himself such words as "blood" and "vengeance." He +constantly appeared longing for something; never eat half the meals +provided for him--a sure proof, in old Pedro's imagination, of a +disordered mind, and that the night of the murder he had heard him +leave the house, with every symptom of agitation. Old Juana, with very +evident reluctance, confirmed this account; but Father Francis was +evidently not satisfied. "Amongst these incoherent ravings of the +prisoner, did you ever distinguish the word 'murder?'" he demanded--a +question which would be strange, indeed, in the court of justice of +the present day, but of importance in an age when such words as blood +and vengeance, amongst warriors, simply signified a determination to +fight out their quarrel in (so-called) honorable combat. The answer, +after some hesitation, was in the negative. "Did you ever distinguish +any name, as the object of Senor Stanley's desired vengeance?" + +Pedro immediately answered "No;" but there was a simper of hesitation +in old Juana, that caused the Sub-Prior to appeal to her. "Please your +Reverence, I only chanced to hear the poor young man say, 'Oh, Marie! +Marie!' one day when I brought him his dinner, which he put away +untouched, though I put my best cooking in it." + +A slight, scarcely perceptible flush passed over the prisoner's cheek +and brow. The King muttered an exclamation; Father Francis's brow +contracted, and several of the nobles looked uneasily from one to the +other. + +"At what time did the prisoner leave his apartments the night of the +murder?" continued the Sub-Prior. + +"Exactly as the great bell of the cathedral chimed eleven," was the +ready reply from Pedro and Juana at the same moment. + +"Did you hear nothing but his hasty movements, as you describe? Did he +not call for attendance, or a light? Remember, you are on oath," he +continued sternly, as he observed the hesitation with which old Pedro +muttered "No;" and that Juana was silent. "The church punishes false +swearers. Did he speak or not?" + +"He called for a light, please your Reverence, but--" + +"But you did not choose to obey at an hour so late!" sternly responded +Father Francis; "and by such neglect may be guilty of accelerating the +death of the innocent, and concealing the real murderer! You allege +that Senor Stanley returned from some military duty at sunset, and +slept from then till just before eleven, so soundly that you could not +rouse him even for his evening meal. This was strange for a man with +murder in his thoughts! Again, that he called for a light, which, +you neglected to bring; and Senor Stanley asserts that he missed his +sword, but rushed from the house without it. Your culpable neglect, +then, prevents our discovering the truth of this assertion; yet you +acknowledge he called loudly for light; this appears too unlikely +to have been the case, had the prisoner quitted the house with the +intention to do murder." + +"Intention at that moment he might not have had, Reverend Father," +interposed the head of the Associated Brethren, who had taken an +active part in the examination. "Were there no evidence as to +premeditated desire of vengeance, premeditated insult, and +long-entertained enmity, these conclusions might have foundation. As +the case stands, they weigh but little. Where evil passions have +been excited, opportunity for their indulgence is not likely to pass +unused." + +"But evidence of that long-entertained enmity and premeditated +vengeance we have not yet examined," replied the Sub-Prior. "If it +only rest on the suppositions of this old couple, in one of whom it +is pretty evident, prejudice is stronger than clearly defined truth, +methinks that, despite this circumstantial evidence, there is still +hope of the prisoner's innocence, more especially as we have one other +important fact to bring forward. You are certain," he continued, +addressing old Pedro, "that the bell chimed eleven when Senor Stanley +quitted your dwelling?" The man answered firmly in the affirmative. +"And you will swear that the Senor slept from sunset till that hour?" + +"I dare not swear to it, your Reverence, for Juana and I were at a +neighbor's for part of that time; but on our return, Juana took up his +supper again, and found him so exactly in the same position as we had +left him, that we could not believe he had even moved." + +"Was he alone in the house during this interval?" + +"No; the maid Beta was at her work in the room below Senor Stanley's." + +"Let her be brought here." + +The order was so rapidly obeyed, that it was very evident she was +close at hand; but so terribly alarmed at the presence in which she +stood, as to compel the Sub-Prior to adopt the gentlest possible tone, +to get any answer at all. He merely inquired if, during the absence of +her master and mistress, she had heard any movement in the prisoner's +room. She said that she thought she had--a quiet, stealthy step, and +also a sound as if a door in the back of the house closed; but the +sounds were so very indistinct, she had felt them at the time more +like a dream than reality; and the commencement of the storm had so +terrified her, that she did not dare move from her seat. + +"And what hour was this?" + +It might have been about nine; but she could not say exactly. And from +the assertion that she did hear a slight sound, though puzzlingly +cross-questioned, she never wavered. The King and the Sub-Prior both +looked disappointed. The chief of the Santa Hermandad expressed +himself confirmed in his previous supposition. + +The prisoner retained his calmness; but a gleam of intelligence seemed +to flit across his features. + +"You would speak, Senor Stanley," interposed the King, as the girl was +dismissed. "We would gladly hear you." + +"I would simply say, your Highness," replied Stanley, gratefully, +"that it is not unlikely Beta may have heard such sounds. I am +convinced my evening draught was drugged; and the same secret enemy +who did this, to give him opportunity undiscovered to purloin my +sword--may, nay, _must_ have entered my chamber during that deathlike +sleep, and committed the theft which was to burden an innocent man +with his deed of guilt. The deep stillness in the house might have +permitted her ear to catch the step, though my sleep was too profound. +I could hardly have had time to waken, rise, commit the deed of death, +and return to such a completely deceiving semblance of sleep, in the +short hour of Pedro and Juana's absence; and if I had, what madness +would have led me there again, and so appalled me, as to prevent all +effort of escape?" + +"Conscience," replied the chief of the Santa Hermandad, sternly. "The +impelling of the Divine Spirit, whom you had profaned, and who +in justice so distracted you, as to lead you blindly to your own +destruction--no marvel the darkness oppressed, and the storm appalled +you; or that heaven in its wrath should ordain the events you yourself +have described--the fall over your own victim, and the horror thence +proceeding. We have heard that your early years have been honorable, +Senor Stanley, and to such, guilt is appalling even in its +accomplishment. Methinks, Father Francis, we need now but the evidence +of the premeditation." + +"Your pardon, brother; but such, conclusions are somewhat over-hasty. +It is scarcely probable, had Senor Stanley returned after the +committal of such a deed, that his reentrance should not have been +heard as well as his departure; whereas the witness expressly +declares, that though her attention was awakened by the previous faint +sound, and she listened frequently, she never heard another movement, +till her master and mistress's return; and as they went into the +Senor's room directly, and found him without the very least appearance +of having moved, justice compels us to incline to the belief in Senor +Stanley's suggestion--that he could scarcely have had sufficient time +to rouse, depart, do murder, and feign sleep during Pedro Benito's +brief interval of absence." + +"We will grant that so it may be, Reverend Father, but what proof have +we that the murder had not been just committed when the body and the +assassin were discovered?" + +Father Francis replied, by commanding the appearance of Don +Ferdinand's steward, and after the customary formula, inquired what +hour his late lamented master had quitted his mansion the night of the +murder. The man replied, without hesitation, "Exactly as the chimes +played the quarter before nine." + +"But was not that unusually early? The hour of meeting at the castle +was ten, and the distance from Don Ferdinand's mansion not twenty +minutes' ride, and scarce forty minutes' walk. Are you perfectly +certain as to the hour?" + +"I can take my oath upon it, your Reverence, and Lopez will say the +same. Our sainted master (Jesu rest his soul!) called to him a few +minutes before he entered my lady's room, and told him not to get his +horse ready, as he should walk to the castle. Lopez asked as to who +should attend him, and his reply was he would go alone. He had done so +before, and so we were not surprised; but we were grieved at his look, +for it seemed of suffering, unlike himself, and were noticing it to +each other as he passed us, after quitting my lady, and so quickly and +so absorbed, that he did not return our salutation, which he never in +all his life neglected to do before. My poor, poor master! little did +we think we should never see him again!" And the man's unconstrained +burst of grief excited anew the indignation of the spectators against +the crime, till then almost forgotten, in the intense interest as +to the fate of the accused. Lopez was called, and corroborated the +steward's account exactly. + +"If he left his house at a quarter before nine, at what hour, think +you, he would reach the Calle Soledad?" + +From ten to fifteen minutes past the hour, your Reverence, unless +detained by calling elsewhere on his way." + +"Did he mention any intention of so doing?" The answer was in the +negative. "According to this account, then, the murder must have taken +place between nine and ten; and Senor Stanley was not heard to quit +his apartment till eleven. This would corroborate his own assertion, +that the deed was committed ere he reached the spot." + +"But what proof have we that Don Ferdinand was not detained on his +way?" replied the chief of the Santa Hermandad. "His domestics assert +no more than the hour of his quitting the house." + +"The hour of the royal meeting was ten," rejoined the Sub-Prior; "he +was noted for regularity, and was not likely to have voluntarily +lingered so long, as not even to reach the Calle till one hour +afterwards." + +"Not voluntarily; but we have heard that he appeared more suffering +than he was ever seen to do. His illness might have increased, and so +cause detention; and yet, on even partial recovery, we know him +well enough to believe he would still have endeavored to join his +Highness." + +"He would; but there is evidence that when brought to the castle, he +had been dead at the very least three hours. Let Curador Benedicto +come forward." + +A respectable man, dressed in black, and recognized at once as the +leech or doctor of the royal household, obeyed the summons, and on +being questioned, stated that he had examined the body the very moment +it had been conveyed to the castle, in the hope of discovering some +signs of animation, however faint. But life was totally extinct, and, +according to his judgment, had been so at the very least three hours." + +"And what hour was this?" + +"Just half-an-hour after midnight." + +A brief silence followed the leech's dismissal; Ferdinand still seemed +perplexed and uneasy, and not one countenance, either of the nobles or +Associated Brethren, evinced satisfaction. + +"Our task, instead of decreasing in difficulty, becomes more and more +complicated, my lords and brethren," observed the Sub-Prior, after +waiting for the chief of the Santa Hermandad to speak. "Had we any +positive proof, that Senor Stanley really slept from the hour of sunset +till eleven the same evening, and never quitted his quarters until then, +we might hope that the sentence of Curador Benedicto, as to the length +of time life had been extinct in his supposed victim, might weigh +strongly against the circumstantial chain of evidence brought against +him. Believing that the prisoner having slept from the hour of sunset to +eleven was a proven and witnessed fact, I undertook the defensive and +argued in his favor. The sounds heard by the girl Beta may or may not +have proceeded from the stealthy movements of the accused, and yet +justice forbids our passing them by unnoticed. The time of this movement +being heard, and that of the murder, according to the leech's evidence, +tally so exactly that we cannot doubt but the one had to do with the +other; but whether it were indeed the prisoner's step, or that of the +base purloiner of his sword, your united judgment must decide. +Individual supposition, in a matter of life or death, can be of no +avail. My belief, as you may have discovered, inclines to the prisoner's +innocence. My brother, the chief Hermano, as strongly believes in his +guilt. And it would appear as if the evidence itself, supports the one +judgment equally with the other; contradictory and complicated, it has +yet been truthfully brought forward and strictly examined. Your united +judgment, Senors and Hermanos, must therefore decide the prisoner's +fate." + +"But under your favor, Reverend Father, all the evidence has not been +brought forward," rejoined the chief Hermano. "And methinks that which +is still to come is the most important of the whole. That the business +is complicated, and judgment most difficult, I acknowledge, and +therefore gladly avail myself of any remaining point on which the +scale may turn. Sworn as I am to administer impartial justice, +prejudice against the prisoner I can have none; but the point we have +until now overlooked, appears sufficient to decide not only individual +but general opinion. I mean the _premeditated vengeance_ sworn by the +prisoner against the deceased--long indulged and proclaimed enmity, +and premeditated determination to take his life or lose his own. +Don Ferdinand Morales--be his soul assoilized!--was so universally +beloved, so truly the friend of all ranks and conditions of men, that +to believe in the existence of any other enmity towards his person is +almost impossible. We have evidence that the prisoner was at feud with +him--was harboring some design against him for weeks. It may be he was +even refused by Don Ferdinand the meeting he desired, and so sought +vengeance by the midnight dagger. Let the evidence of this enmity be +examined, and according or not as premeditated malice is elicited, so +let your judgment be pronounced." + +"Ay, so let it be," muttered the King as a loud murmur of assent ran +through the hall. "We have two witnesses for this; and, by heaven, if +the one differ from the other in the smallest point, the prisoner may +still be reprieved!" + +Whether the royal observation was heard or not, there was no +rejoinder, for at the summoning of the chief Hermano, Don Luis Garcia +stood before the assemblage. His appearance excited surprise in many +present, and in none more than the prisoner himself. He raised his +head, which had been resting on his hand during the address of the +Sub-Prior, and the reply of the Hermano, and looked at the new witness +with bewildered astonishment. As Don Luis continued his relation of +the stormy interview between the deceased and the accused, and the +words of threatening used by the latter, astonishment itself, changed +into an indignation and loathing impossible to be restrained. + +"Thou base dishonored villain!" he exclaimed, so suddenly and +wrathfully that it startled more by its strange contrast with his +former calmness than by its irreverent interruption to the formula of +the examination; "where wert thou during this interview? Hearing so +well, and so invisibly concealed, none but the voluntary spy could +have heard all this; so skilfully detailed that thou wouldst seem in +very truth _witness_ as well as hearer. What _accident_ could have led +thee to the most retired part of Don Ferdinand's garden, and, +being there, detained thee? Thou treacherous villain! and on thy +evidence--evidence so honorably, so truthfully obtained, my life or +death depends! Well, be it so." + +"But so it shall not be," interposed the King himself, ere either +Sub-Prior or the Hermano could reply; "even as the prisoner, we +ourselves hold evidence dishonestly obtained of little moment--nay, +of no weight whatever. Be pleased, Don Luis Garcia, to explain +the casualty which led you, at such an important moment, to Don +Ferdinand's grounds; or name some other witness. The voluntary +listener is, in our mind, dishonorable as the liar, and demanding no +more account." + +With a mien and voice of the deepest humility, Don Luis replied; +grieving that his earnest love of justice should expose him to the +royal displeasure; submitting meekly to unjust suspicion as concerned +himself, but still upholding the truth and correctness of his +statement. The other witness to the same, he added mysteriously, he +had already named to his Royal Highness. + +"And she waits our pleasure," replied the King; "Don Felix d'Estaban, +be pleased to conduct the last witness to our presence." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + But love is strong. There came + Strength upon Woman's fragile heart and frame; + There came swift courage. + + MRS. HEMANS. + + Death has no pang + More keen than this. Oh, wherefore art thou here? + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +A profound silence followed Don Felix's departure. Don Luis had so +evidently evaded the King's demand, as to how he had witnessed this +important interview, that even those most prejudiced in his favor, on +account of his extreme sanctity, found themselves doubting his honor; +and those who had involuntarily been prejudiced against him, by the +indefinable something pervading his countenance and voice, doubly +rejoiced that their unspoken antipathy had some foundation. In modern +courts of justice, to refuse the validity of evidence merely because +the manner of obtaining it was supposed dishonorable, would be +pronounced the acme of folly and romance. In the age of which we +write, and in Spain especially, the sense of honor was so exquisitely +refined, that the King's rebuke, and determination not to allow the +validity of Don Luis's evidence, unless confirmed by an honorable +witness, excited no surprise whatever; every noble, nay, every one of +the Associated Brethren, there present, would have said the same; and +the eager wonder, as to the person of the witness on whom so much +stress was laid, became absolutely intense. The prisoner was very +evidently agitated; his cheek flushed and paled in rapid alternation, +and a suppressed but painful exclamation escaped from him as Don Felix +re-entered, leading with him a female form; but the faint sound was +unheard, save by the King and the Sub-Prior, who had been conversing +apart during d'Estaban's absence--lost in the irrepressible burst of +wonder and sympathy, which broke from all within the hall, as in the +new witness, despite the change of garb, and look, from the dazzling +beauty of health and peace, to the attenuated form of anxiety and +sorrow, they recognized at once the widow of the murdered, Donna +Marie. Nor was this universal sympathy lessened, when, on partially +removing her veil, to permit a clear view of the scene around her, her +sweet face was disclosed to all--profoundly, almost unnaturally, calm, +indeed--but the cheek and lips were perfectly colorless; the ashy +whiteness of the former rendered them more striking from the long +black lash resting upon it, unwetted by a single tear: and from the +peculiarly dark eye appearing the larger, from the attenuation of the +other features. One steady and inquiring glance she was seen to fix +upon the prisoner, and then she bent in homage to the Sovereign; and +emotion, if there were any, passed unseen. + +"Sit, lady," said the King, with ready courtesy, touched more than he +could have imagined possible, by the change fourteen short days had +wrought. "We would feign render this compelled summons as brief and +little fatiguing as may be: none can grieve more than ourselves at +this harsh intrusion on thy hours of sorrow; but in a great measure +the doom of life or death rests with thee, and justice forbids our +neglecting evidence so important. Yet sit, lady; we command it." + +"It needs not, gracious Sovereign; my strength will not fail me," +replied Marie, her sweet voice falling distinctly on every ear, while +Stanley started at its calmness; and she gracefully refused the seat +Don Felix proffered. "Give no more thought to me than to any other +witness; it is not a subject's place to sit in presence of her +Sovereign." + +But Ferdinand's kindliest feelings were excited, and instead of +permitting the Sub-Prior to give the necessary details, he himself, +with characteristic brevity, but clearly and kindly, narrated the +progress of the evidence for and against the prisoner, and how great +the weight laid on the proofs, if there were any, of acknowledged +enmity, and premeditated injury, on the part of the accused towards +the deceased. The questions to which he was compelled to request her +reply were simply, "Was she aware of any cause of hatred existing +between the accused and the deceased?" "Had she ever heard opprobrious +and insulting epithets used by the former or the latter?" "or any +threat, implying that the death of Don Ferdinand Morales was desired +by the prisoner?" "Had she ever seen the prisoner draw his sword upon +the deceased?--and had she any reason to believe that Don Ferdinand +had ever refused, or intended to refuse to meet the prisoner in +honorable combat, and so urged the gratification of vengeance by a +deed of murder? Reverend Father," continued the King, "be pleased +yourself to administer the customary oath." + +Father Francis instantly rose from his seat, and taking the large and +richly embossed silver crucifix from the Monk, who had administered +the oath to all the other witnesses, himself approached Marie. "Marie +Henriquez Morales," he said, as he reverentially held the solemn +symbol of his religion before her, "art thou well advised of the +solemnity of the words thou art called upon to speak? If so, swear to +speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Swear by +the Holy Symbol which I support; by the unpronounceable name of the +Father, by the flesh and blood, the resurrection and the life of our +Lord and Saviour Christ Jesu; by the Holy Spirit; by the saving and +glorious Trinity; by the goodly army of Saints and Martyrs; daughter, +swear, and the blessing or the curse be with you as you swear true or +falsely." + +The fine countenance of the Sub-Prior glowed with the holy enthusiasm +of his appeal; his form, as he stood, one hand clasping the crucifix, +the other emphatically raised, seemed dilated to unusual height and +majesty, and the deep solemnity of his accents so enhanced the awful +responsibility of the oath, that it thrilled throughout the multitude +as it had never done before. So deep was the stillness which followed, +that not one of those vast crowds seemed to breathe. To the prisoner +it was a moment of intense emotion: for if, indeed, Marie had once +told him truth, that oath, to her, even in its solemnity, was as +nought; but ere he could even think as to the wording of her answer, +that answer came, and so distinct, so unfalteringly spoken, that there +was not one person present who even strained his ear to catch the +words. + +"Reverend Father," she said, "I am grateful for thy counsel; and, +believe me, am well advised of the truth and solemnity of the words I +speak. But I cannot aid his Grace, and these his subjects, in their +decision as to the prisoner's sentence. My evidence is valueless. +I belong to that race whose word is never taken as witness, for or +against, in a court of justice. I cannot take the oath required, for I +deny the faith in which it is administered. I am a JEWESS!" + +A wild cry, in every variety of intonation--astonishment, horror, +wrath, and perhaps terror, ran through the hall--from Sovereign, +Noble, Monk, and Citizen, simultaneously. Father Francis staggered +back several paces, as if there were contamination in remaining by her +side, and then stood as rooted to the ground, his hand convulsively +grasping the crucifix which had nearly fallen from his hold; his lips +apart, his nostrils slightly distended, and his eyes almost starting +from their sockets, in the horrified and astonished gaze he fixed upon +the pale and fragile being who had dared speak such impious words. The +attendant fathers rose simultaneously, and formed a semicircle round +their superior, ready, at his slightest signal, to hurl down on +her the anathema of the church; reverence to the Sub-Prior alone +preventing the curse from instantly bursting forth. The nobles, the +Associated Brethren, Ferdinand himself, started almost unconsciously +to their feet, and an eager rush brought many of the citizens still +nearer to the scene of action. The prisoner, with an irresistible +impulse, darted forwards, and ere any one had recovered from his +trance of bewilderment, had flung himself at Marie's feet. + +"Marie! Marie!" he exclaimed, in a voice so hoarse and choked, its +words were heard by her alone. "Oh! why hast thou done this? Why not +take the required oath, and condemn me at once? Marie, I am unworthy +of such self-sacrifice!" + +"Ha! didst thou slay him then? Have I judged thee too kindly, Arthur," +she answered; and the hand she laid heavily on his shoulder trembled +so violently, it was evident she had thus placed it only to save her +from sinking to the ground, for the unnatural strength had gone. + +"No!" he exclaimed, in a tone and with a look that satisfied her at +once, and there was no time for more. The King had perceived that the +Sub-Prior was recovering composure, and with it energy of action; +though himself a zealous Catholic, he felt compelled to save Marie. +"Hold! hold!" he said hastily, as Father Francis was about to speak. +"Reverend Father, we pray thee, be not over hasty in this matter; +these are strange and terrible words; but they are meaningless; they +must be. Her misery has turned her brain; she is mad; heed her not; be +silent all of ye! See how she glares upon the prisoner! Is that the +look of sanity? By St. Francis, we have done wrong to call her hither! +Stand back, good fathers. Remove the prisoner; and let Donna Marie be +conducted from the hall. Our Consort should have warned us of this!" + +"Forbear, my liege!" replied the Sub-Prior sternly. "The blaspheming +words were all too calmly and collectively spoken for the ravings of +madness. Let not the false unbeliever pass hence till at least she +has done reverence to the sacred symbol, she has, by daring denial, +insulted. As thou wouldst save thine own soul from hell-fire, my +liege, interfere not in this!" + +As he spoke, several soldiers had endeavored rudely to drag Arthur +from Marie: he strove fiercely for freedom, for but one hour's power +to protect her, but in vain. And the look she fixed upon him, as he +was torn from her, from its contrast with her previous profound calm, +did indeed seem almost of madness. The excitement which had enabled +her to make this dread avowal--an avowal comprising such variety, and +terrible danger, that the magnitude of the sacrifice comprised in the +confession can now scarcely be understood; danger, not merely from the +vengeance of the church for long years of fraud, nor from the secret +and awful tribunal of whose existence she was conscious (though not of +its close vicinity); not merely these, but danger from the wrath, and +terrors of the secret members of her own faith, who might naturally +imagine their own safety endangered in the suspicion, engendered by +her rash confession. Of all this she had thought; had believed herself +strengthened to brave and bear every possible suffering, rather than +breathe those words which must seal Stanley's fate; but now that she +had spoken, though she would not have recalled them if she could--such +an overpowering, crushing sense of all she had drawn upon herself, +such fearful, spectral shapes of indefinable horror came upon her, +that, as the Sub-Prior stood again before her with the uplifted cross, +bidding her kneel and acknowledge him whose fate it imaged--she burst +into a wild hysteric laugh, and fell prone upon the floor. + +"Said I not she was mad? And what need was there for this unmanly +violence?" angrily exclaimed the Monarch; and, starting from his seat, +he authoritatively waved back the denouncing monks, and himself bent +over Marie. The Duke of Murcia, Don Felix d'Estaban, the Lord of +Aguilar, and several other nobles following the Sovereign's example, +hastened to her assistance. But to restore animation was not in their +power, and on the King's whispered commands, Don Felix gently, even +tenderly raised her, and bore her in his arms from the hall. Even in +that moment of excitement Ferdinand could not forbear glancing at the +prisoner, whose passionate struggles to escape from the guard, when +Marie fell, had been noticed by all, and unhappily, combined with, his +previous irritation, but confirmed the unspoken suspicions of many as +to the real cause of his enmity against Don Ferdinand. The expression +of his countenance was of such contending, terrible suffering, that +the King hastily withdrew his gaze, vainly endeavoring to disbelieve, +as he had done, the truth of Garcia's charge. + +Order was at length universally restored, and after a brief silence, +the chief of the Santa Hermandad demanded of the prisoner if he had +aught to say in his defence, or reply himself to Don Luis Garcia's +charge. The reply was a stern, determined negative; and, deputed so to +do by the Sub-Prior, who seemed so absorbed in the horror of Marie's +daring avowal, as to be incapable of further interference, the Hermano +proceeded to sum up the evidence. As the widow of the deceased had so +strangely, yet effectually deprived them of her evidence, he said, +he thought some slight regard ought to be paid to Don Luis Garcia's +words; but even without doing so, the circumstantial evidence, though +contradictory and complicated, was enough in his opinion to convict +the prisoner; but he referred to his associates and to the peers +then present, to pronounce sentence. His task was but to sum up the +evidence, which he trusted he had done distinctly; his opinion was +that of but one individual; there were at least fifty or sixty voices, +to confirm or to oppose it. + +Deep and sustained as had been the interest throughout the trial, it +was never more intense than during the awful pause which heralded the +prisoner's doom. It was spoken at length; the majority alike of the +nobles and of the Santa Hermandad, believed and pronounced him guilty, +and sentence of death was accordingly passed; but the Duke of Murcia +then stepped forward, and urged the following, not only in the name of +his brother peers, but in the name of his native sovereign, Isabella; +that in consideration of the complicated and contradictory evidence, +of the prisoner's previous high character, and of his strongly +protested innocence, a respite of one month should be granted between +sentence and execution, to permit prayers to be offered up throughout +Spain for the discovery of the real murderer, or at least allow time +for some proof of innocence to appear; during which time the prisoner +should be removed from the hateful dungeon he had till that morning +occupied, and confined under strict ward, in one of the turrets of the +castle; and that, if at the end of the granted month affairs remained +as they were then, that no proof of innocence appeared, a scaffold was +to be erected in the Calle Soledad, on the exact spot where the murder +was committed; there the prisoner, publicly degraded from the honors +and privileges of chivalry, his sword broken before him, his spurs +ignominiously struck from his heels, would then receive the award +of the law, death from hanging, the usual fate of the vilest and +commonest malefactors. + +Ferdinand and the Sub-Prior regarded him attentively while this +sentence was pronounced, but not a muscle in his countenance moved; +what it expressed it would have been difficult to define; but it +seemed as if his thoughts were on other than himself. The King +courteously thanked the assemblage for their aid in a matter so +momentous, and at once ratified their suggestion. The Associated +Brethren were satisfied that it was Isabella's will; confident also in +their own power to prevent the evasion, and bring about the execution +of the sentence, if still required, at the termination of the given +time; and with a brief but impressive address from the Sub-Prior to +the prisoner, the assemblage dispersed. + +But the excitement of the city ceased not with the conclusion of the +trial: not alone the populace, but the nobles themselves, even the +Holy Fathers and Associated Brethren were seen, forming in various +groups, conversing eagerly and mysteriously. The interest in the +prisoner had in some measure given way to a new excitement. Question +followed question, conjecture followed conjecture, but nothing could +solve the mystery of Donna Marie's terrible avowal, or decrease the +bewilderment and perplexity which, from various causes, it created in +every mind. One alone, amongst the vast crowds which had thronged the +trial, shunned his fellows. Not a change in the calm, cold, sneering +expression of Don Luis Garcia's countenance had betrayed either +surprise at, or sympathy with, any one of the various emotions +stirring that vast multitude of human hearts; he had scarcely even +moved his position during the continuance of the trial, casting indeed +many a glance on the immediate scene of action, from beneath his +thick and shadowy eyebrows, which concealed the sinister gaze from +observation. He shunned the face of day; but in his own dark haunts, +and with his hellish colleagues, plans were formed and acted on, with +a rapidity which, to minds less matured in iniquity, would have seemed +incredible. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + The quality of mercy is not strain'd, + It droppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven + Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed, + It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes; + 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes + The throned monarch better than his crown. + + SHAKSPEARE. + +The interest attending a trial, in which royalty had evinced such +powerful sympathy, naturally extended to every member of Isabella's +female train: her anxiety as to the issue had been very visible, +notwithstanding her calm and quiet demeanor. The Infanta Isabella and +the Infant Don Juan were with her during the morning as usual; but +even their infantile caresses, dearer to her true woman's heart than +all her vast possessions, had failed to disperse the anxiety of +thought. Few can peruse the interesting life of Isabella of Castile +without being struck by the fact, that even as her public career was +one of unmixed prosperity for her country and herself, her private +sorrows and domestic trials vied, in their bitterness, with those of +the poorest and humblest of her subjects. Her first-born, the Infanta +Isabella, who united all the brilliant and endearing qualities of her +mother, with great beauty, both of face and form, became a loving +bride only to become a widow--a mother, only to gaze upon her babe, +and die; and her orphan quickly followed. Don Juan, the delight +and pride and hope of his parents, as of the enthusiasm and almost +idolatry of their subjects, died in his twentieth year. The hapless +Catherine of Arragon, with whose life of sorrow and neglect every +reader of English history is acquainted, though they sometimes forget +her illustrious parentage; her sorrows indeed Isabella was spared, as +she died before Henry the Eighth ascended the English throne. But +it was Juana, the wife of Philip, and mother of Charles V., whose +intellects, always feeble, and destroyed by the neglect and unkindness +of the husband she idolized, struck the last and fatal blow. And she, +whom all Europe regarded with unfeigned veneration--she whom her own +subjects so idolized, they would gladly have laid down a thousand +lives for hers--she fell a victim to a mother's heart-consuming +grief.[A] Who then, after perusing her life, and that of how many +other sovereigns, will refuse them, the meed of sympathy, because, +raised so far above us in _outward_ things, we deem the griefs and +feelings of common humanity unknown and uncared for? To our mind, +the destiny of the Sovereign, the awful responsibility, the utter +loneliness of station, the general want of sympathy, the proneness to +be condemned for faults or omissions of which they are, individually, +as innocent as their contemners, present a subject for consideration +and sympathy, and ought to check the unkind thoughts and hasty +condemnation, excited merely because they are placed in rank and +circumstances above us. A King of kings has placed them there, and a +Universal Father calls them His children, even as ourselves. + +[Footnote A: Isabella had been previously attacked by dangerous +indisposition, from which, however, the natural strength of her +constitution would have enabled her in some degree to rally; but the +springs of life had been injured by previous bereavement. Her lungs +became affected, and the symptoms of decline rapidly and fatally +increased from continual affliction of mind.--_History of Spain_.] + +Isabella had not seen Marie that morning; her trusty attendant, Donna +Inez de Leon, had alone been with her, and had reported that she was +calm and composed, and more like herself than she had been since her +bereavement. Time passed but slowly, and Catherine Pas, the same +high-spirited maiden mentioned in a former chapter, perceiving that +the Queen's anxiety evidently increased as the hours waned, quietly +left the chamber, unbidden, and even unseen. A brief interval saw +her return, and with a countenance so expressive of horrified +bewilderment, as to excite the astonishment of all. + +"Oh, madam!" she exclaimed, as she flew to the Queen's seat, +regardless of either decorum or rebuke; "Oh, madam, it has killed her; +she is dying!" + +"Dying!" repeated Isabella, and the whole strength of her character +was put forth, to prevent her starting from her seat. "Dying!--who is +dying? Speak out, in Santa Maria's name!" + +"Donna Marie--the poor, unhappy Marie; she has been borne from the +hall! Don Felix had her in his arms; I saw her; I followed them, and +she looked dead, quite dead; they would not let me go to her at first, +till I called them hard-hearted wretches! And I have tried to rouse +her, but I could not. Oh, save her, gracious madam! Do not let her +die!" + +"And have they none with her?" demanded the Queen. "But whom can they +have, save her own terrified women? Inez--Leonor--go to her at once! +Your skill and tenderness will soon revive her; this silly child +is terrified at shadows. 'Tis but a faint, such as followed the +announcement of her husband's death. If any one dare refuse you +entrance, tell them you go in your Queen's name. Foolish trembler," +she added, in a tone of relief, as her commands were instantly obeyed, +"why this excessive agitation, when thou hast seen a faint like this +before?" + +"Nay, but by your leave, gracious madam, I have not," replied +Catherine, with emotion. "There is far more of horror in this; she is +cold--cold, like stone; and they have planted a guard at the entrance +of her apartments, and they tell a tale so wild and strange, I cannot +give it credence!" + +"Ha! what say they?" demanded the Queen hastily, her eyes flashing +with light, as they always did when she was excited. "What can it be, +too wild and strange for thy hair-brained fancy to believe? Marvellous +it must be indeed!" + +Isabella spoke jestingly, but her heart was not with her words: and +Catherine replied with tears starting to her eyes, "Oh, do not speak +thus, my liege. It is indeed no theme for jest." And she continued so +rapidly, that to any but the quickened mind of Isabella, her words +must have seemed unintelligible. "They say she is a heretic, royal +madam! Nay, worse--a blaspheming unbeliever; that she has refused to +take the oath, on plea of not believing in the Holy Catholic Church; +that she has insulted, has trampled on the sacred cross! Nor is +this all--worse, yet worse; they say she has proclaimed herself a +JEWESS!--an abhorred, an unbelieving Jewess!" + +A general start and loud exclamation of horror was the natural +rejoinder to this unlooked-for intelligence; but not from Isabella, +whose flashing eyes were still fixed on the young girl's face, as to +read in her soul the confirmation of these strange words. "What dost +thou say?" she said at length, and so slowly, a second might have +intervened between each word. "Speak! let me hear again! A Jewess! +Santa Maria! But no; it _cannot_ be. They must have told thee false!" + +So the Queen spoke; but ere Catherine had concluded a calmer +repetition of the tale, Marie's words of the preceding evening rushed +back on her mind, confirming it but too surely. "To-morrow all will be +distinct and clear enough!" she had said; ay, distinct it was; and +so engrossingly intense became the thoughts thronging in her mind, +bewildering succession, that Isabella sat motionless, her brow leaning +on her hand, wholly unconscious of the lapse of time. + +A confusion in the gallery, and the words, "The King! the King!" +roused her at length; and never was the appearance of Ferdinand more +welcome, not only to Isabella, but to her attendants, as giving them +the longed-for opportunity to retire, and so satisfy curiosity, and +give vent to the wonderment which, from their compelled silence in +Isabella's presence, had actually become intolerable. + +Ferdinand speedily narrated the affairs of the morning, and concluded +by inquiring if any thing had occurred in her interview with Marie to +excite suspicion of her mad design. The Queen replied by relating, in +her turn, all that had passed between them. The idea of madness could +no longer exist; there was not the faintest hope that in a moment of +frenzy she had spoken falsely. + +"And yet, was it not madness," the King urged, "thus publicly to avow +a determined heresy, and expose herself to all the horrors of the +church's vengeance! 'Years of deception and fraud!' she told thee, +'would be disclosed.' By St. Francis! fraud enough. Who could have +suspected the wife of Don Ferdinand Morales a Jewess? It was on this +account he kept her so retired. How could he reconcile his conscience +to a union with one of a race so abhorred, beautiful as she is? And +where could he have found her? But this matters not: it is all wild +conjecture, save the madness of the avowal. What cause could there +have been for such self-sacrifice?" + +"There was a cause," replied the Queen earnestly; "cause enough to +render life to her of little moment. Do not ask me my meaning, dearest +Ferdinand; I would not do her such wrong as to breathe the suspicion +that, spite of myself, spite of incomprehensible mystery, will come, +even to thee. Do not let us regret her secret is discovered. Let her +but recover from the agony of these repeated trials, and with the help +of our holy fathers, we may yet turn her from her abhorred faith, and +so render her happy in this world, and secure her salvation in the +next." + +"The help of the holy fathers!" repeated the King. "Nay, Isabel, +their sole help will be to torture and burn! They will accuse her +of insulting, by years of deceit, the holy faith, of which she has +appeared a member. Nay, perchance of using foul magic on Morales (whom +the saints preserve), and then thou knowest what will follow!" + +The Queen shuddered. "Never with my consent, my husband! From the +first moment I beheld this unfortunate, something attracted me towards +her; her misery deepened the feeling; and even now, knowing what she +is, affection lingers. The Holy Virgin give me pardon, if 'tis sin!" + +"For such sin I will give thee absolution, dearest," replied the King, +half jestingly, half earnestly. "Do not look so grave. No one knows, +or values thy sterling piety half so tenderly and reverentially as +I do. But this is no common case. Were Marie one of those base and +grovelling wretches, those accursed unbelievers, who taint our fair +realm with their abhorred rites--think of nothing but gold and usury, +and how best to cheat their fellows; hating us almost as intensely as +we hate them--why, she should abide by the fate she has drawn upon +herself. But the wife of my noble Morales, one who has associated so +long with zealous Catholics, that she is already most probably one of +us, and only avowed her descent from some mysterious cause--by St. +Francis, she shall be saved!" + +"But how?" inquired Isabella anxiously. "Wouldst thou deny her faith +to Father Francis, and persuade him she has spoken falsely?" + +The King shook his head. "That will never do, Isabel. I have had the +holy man closeted with me already, insisting on the sanity of her +words, and urging me to resign the unbeliever at once to the tender +mercy of the church. All must depend on thee." + +"On me?" repeated Isabella, in a tone of surprised yet anxious +inquiry. + +"On thee, love. Thy perfect humility is ignorant of the fact--yet it +is nevertheless perfectly true--that thou art reverenced, well nigh +canonized, by the holy church; and thy words will have weight when +mine would be light as air. Refuse the holy fathers all access to her; +say she is unfitted to encounter them; that she is ill; nay, mad, if +thou wilt. Bring forward the state in which she was borne from the +hall; her very laugh (by St. Francis, it rings in my ear still) to +confirm it, and they will believe thee. The present excitement will +gradually subside, and her very existence be forgotten. Let none but +thy steadiest, most pious matrons have access to her; forbid thy young +maidens to approach or hold converse with her; and her being under +thy protection can do harm to none. Let her be prisoner in her own +apartments, an thou wilt; she deserves punishment for the deception +practised towards thee. Treat her as thou deemest best, only give her +not up to the mercy of the church!" + +"Talk not of it," replied the Queen earnestly. "Unbeliever though +she be, offspring of a race which every true Catholic must hold in +abhorrence, she is yet a _woman_, Ferdinand, and, as such, demands and +shall receive the protection of her Queen. Yet, would there were some +means of saving her from the eternal perdition to which, as a Jewess, +she is destined; some method, without increase of suffering, to allure +her, as a penitent and believing child, to the bosom of our holy +mother church." + +"And to do this, who so fitted as thyself, dearest Isabel?" answered +the King with earnest affection. "Thou hast able assistants in some +of thy older matrons, and may after a while call in the aid of Father +Denis, whose kindly nature is better fitted for gentle conversion +than either Francis, or thy still sterner chaplain, Torquemada. Thy +kindness has gained thee the love of this misguided one; and if any +one have sufficient influence to convert, by other than sharp means, +it can only be thyself." + +Isabella was not long undecided. Her heart felt that to turn Marie +from blindness and perdition by kindness and affection would be indeed +far more acceptable to the virgin (her own peculiar saint) than the +heretic's blood, and she answered with animation, "Then so it shall +be, Ferdinand; I fear me, alas! that there will be little reason to +prevaricate, to deny all spiritual access to her. Thy report, combined +with my terrified Catherine's, gives me but little hope for health or +reason. But should she indeed recover, trust me she shall be happy +yet." + +Great was the astonishment of the guards as they beheld their +Sovereign fearlessly enter the chamber of a proclaimed Jewess--a word +in their minds synonymous with the lowest, most degraded rank of +being; and yet more, to hear and perceive that she herself was +administering relief. The attendants of Isabella--whose curiosity was +now more than satisfied, for the tale had been repeated with the usual +exaggerations, even to a belief that she had used the arts of sorcery +on Morales--huddled together in groups, heaping every opprobrious +epithet upon her, and accusing her of exposing them all to the horrors +of purgatory by contaminating them with her presence. And as the +Sovereign re-appeared in her saloon with the leech Benedicto, whose +aid she had summoned, there were many who ventured to conjure her not +to expose herself to such pollution as the tending of a Jewess--to +leave her to the fate her fraud so merited. Even Catherine, finding to +disbelieve the tale any longer was impossible, and awed and terrified +at the mysterious words of her companions, which told of danger to her +beloved mistress, flung herself on her knees before her, clasping her +robe to detain her from again seeking the chamber of Marie. Then +was the moment for a painter to have seized on the face and form of +Isabella! Her eye flashed till its very color was undistinguishable, +her lip curled, every feature--usually so mild and feminine--was so +transformed by indignation into majesty and unutterable scorn as +scarcely to have been recognized. Her slight and graceful form dilated +till the very boldest cowered before her, even before she spoke; for +never had they so encountered her reproof:-- + +"Are ye women?" she said at length, in the quiet, concentrated tone of +strong emotion; "or are we deceived as to the meaning of your words? +Pollution! Are we to see a young, unhappy being perish for want of +sympathy and succor, because--forsooth--she is a Jewess? Danger to our +soul! We should indeed fear it; did we leave her to die, without one +effort to restore health to the frame, and the peace of Christ to the +mind! Has every spark of woman's nature faded from your hearts, that +ye can speak thus? If for yourselves you fear, tend her not, approach +her not--we will ourselves give her the aid she needs. And as for +thee," she continued severely, as she forced the now trembling +Catherine to stand upright before her, "whose energy to serve Marie +we loved and applauded; child as thou art, must thou too speak of +pollution? but example may have done this. Follow me, minion; and then +talk of pollution if thou canst!" And with a swift step Isabella led +the way to the chamber of Marie. + +"Behold!" she said emphatically, as she pointed to the unhappy +sufferer, who, though restored to life, was still utterly unconscious +where she was or who surrounded her; her cheek and brow, white and +damp; her large eye lustreless and wandering; her lip and eyelid +quivering convulsively; her whole appearance proving too painfully +that reason had indeed, for the time, fled. The soul had been strong +till the dread words were said; but the re-action had been too much +for either frame or mind. "Catherine! thou hast seen her in her +beauty, the cherished, the beloved of all who knew her--seen her when +no loveliness could mate with hers. Thou seest now the wreck that +misery has made, though she has numbered but few more years than thou +hast! Detest, abhor, avoid her _faith_--for that we command thee; but +her sex, her sorrow, have a claim to sympathy and aid, which not even +her race can remove. Jewess though she be, if thou can look on her +thus, and still speak of pollution and danger, thou art not what we +deemed thee!" + +Struck to the heart, alike by the marked display of a mistress she +idolized and the sympathy her better nature really felt for Marie, +Catherine sunk on her knees by the couch, and burst into tears. +Isabella watched her till her unusual indignation subsided, and then +said more kindly, "It is enough; go, Catherine. If we judge thee +rightly thou wilt not easily forget this lesson! Again I bid thee +abhor her faith; but seek to win her to the right path, by gentleness +and love, not prejudice and hate." + +"Oh! let me tarry here and tend her, my gracious Sovereign," implored +Catherine, again clasping Isabella's robe and looking beseechingly in +her face--but from a very different feeling to the prompter of the +same action a few minutes before--"Oh, madam, do not send me from her! +I will be so gentle, so active--watch, tend, serve; only say your +Grace's bidding, and I will do it, if I stood by her alone!" + +"My bidding would be but the promptings of thine own heart, my girl," +replied the Queen, fondly, for she saw the desired impression had been +made. "If I need thee--which I may do--I will call upon thee; but +now, thou canst do nothing, but think kindly, and judge +mercifully--important work indeed, if thou wouldst serve an erring and +unhappy fellow-creature, with heart as well as hand. But now go: nay, +not so sorrowfully; thy momentary fault is forgiven," she added, +kindly, as she extended her hand towards the evidently pained and +penitent maiden, who raised it gratefully and reverentially to her +lips, and thoughtfully withdrew. + +It was not, however, with her attendants only, this generous and +high-minded princess had to contend--with them her example was enough; +but the task was much more difficult, when the following day, as King +Ferdinand had anticipated, brought the stern Sub-Prior of St. Francis +to demand, in the church's name, the immediate surrender of Marie. But +Isabella's decision once formed never wavered. Marie was under her +protection, she said--an erring indeed, but an unhappy young creature, +who, by her very confession, had thrown herself on the mercy of her +Sovereign--and she would not deliver up the charge. In vain the Prior +urged the abomination of a Jewess residing under her very roof--the +danger to her soul should she be tempted to associate with her, and +that granting protection to an avowed and blaspheming unbeliever must +expose her to the suspicions, or, at least the censure of the church. +Isabella was inexorable. To his first and second clause she quietly +answered as she had done to her own attendants; his third only +produced a calm and fearless smile. She knew too well, as did the +Prior also, though for the time he chose to forget it, that her +character for munificent and heartfelt piety was too well established, +not only in Spain but throughout Europe, to be shaken even by the +protection of a Jewess. Father Francis then solicited to see her; but +even this point he could not gain. Isabella had, alas! no need to +equivocate as to the reason of his non-admission to Marie. Reason had +indeed returned, and with it the full sense of the dangers she had +drawn upon herself; but neither frame nor mind was in a state to +encounter such an interview as the Prior demanded. + +The severity of Father Francis originated, as we have before remarked, +neither in weak intellect nor selfish superstition. Towards himself +indeed he never relented either in severity or discipline; towards +others benevolence and humanity very often gained ascendency; and +something very like a tear glistened in his eye as Isabella forcibly +portrayed the state in which Marie still remained. And when she +concluded, by frankly imparting her intention, if health were indeed +restored, to leave no means untried--even to pursue some degree of +severity if nothing else would do--to wean her from her mistaken +faith, he not only abandoned his previous intentions, but commended +and blessed the nobler purpose of his Sovereign. To his request that +Marie might be restrained from all intercourse with the younger +members of Isabella's female court--in fact, associate with none but +strict and uncompromising Catholics--the Queen readily acceded; and +moreover, granted him full permission to examine the mansion of +Don Ferdinand Morales, that any books or articles of dangerous or +heretical import might be discovered and destroyed. + +With these concessions Father Francis left his Sovereign, affected +at her goodness and astonished at her influence on himself. He had +entered her presence believing nothing could change the severity of +his intentions or the harshness of his feelings; he left her with the +one entirely renounced, and the other utterly subdued. + +Such was the triumph of prejudice achieved by the lofty-minded and +generous woman, who swayed the sceptre of Castile.[A] And yet, though +every history of the time unites in so portraying her; though her +individual character was the noblest, the most magnanimous, the most +complete union of masculine intellect with perfect womanhood, +ever traced on the pages of the past; though under her public +administration her kingdom stood forth the noblest, the most refined, +most generous, ay, and the freest, alike in national position, as in +individual sentiment, amongst all the nations of Europe, Isabella's +was the fated hand to sign two edicts[B] whose consequences +extinguished the lustre, diminished the virtues, enslaved the +sentiments, checked the commerce, and in a word deteriorated the whole +character of Spain. + +[Footnote A: We are authorized to give this character to Isabella of +Castile, and annex the lustre of such action to her memory; as we know +that even when, by the persuasions and representations of Torquemada, +the Inquisition was publicly established, Isabella constantly +interfered her authority to prevent _zeal_ from becoming _inhumanity_. +Rendered unusually penetrating by her peculiarly feeling and gentle +nature, she discovered, what was concealed from others, "That many +enormities may be committed under the veil of religion--many innocent +persons falsely accused; their riches being their only crime. Her +exertions brought such things to light, and the suborners were +punished according to their guilt."--WASHINGTON IRVING'S _Siege of +Granada_.--Of Ferdinand too we are told, "_Respetó la jurisdiction +ecclesiastica, y conservo la real_;" he respected the ecclesiastical +jurisdiction, but _guarded_ or was _jealous_, for that of the crown. +His determination, therefore, to refuse the church's interference in +the case of Marie, though unusual to his _age_, is warranted by his +larger mind and freer policy.] + +[Footnote B: The establishment of the Inquisition, and expulsion of +the Jews.] + +For fourteen days affairs remained the same. At the end of that period +the castle and city of Segovia were thrown anew into a state of +the wildest excitement by a most mysterious occurrence--Marie had +disappeared. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + "Meekly had he bowed and prayed, + As not disdaining priestly aid; + And while before the Prior kneeling, + His heart was weaned from earthly feeling: + No more reproach, no more despair-- + No thought but heaven, no word but prayer." + + BYRON. + + +Time passed slowly on, and no proof appeared to clear Arthur Stanley's +fame. All that man's judgment could counsel, was adopted--secret +measures were taken throughout Spain, for the apprehension of any +individual suspected of murder, or even of criminal deeds; constant +prayers offered up, that if Arthur Stanley were not the real murderer, +proofs of his innocence might be made so evident that not even his +greatest enemy could doubt any longer; but all seemed of no avail. +Week after week passed, and with the exception of one most mysterious +occurrence, affairs remained the same. So strong was the belief of the +nobles in his innocence, that the most strenuous exertions were made +in his favor; but, strong as Ferdinand's own wish was to save him, his +love of justice was still stronger; though the testimony of Don Luis +might be set aside, calm deliberation on all the evidence against +him marked it as sufficiently strong to have sentenced any other so +accused at once. The resolute determination to purge their kingdom +from the black crimes of former years, which both sovereigns felt and +unitedly acted upon, urged them to conquer every private wish and +feeling, rather than depart from the line laid down. The usual +dispensers of justice, the Santa Hermandad--men chosen by their +brother citizens for their lucid judgment, clearness of perception, +and utter absence of all overplus of chivalrous feeling, in matters of +cool dispassionate reasoning--were unanimous in their belief in the +prisoner's guilt, and only acquiesced in the month's reprieve, because +it was Isabella's wish. Against their verdict what could be brought +forward? In reality nothing but the prisoner's own strongly-attested +innocence--an attestation most forcible in the minds of the Sovereign +and the nobles, but of no weight whatever to men accustomed to weigh, +and examine, and cross-examine, and decide on proof, or at least from +analogy, and never from an attestation, which the greatest criminals +might as forcibly make. The power and election of these men Ferdinand +and Isabella had confirmed. How could they, then, interfere in the +present case, and shackle the judgment which they had endowed with +authority, dispute and deny the sentence they had previously given +permission to pronounce? Pardon they might, and restore to life and +liberty; but the very act of pronouncing pardon supposed belief in and +proclamation of guilt. There was but one thing which could save him +and satisfy justice, and that was the sentence of "not guilty." For +this reason Ferdinand refused every petition for Stanley's reprieve, +hoping indeed, spite of all reason, that even at the eleventh hour +evidence of his innocence would and must appear. + +Stanley himself had no such hope. All his better and higher nature had +been called forth by the awful and mysterious death of Morales, dealt +too by his own sword--that sword which, in his wild passions, he had +actually prayed might shed his blood. The film of passion had dropped +alike from mental and bodily vision. He beheld his irritated feelings +in their true light, and knew himself in thought a murderer. He would +have sacrificed life itself, could he but have recalled the words of +insult offered to one so noble; not for the danger to himself from +their threatening nature, but for the injurious injustice done to the +man from whom he had received a hundred acts of little unobtrusive +kindnesses, and whom he had once revered as the model of every thing +virtuous and noble--services which Morales had rendered him, felt +gratefully perhaps at the time, but forgotten in the absorption of +thought or press of occupation during his sojourn in Sicily, now +rushed back upon him, marking him ingrate as well as dishonored. All +that had happened he regarded as Divine judgment on an unspoken, +unacted, but not the less encouraged sin. The fact that his sword had +done the deed, convinced him that his destruction had been connived +at, as well as that of Morales. A suspicion as to the designer, if not +the actual doer of the deed, had indeed taken possession of him; but +it was an idea so wild, so unfounded, that he dared not give it words. + +From the idea of death, and such a death, his whole soul indeed +revolted; but to avert it seemed so utterly impossible, that he +bent his proud spirit unceasingly to its anticipation; and with the +spiritual aid of the good and feeling Father Francis, in some degree +succeeded. It was not the horror of his personal fate alone which bade +him so shrink from death. Marie was free once more; nay, had from +the moment of her dread avowal--made, he intuitively felt, to save +him--become, if possible, dearer, more passionately loved than before. +And, oh! how terrible is the anticipation of early death to those that +love!--the only trial which bids even the most truly spiritual, yet +while on earth still _human_ heart, forget that if earth is loved and +lovely, heaven _must_ be lovelier still. + +From Don Felix d'Estaban, his friendly warder, he heard of Isabella's +humane intentions toward her; that her senses had been restored, and +she was, to all appearance, the same in health as she had been since +her husband's death; only evidently suffering more, which might be +easily accounted for from the changed position in which the knowledge +of her unbelief had placed her with all the members of Isabella's +court; that the only agitation she had evinced was, when threatened +with a visit from Father Francis--who, finding nothing in the mansion +of Don Ferdinand Morales to confirm the truth of her confession, +had declared his conviction that there must be some secret chamber +destined for her especial use. As if shrinking from the interview he +demanded, Marie had said to the Senora, to whose care she had been +intrusted--"He need not seek me to obtain this information. For my +husband's sake alone I concealed the faith in which I glory. Let +Father Francis remove a sliding panel beneath the tapestry behind +the couch in my sleeping apartment, and he will find not only all he +seeks, but the surest proof of my husband's care and tenderness for +me, unbeliever though he might deem me." + +The discovery of this secret closet, Don Felix continued, had caused +much marvel throughout the court. Where Morales had found her, or how +he could have reconciled his conscience not only to make her his wife, +but permit her the free exercise of a religion accursed in the sight +both of God and man, under his own roof, were questions impossible to +solve, or reconcile with the character of orthodox Catholicism he had +so long borne. The examination had been conducted with the church's +usual secrecy; the volumes of heresy and unbelief (it did not signify +that the word of God was amongst them) burnt; the silver lamps and +other ornaments melted down, to enrich, by an image of the virgin, the +church of St. Francis; the recess itself purified with incense and +sprinkled with holy water; the sign of the cross deeply burnt in the +walls; and the panel which formed the secret entrance firmly fastened +up, that its very existence should be forgotten. The matter, however, +Don Felix added, was not publicly spoken of, as both the King and +Queen, in conjunction with the Sub-Prior, seemed to wish all that +had passed, in which Donna Marie was concerned, should be gradually +forgotten. Don Ferdinand's vast possessions had, in consequence of +his widow's being an unbeliever, and so having no power to inherit, +reverted to the crown; but in case of Marie's conversion, of which Don +Felix appeared to entertain little doubt, the greater part would be +restored to her. Till then, Marie was kept in strict confinement in +the palace; but all harsher measures Isabella had resolved to avoid. + +This intelligence relieved Stanley's mind of one painful dread, while +it unconsciously increased his wish to live. Marie free! a Catholic! +what could come between them then? Must she not love him, else why +seek to save him? And then again the mystery darkened round her. A +wild suspicion as to the _real reason_ of her having wedded Ferdinand, +had flitted across his mind; but the words of Estaban so minutely +repeated, seemed to banish it entirely; they alluded but to her +husband's forbearing tenderness, felt the more intensely from its +being extended by a zealous Catholic to one of a race usually so +contemned and hated. In vain he tried to reconcile the seeming +inconsistency of her conduct; his thoughts only became the more +confused and painful, till even the remembrance of her self-devotion +lost its power to soothe or to allay them. + +When Don Felix again visited his prisoner, his countenance was so +expressive of consternation, that Stanley had scarcely power to ask +what had occurred. Marie had disappeared from the castle so strangely +and mysteriously, that not a trace or clue could be discovered of her +path. Consternation reigned within the palace; the King was full of +wrath at the insult offered to his power; the Queen even more grieved +than angry. The guards stationed without the chamber had declared on +oath that no one had passed them; the Senoras Leon and Pas, who slept +in the room adjoining, could tell nothing wherewith to explain the +mystery. In the first paroxsym of alarm they had declared the night +had passed as usual; but on cooler reflection they remembered starting +from their sleep with the impression of a smothered cry, which having +mingled with their dreams, and not being repeated, they had believed +mere fancy. And this faint sound was the only sign, the only trace +that her departure was not a voluntary act. + +"Father Francis! the arm of the church!" gasped Stanley, as Don Felix +paused in his recital, astonished at the effect of his words on the +prisoner, whose very respiration seemed impeded. + +"Father Francis has solemnly sworn," he replied, "that neither he nor +any of his brethren had connived at an act of such especial disrespect +to the sovereign power, and of injustice towards the Queen. Torquemada +is still absent, or suspicion night rest on him--he is stern enough +even for such a deed; but how could even he have withdrawn her from +the castle without discovery?" + +"Can she not have departed voluntarily?" inquired Stanley, with sudden +hope. "The cry you mention may indeed have been but fancy. Is it not +likely that fear as to her fate may have prompted her to seek safety +in flight?" + +"Her Grace thinks not, else some clue as to her path must, ere this, +have been discovered. Besides, escape was literally impossible without +the aid of magic, which however her accursed race know well how to +use. The guards must have seen her, had she passed her own threshold +in any human form. The casement was untouched, remaining exactly as +the Senora Leon secured it with her own hand the preceding evening; +and, even had she thence descended to the ground, she could have gone +no further from the high and guarded walls. It may be magic: if so, +and the devil hides himself in so fair a form, the saints preserve +us! for we know not in whom next he will be hid." So spoke, gravely, +seriously, undoubtingly, a wise and thoughtful Spanish noble, of the +fifteenth century; and so then thought the whole European world. +Stanley scarcely heard the last words; for in his mind, however +sorcery might be synonymous with _Judaism_ it certainly was not with +_Marie_; and he could only realize the fact of the utter impossibility +of a voluntary flight. + +"Had the Queen seen her since her trial?" he inquired. + +"She had not; a fact which deepens her distress; for she fancies had +Marie been nearer her person, and aware of the full extent of her +merciful intentions, this might have been averted. She believes that +the smothered cry alluded to was really Donna Marie's; but, if +so, what the dark power is, which has so trampled on the royal +prerogative, is plunged in as impenetrable mystery as every thing +else, in which Donna Marie has been concerned." + +"Even the same dark power which seeks my destruction, and laid Morales +low," replied Stanley, more as if thinking aloud than addressing his +companion; "and when the clue to one mystery is found, the rest will +follow. Some fiend from hell is at work around us. Morales is gone. +Marie has followed, and I shall be the next; and then, perhaps, the +demon's reign will end, and the saints of heaven triumph." + +"Would to heaven a Jewess had never come amongst us," was the +rejoinder; "there is always evil in their train." And the blood rushed +to Arthur's cheek, his hand involuntarily clenched, and his eye +glanced defiance towards Don Felix, as if, even at such a moment, +insult even in thought towards Marie should not pass unquestioned; but +he restrained himself, and the emotion was unnoticed. + +From that day so engrossed were the thoughts of the prisoner with +vain speculations as to the fate of Marie, that the fact of his own +position remaining the same, and his hours of life waning fast, seemed +actually unheeded. From Don Felix, in various visits, he heard that +Marie was no longer publicly spoken of; the excitement occasioned +alike by her avowal and disappearance was fast fading from the +imagination of the populace. The public jousts and festivals, intended +to celebrate the visit of the sovereigns, but which Morales's death +and the events ensuing had so painfully suspended, were recommencing, +and men flocked to them, as glad to escape from the mourning and +mystery which had held sway so long. + +And now only three days intervened ere the expiration of the given +month; and each day did the Sub-Prior of St. Francis pass with the +prisoner, exhorting, comforting, and strengthening him for the dread +passage through which it was now too evident his soul must pass to +eternity. It was with difficulty and pain, that Stanley could even +then so cease to think of Marie, as to prepare himself with fitting +sobriety and humility for the fate impending; but the warm sympathy of +Father Francis, whose fine feelings had never been blunted by a life +of rigid seclusion, won him to listen and to join in his prayers, and, +gradually weaning his thoughts from their earthly resting, raised them +to that heaven which, if he truly repented of sin, the good father +assured him, was fast opening for him. Under the inviolable seal of +confession, Arthur acknowledged his deep and long-cherished love +for Marie, his dislike to her husband, which naturally followed the +discovery of her marriage, and the evil passions thence arising; but +he never wavered in the reiteration of his innocence; adding, that he +reproached no man with his death. The sentence was just according to +the appearances against him. Had he himself been amongst his judges, +his own sentence would have been the same. Yet still he was innocent; +and Father Francis so believed him that, after pronouncing absolution +and blessing, he hastened from the prisoner to the King to implore a +yet longer reprieve. But Ferdinand, though more moved by the Prior's +recital than he chose to display, remained firm; he had pledged his +kingly word to the chief of the Santa Hermandad that the award of +justice should not be waived without proof of innocence, and he could +not draw back. One chance only he granted, urged to do so by an +irresistible impulse, which how often comes we know not wherefore, +till the event marks it as the whisper of some guardian angel, who has +looked into the futurity concealed from us. The hour of the execution +had been originally fixed for the sixth hour of the morning; it was +postponed till noon. + +The morning dawned, and with its first beams came Father Francis to +the prisoner. He found him calm and resigned: his last thought of +earth was to commend Marie, if ever found, to the holy father's care, +conjuring him to deal gently and mercifully with a spirit so broken, +and lead her to the sole fountain of peace by kindness, not by wrath; +and to tell her how faithfully he had loved her to the last. Much +affected, Father Francis promised--aye, even to protect, if possible, +an unbeliever. And Stanley once mere knelt in prayer, every earthly +thought at rest. The last quarter-bell had chimed; and ere it ceased, +the step of Don Felix was heard in the passage, followed by the +heavy tramp of the guard. The Prior looked eagerly in the noble's +countenance as he entered, hoping even then to read reprieve; but the +stern yet sad solemnity on Don Felix's face betrayed the hope was +vain. The hour had indeed come, and Arthur Stanley was led forth to +death! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + "Oh! blissful days, + When all men worship God as conscience wills! + Far other times our fathers' grandsires knew. + What tho' the skeptic's scorn hath dared to soil + The record of their fame! What tho' the men + Of worldly minds have dared to stigmatize + The sister-cause Religion and the Law + With Superstition's name! Yet, yet their deeds, + Their constancy in torture and in death-- + These on Tradition's tongue shall live; these shall + On History's honest page be pictur'd bright + To latest time." + + GRAHAME. + + +Retrospection is not pleasant in a narrative; but, if Marie has indeed +excited any interest in our readers, they will forgive the necessity, +and look back a few weeks ere they again arrive at the eventful day +with which our last chapter closed. All that Don Felix had reported +concerning the widow of Morales was correct. The first stunning +effects of her dread avowal were recovered, sense was entirely +restored, but the short-lived energy had gone. The trial to passively +endure is far more terrible than that which is called upon to _act_ +and _do_. She soon discovered that, though nursed and treated with +kindness, she was a prisoner in her own apartments. Wish to leave them +she had none, and scarcely the physical strength; but to sit idly down +under the pressure of a double dread--the prisoner's fate and her own +sentence--to have no call for energy, not a being for whom to rouse +herself and live, not one for whose sake she might forget herself +and win future happiness by present exertion; the Past, one yearning +memory for the husband, who had so soothed and cherished her, when any +other would have cast her from his heart as a worthless thing; the +Present, fraught with thoughts she dared not think, and words she +might not breathe; the very prayer for Stanley's safety checked--for +what could he be to her?--the Future shrouded in a pall so dense, she +could not read a line of its dark page, for the torch of Hope was +extinguished, and it is only by her light we can look forward; +Isabella's affection apparently lost for ever; was it marvel energy +and hope had so departed, or that a deadening despondency seemed to +crush her heart and sap the very springs of life? + +But in the midst of that dense gloom one ray there was, feeble indeed +at first as if human suffering had deadened even that, but brightening +and strengthening with every passing day. It was the sincerity of her +faith--the dearer, more precious to its followers, from the scorn and +condemnation, in which it was held by man. + +The fact that the most Catholic kingdom, of Spain, was literally +peopled with secret Jews, brands this unhappy people, with a degree +of hypocrisy, in addition to the various other evil propensities +with which they have been so plentifully charged. Nay, even amongst +themselves in modern times, this charge has gained ascendency; and +the romance-writer who would make use of this extraordinary truth, +to vividly picture the condition of the Spanish Jews, is accused of +vilifying the nation, by reporting practices, opposed to the upright +dictates of the religion of the Lord. It is well to pronounce such +judgment _now_, that the liberal position which we occupy in most +lands, would render it the height of dissimulation, and hypocrisy, to +conceal our faith; but to judge correctly of the secret adherence to +Judaism and public profession of Catholicism which characterized +our ancestors in Spain, we must transport ourselves not only to +the _country_ but to the _time_, and recall the awfully degraded, +crushing, and stagnating position which _acknowledged Judaism_ +occupied over the whole known world. As early as 600--as soon, in +fact, as the disputes and prosecutions of Arian against Catholic, and +Catholic against Arian, had been checked by the whole of Spain being +subdued and governed by Catholic kings--intolerance began to work +against the Jews, who had been settled in vast numbers in Spain +since the reign of the Emperor Adrian; some authorities assert still +earlier.[A] They were, therefore, nearly the original colonists of the +country, and regarded it with almost as much attachment as they had +felt towards Judea. When persecution began to work, "90,000 Jews were +compelled to receive the sacrament of baptism," the bodies of the +more obstinate tortured, and their fortunes confiscated; and yet--a +remarkable instance of inconsistency--_they were not permitted to +leave Spain_; and this species of persecution continued from 600 +downwards. Once or twice edicts of expulsion were issued, but speedily +recalled; the tyrants being unwilling to dismiss victims whom they +delighted to torture, or deprive themselves of industrious slaves over +whom they might exercise a lucrative oppression; and a statute was +enacted, "that the Jews who had been baptized should be _constrained_, +for the honor of the church, to persevere in the _external practice_ +of a religion which they _inwardly_ disbelieved and detested."[B] + +[Footnote A: Basnage asserts that the Jews were introduced into Spain +by the fleet of Soloman, and the arms of Nebuchadnezzar, and that +Hadrian transported _forty thousand_ families of the tribe of Judah, +and ten thousand of the tribe of Benjamin, etc.] + +[Footnote B: "Gibbon's Decline and Fall," vol. 6, chap. xxxvii, +from which all the previous sentences in inverted commas have been +extracted.] + +How, then, can compelled obedience to this statute be termed +hypocrisy? Persecution, privation, tyranny, may torture and destroy +the body, but they cannot force the mind to the adoption of, and +belief in tenets, from which the very treatment they commanded must +urge it to revolt. Of the 90,000 Jews forcibly baptized by order of +Sisebut, and constrained to the external profession of Catholicism, +not ten, in all probability, became actually Christians. And yet how +would it have availed them to relapse into the public profession of +the faith they so obeyed and loved in secret? To leave the country was +utterly impossible. It is easy to talk now of such proceedings being +their right course of acting, when every land is open to the departure +and entrance of every creed; but it was widely different then, and, +even if they could have quitted Spain, there was not a spot of ground, +in the whole European and Asiatic world, where persecution, extortion, +and banishment would not equally have been their doom. Constant +relapses into external as well as internal Judaism, there were, but +they were but the signal for increased misery to the whole nation; and +by degrees they ceased. It was from the forcible baptism of the 90,000 +Hebrews, by Sisebut, that we may trace the origin of the secret +Jews. From father to son, from mother to daughter, the solemn secret +descended, and gradually spread, still in its inviolable nature, +through every rank and every profession, from the highest priest to +the lowest friar, the general to the common soldier, the noble to the +peasant, over the whole land. There were indeed some few in Spain, +before the final edict of expulsion in 1492, who were Hebrews in +external profession as well as internal observance; but their +condition was so degraded, so scorned, so exposed to constant +suffering, that it was not in human nature voluntarily to sink down +to them, when, by the mere continuance of external Catholicism--which +from its universality, its long existence, and being in fact a rigidly +enforced statute of the state, _could_ not be regarded either as +hypocrisy or sin--they could take their station amongst the very +highest and noblest of the land, and rise to eminence and power in any +profession, civil, military, or religious, which they might prefer. +The subject is so full of philosophical inquiry, that in the limits of +a romance we cannot possibly do it justice; but to accuse the secret +Jews of Spain of hypocrisy, of departing from the pure odinances of +their religion, because _compelled_ to simulate Catholicism, is taking +indeed but a one-handed, short-sighted view of an extensive and +intensely interesting topic. We may often hope for the _present_ by +considering the changes of the _past_; but to attempt to pronounce +judgment on the sentiments of the _past_ by reasoning of the +_present_, when the mind is always advancing, is one of the weakest +and idlest fallacies that ever entered the human breast. + +Digression as this is, it is necessary clearly to comprehend the +situation in which Marie's avowal of her religion had placed her, +and her reason for so carefully wording her information as to the +existence of the secret closet, that no suspicion might attach itself +to the religion of her husband. Her confession sent a shock, which +vibrated not only through Isabella's immediate court, but through +every part of Spain. Suspicion once aroused, none knew where it might +end, or on whom fall. In her first impulse to save Arthur, she +had only thought of what such confession might bring to herself +individually, and that was, comparatively, easy to endure; but as the +excitement ceased, as the dread truth dawned upon her, that, if he +must die at the expiration of the given month, her avowal had been +utterly useless, the dread of its consequences, to the numerous secret +members of her faith appalled her, and caused the firm, resolve under +no circumstances to betray the religion of her husband. Him indeed it +could not harm; but that one so high in rank, in influence, in favor +with sovereigns and people, was only outwardly a Catholic, might have +most fatal consequences on all his brethren. That he should have +wedded a Jewess might excite surprise, but nothing more; and in the +midst of her varied sufferings she could rejoice that all suspicion +as to his race and faith had been averted. She felt thankful also at +being kept so close a prisoner, for she dreaded the wrath of those +whom her avowal might have unwittingly injured. Such an instance +had never been known before, and she might justly tremble at the +chastisement it might bring upon her even from her own people. As long +as she was under Isabella's care she was safe from this; all might +feel the vibration, but none dared evince that they did, by the +adoption of any measures against her, further than would be taken by +the Catholics themselves. + +Knowing this, her sole prayer, her sole effort was to obtain mental +strength sufficient under every temptation, either from severity or +kindness, to adhere unshrinkingly to the faith of her fathers--to +cling yet closer to the love of her Father in heaven, and endeavor, +with all the lowly trust and fervid feelings of her nature, to fill +the yearning void within her woman's heart with his image, and so +subdue every human love. It seemed to her vivid fancy as if all the +misfortunes she had encountered sprung from her first sin--that +of loving a Nazarene. Hers was not the age to make allowances for +circumstances in contradistinction to actual deeds. Then, as +unhappily but too often now, all were sufferings from a misplaced +affection--sprung, not from her fault, but from the mistaken kindness +which it exposed her to without due warning of her danger. Educated +with the strong belief, that to love or wed, beyond the pale of her +own people was the greatest sin she could commit, short of actual +apostacy, that impression, though not strong enough, so to conquer +human nature, as to arm against love, returned with double force, as +sorrow after sorrow gathered round her, and there were none beside her +to whisper and strengthen, with the blessed truth that God afflicts +yet more in mercy than in wrath; and that his decrees, however fraught +with human anguish, are but blessings in disguise--blessings, sown +indeed with tears on earth, to reap their deathless fruit in heaven. + +But though firmly believing all her suffering was deserved, aware that +when she first loved Arthur, the rebel-thought--"Why am I of a race so +apart and hated?" had very frequently entered her heart, tempting her +at times with fearful violence to give up all for love of man; yet +Marie knew that the God of her fathers was a God of love, calling even +upon the greatest sinner to return to him repentant and amending, and +that even as a little child such should be forgiven. He had indeed +proclaimed himself a jealous God, and would have no idol-worship, were +it by wood or stone, or, far more dangerous, of human love; and she +prayed unceasingly for strength to return to Him with an undivided +heart, even if to do so demanded not only separation from Stanley--but +a trial in her desolate position almost as severe--the loss of +Isabella's confidence and love. + +Few words passed between Marie and her guardians; their manner was +kind and gentle, but intercourse between rigid Catholics and a +proclaimed Jewess, could not be other wise than restrained. From the +time that reason returned, the Queen had not visited her, doing actual +violence to her own inclinations from tire mistaken--but in that age +and to her character natural--dread that the affection and interest +she felt towards Marie personally, would lessen the sentiments of +loathing and abhorrence with which it was her duty to regard her +faith. Isabella had within herself all the qualifications of a martyr. +Once impressed that it was a religious duty, she would do violence to +her most cherished wishes, sacrifice her dearest desires, her best +affections, resign her most eagerly pursued plans--not without +suffering indeed, but, according to the mistaken tenets of her +religion, the greater personal suffering, the more meritorious was the +deed believed to be. This spirit would, had she lived in an age when +the Catholic faith was the persecuted, not the persecutor, have led +her a willing martyr to the stake; as it was, this same spirit led to +the establishment of the Inquisition, and expulsion of the Jews--deeds +so awful in their consequences, that the actual motive of the +woman-heart which prompted them, is utterly forgotten, and herself +condemned. We must indeed deplore the mistaken tenets that could +obtain such influence--deplore that man could so pervert the service +of a God of love, as to believe and inculcate that such things could +be acceptable to Him; but we should pause, and ask, if we ourselves +had been influenced by such teaching, could we break from it? ere we +condemn. + +Isabella's own devoted spirit could so enter into the real reason of +Marie's self abnegation for Arthur's sake, that it impelled her to +love her more; while at the very same time the knowledge of her +being a Jewess, whom she had always been taught and believed must be +accursed in the sight of God, and lost eternally unless brought to +believe in Jesus, urged her entirely to conquer that affection, lest +its indulgence should interfere with her resolution, if kindness +failed, by severity to accomplish her own version. She was too weak in +health, and Isabella intuitively felt too terribly anxious as to young +Stanley's fate, to attempt any thing till after the expiration of the +month; and she passed that interval in endeavoring to calm down her +own feelings towards her. + +So fifteen days elapsed. On the evening of the fifteenth, Marie, +feeling unusually exhausted, had sunk down, without disrobing, on her +couch, and at length fell into a slumber so deep and calm, that her +guardians, fearing to disturb it, and aware that her dress was so +loose and light, it could not annoy her, retired softly to their own +chamber without arousing her. How many hours this lethargic sleep +lasted, Marie knew not, but was at length broken by a dream of terror, +and so unusually vivid, that its impression lasted even through the +terrible reality which it heralded. She beheld Arthur Stanley on the +scaffold about to receive the sentence of the law--the block, the axe, +the executioner with his arm raised, and apparently already deluged +in blood--the gaping crowds--all the fearful appurtenances of an +execution were distinctly traced, and she thought she sprung towards +Stanley, who clasped her in his arms, and the executioner, instead of +endeavoring to part them, smiled grimly as rejoicing in having two +victims instead of one; and as he smiled, the countenance seemed to +change from being entirely unknown to the sneering features of the +hated Don Luis Garcia. She seemed to cling yet closer to Stanley, +and knelt with, him to receive the blow; when, at that moment, the +scaffold shook violently, as by the shock of an earthquake, a dark +chashm yawned beneath their feet, in the centre of which stood the +spectral figure of her husband, his countenance ghastly and stern, and +his arm upraised as beckoning her to join him. And then he spoke; but +his voice sounded unlike his own:-- + +"Marie Henriquez Morales! awake, arise, and follow!" + +And with such extraordinary clearness did the words fall, that she +started up in terror, believing they must have been spoken by her +side--and they were! they might have mingled with, perhaps even +created her dream. She still lay on her couch; but it seemed to have +sunk down through the very floor of the apartment[A] she had occupied, +and at its foot stood a figure, who, with upraised arm held before her +a wooden cross. His cowl was closely drawn, and a black robe, of the +coarsest serge, was secured round his waist by a hempen cord. Whether +he had indeed spoken the words she had heard in her dream Marie could +not tell, for they were not repeated. She saw him approach her, and +she felt his strong grasp lift her from the couch, which sprung up, by +the touch of some secret spring, to the place whence it had descended; +and she heard no more. + +[Footnote A: I may be accused in this scene, of too closely imitating +a somewhat similar occurrence in Anne of Geirstein. Such seeming +plagiarism was scarcely possible to be avoided, when the superstitious +proceedings of the _vehmic_ tribunal of Germany and the _secret_ +Inquisition of Spain are represented by history as so very similar.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + "Isabel.--Ha! little honor to be much believed, + And most pernicious purpose--seeming, seeming. + I will proclaim thee, Angelo! look for't; + Sign me a present pardon-- + Or, with an outstretch'd throat, I'll tell the world + Aloud what man thou art. + + "Angelo.--Who will believe thee? + My unsoil'd name, th' austereness of my life, + My vouch against you, and my place i' the State, + Will so your accusation overweigh + That you will stifle in your own report + The smile of Calumny." + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +When Marie recovered consciousness, she found herself in a scene so +strange, so terrific, that it appeared as if she must have been borne +many miles from Segovia, so utterly impossible did it seem, that +such awful orgies could be enacted within any short distance of the +sovereigns' palace, or their subjects' homes. She stood in the centre +of a large vaulted subterranean hall, which, from the numerous arched +entrances to divers passages and smaller chambers that opened on every +side, appeared to extend far and wide beneath the very bowels of the +earth. It was lighted with torches, but so dimly, that the gloom +exaggerated the horrors, which the partial light disclosed. +Instruments of torture of any and every kind--the rack, the wheel, the +screw, the cord, and fire--groups of unearthly-looking figures, all +clad in the coarse black serge and hempen belt; some with their faces +concealed by hideous masks, and others enveloped in the cowls, through +which only the eyes could be distinguished, the figure of the cross +upon the breast, and under that emblem, of divine peace, inflicting +such horrible tortures on their fellow-men that the pen shrinks from +their delineation. Nor was it the mere instruments of torture Marie +beheld: she saw them in actual use; she heard the shrieks and groans +of the hapless victims, at times mingled with the brutal leers and +jests of their fiendish tormentors; she seemed to take in at one view, +every species of torture that could be inflicted, every pain that +could be endured; and yet, comparatively, but a few of the actual +sufferers were visible. The shrillest sounds of agony came from the +gloomy arches, in which no object could be distinguished. + +Whatever suffering meets the sight, it does not so exquisitely affect +the brain as that which reaches it through the ear. At the former the +heart may bleed and turn sick; but at the latter the brain seems, +for the moment, wrought into frenzy; and, even though personally in +safety, it is scarcely possible to restrain the same sounds from +bursting forth. How then must those shrill sounds of human agony have +fallen on the hapless Marie, recognizing as she did with the rapidity +of thought, in the awful scene around her, the main hall of that +mysterious and terrible tribunal, whose existence from her earliest +infancy had been impressed upon her mind, as a double incentive to +guard the secret of her faith; that very Inquisition, from which her +own grandfather, Julien Heuriquez, had fled, and in which the less +fortunate grandfather of her slaughtered husband, had been tortured +and burnt. + +For a second she stood mute and motionless, as turned to stone; then, +pressing both hands tightly on her temples, she sunk down at the feet +of her conductor, and sought in words to beseech his mercy; but her +white lips gave vent to no sound save a shriek, so wild that it +seemed, for the moment, to drown all other sorrows, and startle even +the human fiends around her. Her conductor himself started back; but +quickly recovering-- + +"Fool!" he muttered, as he rudely raised her. "I have no power to aid +thee; come before the Superior--we must all obey--ask him, implore +him, for mercy, not me." + +He bore her roughly to a recess, divided off at the upper end of the +hall, by a thick black drapery, in which sat the Grand Inquisitor +and his two colleagues. One or two familiars were behind them, and a +secretary sat near a table covered with black cloth, and on which were +several writing implements. All wore masks of black crape, so thick +that not a feature could be discerned with sufficient clearness for +recognition elsewhere; yet, one glance on the stern, motionless +figure, designated as the Grand Inquisitor, sufficed to bid every drop +of blood recede from the prisoner's heart with human terror, at the +very same moment that it endowed the _woman_ with such supernatural +fortitude that her very form seemed to dilate, and her large eye and +lovely mouth expressed--if it could be, in such a scene and such +an hour--unutterable scorn. Antipathy, even as love, will pierce +disguise; and that one glance, lit up with almost bewildering light, +in the prisoner's mind, link after link of what had before been +impenetrable mystery. Her husband's discovery of her former love for +Arthur; his murder; the suspicion thrown on Stanley; her own summons +as witness against him; her present danger; all, all were traced to +one individual, one still working and most guilty passion, which she, +in her gentle purity and holy strength, had scorned. She could not +be deceived--the mystery that surrounded him was solved--antipathy +explained; and Marie's earthly fate lay in Don Luis Garcia's hands! +The Grand Inquisitor read in that glance that he was known; and for +a brief minute a strange, an incomprehensible sensation, thrilled +through him. It could scarcely have been fear, when one gesture of +his hand would destine that frail being to torture, imprisonment, and +death; and yet never before in his whole life of wickedness, had he +experienced such a feeling as he did at that moment beneath a woman's +holy gaze. Anger at himself for the sensation, momentary as it was, +increased the virulence of other passions; but then was not the hour +for their betrayal. In low, deep tones, he commenced the mockery of a +trial. That her avowal of her faith would elude torture, by at once +condemning her to the flames, was disregarded. She was formally +accused of blasphemy and heresy, and threatened with the severest +vengeance of the church which she had reviled; but that this case of +personal guilt would be mercifully laid aside for the present, for +still more important considerations. Was her late husband, they +demanded, of the same blaspheming creed as herself? And a list of +names, comprising some of the highest families of Spain, was read out +and laid before her, with the stern command to affix a mark against +all who, like herself, had relapsed into the foul heresy of their +ancestors--to do this, or the torture should wring it from her. + +But the weakness of humanity had passed; and so calm, so collected, so +firm, was the prisoner's resolute refusal to answer either question, +that the familiar to whom she had clung for mercy looked at her with +wonder. Again and again she was questioned; instruments of torture +were brought before her--one of the first and slightest used--more +to terrify than actually to torture, for that was not yet the Grand +Inquisitor's design; and still she was firm, calm, unalterable in her +resolution to refuse reply. And then Don Luis spoke of mercy, which +was to consist of imprisonment in solitude and darkness, to allow time +for reflection on her final answer--a concession, he said, in a tone +far more terrifying to Marie than even the horrors around her, +only granted in consideration of her age and sex. None opposed the +sentence; and she was conducted to a close and narrow cell, in which +no light could penetrate save through a narrow chink in the roof. + +How many days and nights thus passed the hapless prisoner could not +have told, for there was nothing to mark the hours. Her food was +delivered to her by means of a turn-screw in the wall, so that not +even the sight of a fellow-creature could disturb her solitude, or +give her the faintest hope of exciting human pity. Her sole hope, her +sole refuge was in prayer; and, oh! how blessed was the calm, the +confidence it gave. + +So scanty was her allowance of food, that more than once the thought, +crossed her, whether or not, death by famine would be her allotted +doom; and human nature shuddered, but the spirit did not quail! Hour +after hour passed, she knew not whether it was night or day, when the +gloom of her dungeon was suddenly illumined; she knew not at first +how or whence, so noiseless was the entrance of the intruder, but +gradually she traced the light to a small lamp held in the hand of +a shrouded individual, whom she recognized at once. There was one +fearful thrill of mortal dread, one voiceless cry for strength from +Heaven, and Marie Morales stood before Don Luis erect and calm, and +firm as in her hour of pride. + +Garcia now attempted no concealment. His mask had been cast aside, and +his features gleamed without any effort at hypocritical restraint, in +all the unholy passions of his soul. We will not pollute our pages +with transcribing the fearful words of passions contending in their +nature, yet united in their object, with which the pure ear of his +prisoner was first assailed--still lingering desire, yet hate, wrath, +fury, that she should dare still oppose, and scorn, and loathe him; +rage with himself, that, strive as he might, even he was baffled by +the angel purity around her; longing to wreak upon her every torture +that his hellish office gave him unchecked power to inflict, yet +fearing that, if he did so, death would release her ere his object was +attained; all strove and raged within him, making his bosom a very +hell, from which there was no retracting, yet whose very flames +incited deeper fury towards the being whom he believed their cause. + +"And solitude, darkness, privation--have they so little availed that +thou wilt tempt far fiercer sufferings?" he at length demanded, +struggling to veil his fury in a quiet, concentrated tone. "Thou hast +but neared the threshold of the tortures which one look, one gesture +of my hand, can gather around thee; tortures which the strongest +sinew, the firmest mind, have been unable to sustain--how will that +weakened frame endure?" + +"It can but die," replied the prisoner, "as nobler and better ones +have done before me!" + +"Die!" repeated Garcia, and he laughed mockingly. "Thinkest thou we +know our trade so little that such release can baffle us? I tell thee, +pain of itself has never yet had power to kill; and we have learned +the measure of endurance in the human form so well, that we have never +yet been checked by death, ere our ends were gained. And so will it be +with thee, boldly as now thou speakest. Thou hast but tasted pain!" + +"Better the sharpest torture than thy hated presence," calmly rejoined +Marie. "My soul thou canst not touch." + +"Soul! Has a Jewess a soul? Nay, by my faith, thou talkest bravely! An +thou hast, thou hadst best be mine, and so share my salvation; there's +none for such as thee." + +"Man!" burst indignantly from the prisoner. "Share thy salvation! +Great God of Israel! that men like these have power to persecute thy +children for their faith, and do it in thy name! And speak of +mercy! Thou hast but given me another incentive for endurance," she +continued, more calmly addressing her tormentor. "If salvation be +denied to us, and granted thee, I would refuse it with my dying +breath; such faith is not of God!" + +"I came not hither to enter on such idle quibbles," was the rejoinder. +"It matters not to me what thou art after death, but before it mine +thou shalt be. What hinders me, at this very moment, from working my +will upon thee? Who will hear thy cry? or, hearing, will approach +thee? These walls have heard too many sounds of human agony to bear +thy voice to those who could have mercy. Tempt me not by thy scorn too +far. What holds me from thee now?" + +"What holds thee from me? GOD!" replied the prisoner, in a tone of +such, thrilling, such supernatural energy, that Garcia actually +started as if some other voice than hers had spoken, and she saw +him glance fearfully round. "Thou darest not touch me! Ay, +villain--blackest and basest as thou art--thou darest not do it. The +God thine acts, yet more than thy words blaspheme, withholds thee--and +thou knowest it!" + +"I defy him!" were the awful words that answered her; and Don Luis +sprang forwards. + +"Back!" exclaimed the heroic girl. "Advance one step nearer, and thy +vengeance, even as thy passion, will alike be foiled--and may God +forgive the deed I do." + +She shook down the beautiful tresses of her long luxuriant hair, and, +parting them with both hands around her delicate throat, stood calmly +waiting in Don Luis's movements the signal for her own destruction. + +"Fool!" he muttered, as involuntarily he fell back, awed--in spite of +his every effort to the contrary--at a firmness as unexpected as it +was unwavering. "Fool! Thou knowest not the power it is thy idle +pleasure to defy; thou wilt learn it all too soon, and then in vain +regret thy scorn of my proffer now. Thou hast added tenfold to my wild +yearning for revenge on thy former scorn--tenfold! ay, twice tenfold, +to thy own tortures. Yet, once more, I bid thee pause and choose. +Fools there are, who dare all personal physical torment, and yet +shrink and quail before the thought of death for a beloved one. +Idiots, who for others, sacrifice themselves; perchance thou wilt be +one of them. Listen, and tremble; or, sacrifice, and save! When in +thy haughty pride, and zenith of thy power, thou didst scorn me, and +bidding me, with galling contempt, go from thy presence as if I were a +loathsome reptile, unworthy even of thy tread, I bade thee beware, and +to myself swore vengeance. And knowest thou how that was accomplished? +Who led thy doting husband where he might hear thine own lips proclaim +thy falsity? Who poisoned the chalice of life, which had been so +sweet, ere it was dashed from his lips by death? Who commanded the +murderer's blow, and the weapon with which it was accomplished? Who +laid the charge of his murder on the foreign minion, and brought thee +in evidence against him? Who but I--even I! And if I have done all +this, thinkest thou to elude my further vengeance? I tell thee, if +thou refuse the grace I proffer, Arthur Stanley dies; accept it, and +he lives!" + +"And not at such a price would Arthur Stanley wish, to live," replied +Marie calmly. "He would spurn existence purchased thus." + +"Ay, perchance, if he knew it; but be it as thou wilt, he shall know +thou couldst have saved him and refused." + +"And thinkest thou he will believe thee? As little as I believed him +my husband's murderer. How little knowest thou the trust of love! He +will not die," she continued emphatically; "his innocence shall save +him--thy crime be known." + +"Ay!" replied Garcia, with a sneering laugh. "Give thyself wings as a +bird, and still stone walls will encircle thee; dwindle into thin air, +and gain the outer world, and tell thy tale, and charge Don Luis Garcia +with the deed, and who will believe thee? Thinkest thou I would have +boasted of my triumphant vengeance to aught who could betray me? Why my +very tool, the willing minister of my vengeance--who slew Morales merely +because I bade him--might not live, lest he should be tempted to betray +me; I slew him with my own hand. What sayest thou now--shall Stanley +live, if I say Let him die?" + +There was no reply, but he looked in vain for any diminution in the +undaunted resolution which still sustained her. + +"I go," he continued, after a pause. "Yet, once more, I charge thee +choose; accept the terms I proffer--be mine--and thou art saved from +all further torture thyself, and Stanley lives. Refuse, and the +English minion dies; and when thou and I next meet, it will be where +torture and executioners wait but my nod to inflict such suffering +that thou wilt die a thousand deaths in every pang. And, +Jewess--unbeliever as thou art--who will dare believe it more than +public justice, or accuse me of other than the zeal, which the service +of Christ demands? Choose, and quickly--wilt thou accept my proffers, +and be mine? Thou must, at last. What avails this idle folly of +tempting torture first?" + +"Thou mayest kill my body, but thou canst not pollute my soul," was +the instant reply, and its tones were unchanged. "And as for Stanley, +his life or death is not in thine hands; but if it were, I could +not--nay, thus I _would_ not--save him. I reject thy proffers, as I +scorn thyself. Now leave me--I have chosen!" + +Don Luis did not reply, but Marie beheld his cheek grow livid, and the +foam actually gather on his lip; but the calm and holy gaze she had +fixed upon him, as he spoke, quailed not, nor changed. The invisible +door of her cell closed with a deep, sullen sound, as if her tormentor +had thus, in some measure, given vent to the unutterable fury shaking +his soul to its centre; and Marie was alone. She stood for many, many +minutes, in the fearful dread of his return; and then she raised her +hand to her brow, and her lip blanched and quivered, and, with a long, +gasping breath, she sunk down upon the cold floor--all the heroine +lost in an agonized burst of tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + "Hovers the steel above his head, + Suspended by a spider thread: + On, on! a life hangs on thy speed; + With lightning wing the gallant steed! + Buoy the full heart up! It will sink + If it but pause to feel and think. + There is no time to dread his fate: + No thought but one--too late, too late!" + + MS. + + +Too soon did Marie realize the power of Don Luis to exercise his +threatened vengeance! Two days after that terrible interview, she +was again dragged to the hall of judgment: the same questions were +proposed as before, whether or not she would denounce the secret +followers of her own creed, and confess her late husband's real +belief; and the same firm answers given. We shrink in loathing from +the delineation of horrible tortures applied to that frail and gentle +being--shrink, for we know that such things actually have been; and +women--young, lovely, inoffensive as Marie Morales--have endured the +same exquisite agony for the same iniquitous purpose! In public, +charged to denounce innocent fellow-beings, or suffer; in private--in +those dark and fearful cells--exposed to all the horror and terror of +such persecution as we have faintly endeavored to describe. It is no +picture of the imagination, delighting to dwell on horrors. Would that +it were! Its parallel will be found, again and again repeated, in the +annals--not of the Inquisition alone--but of every European state +where the Romanists held sway. + +But Marie's prayer for superhuman strength had been heard. No cry, +scarcely a groan, escaped her. She saw Don Luis at her side; she +heard his hissing whisper that there was yet time to retract and +be released; but she deigned him no reply whatever. It was not his +purpose to try her endurance to the utmost in the first, second, or +third trial; though, so enraged at her calmness, as scarcely to be +able to restrain it even before his colleagues, and with difficulty +controlling his fiendish desire to increase the torture to its utmost +at once, he remanded her to her dungeon till his further pleasure +should be known. She had fainted under the intolerable pain, and lay +for many successive hours, too exhausted even to raise to her parched +lips the pitcher of water lying near her. And even the gradual +cessation of suffering, the sensation of returning power, brought with +them the agonized thought, that they did but herald increased and +increasing torture. + +One night--she knew not how long after she had been remanded to her +cell, but, counting by suffering, it felt many weary nights and +days--she sunk into a sleep or trance, which transported her to her +early home in the Vale of Cedars. Her mother seemed again to stand +before her; and she thought, as she heard her caressing voice, and met +the glance of her dove-like eyes, she laid her head on her bosom, as +she was wont to do in her happy childhood; and peace seemed to sink +into her heart so blessedly, so deeply, that the very fever of her +frame departed. A voice aroused her with a start; it was so like her +mother's, that the dream seemed lingering still. + +"Marie, my beloved one," murmured the voice, and a breath fanned +her cheek, as if some one were leaning over her. She unclosed her +eyes--the words, the voice, still so kept up the illusion, though +the tones were deeper than a woman's, that even the hated dress of +a familiar of the Inquisition could not create alarm. "Hast thou +forgotten me, my child? But it matters not now. Say only thou wilt +trust me, and safety lies before us. The fiends hold not their hellish +court to-night; and the arch-fiend himself is far distant, on a sudden +summons from the King, which, though the grand Inquisitor might scorn, +Don Luis will obey. Wilt come with me, my child?" + +"Ay, any where! That voice could not deceive: but 'tis all vain," she +continued, the first accents of awakened hope lost in despondency--"I +cannot rise." + +"It needs not. Do thou hold the lantern, Marie; utter not a +word--check even thy breath--and the God of thy fathers shall save +thee yet." + +He raised her gently in his arms; and the hope of liberty, of rescue +from Don Luis, gave her strength to grasp the light to guide them. She +could not trace their way, but she felt they left the dungeon, and +traversed many long, damp, and narrow passages, seemingly excavated in +the solid earth. All was silent, and dark as the tomb; now and then +her guide paused, as if to listen; but there was no sound. He knew +well the secret paths he trod. + +The rapid motion, even the sudden change, almost deprived Marie of +consciousness. She was only sensible, by a sudden change from the +close, damp, passages to the free breezes of night, that she was in +the open air, and apparently a much freer path; that still her guide +pressed swiftly onwards, apparently scarcely feeling her light weight; +that, after a lengthened interval, she was laid tenderly on a soft, +luxurious couch--at least, so it seemed, compared with the cold floor +of her cell; that the blessed words of thanksgiving that she was +safe broke from that strangely familiar voice; and she asked no +more--seemed even to wish no more--so completely was all physical +power prostrated. She lay calm and still, conscious only that she was +saved. Her guide himself for some time disturbed her not; but after +changing his dress, and preparing a draught of cooling herbs, he knelt +down, raised her head on his knee with almost woman's tenderness, and, +holding the draught to her lips, said, gently-- + +"Drink, beloved child of my sainted sister; there is life and health +in the draught." + +Hastily swallowing it, Marie gazed wildly in his face.--The +habiliments of the familiar had been changed for those of a +Benedictine monk; his cowl thrown back, and the now well remembered +countenance of her uncle Julien was beaming over her. In an instant, +the arm she could still use was thrown round him, and her head buried +in his bosom; every pulse throbbing with the inexpressible joy of +finding, when most desolate, one relative to love and save her still. +Julien left not his work of healing and of security incomplete; +gradually he decreased, by the constant application of linen bathed +in some cooling fluid, the scorching fire which still seemed to burn +within the maimed and shrivelled limb; parted the thick masses of +dishevelled hair from her burning temples, and bathed them with some +cooling and reviving essence; gently removed the sable robes, and +replaced them, with the dress of a young novice which he had +provided; concealed her hair beneath the white linen hood, and then, +administering a potion which he knew would produce deep and refreshing +sleep, and so effectually calm the fevered nerves, she sunk down on +the soft moss and heath which formed her couch, and slept calmly and +sweetly as an infant for many hours. + +Julien Morales had entered Segovia in his monkish garb, as was +frequently his custom, on the evening of the trial.--The excitement of +the whole city naturally called forth his queries as to its cause; +and the information imparted--the murder of Don Ferdinand, and +incomprehensible avowal of Judaism on the part of his niece--demanded +a powerful exercise of self-control to prevent, by a betrayal of +unusual grief and horror, his near relationship to both parties. +Hovering about the palace, he heard of Isabella's merciful intentions +towards Marie; and feeling that his presence might only agitate, +and could in nothing avail her, he had resolved on leaving the city +without seeing her, when her mysterious disappearance excited all +Segovia anew. + +Julien Morales alone, perhaps, amidst hundreds, in his own mind solved +the mystery at once. Well did he know tire existence of the secret +Inquisition. As we narrated in one of our early chapters, the fate +of his father had so fixed itself upon his mind, that he had bound +himself by a secret, though solemn oath, as his avenger. To accomplish +this fully, he had actually spent ten years of his life as familiar in +the Inquisition. The fate of Don Luis's predecessor had been plunged +in the deepest mystery. Some whispered his death was by a subtle +poison; others, that his murderer had sought him in the dead of night, +and, instead of treacherously dealing the blow, had awakened him, and +bade him confess his crimes--one especially; and acknowledge that if +the mandate of the Eternal, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall +his blood be shed," were still to govern man, his death was but an act +of justice which might not be eluded. Whether these whispered rumors +had to do with Julien Morales or not, we leave to the judgment of our +readers.--Suffice it, that not only was his vow accomplished, but, +during his ten years' residence in these subterranean halls, he +naturally became familiarized with all their secret passages and +invisible means of egress and ingress--not only to the apparently +private homes of unoffensive citizens, but into the wild tracts of +country scattered round. By one of these he had, in fact, effected his +own escape; and in the mild and benevolent Benedictine monk--known +alike to the cities and solitudes of Spain--none would have recognized +the former familiar of the Inquisition, and still less have imagined +him the being which in reality he was--a faithful and believing Jew. + +To him, then, it was easy to connect the disappearance of Marie with +the existence of the Holy Office, even though he was entirely ignorant +of Garcia's ulterior designs. In an agony of apprehension, he resolved +on saving her if possible, even while he trembled at the delay which +must necessarily ensue ere he could arrange and execute his plans, +more especially as it was dangerous to associate a second person in +their accomplishment. With all his haste and skill he was not in time +to save her from the barbarity of her misnamed judges. His very soul +was wrung, as he stood amongst the familiars a silent witness of her +sufferings; but to interfere was impossible. One thing, however, was +favorable. He knew she would not be again disturbed till a sufficient +time had elapsed for the recovery of such strength as would enable her +to endure further torture; and he had, therefore, some time before him +for their flight. + +Her voluntary avowal of her faith--aware too, as she was, of the +existence of the Inquisition--had, indeed, perplexed the good uncle +greatly; but she was in no state, even when partially recovered from +physical weakness, to enter into explanation then. He saw she was +unhappy, and the loss of her husband might well account for it. To the +rumors which had reached him in Segovia, as to the suppositions of the +real cause of Stanley's enmity to Morales, and Marie's self-sacrifice, +he would not even listen, so completely without foundation did they +seem to him. + +The second evening after their escape, they left the cave to pursue +their journey. Father Ambrose--for so, now he has resumed his monkish +garb, we must term Julien--had provided a mule for the novice's use; +and thus they leisurely traversed the desolate and mountainous tract +forming the boundaries of the provinces now termed old and new +Castile. Neither uncle nor niece spoke of their destined goal; Marie +intuitively felt she was proceeding to the Vale of Cedars, the only +place of safety now for her; but, so engrossed was her mind with the +vain thought how to save Arthur, that for herself she could not frame +a wish. + +The second evening of their journey they entered a small, straggling +village, so completely buried in mountains that its existence was +unknown save to its own rustic inhabitants. The appearance of a monk +evidently caused an unusual excitement, which was speedily explained. +The chief of the villagers approached Father Ambrose, and, addressing +him with the greatest respect, entreated him to follow him to his +house, where, he said, lay a man at the point of death, who had, from +the time he became aware of his dangerous position, incessantly called +for a priest to shrive him from some deadly sin. He had been found, +the villager continued. In a deep pit sunk in a solitary glen half way +to Segovia, with every appearance of attempted murder, which, being +supposed complete, the assassins had thrown him into the pit to +conceal their deed; but chancing to hear his groans as he passed, he +had rescued him, and hoped to have cured his wounds. For three weeks +they seemed to progress favorably, but then fever--occurring, he +thought, from great restlessness of mind--had rapidly increased, +and, after ten days of fearful struggle between life and death +mortification had ensued, and hope could exist no longer At first, +Perez added, he seemed to shrink from the idea of priestly aid, only +harping on one theme--to get strength enough to reach Segovia, and +speak to the King. They had thought him mad, but humored him; but now +he was almost furious in his wild cries for a priest, not only to +shrive him, but to bear his message to the King. They had tried +to gratify him, but their distance from any town or monastery had +prevented it; and they now, therefore, hailed Father Ambrose almost as +sent from heaven to save a sinner by absolution ere he died. + +This tale was told as the monk and novice hastened with. Perez to his +house. The poor inhabitants thronged his path to crave a blessing, +and proffer every attention their simple means afforded. Fearing for +Marie, Julien's only care was for the supposed novice; and therefore +Perez, at his request, eagerly led her to a large comfortable chamber, +far removed from the bustle of the house, and left her to repose. +But repose was not at that moment possible, even though her slightly +returning strength was exhausted, from the fatigue of a long day's +travel. Fruit and cakes were before her; but, though her mouth was +parched and dry, she turned from them in loathing; and interminable +seemed the space till Father Ambrose returned. Ere he spoke, he +carefully closed and secured the door, and exclaimed, in a low, +cautious tone, "My child, this is indeed the finger of a righteous +God--blessed be His name! The unhappy man to whose dying bed they +brought me--" + +"Is the murderer of my husband!" interposed Marie in a tone of almost +unnatural calmness. "I knew it from the first moment Perez spoke. We +have but to think of one thing now--Stanley is innocent, and must be +saved!" + +"And shall be, if possible, my child; but there are fearful +difficulties in the way. The unhappy man conjures me not to leave him, +and is in such a horrible state of mental and bodily agony that I fear +if I do, he will commit some act of violence on himself, and so render +his evidence of no avail. We are not much above sixty miles from +Segovia, but the roads are cross and rugged; so that it will need +steadiness and speed, and instant audience with the King." + +"But time--have we time?" reiterated Marie. "Say but there is time, +and every other difficulty shall be smoothed." + +"There is full time: the execution is not till the second day after +to-morrow. Nay, my child," he added, observing her look of doubting +bewilderment, "suffering makes the hours seem longer than they are. +Fear not for time, but counsel me whom to send. Who amongst these poor +ignorant rustics will ever reach the King--or, failing him, the Chief +Hermano--and make his tale so sufficiently clear as to release the +prisoner, and send messengers here with the necessary speed to take +down this man's confession? He cannot linger two days more. Would that +I could go myself; but I can leave neither him nor thee." + +"And it needs not," was the firm reply. "Father, I myself will do +thy errand. There must be no delay, no chance of hesitation in its +accomplishment. Ah! do not look upon me as if my words were wild and +vain; were there other means I would not speak them--but he must be +saved!" + +"And again at the sacrifice of thy safety--perchance thy life! Marie, +Marie! what hold has this young stranger upon thee that thou shouldest +twice so peril thyself? Thy life is dearer to me than his--I cannot +grant thy boon." + +"Nay, but thou must. Listen to me, my second father! If Stanley dies, +his blood is on my head!" And struggling with strong emotion, she +poured forth her whole tale. + +"And thou lovest him still--him, a Nazarene--thou, child, wife, of an +unstained race! And is it for this, thy zeal to save him?" ejaculated +Julien, retreating several paces from her--"Can it be?" + +"I would save him because he is innocent--because he has borne more +than enough for me; for aught else, thou wrongest me, father. He will +never be to me more than he is now." + +It was impossible to resist the tone of mournful reproach in which +those simple words were said. Julien pressed her to his bosom, bade +God bless her, and promised, if indeed there were no other means, her +plan should be adopted; objection after objection, indeed, he brought +forward, but all were overruled. She pledged herself to retain her +disguise, and to return with Perez, without hesitation, and accompany +her uncle to the vale, as intended. But that she should start at once, +he positively refused. How could she hope to accomplish her journey +without, at least, two hours' repose? It was then late in the evening. +At six the next morning all should be ready for her journey, and there +would be still more than twenty-four hours before her; Marie tried to +be content, but the horrible dread of being too late did not leave her +for a moment, even in sleep, and inexpressibly thankful was she when +the morning dawned. Julien's provident care had been active while +she slept. Perez, flattered at the trust reposed in him, had offered +himself to accompany the young novice to Segovia: and at the appointed +hour he was ready, mounted himself, and leading a strong, docile +palfrey for brother Ernest's use. He knew an hostellerie, he said, +about twenty miles from the city, where their steeds could be changed; +and promised by two hours after noon, the very latest, the novice +should be with the King. It could be done in less time, he said; but +his reverence had told him the poor boy was unusually delicate, and +had, moreover, lost the use of his left arm; and he thought, as there +was so much time before them, it was needless to exhaust his strength +before his errand was done. Julien expressed his entire satisfaction, +gave them his blessing, and they were rapidly out of sight. + +Once or twice they halted to give their horses rest and refresh +themselves; but so absorbed were the senses of Marie, that she was +unconscious of fatigue. Every mile they traversed seemed bearing a +heavy load from her chest, and enabling her to breathe more freely; +while the fresh breeze and exciting exercise seemed actually to revive +her. It wanted rather more than an hour for noon when they reached the +hostellerie mentioned by Perez. Two fleet and beautiful horses were +speedily provided for them, bread and fruit partaken, and Perez, ready +mounted, was tasting the stirrup cup, when his friend demanded-- + +"Is it to Segovia ye are bound?" + +"Yes, man, on an important errand, charged by his reverence Father +Ambrose himself." + +"His reverence should have sent you two hours earlier, and you +would have been in time for one of the finest sights seen since +Isabella--God bless her!--begun to reign. They were common enough a +few years back." + +"What sight? and why am I not in time?" + +"Now, art thou not the veriest rustic to be so entirely ignorant of +the world's doings? Why, to-day is the solemn execution of the +young foreigner whom they believe we have murdered Don Ferdinand +Morales--the saints preserve him! He is so brave a fellow, they say, +that had it not been for this confounded hostellerie I would have made +an effort to be present: I love to see how a brave man meets death. It +was to have been two hours after day-break this morning, but Juan here +tells me it was postponed till noon. The King--" + +He was proceeding, when he was startled by a sharp cry, and Perez, +hastily turning, caught the novice as he was in the act of falling +from his horse. In an instant, however, he recovered, and exclaiming, +in a thrilling tone of excitement-- + +"Father Ambrose said life or death hung upon our speed and promptness; +he knew not the short interval allowed us. This young foreigner is +innocent--the real murderer is discovered. On--, on, for mercy, or we +shall be too late!"--gave his horse the rein, and the animal started +off at full speed. Perez was at his side in an instant, leaving his +friend open-mouthed with astonishment, and retailing the marvellous +news into twenty different quarters in as many seconds. + +Not a word was spoken; not a moment did the fiery chargers halt in +their headlong way. On, on they went; on, over wide moors and craggy +steeps; on, through the rushing torrent and the precipitous glen; +on, through the forest and the plain, with the same unwavering pace. +Repeatedly did Marie's brain reel, and her heart grow sick, and her +limbs lose all power either to guide or feel; but she neither spoke +nor flagged--convulsively she grasped the reins, and closed her eyes, +as the voice and hand of her companion urged their steeds swifter and +yet swifter on. + +An exclamation from Perez roused her. The turrets of Segovia were +visible in the distance, glittering in the brilliant sun; but her +blood-shot eye turned with sickening earnestness more towards the +latter object than the former. It had not yet attained its full +meridian--a quarter of an hour, perhaps twenty minutes, was still +before them. But the strength of their horses was flagging, foam +covered their glossy hides, their nostrils were distended, they +breathed hard, and frequently snorted--the short, quick, sound of +coming powerlessness. Their steady pace wavered, their heads drooped; +but, still urged on by Perez's encouraging voice, they exerted +themselves to the utmost--at times darting several paces suddenly +forward, then stumbling heavily on. The cold dew stood on Marie's +brow, and every pulse seemed stilled. They passed the outer +gates--they stood on the brow of a hill commanding a view of the whole +city. The castle seemed but a stone's throw from, them; but the sound +of muffled drums and other martial instruments were borne towards them +on the air. Multitudes were thronging in one direction; the Calle +Soledad seemed one mass of human heads, save where the scaffold raised +its frightful sign above them. Soldiers were advancing, forming a +thin, glittering line through the crowds. In their centre stood the +prisoner. On, again, dashed the chargers--scarcely a hundred yards +separated them from the palace-gate. Wildly Marie glanced back once +more--there were figures on the scaffold. And at that moment--borne in +the stillness more loudly, more heavily than usual, or, at least, so +it seemed to her tortured senses--the huge bell of the castle chimed +the hour of noon! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + "The outmost crowd have heard a sound, + Like horse's hoof on harden'd ground; + Nearer it came, and yet more near-- + The very deathsmen pause to hear!" + + SIR WALTER SCOTT. + + +In his private closet, far removed from the excitement stirring +without, King Ferdinand was sitting, on the morning appointed for +Stanley's execution: several maps and plans were before him, over +which he appeared intently engaged; but every now and then his brow +rested on his hand, and his eyes wandered from their object; Isabella +was at work in a recess of the window near him, conversing on his +warlike plans, and entering warmly into all his measures, as he roused +himself to speak of them, or silent when she saw him sunk in thought. +The history of the period dwells with admiration on the domestic +happiness of Ferdinand and Isabella, and most refreshingly do such +annals stand forth amid the rude and stormy scenes, both in public and +private life, most usual to that age. Isabella's real influence on +the far less lofty and more crafty Ferdinand was so silent, so +unobtrusive, that its extent was never known, either to himself or +to her people, till after her death, when in Ferdinand's rapid +deterioration from the nobler qualities of earlier years, it was +traced too clearly, and occasioned her loss to be mourned, yet more +than at the moment of her death. + +The hour of noon chimed, and Ferdinand, with unusual emotion, pushed +the papers from him. + +"There goes the knell of as brave and true a heart as ever beat," he +said. "If he be innocent--as I believe him--may Heaven forgive his +murderer! Hark! what is that?" he continued hurriedly, as the last +chime ceased to vibrate; and, striding to the door of his cabinet he +flung it open and listened intently. + +"Some one seeks the King! follow me, Isabel. By St. Francis, we may +save him yet!" he exclaimed, and rapidly threading the numerous +passages, in less than a minute he stood within the hall. + +"Who wills speech of Ferdinand?" he demanded. "Let him step forth at +once and do his errand." + +"I seek thee, King of Spain!" was the instant answer, and a young lad +in the white garb of a Benedictine novice, staggered forwards. "Arthur +Stanley is innocent! The real murderer is discovered; he lies at the +point of death sixty miles hence. Send--take his confession; but +do not wait for that. Fly, or it is too late. I see it--the axe is +raised--is flashing in the sun; oh, stop it ere it falls!" And with +the wild effort to loose the grasp of an old soldier, who more +supported than detained him, his exhausted strength gave way, and they +laid him, white, stiff, and speechless, on a settle near. + +With his first word, however, Ferdinand had turned to a trusty +soldier, and bade him "fly to stop the work of death;" and the man +needed not a second bidding: he darted from the hall, flew through the +castle-yard, repeated the words to the first individual he met, by +whom it was repeated to another, and by him again on and on till it +reached the crowds around the scaffold; where it spread like wildfire +from mouth to mouth, reaching the ear of Don Felix, even before his +eye caught the rapidly advancing soldier, whom he recognized at once +as one of his Sovereign's private guards; impelling him, with an +almost instinctive movement, to catch the upraised arm of the +executioner at the very instant he was about to strike. + +"Wherefore this delay, Don Felix? it is but a cruel mercy," sternly +inquired the Chief Hermano, whose office had led him also to the +scaffold. + +"Behold, and listen: praised be the holy saints, he is saved!" was +the rapid reply, as the voice of the soldier close by the foot of +the scaffold, was distinguished bidding them "Hold! hold! the King +commands it. He is innocent; the real murderer is discovered!" and +then followed a shout, so loud, so exulting, that it seemed to have +burst from those assembled hundreds at the same instant. The prisoner +heard it, indeed; but to his bewildered senses--taking the place as +it did of the expected blow--it was so utterly meaningless that he +neither moved nor spoke; and even Don Felix's friendly voice charging +him--"Up, Stanley! up, man! thou art saved--thine innocence made +known!" failed to convince him of the truth. He rose from his knees; +but his limbs shook, and his face--which had changed neither hue nor +expression when he had knelt for the fatal blow--was colorless as +marble. He laid his trembling hand on Father Francis's arm, and tried +to speak, but he could not utter a sound. + +"'Tis true, my beloved son: thy sinful thoughts have been sufficiently +chastised; and the mercy of Heaven publicly revealed. Our prayers +have not been said in vain; thine innocence is known--the guilty one +discovered!" + +To doubt these solemn accents was impossible, and though the effort +was mighty to prevent it, Nature would have sway, and Stanley laid his +head on the Prior's arm, and burst into tears. And the wild shout that +again awoke, seemed to clarion forth a thrilling denial to the charge +of weakness, which on such openly demonstrated emotion, some hearts +dead to the voice of Nature might have pronounced. + +King Ferdinand had not been idle while this exciting scene was +enacting; questioning briefly but distinctly the villager who had +accompanied the novice; the latter still remaining in a state of +exhaustion precluding all inquiries from him. Perez, however, could +only repeat the lad's words when informed that the execution of Senor +Stanley was to take place that day. Father Ambrose had merely told him +that he (Perez) had rendered a most important service to more than one +individual by his compassionate care of the dying man, whose desire to +communicate with the King was no idle raving. He had also charged +him to take particular care of the young novice, who was ailing and +weakly; that the emergency of the present case alone had compelled him +to send the lad to Segovia, as his dress and ability, might gain him a +quicker admission to the King or Queen, than the rude appearance and +uncouth dialect of his companion. The father had also requested him to +urge the officers, whom the King might send to take the dying man's +confession, to travel at their utmost speed, for he thought death was +approaching fast. + +With his usual rapidity of thought and decision, Ferdinand's orders +were given and so quickly obeyed, that even before the arrival of the +Sub-Prior and Don Felix with the released prisoner, a band of men, +headed by Don Alonzo and two of the chief officers of the Santa +Hermandad, had already started for the village. The King still +retained Perez, not only to reward him liberally, but that his tale +might be repeated to the proper authorities, and compared with that of +the novice, as soon as he had sufficiently recovered to give it. The +entrance of Stanley effectually prevented his giving more than a +pitying glance towards the poor boy, who had been raised on one of the +benches, surrounded by the soldiers, who were doing all their rude +kindness suggested to revive him. + +Isabella had followed her husband to the hall, and been a quiet but +penetrative observer of all that followed. She had started as the +voice of the novice met her ear, and made a few hasty steps forward; +but then checked herself, and quietly watched the proceedings of the +soldiers. Perceiving how wholly ineffectual their efforts appeared, +she advanced towards them. With the most reverential affection the +men made way for her. They had been so accustomed to see her on the +battle-field, tending the wounded and the dying, soothing their +anguish and removing their cares, ay, and more than once doing the +same kindly office in their rude and lowly homes, that her appearance +and gentle tending of the boy, excited no surprise whatever. She +motioned them all back, apparently to allow a free current of air--in +reality, to prevent them from adopting her own suspicions; she did not +remove the somewhat unusually tightly-secured hood; but for her, one +glance on that white and chiselled face was sufficient. Her skill +was at length successful, and with the first symptom of returning +animation, she left him to the soldiers, and joined the throng around +the King; but her eye, which from long use, appeared literally endowed +with power to take in every desired object, however separated, at one +glance, still watched him as he painfully endeavored to rise, and +threw one searching glance towards the principal group. His eyes +rested a full minute on the prisoner, with an expression which +Isabella alone, perhaps, of all in that hall, could read. A momentary +crimson flushed his cheek, and then his face was bowed in his +spread hands, and his slight frame shook, with the fervor of the +thanksgiving, which his whole soul outpoured. + +Perceiving that the lad had recovered his senses, Perez referred all +the eager questioners to him, feeling so bewildered at the marvellous +transformation of himself, in his own opinion, from, an ignorant +rustic, who had never seen the interior of a town, to the permitted +companion of his sovereign and his nobles, and even of Isabella, and +he received from her lips a few words of kindly commendation, that +it was almost an effort to speak; and he longed to rush back to his +village and astound them all, and still more, triumph over his friend, +the hostellerie-keeper, who, lord it as he might, had never been so +honored. + +"Come hither, boy," said Ferdinand kindly; and the novice slowly and +with evident reluctance obeyed. "We could almost wish thy tastes had +pointed elsewhere than the church, that our acknowledgments of thy +exertions in our service might be more substantial than mere thanks; +however, thy patron saint shall not want a grateful offering. Nay, our +presence is surely not so terrible that thou shouldst tremble thus, +poor child! Hast thou aught more to communicate?--aught for our +private ear, or that of her Highness our consort? If not, we will not +exhaust thy little strength by useless questions." + +In a tone so low and faltering, that Ferdinand was obliged to bend +down his head to hear, the novice replied, that if messengers had been +despatched to the village, his errand was sufficiently accomplished. +Father Ambrose had merely charged him to say that the real murderer +had himself confessed his crime, and that the sin had been incited, +by such a horrible train of secret guilt, that all particulars were +deferred till they could be imparted to the authorities of justice, +and by them to the sovereigns themselves. For himself he only asked +permission to return to the village with Perez, and rejoin his +guardian, Father Ambrose, as soon as his Grace would please to dismiss +him. + +"Thou must not--shalt not--return without my poor thanks, my young +preserver," exclaimed Stanley, with emotion. "Had it not been for +exertions which have well nigh exhausted thee, exertions as gratuitous +as noble--for what am I to thee?--my honor might have been saved +indeed, but my life would have paid a felon's forfeit. Would that I +could serve thee--thou shouldst not find me ungrateful! Give me thine +hand, at least, as pledge that shouldst thou ever need me--if not for +thyself, for others--thou wilt seek me without scruple." + +The boy laid his hand on Stanley's without hesitation, but without +speaking; he merely raised his heavy eyes a moment to his face, and +vainly did Stanley endeavor to account for the thrill which shot +through his heart so suddenly as almost to take away his breath, as he +felt the soft touch of that little hand and met that momentary glance. + +Who has not felt the extraordinary power of a tone--a look--a touch? +which, + + "Touching th' electric chain, wherewith we are darkly bound," + +fills the heart and mind with irresistible impulses, engrossing +thoughts, and startling memories, all defined and united, and yet +lasting for so brief a moment that we are scarcely able to realize +their existence ere they are gone--and so completely, that we perplex +ourselves again and again with the vain effort to recall their subject +or their meaning. And so it was with Stanley. The thrill passed and +he could not even trace its origin or flitting thought; he only saw a +Benedictine novice before him; he only felt regret that there was no +apparent means with which he could evince his gratitude. + +On Father Francis offering to take charge of the boy, till his +strength was sufficiently renovated to permit his safe return to the +village, Isabella spoke, for the first time:-- + +"Reverend Father! We will ourselves take charge of this poor child. +There are some questions we would fain inquire, ere we can permit his +return to his guardian: if satisfactorily answered, a munificent +gift to his patron saint shall demonstrate, how deeply we feel the +exertions he has made; and if we can serve him better than merely +allowing his return to his monastery, trust me we shall not fail. +Follow me, youth!" she continued, as the Sub-Prior and the King, +though surprised at her words, acquiesced. The novice shrunk back +and clung to the side of Perez, as if most unwilling to comply; but +neither the command, nor the look, with which it was enforced could be +disobeyed, and slowly and falteringly he followed Isabella from the +hall. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + 'Tis done! and so she droops. Oh, woman-heart! + How bold and brave to do thy destined part! + Thro' sorrow's waves press firmly, calmly on, + And pause not, sink not, till the goal is won! + + MS. + + +Not a word passed between them, until they had reached Isabella's +private cabinet; and even then the Queen--though she seated herself +and signed to the boy to stand before her, as desirous of addressing +him--asked not a question, but fixed her penetrating eyes on his +pallid features, with a look in which severity was very evidently +struggling, with commiseration and regard. To attempt to retain +disguise was useless; Marie flung aside the shrouding hood, and +sinking down at the Queen's feet, buried her face in her robe, and +murmured in strong emotion-- + +"Gracious Sovereign--mercy!" + +"Again wouldst thou deceive, again impose upon me, Marie? What am I +to think of conduct mysterious as thine? Wherefore fly from my +protection--reject with ingratitude the kindness I would have +proffered--mistrust the interest which thou hadst already proved, +and then return as now? I promised forgiveness, and continuation of +regard, if the truth were revealed and mystery banished, and darker +than ever has thy conduct drawn the veil around thee. What urged thy +flight, and wherefore this disguise? Speak out, and truthfully; we +will be tampered with no longer!" + +But Marie vainly tried to obey; her brain was burning; the rapid ride, +the sudden transition, from the sickening horror of being too late, +to the assurance of Stanley's safety, the thought that she had indeed +parted from him for ever, and now Isabella's evident anger, when her +woman-heart turned to her as a child's to its mother's, yearning +for that gentle sympathy which, at such a moment, could alone have +soothed. Words seemed choked within her, and the effort to speak +produced only sobs. Isabella's eyes filled with tears. + +"Speak," she said, more gently; "Marie--say only why thou didst fly +me, when I had given no evidence, that the boon thou didst implore me +to grant, had become, by thy strange confession, null and void. What +urged thy flight?" + +"Not my own will. Oh, no--no, gracious Sovereign; I would have +remained a contented prisoner with thee, but they bore me away to such +scenes and sounds of horror that their very memory burns my brain. Oh, +madam! do with me what thou wilt, but condemn me not to return to that +fearful place again. Death, death itself--ay, even such a death as +Arthur has escaped--were mercy in its stead!" + +"Of what speakest thou, Marie? Who could have dared bear thee from our +protection without thine own free will? Thy mind has been overwrought +and is bewildered still; we have been harsh, perchance, to urge thee +to speak now: repose may--". + +"Repose! Oh, no--no; let me remain with thee!" she sobbed, as +forgetful of either state or form, her head sunk on Isabella's knee. +"He has borne me from your highness' power once; he can, he may, I +know he will again. Oh, save me from him! It was not because of my +faith he bore me there, and tempted and tortured and laughed at my +agony; he taunted me with his power to wreak the vengeance of a +baffled passion upon me--for, as a Jewess, who would protect me? Oh, +mighty Sovereign! send me not from thy presence. Don Luis will take me +from thy very roof again." + +"Don Luis!" repeated Isabella, more and more convinced that Marie's +sufferings had injured her brain. "What power can he have, so secret +and so terrible? Marie, thou ravest!" + +"Do I rave?" replied the unhappy girl, raising her right hand to her +throbbing brow. "It may be so; perhaps it has all been a dream--a wild +and fearful dream!--and I am awakened from it now; and yet--yet how +can it be; how came my arm thus if it had not been reality--horrible, +agonizing reality!" And as she spoke she removed the covering from +her left arm. Painfully Isabella started: the beautiful limb hung +powerless from wrist to shoulder, a dry and scorched and shrievelled +bone. + +"And couldst thou think thy Sovereign would ordain, or even permit, +such suffering?" she exclaimed, after a moment's pause, passing her +arm fondly round Marie, whom she had raised from the ground to a +cushion by her side. "My poor unhappy child, what is this dark +mystery? Who can have dared to injure thee, and call it justice, +zeal--religion, perchance! Mother of Mercy! pardon the profanation of +the word! Try and collect thy thoughts, and tell me all. Who has dared +thus insult our power?" + +"Don Luis!--Don Luis!" repeated Marie, clinging like an infant to the +Queen, and shuddering with terror at the very recollection of a power +which she had faced so calmly. "Oh, save me from him! torture itself I +could bear, but not his words." + +"Don Luis!" reiterated the astonished Queen. "What has he to do with +torture? Who is he--what is he, my poor child, that his very name +should thus appal thee? He may indeed have dared speak insulting +words, but what power has he thus fearfully to wreak his vengeance?" + +"Who is he--what is he?" repeated Marie, looking with surprise in +the Queen's pitying face. "Does not your highness know--and yet how +shouldst thou?--his very office is as secret as his own black nature? +Has your highness never heard men whisper of a secret Inquisition, +hiding itself even in thy domains? Oh, my Sovereign, it was there they +dragged me! [her voice sunk to a low shuddering whisper] and he was +grand master there; he--even Don Luis! And he will bear me there +again. Oh, save me from those fearful sounds--those horrid sights: +they glare before me now!" + +"And I will save thee, my child! ay, and root out these midnight +horrors from my kingdom," exclaimed Isabella, indignation flashing in +her eye, and flushing on her cheek. "Once we have been insulted--once +deceived; but never to us can such occur a second time. Fearfully +shall this deed of infamy recoil upon its perpetrators! Tremble not +thus, my poor girl, no one shall injure thee; no one can touch thee, +for we are warned, and this fearful tale shall be sifted to the +bottom! Child of a reprobate faith, and outcast race as thou art, +thinkest thou that even to thee Isabella would permit injury and +injustice? If we love thee too well, may we be forgiven, but cared for +thou shalt be; ay, so cared for, that there shall be joy on earth, and +in heaven for thee yet!" + +At another moment, those words would have been understood in their +real meaning; but Marie could then only feel the consoling conviction +of security and love. It was not merely personal kindness which had +so bound her to her Sovereign; it was the unacknowledged but felt +conviction, that Isabella had penetrated her secret feelings, with +regard to Arthur Stanley; and yet not a syllable of this had ever +passed the Queen's lips. Oh, true sympathy seldom needs expression, +for its full consolation to be given and received! The heart +recognizes intuitively a kindred heart, and turns to it in its sorrow +or its joy, conscious of finding in it, repose from itself. But only +a woman can give to woman this perfect sympathy; for the deepest +recesses, the hidden sources of anguish in the female heart no man can +read. + +Engrossed as Isabella was by the mysterious information imparted by +Marie, indefinitely yet forcibly confirmed by her, then unusual, +knowledge of the past history of Spain, she was more easily satisfied +with Marie's hurried and hesitating account of her escape, than she +might otherwise have been. To proclaim her relationship with Father +Ambrose was ruin to him at once. He had been one, she said with truth, +who had received great obligations from her family, and had vowed +to return them whenever it should be in his power so to do; he had, +therefore, made the exertion to save her, and was about taking her to +her childhood's home on the frontiers of Castile, the only place, it +appeared to him, sufficiently secret to conceal her from Don Luis's +thousand spies; but that on the providential discovery of the real +murderer, and the seeming impossibility of ever seeing the King +himself in time--she paused. + +"Could he send thee on such a rapid errand, my child, and suffering +thus?" gently inquired Isabella. + +"No, gracious madam," was the unhesitating rejoinder, though a burning +blush mounted to her very temples; "it was my own voluntary choice. It +was my unhappy fate to have been the actual cause of his arraignment; +it was but my duty to save him if I could." + +"And thou wouldst have returned with Perez had we not penetrated thy +disguise?" + +"Yes, gracious Sovereign." And the flush faded into paleness, ashy as +before; but the tone was calm and firm. + +The Queen looked at her intently, but made no further observation; and +speedily summoning her before trusted attendants, placed the widow of +Morales once more in their charge; imparted to them as much of Marie's +tale as she deemed requisite, and the consequent necessity for her +return to the Queen's care; nay, her very existence was to be kept +secret from all save those to whom she herself should choose to impart +it. Gratified by her confidence, they were eager to obey; and so +skilfully did they enter into her wishes, that their very companions +suspected not the identity of the prisoner, in whom, they were told, +their Sovereign was so much interested. Curiosity might have been busy +with very many, but their vague conjectures fell far short of the +truth; Catharine Pas was the only one of Isabella's younger maidens to +whom the real fact was imparted. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + 'Twas a dark tale of crime, and awed and chilled + E'en indignation seeming horror still'd, + Men stood beside a murd'rer's couch of death, + Watching-the glazing-eye and flickering-breath-- + Speaking with look and hurried sign alone, + Their thoughts, too terror-fraught for word or tone.--MS. + + +The indignation excited in the Queen's mind against Don Louis was +destined, very speedily, to be increased. Ferdinand had had time to +become half angry, and quite impatient, ere his messengers dispatched +to the village returned. Stanley had been released--was regarded by +all as innocent; but this was literally only from a peasant's word and +the half broken intelligence of an exhausted boy: he wanted proof, +and a vague dread would take possession of him that his fate was but +temporarily suspended. At an early hour the next day, however, Don +Alonzo returned; and Ferdinand's impatient anger was averted, when he +found the delay had been occasioned by their determination, to +convey the dying man to Segovia, and the caution necessary for its +accomplishment. The Hermanos had already noted down his confession; +but it was so fraught with extended and dangerous consequences, that +they felt, they dared not act on their responsibility: all suppressing +measures must proceed from the sovereigns themselves. Perez was again +summoned, and at once swore to the identity of the dying man as the +individual he had rescued from a deep pit, in a lonely mountain-pass, +about twenty miles from his village; and the man, whose eagerness to +speak was evident, though his voice was so faint, as scarcely to be +intelligible, commenced his dark and terrible tale. + +The indignation of the Sovereign, and of those whom he had chosen to +be present, was excited to the utmost, mingled with horror as the +mysterious fates of many a loved companion were thus so fearfully +solved; but none felt the recital with the same intensity of emotion +as the Sub-Prior, who, with, head bowed down upon his breast, and +hands tightly clenched, knelt beside the penitent. It was not +indignation, it was not horror; but agony of spirit that a religion +which he loved better than himself, whose purity and honor he would +have so jealously guarded, that he would have sacrificed life itself +for its service, should have been made the cover for such unutterable +villany. Few imagined the deeds of painful mortification and bodily +penance which, in his solitude, the Sub-Prior afterwards inflicted on +himself; as if his individual sufferings should atone for the guilt of +his brethren, and turn from them the wrath of an avenging God. + +Horrible as were the details imparted, incomprehensible as it seemed +that so extended and well-organized a power, should exist so secretly +throughout Spain, as to hide itself even from the sovereigns and +ministers of justice themselves, yet none doubted what they heard. +Sovereigns and nobles well knew that the Inquisition had been +established both in Castile and Arragon centuries before, and that +the annals of those kingdoms, though mentioning the resistance of the +people against this awful power, had been silent as to its entire +extirpation. + +In the first part of his narrative the man had spoken shrinkingly and +fearfully, as if still in dread of vengeance on his betrayal; but +his voice became bolder when he confessed his own share in the late +atrocious crime. Accustomed by the strictest and most rigid training, +to obey as familiars, the will of their superiors without question--to +be mere mindless and feelingless tools, to whom death itself was +awarded, if by word or hint, or even sign, they dared evince +themselves to be as other men--he had, at the command of the Grand +Inquisitor, deeply drugged Senor Stanley's evening draught, and, while +under its potent influence, had purloined his sword; waylaid Don +Ferdinand in the Calle Soledad, effectually done the deed, and--aware +that it would be many hours ere the English Senor could arouse himself +from the stupifying effects of the draught--had intended returning to +his chamber still more effectually to throw on him the suspicion of +the murder. It happened, however, that it was the first time he had +ever been chosen by his superiors as their tool for actual murder, and +the magnitude of the crime, from the greatness of, and universal love +borne towards the victim, had so appalled him, that, combined with the +raging storm and pitchy darkness, he had felt utterly bewildered. Not +well acquainted with Segovia, he had found himself, after more than an +hour's wandering--instead of, as he expected, again near the Senor's +lodgings--in the self-same spot whence he had started, and close by +the body of his victim. The sight horrified and bewildered him yet +more, and he crept behind a low wall, resolved on remaining there +till the tempest had at least partially subsided, and then fulfil the +remainder of his instructions; knowing that to fail in any one point, +would be the signal of his own destruction. Fortune, however, so far +favored him, as to send the young English Senor to the very spot, +and there was therefore no occasion for his further interference. He +tarried till he had seen Stanley's arrest, and had heard the loud +execrations of all proclaiming him the murderer--and then returned to +his employers. + +The education of the familiars had so far failed with him, that, +though aware of its danger, thoughts would enter his mind, as to how +Don Ferdinand Morales could have offended the dread power which he +served, and why the foreign Senor should be thus implicated in the +deed. He hoped to have concealed these doubts; but from the issue, he +imagined that some unguarded word spoken to a companion, must have +betrayed him. He was chosen by the Grand Inquisitor as his companion, +on some secret expedition two days after the trial, unsuspicious +of the danger awaiting him, till the desolate scene on which they +unexpectedly entered flashed terror on his mind. His superior had +there paused, told him that from the witness of Beta, the servant +girl, it was quite evident he had disobeyed part of the instructions +given, or his _return_ to Arthur's lodgings would have been heard by +her as well as his _departure_ and thus at once have implicated the +Englishman as the real murderer; that though chance had thrown equal +suspicion upon him, it did net remove his disobedience, and so he +was doomed to death; and the blow, instantaneously given, felled him +insensible to the ground. When he recovered his senses, he found +himself lying in a deep pit, where he had evidently been thrown as +dead. The wounds and contusions received in the fall, as far as he +could recollect, by producing a most excruciating sense of pain, +roused him from temporary insensibility, and he was convinced he heard +his murderer's voice--though he could not see him--exclaim distinctly, +as if he were leaning over the mouth of the pit, "There goes my last +doubt: other men might call it their last fear, but I know not the +word! Three victims for the possession of one--and who will now +dare to brand me? I had slain that faltering craven without his +disobedience, he dared to _think_ upon his deed." + +Almost insensible from agony as he was, these words had impressed +themselves indelibly; causing the burning desire to live and be +revenged. And the opportune succors of the villager, Perez, with a +party of woodmen; the completely hidden site of the village to which, +he had been conveyed; and the, at first, favorable healing of his +wounds, appeared to give him every hope of its accomplishment. He had +resolved on communicating his tale to none save to Ferdinand himself, +or to the Chief Hermano, under strict promise to reveal it to the +Sovereign: but his intense anxiety had evidently prevented the +attainment of his desire, by producing fever; and thence arose his +wild and almost maniac cravings to make confession, and bind some holy +monk, by a solemn vow, to convey it to the King. + +It was not till the conclusion of this momentous narration, that the +King permitted any questions to be asked; and those he then demanded +were so concise and clear, that but few words were needed in which to +couch the reply. + +"And the designer of this hellish plot, the real murderer--through thy +hand, of one brave friend, and almost another--is the same who has +murdered thee!" he inquired, after learning the exact sites of these +mysterious halls; information which caused some of the bravest hearts +to shudder, from their close vicinity. + +The man answered at once in the affirmative. + +"And he dares assume, in this illegal tribunal, the rank of Grand +Inquisitor?" + +"Ay, gracious liege." + +"And his name?--that by which he is known to man? Speak! And as thy +true confession may be the means of bringing a very fiend to justice, +so may thy share in his deeds be pardoned." + +An indescribable expression passed over the fast stiffening features +of the dying. He half raised himself, and, laying his clammy hand on +Ferdinand's robe, whispered, in clear and thrilling tones-- + +"Bend low, my liege; even at this moment I dare not speak it loud; +but, oh! beware of those who affect superior sanctity to their +fellows: there is one who in the sunshine stands forth wisest, and +purest, and strictest; and at midnight rules arch-fiend--men call him +DON LUIS GARCIA. _He_ is Don Ferdinand's murderer! _He_ sought Senor +Stanley's death and mine; but instead of a victim, he has found an +accuser! His web has coiled round himself--flee him! avoid him as ye +would a walking pestilence, or visible demon! Minister as he may be of +our holy father, the Pope, he is a villain--his death alone can bring +safety to Spain. Ha! what is this? Mother of mercy! save me! The +cross! the cross! Absolution! The flames of hell! Father, bid them +avaunt! I--a true confession." The words were lost in a fearful +gurgling sound, and the convulsion which ensued was so terrible, that +some of the very bravest involuntarily turned away; but Stanley, who +had listened to the tale with emotions too varied and intense for +speech, now sprung forward, wildly exclaiming-- + +"Three victims for one! Where is that one? Speak--speak in mercy! Oh, +God! he dies and says no word!" + +The eyes of the dying man glared on him, but there was no meaning +in their gaze; they rolled in their sockets, glazed, and in another +minute all was stiff in death. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + "Doth Heaven + Woo the free spirit for dishonored breath + To sell its birthright? Doth Heaven set a price + On the clear jewel of unsullied faith + And the bright calm of conscience?" + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +A private council immediately followed the confession received; but +though it continued many hours, no active measures could at once be +decided upon. Secret and illegal, according to Spanish laws, as this +tribunal was, it was yet an instrument of the Pope, acknowledging his +supremacy alone, and, in consequence, always receiving his protection. +Civil justice, it appeared, could not reach those who were protected +by; the head of the church; but Ferdinand's mind was far too capacious +to admit this plea. Rooted out of his dominions--in its present +form, at least--he resolved it should be, and Isabella confirmed the +resolve. Not only was its secret existence fraught with the most awful +crimes and injustice, regarded generally, but it was derogatory and +insulting to that sovereign power, which Ferdinand and Isabella had +both determined on rendering supreme. Father Francis, whose usual +energy of thought and counsel appeared completely annihilated from the +fearful tale he had heard, strenuously urged the sovereigns to wait +the arrival of Torquemada, the Queen's confessor, who was now every +hour expected, and whose sterner and more experienced mind would give +them better counsel. To this both sovereigns agreed, but one measure +they adopted at once. As Grand Inquisitor, the principal actor in this +atrocious drama might be servant of and solely answerable to the Pope; +as Don Luis Garcia, he was subject to Ferdinand and Isabella, and as +such amenable to the laws of Spain. A schedule was therefore drawn up, +stating that whereas the man commonly known as Don Luis Garcia, had +been convicted of many atrocious and capital crimes, and, amongst +the gravest, of having instigated and commanded the murder of Don +Ferdinand Morales, and done to death his own tool, the real committer +of the deed, that Arthur Stanley might be charged with, and executed +for, the same; the sovereigns of Spain called upon their loving +subjects--of every rank and every degree, in all and every part of the +realm--to unite in endeavoring to discover, and deliver up the said +Don Luis Garcia, to the rigor of the law. An enormous reward was +offered for delivering him alive into the hands of justice, and half +the sum, should he have resisted to the death. The proclamation was +made by sound of trumpet in various parts of Segovia, and copies sent, +with all possible speed, to every city, town, and even village, over +Spain. A correct description of his person accompanied the schedule, +and every possible measure was adopted that could tend to his +apprehension. So strong was the popular feeling against him that every +class, almost every individual, felt it a personal duty to assist, in +this case, the course of justice. He had deceived all men, and all men +in consequence leagued themselves against him. So secretly, and yet +so judiciously, were the plans for his seizure carried on, and so +universal the popular ferment, that it appeared marvellous how he +could have escaped; and yet weeks merged into months, and, though the +measures of the Santa Hermandad in no way relaxed, Don Luis was still +at large, and effectually concealed. We may here state at once--though +it carries us much in advance of our present scene--that Father +Francis resolved at all costs to purge the church of Spain from +this most unholy member; and, authorized by the sovereigns, made a +voluntary pilgrimage to the court of St. Peter's, obtained an audience +with the Pope, laid the case before him, and besought the penalty of +excommunication to be fulminated against the hypocrite who had dared +to use, as cover for most atrocious villany, the pure and sacred +ordinances of the church. Alexander the Sixth, himself a worker of +such awful crimes that he was little capable of entering into the pure +and elevated character of the Sub-Prior, heard him calmly, smiled +sneeringly, and then informed him, he was too late. The worthy and +zealous servant of Rome, known to men as Don Luis Garcia, had been +before him, made confession of certain passions as exciting erring +deeds, to which all men were liable, had done penance, received +absolution, and was in a fair way of rising to the highest eminence in +the church. + +Father Francis remonstrated, urged, dared to speak bolder truths than +had ever before reached the papal ear but all without effect: and +this truly good and spiritual man returned to Spain stricken to the +dust. He reported the failure of his mission; heard, with bowed +head and aching soul, the natural indignation of Ferdinand, and the +quieter, but to him, still more expressive sorrow, at this fearful +abuse of her holy religion from Isabella; and then, with an +earnestness impossible to be resisted, conjured the royal permission +to retire entirely from all interference in public life. He could not, +he said, support the weight of shame, which, falling on his church, +had affected him individually. Vain were the royal solicitations, vain +the love of the people, vain the entreaties of the abbot and brethren +of his convent; he resigned the office of Sub-Prior, relinquished +every religious and secular honor, and buried himself in the most +impenetrable solitude, fraught with austerity and mortification, +personal penance, and yet devoted to such extraordinary acquirements, +that, though for long years his very existence was well nigh +forgotten, when next he burst upon the astonished eyes of the world, +it was no longer as Father Francis, the Sub-Prior of a Franciscan +monastery, a good and benevolent monk, but as the learned priest, the +sagacious statesman, the skilful general, ay, and gallant warrior--the +great and good CARDINAL XIMENES! + +To wait the arrival of Torquemada, the sovereigns and their council +unanimously resolved. It was but a very brief delay, and would permit +a more effectual extermination of the secret office than could be +decided upon by the laity alone. Ere the day closed, and in presence +of the sovereigns, of all the nobles, officers of state, the Santa +Hermandad and principal citizens, Arthur Stanley was formally +pronounced INNOCENT of the crime with which he had been charged. The +golden spurs, which had been ignominiously hacked from his heels, were +replaced by the aged Duke of Murcia; knighthood again bestowed by the +King; and Isabella's own hand, with winning courtesy, presented him +a sword, whose real Toledo blade, and richly jewelled hilt, should +replace the valued weapon, the loss of which had caused him such +unmerited suffering, and shame. + +"May it be used for us, as faithfully and nobly as its predecessor," +were Isabella's concluding words; "and its associations, Senor +Stanley, be nought but those of joy." + +The young man's cheek burned, but there was a deep shadow on his +countenance, which neither the honors he received, nor his own urgent +efforts had power to remove. He looked wistfully after the sovereigns +as they quitted the church, then with an irresistible impulse, broke +from the throng with whom he had been endeavoing to join in animated +converse, and, suddenly kneeling before Isabella, exclaimed in low, +agitated tones-- + +"_She_--she may still be in the villain's power. Oh, my liege, wait +not for Torquemada's arrival and leave her to die! He will wreak his +full vengeance upon her." + +"Trust me for her safety, my young friend; measures have been already +taken to secure it," was Isabella's instant reply, in a tone so full +of sympathy, that Arthur caught her robe, and pressed it to his lips. + +She smiled kindly and passed on, still accompanied by Ferdinand, not a +little astonished at her words, and still more so when Marie's whole +tale was imparted to him. + +On retiring to rest that night, his thoughts still engrossed with +vain speculations as to the destined fate of Marie,--Arthur, half +unconsciously, unsheathed Isabella's magnificent gift, to judge of +the temper of the blade; and, as he did so, a scroll, which had been +twisted round the steel, fell to the ground. He raised it with hasty +curiosity, but his heart throbbed as he recognized the handwriting of +the Queen, and deciphered the following words:-- + +"To Senor Stanley, in secrecy and confidence, these: The eye of love +is said to pierce through all disguises. In this instance it has +proved less discriminative than woman's sympathy, and woman's +penetration. She in whom we believe Senor Stanley interested, and to +whose exertions he owes the publication of his innocence in time to +save life as well as honor, is safe, and under the protection of her +Queen. Let this suffice for present peace, and speak of it to none. +ISABELLA R." + +Arthur's first impulse was to press the precious letter to his lips, +and gaze upon it till every letter seemed transferred from the paper +to his heart; his next was to sit down on the nearest seat, and bury +his face in his hands, actually bewildered by the flash of light, +which with those brief words came. Disguise--exertion--could it be +possible? Nay, it must be! The soft touch of that little hand, the +speaking look of those lovely eyes, again thrilled through his very +soul, and he knew their meaning now. Mysterious, bewildering as it +was, the novice, the poor, exhausted, seeming boy--was Marie! Again he +owed his life to her, and the wild yearning to gaze on her again, to +clasp her to his bosom, to pour forth his gratitude, to soothe and +shield, became so painfully intense, as almost to banish the joy, +which her rescue from danger ought to have occasioned. Had it not been +for her refusal to bear witness against him, not even the month's +grace would have been allowed him; he would have been executed at +once. She had saved him then--she had saved him now! And his heart so +swelled he knew not how to contain its fulness, how to calm it down, +to wait till the Queen's further pleasure should be known. But hope +sprung up to give him comfort; Isabella would accomplish her intention +of conversion; Marie could never resist her, and then--then, oh! she +would be all, all his own, and life shine, for both the brighter, for +its former tempest clouds. Meanwhile, he had such sweet thoughts, such +lovely images, to rest on. He owed his life, his honor, to her; and he +thought that it was his devoted gratitude which so deepened love. How +sweet is such illusion! how refreshingly soothing to be grateful, when +the object of that gratitude has been, and is still, the dear object +of our love! How often we deceive ourselves, and imagine we are +experiencing the strongest emotions of gratitude, when, had an +indifferent person conferred the same benefit, we might feel it +indeed, but it would more pain than pleasure; and be an obligation, so +heavy that we should never rest, till in some measure, at least, it +was returned. How contrary the impression of benefits from those we +love! + +Never before had the appearance of the Queen's confessor, the stern, +and some said cruel, Torquemada, been hailed with such excitement. He +was speedily informed of the late transactions, and his counsel most +earnestly demanded by both sovereigns. He required some days to +deliberate, he said, so momentous and important was the affair; and +when he did reply, his counsel was entirely opposed to what many +hoped, and Ferdinand expected. Indignant as he declared himself to +be, at the abuses in religion, he yet put a strong and most decided +negative on the royal proposition, of utterly exterminating this +unlawful tribunal. With all his natural eloquence, and in most +forcible language, he declared that, if kept within proper bounds, +restrained by due authority, and its proceedings open to the +inspection of the Sovereign, and under him, the archbishops and other +dignitaries of the church, the Inquisition would be a most valuable +auxiliary to the well-doing and purifying of the most Catholic +kingdom. He produced argument after argument of most subtle reasoning, +to prove that every effort to abolish the office in Spain had been +entirely useless: it would exist, and if not publicly acknowledged, +would always be liable to abuse and desecration; that the only means +of exterminating its secret, and too arrogant power, was to permit its +public establishment, and so control it, that its measures should be +open to the present, and to every successive sovereign. He allowed the +necessity, the imperious necessity of rooting out the _secret_ office; +but he was convinced this could not be done, nor in fact would the +church allow it, unless it should be recognized in the face of all +Europe, as based on alike the civil and religious laws of Spain. + +On Ferdinand the wily churchman worked, by proving that his royal +prerogative would be insured rather than injured by this proceeding; +that by publicly establishing the Inquisition, he proved his +resolution to control even this power, and render it a mere instrument +in his sovereign hand; that his contemplated conquest of the Moors +could not be better begun than by the recognition of a holy office, +whose glory it would be to bring all heathens to the purifying and +saving doctrines of the church of Rome. Ferdinand, though wary and +politic himself, was no match for Torquemada's Jesuitical eloquence; +he was won over to adopt the churchman's views with scarcely an effort +to resist them. With Isabella the task was much more difficult. He +appealed guardedly and gently to her tender regard for the spiritual +welfare of her people, sympathized with her in her indignant horror +of the crimes committed under religion's name, but persisted that the +evil of a secret Inquisition would never be remedied, save by the +measure he proposed. He pledged himself never to rest, till the +present halls and ministers of darkness were exterminated from every +part of Spain; but it could only be on condition of her assent to his +counsel. He used all his eloquence; he appealed to her as a zealous +Catholic, whose first duty was to further and purify her faith; but +for four days he worked in vain; and when she did give her consent, it +was with such a burst of tears, that it seemed as if her foreboding +eye had indeed read the shrouded annals of the future, and beheld +there, not the sufferings of individuals alone, but of the decline and +dishonor of that fair and lovely land, which she had so labored to +exalt. Ere another year from that day had passed, the Inquisition was +publicly established throughout the kingdom; and Torquemada, as first +Grand Inquisitor, reaped the reward of his persevering counsel, and +sealed, with blood, the destiny of Spain. + +To her confessor, Isabella revealed the story of Marie, and her own +intentions. Torquemada heard the tale with a stern severity, little +encouraging to the Queen's ideas of mercy; he insisted that her +conversion _must_ be effected; if by kindness and forbearance, well +and good; but if she were obstinate, harshness must be resorted +to; and only on that condition would he grant Isabella the desired +blessing on her task. He did not fail to bring forward the fact of +a zealous Catholic, such as Don Ferdinand Morales, wedding and +cherishing one of the accursed race, and conniving at her secret +adherence to her religion, as a further and very strong incentive for +the public establishment of the Inquisition, whose zealous care would +effectually guard the sons of Spain from such unholy alliances in +future. He urged the supposition of Marie's having become the mother +of children by Ferdinand; was it not most probable, nay, certain, that +she would infuse her own unbelief in them; and then how mixed and +defiled a race would take the place of the present pure Castilians. +Isabella could reply nothing satisfactory to this eloquent reasoning. +The prejudices of education are strong in every really earnest heart; +and though her true woman's nature revolted at every thought of +severity, and towards one so suffering as Marie, she acknowledged its +necessity, in case of kindness failing. Under the seal of confession, +she imparted her full plan to Torquemada, entering more into minute +particulars than she had done even to her husband, or in words to +herself. It was so fraught with mercy and gentleness that Torquemada +gave his consent, believing it utterly impossible, if Marie really +loved, as Isabella fancied, that she could resist. + +On the departure of her confessor, the Queen communed, as was her +frequent custom, long and severely with her own heart. What was the +cause of her extreme dislike to using harshness? With any other member +of that detested race, she felt Torquemada's counsel would have been +all-powerful; she would have left it all to him. It was then mere +personal regard, fear of the suffering which, did she cause Marie +increase of pain, she should inflict upon herself, and this must not +be. She was failing in the duty she owed her religion, if she could +not summon resolution to sacrifice even affection at its shrine. And +so she nerved herself, to adopt Torquemada's stern alternative, if +indeed it were required. How strange is self-delusion! how difficult, +even to the noblest, most unselfish natures, to read another spirit by +their own! Isabella felt it might be a duty to sacrifice affection for +religion, and nerved herself to its performance at any cost. And +yet that Marie should do so, she could not believe; and if she did, +harshness and suffering were to be her sole reward! Oh, that in +religion, as in every thing else, man would judge his brother man by +his own heart; and as dear, as precious, as his peculiar creed may be +to him, believe so it is with the faith of his brother! How much of +misery, how much of contention, of cruelty and oppression, would pass +away from this lovely earth, and give place for Heaven's own unity and +peace, and harmony and love. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + "Oh, bear me up + Against the unutterable tenderness + Of earthly love, my God! In the sick hour + Of dying human hope, forsake me not!" + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +For some months all was gayety and rejoicing in Segovia, not a little +heightened by the exciting preparations for the much desired war. The +time had now come when Ferdinand could, with safety to the internal +state of his kingdom, commence the struggle for which he had so +impatiently waited, since the very first hour of the union of Arragon +and Castile. Troops were marshalling secretly all over Spain; the +armorers and smiths were in constant requisition. The nobles were +constantly flitting from their hereditary domains to the court, eager +and active to combine all the pomp and valor of a splendid chivalry +with the more regular force; standing armies, which in almost every +European land were now beginning to take the place of the feudal +soldiery, so long their sole resource. It was necessary for Ferdinand, +ere he commenced operations, to visit his own dominions; a measure he +did not regret, as it effectually concealed his ulterior plans from +the Moors, who were also at that time too much disturbed by internal +dissensions, to give more than a cursory glance on the movements and +appearances of their Christian foes. + +In the festivals of the palace the young Englishman was naturally the +hero of the day; the best feelings of the Spanish character had +been called into play towards him: he had been unjustly accused and +seriously injured; been subject to dishonor and shame; and many might +say it had all sprung from prejudice against him as a foreigner. The +very failing of the Spaniards in this case also operated in his favor; +their national jealousy called upon them to make publicly manifest the +falsity of such a supposition, and he was courted and fêted by all, +brought forward on every occasion, and raised and promoted both to +civil and military distinction, by those very men who, before the late +events, would have been the first to keep him back, yielding him but +the bare and formal courtesy, which, however prejudiced, no true-born +Spaniard could refuse. + +Amongst Isabella's female train, Arthur Stanley was ever gladly +welcomed, and his presence might have proved dangerous to more than +one of Isabella's younger attendants, had not his manner been such as +to preclude even the boldest and most presuming from any thought of +love. One alone he certainly singled out to talk with, and treat with +more attention than any other; and that one was the maiden we have +more than once had occasion to mention, Catherine Pas. Rallied as she +was by her companions, the young girl herself imagined there could be +no danger to her peace in associating thus with the handsome young +Englishman; for _she_ knew, though her companions did not, the real +reason of his preference for her society. Isabella had once slightly +hinted from which of her attendants Stanley might hear of Marie, and +giving them permission to answer his queries. It was a dangerous +ordeal for Catherine, but she laughed at the idea of permitting her +heart to pass into the possession of one who cared nothing for her, +save as she could speak of Marie. + +Great was the surprise and many the conjectures of the Queen's +female court, when rather more than six months after her strange +disappearance, the widow of Morales re-appeared amongst them; not +publicly indeed, for at the various fêtes and amusements of the +palace, and elsewhere, Marie was never seen. Her existence, however, +and safety, under Isabella's especial protection, were no longer kept +secret; and her recent loss was in itself quite sufficient reason for +her strict retirement. Her identity with brother Ernest, the supposed +novice, never transpired; he was supposed to have returned with Perez +to his guardian, Father Ambrose, who, though seen and questioned by +Don Alonzo at the village, did not accompany his dying penitent to +Segovia, nor, in fact, was ever seen in that city again. + +The tender care and good nursing which had been lavished on Marie, had +restored her sufficiently to health as to permit returning elasticity +of mind. All morbid agony had passed, all too passionate emotions were +gradually relaxing their fire-bands round her heart; and strength, the +martyr strength, for which she unceasingly prayed, to give up all if +called upon for her God, seemed dawning for her. That she was still +under some restraint, a sort of prisoner in the palace, Marie herself +was not aware; she had neither wish nor energy to leave the castle, +and therefore knew not that her egress, save under watchful +guardianship, would have been denied. She had no spirits to mingle +with the light-hearted, happy girls, in her Sovereign's train, and +therefore was unconscious that, with the sole exception of Catherine +whose passionate entreaties had obtained her this privilege, all +intimacy with them would have been effectually prevented. It was +enough, more than enough (for the foreboding dread was ever present, +that such a blissful calm, such mental and bodily repose, were far, +far too sweet for any long continuance) to be employed in little +services for and about the person of the Queen, and to know that +Arthur Stanley was restored to even more than former favor, and fast +rising to eminence and honor. + +Before the sovereigns quitted Segovia, Stanley left the court to march +southward with Pedro Pas, to occupy a strong fortification on the +barrier line, dividing the Spanish from the Moorish territories, and +commanding a very important post, which Ferdinand was anxious to +secure, and where he intended to commence his warlike operations, +as speedily as he could settle affairs at Saragossa. Twice before +Stanley's departure did Isabella contrive an apparently accidental +meeting between him and Marie, permitting them, though in her +presence, ample opportunity for mutual explanation; but not with much +evident success. Stanley, indeed, was painfully and visibly agitated, +finding it difficult, almost impossible to speak the feelings which +had so long filled heart and mind, and been in fancy so often thrown +into eloquent words, that he could not understand why in her presence +words were frozen up, and he could only _feel_. Marie's cheek and lip +had indeed blanched as she beheld him, but the deep and quiet calm she +had so earnestly sought, even then did not forsake her; once only her +voice faltered, when she conjured him to allude no longer to the past, +that the exertions she had made for him demanded no such gratitude +as he expressed. He would have answered with his usual passionate +impetuosity, but there was something in her manner which restrained +him; it was no longer the timid, yielding girl, who, even while she +told him of the barrier between them, had yet betrayed the deep love +she felt: it was the woman whose martyr spirit was her strength. And +yet, spite of himself, he hoped. Isabella, in parting with him, had +spoken such words as sent a thrill of delight over his whole being, +and he quitted Segovia buoyant and glad-hearted, to wait weeks, +months, he thought even years: so certain did he feel of success at +last. + +Isabella accompanied Ferdinand to Arragon, and determined on remaining +at Saragossa during the commencement of his Moorish campaign; but +she did not part from him without demanding and receiving his solemn +promise to send for her as soon as the residence of females in the +camp was practicable. She well knew the inspiring power of her +presence in similar scenes, and the joy and increased ardor which the +vicinity of near and dear relations, composing her court, would excite +in the warrior camp of Ferdinand. The promise was given, and the +annals of the Moorish war tell us how faithfully it was kept, and how +admirably Isabella performed the part she had assigned herself. + +Months glided slowly and peacefully on; as each passed, the trembling +heart of Marie foreboded change and sorrow; but it was not till she +had been eight months a widow that aught transpired which could +account for such strange fears. Then, indeed, the trial came: she +thought she was prepared, but the aching heart and failing strength +with which she listened to the Queen's commands, betrayed how little +our best endeavors can pave the way for sorrow. Isabella spoke gently +and kindly indeed, but so decisively, there was no mistaking the +meaning of her words: she had waited, she said, till time had restored +not only health and strength, but some degree of tranquillity to the +heart, and elasticity to the mind. That, as a Jewess, Marie must have +long known, the Queen could not continue favor; that she was, in fact, +acting without a precedent in thus permitting the attendance of an +unbeliever on her person, or appearance in her court; but that she had +so acted, believing that when perfectly restored to sense and energy, +Marie would herself feel the necessity, and gladly embrace the only +return she required--a calm deliberation of the Catholic faith, and, +as a necessary consequence, its acceptance. She therefore desired that +Marie would devote herself to the instructions of a venerable monk +(Father Denis by name), whom she had selected for the task. That +from that day Marie would not be called upon for either service or +attendance on the Queen, but to devote her whole mind and energies to +the task proposed; and that when Father Denis brought her information +that Marie accepted the cross, that very hour she should resume +her place in Isabella's court, and be the dearest, most cherished +there!--be publicly acknowledged as the inheritrix of her husband's +vast possessions, and a future of love and joy would shine before her, +so bright as to banish even the memories of the stormy past. + +Marie would have replied, but Isabella, with gentle firmness, refused +to hear her. "I demand nothing now," she said, "but obedience. A +willing heart, and open mind, are all you need bring with you to your +task: the father's holy lessons, blessed with God's grace, will do +the rest. I cannot believe that all the kindness and affection I have +shown have been so utterly without effect, that thou too wilt evince +the ungrateful obstinacy, so unhappily the characteristic of thy +blinded people. If banishment from our presence be a source of sorrow, +which I do believe it is, the term of that banishment rests entirely +with thyself. The sooner we can hail the child of the Virgin, even as +thou art now of our affections, the greater share of happiness wilt +thou bestow upon us and upon thyself. We have heard that nought but +harshness and severity can have effect on thy hardened race. It may +be, but with thee, at least, we will not use it, unless--" and her +voice and her look grew sufficiently stern for Marie to feel her words +were no idle threat--"unless obduracy and ingratitude so conquer +affection that we can see no more in the Marie Morales we have loved +than a hardened member of her own stiff-necked race; then--, but we +will not pain ourself or thee, by imagining what thine own will may +avert. Go, and the holy Virgin bless thee. Not a word; I know what +will be thine answer now; but a month hence thou wilt thank me for +this seeming severity." + +And Isabella turned somewhat hastily away; for her lip quivered and +her eye swelled. Marie did not see these indications of emotion, and +silently withdrew. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + "I have lost for that Faith more than thou canst bestow, + As the God who permits thee to prosper doth know. + In His hand is my heart, and my hope; and in thine + The land, and the life, which for Him I resign." + + BYRON. + + +Marie Morales had had many trials. Her life had been one of those +painful mysteries, as to why such a being should have been thus +exposed to scorn, which while on earth we vainly try to solve. Yet it +is no imaginary picture: hundreds, aye thousands, of Israel's devoted +race have thus endured; in every age, in every clime, have been +exposed to martyrdom--not of the frame alone, but of the heart; doomed +but to suffer, and to die. And how may we reconcile these things with +the government of a loving father, save by the firm belief, which, +blessed--thrice blessed--are those who feel; that, for such sufferers +on earth, a future of blessedness is laid up in another and lovelier +world--where there is no more sorrow, no more tears! + +Her former trials had been sharp agony and strong excitement. Her +present had neither the one nor the other; yet it was fraught with as +heavy suffering, as any that had gone before it; even though she knew +not, guessed not, _all_ that depended upon her conversion. It would +have been comparatively easy to have endured, for her faith's sake, +harshness and contempt; in such a case, self-respect rises to sustain +us, and we value our own tenets the more, from their startling +contrast with those which could command the cruelty we endure; but +Father Denis used harshness neither of manner nor of words. Firmly +impressed in his own mind, that it was utterly vain for a soul to hope +for salvation unless it believed in Jesus, the Virgin, the saints and +holy martyrs; he brought heart and soul to his task; and the more he +saw of Marie, the more painfully did he deplore her blind infatuation, +and the more ardently desire, to save her from the eternal +perdition which, as a Jewess, must await her. He poured forth such +soul-breathing petitions, for saving grace to be vouchsafed to her, in +her hearing, that Marie felt as if she would have given worlds, only +to realize the belief for which he prayed; but the more her heart was +wrung, the more vividly it seemed that her own faith, the religion of +her fathers through a thousand ages, impressed itself upon her mind +and heart, rendering it more and more impossible for her to forswear +it, even at the very moment that weak humanity longed to do it, and so +purchase peace. Naturally so meek and yielding, so peculiarly alive +to the voice of sympathy and kindness, it was inexpressibly and +harrowingly distressing to be thus compelled to resist both; to think +also of all Isabella's gentle, cherishing, and manifested affection; +and to know that the only return she demanded, she dared not, might +not give. To some dispositions these considerations would have been of +no weight whatever; to Marie they were so exquisitely painful, that +she could scarcely understand how it was that, feeling them thus +acutely, she could yet so clearly, so calmly, reply to Father Denis, +bring argument for argument, and never waver in her steadfast +adherence to, and belief in her own creed. The very lessons of her +youth, which she had thought forgotten in the varied trials which +had been her portion since, returned with full--she fancied +superhuman--force and clearness to her mind, rendering even the very +wish to embrace the Catholic religion, futile. There was a voice +within her that _would_ be heard, aye above every human feeling, every +strong temptation. She could not drown its clear ringing tones; even +where her mental sufferings seemed to cloud and harrow up the brain, +to the exclusion of every distinct idea, that voice would breathe its +thrilling whisper, telling her it was vain to hope it, she could not +be in heart a Catholic; and so she dared not be in words. + +A romance is no place for polemical discussion, and we will therefore +leave those painful arguments unrecorded. Suffice it, that Marie's +intimate acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures in their original +tongue--the language of her own people--gave her so decided an +advantage over the old monk, that, after nearly three months' trial, +he sought his Sovereign, and, with the most touching humility, +acknowledged his utter incapacity, for the conversion of Donna Marie, +and implored her to dismiss him, and select one more fitted for the +task. + +Astonished, and bitterly disappointed, Isabella cross-questioned him +as to the cause of this sudden feeling of incapacity, and his answers +but increased her desire to compel Marie to abandon Judaism, and +become--in semblance at least, a Catholic; believing fully that, this +accomplished, the Holy Spirit would do the rest, and she would at +least have saved her soul. She retained the father in the palace; +desiring him to inform his charge that one fortnight's grace would be +allowed her, to ponder on all the solemn truths he had advanced, and +on her own decision whether she would not rather yield to kindness, +than tempt the severity her obstinacy demanded; but, save this +enjoyment, he was to commune with her no further. With a trembling +spirit the Queen again sought the counsel of her confessor, and +reported the information of the holy father. Torquemada listened, with +a curling lip and contracted brow. He was not surprised, he said, +for it was exactly what he had expected. It was a part of their +blaspheming creed, to blind by sorcery, the eyes and minds of all +those who had ever attempted to win them over by kind and reasonable +argument. Father Denis had been bewitched, as all were, who ever +attempted to convert, by other than the harshest means. Her grace must +see the necessity of severity, and surely could not refuse the using +it any longer. But Isabella did refuse, till her last resource had +been tried; and all she asked was, if she might hold forth a powerful +temporal temptation to obtain the end she so earnestly desired? +Torquemada hesitated; but at length, on being told the severe +alternative which Isabella would enforce, if her first proposal were +rejected, reluctantly acceded; still persisting that nothing but the +rack and the flame, or fatal expulsion, would ever purge Spain from +the horrible infection of so poisonous a race. Isabella heard him with +a shudder; but, thankful even for this ungracious sanction, waited, +with, trembling impatience, the termination of the given fourteen +days; hoping, aye praying in her meek, fervid piety, that the mistaken +one might be softened to accept the proffered grace, or her own heart +strengthened to sacrifice all of personal feeling for the purifying by +fire and consequent salvation, of that immortal soul now so fearfully +led astray. + +It was with little hope that the father again sought Marie. Bewitched +he might be, but he was so impressed with the fervid earnestness +of her gentle spirit; with the lofty enthusiasm that dictated her +decision; so touched with the uncomplaining, but visible suffering, +which it cost her to argue with, and reject the voice of +kindness--that it required a strong mental effort in the old man, to +refrain from conjuring his Sovereign, to permit that misguided one +to remain unmolested, and wait, till time, and prayer, from those so +interested in her, should produce the desired effect. But this feeling +was so contrary to the spirit of the age, that it scarcely needed +Torquemada's representations to convince him, that he was experiencing +the effect of the invisible sorcery with which the race of Israel +always blinded the eyes of their opponents. The kind old man was awed +and silenced by his stern superior. Liberty of conscience was then a +thing unheard of; and therefore it was, that so much of the divine +part of our mingled nature was so completely concealed, that it lost +alike effect or influence. It was not even the subjection of the weak +to the strong; but the mere superiority of clerical rank. The truest +and the noblest, the most enlarged mind, the firmest spirit would +bend unresistingly to the simple word of a priest; and the purest +and kindest impulses of our holier nature be annihilated, before the +dictates of those, who were supposed to hold so infallibly, in their +sole keeping, the oracles of God. The spiritual in man was kept in +rigid bondage; the divinity worshipped by the Catholics of that age, +represented to the mass like the Egyptian idol, with a key upon his +lips--his attributes, as his law, hid from them, or imparted by chosen +priests, who explained them only as suited their individual purposes. +Is it marvel, then, that we should read of such awful acts committed +in Religion's name by man upon his brother? or that we should see the +purest and loveliest characters led away by priestly influence to +commit deeds, from which now, the whole mind so recoils, that we turn +away disappointed and perplexed at the inconsistency, and refuse the +meed of love and admiration to those other qualities, which would +otherwise shine forth so unsullied? The inconsistency, the seeming +cruelty and intolerance, staining many a noble one in the middle ages, +were the effects of the fearful spirit of the time; but their virtues +were their own. Truth if sought, must triumph over prejudice. By +inspection and earnest study of facts--of _causes_, as well as of +_events_, the mind disperses the mists of educational error, and +enables us to do justice, even to the injurer; and enlarges and +ennobles our feelings towards one another; till we can attain that +perfection of true, spiritual charity, which would look on all men as +children of one common parent. Liable, indeed, to be led astray by +evil inclination, and yet more by evil circumstances; but still our +brethren, in the divine part of our nature; which, however crushed, +hidden, lost to earth, is still existing--still undying. For such is +the immortal likeness of our universal Father; in which He made man, +and by which He marked mankind as brethren! + +Marie's answer was as Father Denis feared. She had pondered on all +he had said, and the dread alternative awaiting her; but the +impossibility of embracing Catholicism was stronger than ever. The +unfeigned distress of the old monk pained and alarmed her, for it +seemed to her as if he were conscious that some dreadful doom was +hanging over her, which he shrunk from revealing. She had not long to +remain in that torturing suspense: a few hours later in the same day, +she was summoned to Isabella's presence. The sensation of terror was +so intense as to render obedience, for the minute, utterly impossible. +Every limb shook, and again came the wild longing for power to believe +as they desired; for a momentary cessation of the voice of conscience, +to embrace the proffered cross, and be at rest. But it _would not_ +cease; and, scarcely able to support herself, she stood before the +dread Princess in whose hand was her earthly fate. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + + "She clasped her hands"!--the strife + Of love--faith--fear, and the vain dream of life, + Within her woman-heart so deeply wrought-- + It seemed as if a reed, so slight and weak, + _Must_, in the rending storm, not quiver only--break! + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +Isabella's expressive countenance was grave and calm; but it was +impossible to doubt the firmness of her purpose, though what that +purpose might be, Marie had no power to read. She stood leaning +against the back of one of the ponderous chairs; her head bent down, +and her heart so loudly and thickly throbbing that it choked her very +breath. + +"We have summoned thee hither, Marie," the Queen said at length, +gravely, but not severely, "to hear from thine own lips the decision +which Father Denis has reported to us; but which, indeed, we can +scarcely credit. Wert thou other than thou art--one whose heavy trials +and lovable qualities have bound thee to us with more than common +love--we should have delivered thee over at once to the judgment of +our holy fathers, and interfered with their sentence no farther. We +are exposing ourselves to priestly censure even for the forbearance +already shown; but we will dare even that, to win thee from thine +accursed creed, and give thee peace and comfort. Marie canst _thou_ +share the ingratitude--the obstinacy--of thy benighted race, that even +with thee we must deal harshly? Compel me not to a measure from which +my whole heart revolts. Do not let me feel that the charge against thy +people is true, without even one exception, and that kindness shown to +them, is unvalued as unfelt." + +A convulsive sob was the sole reply. Marie's face was buried in her +hands; but the tears were streaming through her slender fingers, and +her slight figure shook with the paroxysm. + +"Nay, Marie, we ask not tears. We demand the proof of grateful +affection on thy part; not its weak display. And what is that proof? +The acceptance of a faith without which there can be no security +in this life, nor felicity hereafter! The rejection of a fearfully +mistaken--terribly accursed--creed; condemning its followers to the +scorn and hate of man, and abiding wrath of God." + +"'To the scorn and hate of man?' Alas, gracious Sovereign, it is +even so; but not to the 'abiding wrath of God,'" answered Marie, +suppressing with a desperate effort, her painful emotion. "The very +scorn and loathing we encounter confirms the blessed truth, of our +having been the chosen children of our God, and the glorious promise +of our future restoration. We are enduring now on earth the effects of +the fearful sins of our ancestors; but for those who live and die true +to His law, there is a future after death laid up with Him; that, how +may we forfeit for transitory joy?" + +"If it were indeed so, we would be the last to demand such forfeit," +answered the Queen; "but were it not for the blinding veil of wilful +rejection cast over the eyes and hearts of thy people, thou wouldst +know and feel, that however thy race were _once_ the chosen of God, +the distinction has been lost for ever, by their blaspheming rejection +of Jesus and his virgin mother; and the misery--its consequence--on +earth, is but a faint type of that misery which is for everlasting. It +is from this we would save thee. Father Denis has brought before thee +the solemn truths which our sainted creed advances, in reply to the +mystifying fallacies of thine; and, he tells me, wholly without +effect. My arguments, then, can be of such little weight, that I have +pledged myself to my confessor to attempt none. We summoned thee +merely to tell our decision in this matter; of too vital importance +to be left to other lips. Once more let me ask--and understand thee +rightly!--have all the Holy Father's lessons failed to convince, even +as all our affection has failed to move, thee?" + +"Would--would to Heaven I could believe as thou demandest!" answered +Marie. "Would that those lessons had brought conviction! The bitter +agony of your Grace's displeasure--of feeling that, while my heart so +throbs and swells with grateful devotion that I would gladly die to +serve thee, yet the proof thou demandest I _cannot_ give; and I must +go down to an early grave, leaving with thee the sole impression that +thou hadst cherished a miserable ingrate, whom, even as thou hast +loved, so thou must now hate and scorn. Oh, madam! try me by other +proof! My creed may be the mistaken one it seems to thee; but, oh! +it is no garment we may wear and cast off at pleasure. Have mercy, +gracious Sovereign! condemn me not as reprobate--hardened--more +insensible than the veriest cur, who is grateful for the kindness of +his master!--because I love my faith better even than thy love--the +dearest earthly joy now left me." + +"Methinks scarcely the dearest," replied Isabella, affected, in spite +of her every effort for control; "but of that here after. Marie, I +have pledged myself to my confessor, not to let this matter rest. He +has told me that my very affection for thee is a snare, and must +be sacrificed if it interfere with my duty; not alone as member of +Christ's church, but as Sovereign of a Catholic realm, whose bounden +duty it is to purge away all heresy and misbelief. I feel that he is +right, and, cost what it may, Christ's dictates must be obeyed. The +years of fraud--of passing for what thou wert not--I forgive, for thy +noble husband's sake; but my confessor has told me, and I feel its +truth, that if we allow thy return to thy people as thou art now, we +permit a continuance of such unnatural unions, encourage fraud, +and expose our subjects to the poisonous taint of Jewish blood and +unbelief. A Christian thou must become. The plan we have decided upon +must bring conviction at last; but it will be attended with such +long years of mental and physical suffering, that we shrink from the +alternative, and only thine own obstinacy will force us to adopt it." + +She paused for above a minute; but though Marie's very lips had +blanched, and her large eyes were fixed in terror on the Queen's face, +there was no answer. + +"Thou hast more than once alluded to death," Isabella continued, +her voice growing sterner; "but, though such may be the punishment +demanded, we cannot so completely banish regard as to expose thy soul, +as well as body, to undying flames. Thou hast heard, perchance, of +holy sisterhoods, who, sacrificing all of earthly joys and earthly +ties, devote themselves as the willing brides of Christ, and pass +their whole lives in acts of personal penance, mortification, +self-denial, and austerity; which to all, save those impelled try this +same lofty enthusiasm, would be unendurable. The convent of St. Ursula +is the most strictly rigid and unpitying of this sternly rigid school; +and there, if still thou wilt not retract, thou wilt be for life +immured, to learn that reverence, that submission, that belief, +which thou refusest now. Ponder well on all the suffering which this +sentence must comprise. It is even to us--a Christian--so dreadful, +that we would not impose it, could we save thy deluded spirit by any +other means. The Abbess, from the strict and terrible discipline of +long years, has conquered every womanly weakness; and to a Jewess +placed under her charge, to be brought a penitent to the bosom of +the Virgin, is not likely to decrease the severity of treatment and +discipline, the portion even of her own. Once delivered to her charge, +we interfere no further. Whatever she may command--short of actual +torture, or death--thou must endure. Marie! wilt thou tempt a doom +like this? In mercy to thyself, retract ere it be too late!" + +"If I can bear the loss of thy favor, my Sovereign, I can bear this," +replied Marie, slowly and painfully. "There is more suffering in the +thought, that your Grace's love is lost for ever; that I shall never +see your Highness more; and thou must ever think of me as only a +wretched, feelingless ingrate, than in all the bodily and mental +anguish such a life may bring." + +"Marie!" exclaimed Isabella, with an irrepressible burst of natural +feeling. And Marie had darted forwards, and was kneeling at her feet, +and covering her hand with tears and kisses, ere she had power to +forcibly subdue the emotion and speak again. + +"This must not be," she said at length; but she did not withdraw the +hand which Marie still convulsively clasped, and, half unconsciously +it seemed, she put back the long, black tresses, which had fallen over +her colorless cheek, looked sadly in that bowed face, and kissed +her brow. "It is the last," she murmured to herself. "It may be +the effects of sorcery--it may be sin; but if I do penance for the +weakness, it must have way." + +"Thou hast heard the one alternative," she continued aloud; "now hear +the other. We have thought long, and watched well, some means of +effectually obliterating the painful memories of the past, and making +thy life as happy as it has been sad. We have asked and received +permission from our confessor to bring forward a temporal inducement +for a spiritual end; that even the affections themselves may be made +conducive to turning a benighted spirit from the path of death into +that of life; and, therefore, we may proceed more hopefully. Marie! is +there not a love thou valuest even more than mine? Nay, attempt not +to deny a truth, which we have known from the hour we told thee that +Arthur Stanley was thy husband's murderer. What meant those wild words +imploring me to save him? For what was the avowal of thy faith, but +that thy witness should not endanger him? Why didst thou return to +danger when safety was before thee?--peril thine own life but to save +his? Answer me truly: thou lovest Stanley, Marie?" + +"I have loved him, gracious Sovereign." + +"And thou dost no longer? Marie, methinks there would be less wrong +in loving now, than when we first suspected it," rejoined the Queen, +gravely. + +"Alas! my liege, who may school the heart? He was its first--first +affection! But, oh! my Sovereign, I never wronged my noble husband. He +knew it all ere he was taken from me, and forgave and loved me still; +and, oh! had he been but spared, even memory itself would have lost +its power to sting. His trust, his love, had made me all--all his +own!" + +"I believe thee, my poor child; but how came it that, loving Stanley, +thy hand was given to Morales?" + +For the first time, the dangerous ground on which she stood flashed on +the mind of Marie; and her voice faltered as she answered--"My father +willed it, Madam." + +"Thy father! And was he of thy faith, yet gave his child to one of +us?" + +"He was dying, Madam, and there was none to protect his Marie. He +loved and admired him to whom he gave me; for Ferdinand had never +scorned nor persecuted us. He had done us such good service that my +father sought to repay him; but he would accept nothing but my hand, +and swore to protect my faith--none other would have made such +promise. I was weak, I know, and wrong; but I dared not then confess I +loved another. And, once his wife, it was sin even to think of Arthur. +Oh, Madam! night and day I prayed that we might never meet, till all +of love was conquered." + +"Poor child," replied Isabella, kindly. "But, since thou wert once +more free, since Stanley was cleared of even the suspicion of guilt, +has no former feeling for him returned! He loves thee, Marie, with +such faithful love as in man I have seldom seen equalled; why check +affection now?" + +"Alas! my liege, what may a Jewess be to him; or his love to me, save +as the most terrible temptation to estrange me from my God?" + +"Say rather to gently lure thee to Him, Marie," replied Isabella, +earnestly. "There is a thick veil between thy heart and thy God now; +let the love thou bearest this young Englishman be the blessed means +of removing it, and bringing thee to the sole source of salvation, the +Saviour Stanley worships. One word--one little word--from thee, and +thou shalt be Stanley's wife! His own; dearer than ever from the +trials of the past. Oh! speak it, Marie! Let me feel I have saved thee +from everlasting torment, and made this life--in its deep, calm joy--a +foretaste of the heaven that, as a Christian, will await thee above. +Spare Stanley--aye, and thy Sovereign--the bitter grief of losing thee +for ever!" + +"Would--would I could!" burst wildly from the heart-stricken Marie; +and she wrung her hands in that one moment of intense agony, and +looked up in the Queen's face, with an expression of suffering +Isabella could not meet. "Would that obedience, conviction, could come +at will! His wife?--Stanley's. To rest this desolate heart on his? To +weep upon his bosom?--feel his arm around me?--his love protect me? To +be his--all his? And only on condition of speaking one little word? +Oh! why can I not speak it? Why will that dread voice sound within, +telling me I dare not--cannot--for I do not believe? How dare I take +the Christians's vow, embrace the cross, and in my heart remain a +Jewess still?" + +"Embrace the cross, and conviction will follow," replied the Queen. +"This question we have asked of Father Tomas, and been assured that +the vows of baptism once taken, grace will be found from on high; and +to the _heart_, as well as _lip_, conversion speedily ensue. +Forswear the blaspheming errors of thy present creed--consent to be +baptized--and that very hour sees thee Stanley's wife!" + +"No, no, no!--Oh! say not such words again! My liege, my gracious +liege, tempt not this weak spirit more!" implored Marie, in fearful +agitation. "Oh! if thou hast ever loved me, in mercy spare me this!" + +"In mercy is it that we do thus speak, unhappy girl." replied +Isabella, with returning firmness; for she saw the decisive moment had +come. "We have laid both alternatives before thee; it rests with thee +alone to make thine own election. Love on earth and joy in Heaven, +depends upon one word: refuse to speak it, and thou knowest thy doom!" + +It was well, perhaps, for Marie's firmness, that the Queen's appealing +tone had given place to returning severity; it recalled the departing +strength--the sinking energy--the power once more to _endure!_ For +several minutes there was no sound: Marie had buried her face in her +hands, and remained--half kneeling, half crouching--on the cushion at +the Queen's feet, motionless as stone; and Isabella--internally as +agitated as herself--was, under the veil of unbending sternness, +struggling for control. The contending emotions sweeping over that +frail woman-heart in that fearful period of indecision we pretend not +to describe: again and again the terrible temptation came, to say but +the desired word, and happiness was hers--such intense happiness, that +her brain reeled beneath its thought of ecstasy; and again and again +it was driven back by that thrilling voice--louder than ever in its +call--to remain faithful to her God. It was a fearful contest; and +when she did look up, Isabella started; so terribly was its index +inscribed on those white and chiselled features. + +She rose slowly, and stood before the Sovereign, her hands tightly +clasped together, and the veins on her forehead raised like cords +across it. Three times she tried to speak; but only unintelligible +murmurs came, and her lips shook as with convulsion. "It is over," +she said at length, and her usually sweet voice sounded harsh and +unnatural. "The weakness is conquered, gracious Sovereign, condemn, +scorn, hate me as thou wilt, thou must: I must endure it till my +heart breaks, and death brings release; but the word thou demandest I +_cannot_ speak! Thy favor, Arthur's love, I resign them all! 'Tis the +bidding of my God, and he will strengthen me to bear it. Imprison, +torture, slay, with the lingering misery of a broken heart, but I +cannot deny my faith!" + +Disappointed, grieved, as she was at this unexpected reply, Isabella +was too much an enthusiast in religion herself not to understand the +feeling which dictated it; and much as she still abhorred the faith, +the martyr spirit which could thus immolate the most fervid, the +most passionate emotions of woman's nature at the shrine of her God, +stirred a sympathetic chord in her own heart, and so moved her, that +the stern words she had intended to speak were choked within her. + +"We must summon those then to whose charge we are pledged to commit +thee," she said with difficulty; and hastily rung a silver bell beside +her. "We had hoped such would not have been needed; but, as it is--" + +She paused abruptly; for the hangings were hastily pushed aside, and, +instead of the stern figure of Torquemada, who was to have obeyed the +signal, the Infanta Isabella eagerly entered; and ran up to the Queen, +with childish and caressing glee at being permitted to rejoin her. +The confessor--not imagining his presence would be needed, or that he +would return to his post in time--had restlessly obeyed the summons of +a brother prelate, and, in some important clerical details, forgot the +mandate of his Sovereign. + +Marie saw the softened expression of the Queen's face; the ineffectual +effort to resist her child's caresses, and retain her sternness: and, +with a sudden impulse, she threw herself at her feet. + +"Oh! do not turn from me, my Sovereign!" she implored, wildly clasping +Isabella's knees. "I ask nothing--nothing, but to return to my +childhood's home, and die there! I ask not to return to my people; they +would not receive me, for I have dared to love the stranger; but in my +own isolated home, where but two aged retainers of my father dwell, I +can do harm to none--mingle with none; let me bear a breaking heart for +a brief--brief while; and rest beside my parents. I will swear to thee +never to quit that place of banishment--swear never more to mingle with +either thy people or with mine--to be as much lost to man, as if the +grave had already closed over me, or convent walls immured me! Oh, +Madam! grant me but this! Will it not be enough of suffering to give up +Arthur?--to tear myself from thy cherishing love?--to bear my misery +alone? Leave me, oh! leave me but my faith--the sole joy, sole hope, now +left me! Give me not up to the harsh, and cruel father--the stern mother +of St. Ursula! If I can sacrifice love, kindness--all that would make +earth a heaven--will harshness gain thine end? Plead for me," she +continued, addressing the infant-princess, who, as if affected by the +grief she beheld, had left her mother to cling round Marie caressingly; +"plead for me, Infanta! Oh, Madam! the fate of war might place this +beloved and cherished one in the hands of those who regard thy faith +even as thou dost mine; were such an alternative proffered, how wouldst +thou she should decide? My Sovereign, my gracious Sovereign, oh, have +mercy!" + +"Mamma! dear Mamma!" repeated the princess at the same moment, and +aware that her intercession was required, though unable to comprehend +the wherefore, she clasped her little hands entreatingly; "grant poor +Marie what she wishes! You have told me a Queen's first duty is to be +kind and good; and do all in her power to make others happy. Make her +happy, dear Mamma, she has been so sad!" + +The appeal to Isabella's nature was irresistible; she caught her child +to her heart, and burst into passionate tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + + "I will have vengeance! + I'll crush thy swelling pride! I'll still thy vaunting! + I'll do a deed of blood! + Now all idle forms are over-- + Now open villany, now open hate-- + Defend thy life!" + + JOANNA BAILLIE. + + "Let me but look upon 'her' face once more-- + Let me but say farewell, my soul's beloved, + And I will bless thee still." + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +Some time had elapsed since King Ferdinand and his splendid army had +quitted Saragossa. He himself had not as yet headed any important +expedition, but fixing his head-quarters at Seville, dispatched thence +various detachments under experienced officers, to make sallies on the +Moors, who had already enraged the Christian camp by the capture of +Zahara. Arthur Stanley was with the Marquis of Cadiz, when this insult +was ably avenged by the taking of Albania, a most important post, +situated within thirty miles of the capital. The Spaniards took +possession of the city, massacred many of the inhabitants, placed +strong restrictions on those who surrendered, and strongly garrisoned +every tower and fort. Nor were they long inactive: the Moors resolved +to retake what they considered the very threshold of their capital; +hastily assembled their forces, and regularly entered upon the siege. + +While at Seville, the camp of Ferdinand had been joined by several +foreign chevaliers, amongst whom was an Italian knight, who had +excited the attention and curiosity of many of the younger Spaniards +from the mystery environing him. He was never seen without his armor. +His helmet always closed, keeping surlily aloof, he never mingled in +the brilliant jousts and tournaments of the camp, except when Arthur +Stanley chanced to be one of the combatants: he was then sure to be +found in the lists, and always selected the young Englishman as his +opponent. At first this strange pertinacity was regarded more as a +curious coincidence than actual design; but it occurred so often, that +at length it excited remark. Arthur himself laughed it off, suggesting +that the Italian had perhaps some grudge against England, and wished +to prove the mettle of her sons. The Italian deigned no explanation, +merely saying that he supposed the Spanish jousts were governed by the +same laws as others, and he was therefore at liberty to choose his own +opponent. But Arthur was convinced that some cause existed for this +mysterious hostility. Not wishing to create public confusion, he +contended himself by keeping a watch upon his movements. He found, +however, that he did not watch more carefully than he was watched, +and incensed at length, he resolved on calling his enemy publicly to +account for his dishonorable conduct. This, however, he found much +easier in theory than practice. The wily Italian, as if aware of his +intentions, skilfully eluded them; and as weeks passed without any +recurrence of their secret attacks. Stanley, guided by his own frank +and honorable feelings, believed his suspicions groundless, and +dismissed them altogether. On the tumultuary entrance of the +Spaniards, however, these suspicions were re-excited. Separated by the +press of contending warriors from the main body of his men, Stanley +plunged headlong into the thickest battalion of Moors, intending to +cut his way through them to the Marquis of Cadiz, who was at that +moment entering the town. His unerring arm and lightness of movement +bore him successfully onward. A very brief space divided him from his +friends: the spirited charger on which he rode, cheered by his hand +and voice, with one successful bound cleared the remaining impediments +in his way, but at that moment, with a piercing cry of suffering, +sprung high in the air and fell dead, nearly crushing his astonished +master with his weight. Happily for Stanley, the despairing anguish of +the Moors at that moment at its height, from the triumphant entry of +the Spaniards into their beloved Albania, aggravated by the shrieks +of the victims in the unsparing slaughter, effectually turned the +attention of those around him from his fall. He sprung up, utterly +unable to account for the death of his steed: the dastard blow had +been dealt from behind, and no Moor had been near but those in front. +He looked hastily round him: a tall figure was retreating through the +thickening _melée_, whose dull, red armor, and deep, black plume, +discovered on the instant his identity. Arthur's blood tingled with +just indignation, and it was with difficulty that he restrained +himself from following, and demanding on the instant, and at the +sword's point, the meaning of the deed. + +The sudden start, and muttered execration of the Italian, as Stanley +joined the victorious group around the Marquis, convinced him that his +reappearance, and unhurt, was quite contrary to his mysterious enemy's +intention. The exciting events of the siege which followed, the +alternate hope and fear of the Spaniards, reduced to great distress +by the Moors having succeeded in turning the course of a river which +supplied the city with water, and finally, the timely arrival of +succors under the Duke of Medina Sidonia, which compelled the Moors to +raise the siege and disperse--the rejoicing attendant on so great and +almost unexpected a triumph, all combined to prevent any attention to +individual concerns. The Italian had not crossed Arthur's path again, +except in the general attack or defence; and Stanley found the +best means of conquering his own irritation towards such secret +machinations, was to treat them with indifference and contempt. + +The halls of Alhama were of course kept strongly manned; and a guard, +under an experienced officer, constantly occupied the summit of a +lofty tower, situated on a precipitous height which commanded a +view of the open country for miles, and overlooked the most distant +approach of the Moors. As was usual to Moorish architecture, the tower +had been erected on a rock, which on one side shelved down so straight +and smooth, as to appear a continuance of the tower-wall, but forming +from the battlements a precipice some thousand feet in depth. The +strongest nerve turned sick and giddy to look beneath, and the side of +the tower overlooking it was almost always kept unguarded. + +It was near midnight when Stanley, who was that night on command, +after completing his rounds, and perceiving every sentinel on duty, +found himself unconsciously on the part of the tower we have named. +So pre-occupied was his mind, that he looked beneath him without +shrinking; and then retracing his steps some twenty or thirty yards +from the immediate and unprotected edge, wrapped his mantle closely +round him, and lying down, rested his head on his arm, and permitted +the full dominion of thought. He was in that dreamy mood, when the +silence and holiness of nature is so much more soothing than even the +dearest sympathy of man; when every passing cloud and distant star, +and moaning wind, speaks with a hundred tongues, and the immaterial +spirit holds unconscious commune with beings invisible, and immaterial +as itself. Above his head, heavy clouds floated over the dark azure of +the heavens, sometimes totally obscuring the mild light of the full +moon; at others merely shrouding her beams in a transparent veil, +from which she would burst resplendently, sailing majestically along, +seeming the more light and lovely from the previous shade. One +brilliant planet followed closely on her track, and as the dark masses +of clouds would rend asunder, portions of the heavens, studded with +glittering stars, were visible, seeming like the gemmed dome of some +mighty temple, whose walls and pillars, shrouded in black drapery, +were lost in the distance on either side. Gradually, Stanley's +thoughts became indistinct; the stars seemed to lose their radiance, +as covered by a light mist; a dark cloud appearing, in his half +dormant fancy, to take the gigantic proportions of a man, hovered on +the battlement. It became smaller and smaller, but still it seemed +a cloud, through which the moonlight gleamed; but a thrill passed +through him, as if telling of some impalpable and indefinable object +of dread. With a sudden effort he shook off the lethargy of half +sleep, and sprung to his feet, at the very moment a gleaming sword was +pointed at his throat. "Ha, villain! at thy murderous work again!" he +exclaimed, and another moment beheld him closed in deadly conflict +with his mysterious foe. A deep and terrible oath, and then a mocking +laugh, escaped his adversary; and something in those sounds, nerved +Stanley's arms with resistless power: he was sure he could not be +mistaken, and he fought, not with the unguarded desire of one eager +to obtain satisfaction for personal injury--but he was calm, cool, +collected, as threefold an avenger. For once, the demon-like caution +of the supposed Italian deserted him: discovery was inevitable, and +his sole aim was to compass the death of the hated foreigner with his +own. He tried gradually to retreat to the very edge of the precipice, +and Stanley's calm and cautious avoidance of the design lashed him +into yet fiercer desperation. Thick and fast, fell those tremendous +blows. The Italian had the advantage in height and size, Stanley in +steady coolness and prudent guard; the Italian sought only to slay his +adversary, caring not to defend himself; Arthur evidently endeavored +merely to unhelm the traitor, and bring him but slightly wounded to +the ground. For several minutes there was no cessation in that fearful +clash of steel; the strokes were so rapid, so continued, a hundred +combatants might have seemed engaged. A moment they drew back, as if +to breathe; the Italian, with a despairing effort, raised his weapon +and sprung forwards; Arthur lightly leaped aside, and the murderous +stroke clove but the yielding earth. Another second, and ere the +Italian had regained his equilibrium, Arthur's sword had descended +with so true and sure a stroke that the clasp of the helmet gave way, +the dark blood bubbled up from the cloven brow, he reeled and fell; +and a long, loud shout from the officers and soldiers, who, at the +sound of arms, had flocked round, proclaimed some stronger feeling +than simply admiration of Stanley's well-known prowess. + +"Seize him! seize him! or by Heaven he will escape us yet!" were among +the few words intelligible. "The daring villain, to come amongst us! +Did he think for ever to elude Heaven's vengeance? Bind, fetter, hold +him; or his assistant fiends will release him still!" + +Fiercely the fallen man had striven to extricate himself; but +Stanley's knee moved not from his breast, nor his sword from his +throat, until a strong guard had raised and surrounded him: "but the +horrible passions imprinted on those lived features were such, that +his very captors turned away shuddering. + +"Hadst thou not had enough of blood and crime, thou human monster, +that thou wouldst stain thy already blackened soul with, another +midnight murder?" demanded Stanley, as he sternly confronted his +baffled foe. "Don Luis Garcia, as men have termed thee, what claim +have I on thy pursuing and unchanging hate? With what dost thou charge +me? What wrong?" + +"Wrong!" hoarsely and fiercely repeated Don Louis. "The wrong of +baffled hate; of success, when I planned thy downfall; of escape, +when I had sworn thy death! Did the drivelling idiots, who haunted, +persecuted, excommunicated me from these realms, as some loathed +reptile, dream that I would draw back from my sworn vengeance for such +as they? Poor, miserable fools, whom the first scent of danger would +turn aside from the pursuit of hate! I staked my life on thine, and +the stake is lost; but what care I? My hate shall follow thee; wither +thy bones with its curse; poison every joy; blight every hope; rankle +in thy life blood! Bid thee seek health, and bite the dust for anguish +because it flies thee! And for me. Ha, ha! Men may think to judge +me--torture, triumph, slay! Well, let them." And with a movement so +sudden and so desperate, that to avert it was impossible, he burst +from the grasp of his guards; and with one spring, stood firm and +triumphant on the farthest edge of the battlement. "Now follow me who +dares!" he exclaimed; and, with a fearful mocking laugh; flung himself +headlong down, ere the soldiers had recovered his first sudden +movement. Stanley alone retained presence of mind sufficient to dart +forward, regardless of his own imminent danger, in the vain hope of +arresting the leap; but quick as were his movements, he only reached +the brink in time to see the wretched man, one moment quivering in +air, and lost the next in a dark abyss of shade. + +A cry of mingled disappointment, horror, and execration, burst from +all around; and several of the soldiers hastened from the battlements +to the base of the rock, determined on fighting the arch-fiend +himself, if, as many of them firmly believed, he had rendered Don Luis +invulnerable to air, and would wait there to receive him. But even +this heroic resolution was disappointed: the height was so tremendous, +and the velocity of the fall so frightful, that the action of the air +had not only deprived him of life, but actually loosed the limbs from +the trunk, and a fearfully mangled corpse was all that remained to +glut the vengeance of the infuriated soldiers. + +The confusion and excitement attending this important event, spread +like wildfire; not only over Albania, but reaching to the Duke's camp +without the city. To send off the momentous information to the +King, was instantly decided upon; and young Stanley, as the person +principally concerned, selected for the mission. + +Ferdinand was astonished and indignant, and greatly disappointed +that justice had been so eluded; but that such a monster, whose +machinations seemed, in their subtlety and secrecy, to prevent all +defeat, no longer cumbered Spain, was in itself a relief so great both +to monarch and people, as after the first burst of indignation to +cause universal rejoicings. + +It so happened that Ferdinand had been desirous of Stanley's presence +for some weeks; letters from Isabella, some little time previous, had +expressed an earnest desire for the young man's return to Saragossa, +if only for a visit of a few days. This was then impossible. Three +months had elapsed since Isabella's first communication; within the +last two she had not again reverted to Stanley; but the King, thinking +she had merely refrained from doing so, because of its present +impossibility, gladly seized the opportunity of his appearance at +Seville, to dispatch him, as envoy extraordinary, on both public and +private business, to the court of Arragon. + +Isabella was surrounded by her ministers and nobles when Stanley +was conducted to her presence; she received him with cordiality and +graciousness, asked many and eager questions concerning her husband +and the progress of his arms, entered minutely into the affair of Don +Luis, congratulated him on his having been the hand destined to unmask +the traitor and bring him low; gave her full attention on the instant +to the communications from the King, with which he was charged; +occupied some hours in earnest and thoughtful deliberation with her +counsel, which, on perusal of the King's papers, she had summoned +directly. And yet, through all this, Arthur fancied there was an even +unusual degree of sympathy and kindliness in the tone and look with +which she addressed him individually; but he felt intuitively it +was sympathy with sorrow, not with joy. He was convinced that his +unexpected presence had startled and almost grieved her; and why +should this be, if she had still the hope with which she had so +infused his spirit, when they had parted. His heart, so full of +elasticity a few hours previous, sunk chilled and pained within him, +and it was with an effort impossible to have been denied, had it not +been for the Queen's _unspoken_ but real sympathy; he roused himself +sufficiently to execute his mission. + +But Isabella was too much the true and feeling woman, to permit the +day to close without the private interview she saw Stanley needed; +reality, sad as it was, she felt would be better than harrowing +suspense; and, in a few kindly words, the tale was told. + +"I should have known it!" he exclaimed, when the first shock of bitter +disappointment permitted words. "My own true, precious Marie! How +dared I dream that for me thou wouldst sacrifice thy faith; all, all +else--joy, hope, strength; aye, life itself--but not thy God! Oh, +Madam," he continued, turning passionately to the Queen, "thou hast +not condemned her to misery for this! Thou hast not revoked thy former +heavenly mercy, and delivered her over to the stern fathers of our +holy church? No, no! Isabella could not have done this!" + +"Nor have we," replied the Queen, so mildly that Arthur flung himself at +her feet, conjuring her to pardon his disrespectful words. "Give her to +thee, without retracting her fearful misbelief, indeed we dared not, but +further misery has not been inflicted. We have indeed done penance for +our weakness, severe penance; for Father Tomas asserts that we have most +grievously sinned; and more, have pledged ourselves most solemnly, that +what he may counsel for the entire uprooting of this horrible heresy, +and accursed race, shall be followed, cost what it may, politically or +privately; but to refuse the last boon of the unhappy girl, who had so +strangely, perchance so bewilderingly, wound herself about my +heart--Stanley, I must have changed my nature first!" + +"Her last boon! Gracious Sovereign--" + +"Nay, her last to her Sovereign, my friend. It may be that even yet +her errors may be abjured, and grace be granted in her solitude, to +become in this world as the next, what we have prayed for; but we dare +not hope it; nor must thou. She besought permission to return to the +home of her childhood, pledging herself never to leave it, or mingle +with her people or ours more." + +"And she is there! God in Heaven bless, reward your Highness for the +mercy!" burst impetuously from Arthur. "I trust she is, nay, I believe +it; for Jewess as she is, she would not pledge me false. In the garb +of the novice, as she saved thee, Father Denis conducted her to the +frontiers of Castile. More we know not, for we asked not the site of +her home." + +There was a few minutes' pause, and then, with beseeching eloquence, +Arthur conjured the Sovereign to let him see her once, but once again. +He asked no more, but he felt as if he could not sustain the agony of +eternal separation, without one last, last interview. He pledged his +honor, that no temptation of a secret union should interfere with the +sentence of the Queen; that both would submit; only to permit them +once more to meet again. + +Isabella hesitated, but not for long. Perhaps the secret hope arose +that Stanley's presence would effect that for which all else had +failed; or that she really could not resist his passionate pleadings. + +"One word of retraction, and even now she is thine.--And I will bless +thee that thou gavest her to me again," she said in parting; but her +own spirit told her the hope was vain. + +Half an hour after this agitating interview Arthur Stanley was again +on horseback, a deep hectic on either cheek; his eye bloodshot and +strained, traversing with the speed of lightning the open country, in +the direction of Castile. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + + "Oh! love, love, strong as death--from such an hour + Pressing out joy by thine immortal power; + Holy and fervent love! Had earth but rest + For thee and thine, this world were all too fair: + How could we thence be weaned to die without despair! + + "But woe for him who felt that heart grow still + Which with its weight of agony had lain + Breaking on his. Scarce could the mortal chill + Of the hushed bosom, ne'er to heave again, + And all the curdling silence round the eye, + Bring home the stern belief that she could die." + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +The glowing light of a glorious sunset lingered on the Vale of Cedars, +displaying that calm and beautiful retreat in all the fair and rich +luxuriance of former years. Reuben and Ruth, the aged retainers of the +house of Henriquez, had made it their pride and occupation to preserve +the cherished retreat, lovely as it had been left. Nor were they its +only inmates; their daughter, her husband, and children, after various +struggles in the Christian world, had been settled in the Vale by the +benevolence of Ferdinand Morales--their sole duty, to preserve it in +such order, as to render it a fitting place of refuge for any who +should need it. Within the last twelve months, another inmate had been +added to them. Weary of his wanderings, and of the constant course of +deception which his apparent profession of a monk demanded, Julien +Morales had returned to the home of his childhood, there to fix +his permanent abode; only to make such excursions from it, as the +interests of his niece might demand. Her destiny was his sole anxious +thought. Her detention by Isabella convinced him that her disguise had +been penetrated, and filled him with solicitude for her spiritual, yet +more than her temporal welfare. Royal protection of a Jewess was +so unprecedented, that it could only argue the hope--nay, perhaps +conviction--of her final conversion. And the old man actually tried to +divorce the sweet image of his niece from his affections, so convinced +was he that her unhappy love for Arthur, combined with Isabella's +authority, and, no doubt, the threat of some terrible alternative +should she refuse, would compel her acceptance of the proffered cross, +and so sever them for ever. How little can man, even the most gentle +and affectionate, read woman! + +It was the day completing the eleventh month after Don Ferdinand's +murder, when Julien Morales repaired earlier than usual to the little +temple, there to read the service for the dead appointed for the day, +and thence proceeded to his nephew's grave. An unusual object, which +had fallen on, or was kneeling beside the grave, caught his eye, and +impelled him to quicken his pace. His heart throbbed as he recognized +the garb of a novice, and to such a degree as almost to deprive him of +all power, as in the white, chiselled features, resting on the cold, +damp sod, he recognized his niece, and believed, for the first +agonizing moment, that it was but clay resting against clay; and that +the sweet, pure spirit had but guided her to that grave and flown. But +death for a brief interval withdrew his grasp; though his shaft had +reached her, and no human hand could draw it back. Father Denis had +conducted her so carefully and tenderly to the frontiers of Castile, +that she had scarcely felt fatigue, and encountered no exposure to the +elements; but when he left her, her desire to reach her home became +stronger, with the seeming physical incapacity to do so. Her spirit +gave way, and mental and bodily exhaustion followed. The season was +unusually damp and tempestuous, and, though scarcely felt at the time, +sowed the seeds of cold and decline, from which her naturally good +constitution might, in the very midst of her trials, otherwise have +saved her. Her repugnance to encounter the eyes or speech of her +fellows, lest her disguise should be penetrated, caused her to shrink +from entering any habitation, except for the single night which +intervened, between the period of the father's leaving her and her +reaching the secret entrance to the Vale. Her wallet provided her with +more food than her parched throat could swallow; and for the consuming +thirst, the fresh streams that so often bubbled across her path, gave +her all she needed. The fellowship of man, then, was unrequited, +and, as the second night fell, so comparatively short a distance lay +between her and her home, that buoyed up by the desire to reach it, +she was not sensible of her utter exhaustion, till she stood within +the little graveyard of the Vale; and the moon shining softly and +clearly on the headstones, disclosed to her the grave of her husband. +She was totally ignorant that he had been borne there; and the rush +of feeling which came over her, as she read his name--the memories of +their happy, innocent, childhood, of all his love for her--that had he +been but spared, all the last year's misery might have been averted, +for she would have loved him, ay, even as he loved her; and he would +have guarded, saved--so overpowered her, that she had sunk down upon +the senseless earth which covered him, conscious only of the wild, +sickly longing, like him to flee away and be at rest. She had reached +her home; exertion no longer needed, the unnatural strength, ebbed +fast, and the frail tenement withered, hour by hour, away. And how +might Julien mourn! Her work on earth was done. Young, tried, frail +as she was, she had been permitted to show forth the glory, the +sustaining glory, of her faith, by a sacrifice whose magnitude was +indeed apparent, but whose depth and intensity of suffering, none knew +but Him for whom it had been made. She had been preserved from the +crime--if possible more fearful in the mind of the Hebrew than any +other--apostacy: and though the first conviction, that she was indeed +"passing away" even from his affection, was fraught with absolute +anguish, yet her uncle could not, dared not pray for life on earth. +And in the peace, the calm, the depth, of quietude which gradually +sunk on her heart, infusing her every word and look and gentle smile, +it was as if her spirit had already the foretaste of that blissful +heaven for which its wings were plumed. As the frame dwindled, the +expression of her sweet face became more and more unearthly in its +exquisite beauty, the mind more and more beatified, and the heart more +freed from earthly feeling. The reward of her constancy appeared in +part bestowed on earth, for death itself was revealed to her--not as +the King of Terrors, but as an Angel of Light, at whose touch the +lingering raiment of mortality would dissolve, and the freed soul +spring up rejoicing to its home. + +It was the Feast of the Tabernacle and the Sabbath eve. The +tent--formed of branches of thick trees and fragrant shrubs--was +erected, as we have seen it in a former page, a short distance from +the temple. Marie's taste had once again, been consulted in its +decorations; her hand, feeble as it was, had twined the lovely +wreaths of luscious flowers and arranged the glowing fruit. With some +difficulty she had joined in the devotional service performed by her +uncle in the little temple--borne there in the arms of old Reuben, for +her weakness now prevented walking--and on the evening of the Sabbath +in the Festival, she reclined on one of the luxurious couches within +the tent, through the opening of which, she could look forth on the +varied beauties of the Vale, and the rich glorious hues dyeing the +western skies. The Sabbath lamps were lighted, but their rays were +faint and flickering in the still glowing atmosphere. A crimson ray +from the departing luminary gleamed through the branches, and a faint +glow--either from its reflection, or from that deceiving beauty, which +too often gilds the features of the dying--rested on Marie's features, +lighting up her large and lustrous eyes with unnatural brilliance. She +had been speaking earnestly of that life beyond the grave, belief in +which throughout her trials had been her sole sustainer. Julien had +listened, wrapt and almost awe-struck, so completely did it seem as if +the spirit, and not the mortal, spoke. + +"And thine own trials, my beloved one," he said,--"Has the question +never come, why thou shouldst thus have been afflicted?" + +"Often, very often, my father, and only within the last few weeks has +the full answer come; and I can say from my inmost heart, in the words +of Job, 'It is good that I have been afflicted,' and that I believe +all is well. While _on_ earth, we must be in some degree _of_ earth, +and bear the penalty of our earthly nature. The infirmities and +imperfections of that nature in others, as often as in ourselves, +occasion human misery, which our God, in his infinite love, permits, +to try our spirit's strength and faith, and so prepare us for that +higher state of being, in which the spirit will move and act, when +the earthly shell is shivered, and earthly infirmities are for ever +stilled. In the time of suffering we cannot think thus; but looking +back as I do now--when the near vicinity of another world bids me +regard my own past life almost as if it were another's--I feel it in +my inmost heart, and bless God for every suffering which has prepared +me thus early for his home. There is but one feeling, one wish +of earth, remaining," she continued, after a long pause of utter +exhaustion. "It is weak, perhaps, and wrong; but if--if Arthur could +but know that fatal secret which made me seem a worse deceiver than +I was--I know it cannot be, but it so haunts me. If I wedded one +Christian, may he not think there needed not this sacrifice--sacrifice +not of myself, but of his happiness. Oh! could I but--Hush! whose step +is that?" she suddenly interrupted herself; and with the effort of +strong excitement, started up, and laid her hand on her uncle's arm. + +"Nay, my child, there is no sound," he replied soothingly, after +listening attentively for several moments. + +"But there is. Hark, dost thou not hear it now? God of mercy! thou +hast heard my prayer--it is _his_!" she exclaimed, sinking powerlessly +back, at the moment that even Julien's duller ear had caught a rapid +step; and in another minute the branches were hastily pushed aside, +and Stanley indeed stood upon the threshold. + +"Marie--and thus!" he passionately exclaimed; and flinging himself +on his knees beside her, he buried his face on her hand, and wept in +agony. + + * * * * * + +Nearly an hour passed ere Marie could rally from the agitation of +Arthur's unexpected presence sufficiently to speak. She lay with her +hand clasped in his, and his arm around her--realizing, indeed, to the +full, the soothing consolation of his presence, but utterly powerless +to speak that for which she had so longed to see him once again. The +extent of her weakness had been unknown till that moment either to +her uncle or herself, and Julien watched over her in terror lest the +indefinable change which in that hour of stillness was perceptibly +stealing over her features should be indeed the dim shadow of death. +To Arthur speech was equally impossible, save in the scarcely +articulate expressions of love and veneration which he lavished on +her. What he had hoped in thus seeking her he could not himself have +defined. His whole soul was absorbed in the wild wish to see her +again, and the thoughts of death for her had never entered his heart. +The shock, then, had been terrible, and to realize the infinite mercy +which thus bade sorrow cease, was in such a moment impossible. He +could but gaze and clasp her closer and closer, yet, as if even death +should be averted by his love. + +"Uncle Julien," she murmured, as she faintly extended her hand towards +him, "thou wilt not refuse to clasp hands with one who has so loved +thy Marie! And thou, Arthur, oh! scorn him not. Without him the +invisible dungeons of the Inquisition would have been my grave, and +thine that of a dishonored knight and suspected murderer." + +The eyes of her companions met, and their hands were grasped in that +firm pressure, betraying unity of feeling, and reciprocal esteem, +which need no words. + +"Raise me a little, dearest Arthur; uncle Julien" put back that +spreading bough. I would say something more, and the fresher air may +give me strength. Ah! the evening breeze is so fresh and sweet; it +always makes me feel as if the spirits of those we loved were hovering +near us. We hold much closer and dearer communion with the beloved +dead in the calm twilight than in the garish day. Arthur, dearest, +thou wilt think of me sometimes in an hour like this." + +"When shall I not think of thee?" he passionately rejoined. "Oh, +Marie, Marie! I thought separation on earth the worst agony that could +befall me; but what--what is it compared to the eternal one of death?" + +"No, no, not eternal, Arthur. In heaven I feel there is no distinction +of creed or faith; we shall all love God and one another there, and +earth's fearful distinctions can never come between us. I know such +is not the creed of thy people, nor of some of mine; but when thou +standest on the verge of eternity, as I do now, thou wilt feel this +too." + +"How can I gaze on thee, and not believe it?" he replied. "The loudest +thunders of the church could not shake my trust in the purity of +heaven, which is thine." + +"Because thou lovest, Arthur. Thy love for Marie is stronger than thy +hatred of her race; and, oh! if thou lovest thus, I know thou hast +forgiven." + +"Forgiven!" he passionately reiterated. + +"Yes, dearest Arthur. Is the past indeed so obliterated that the wrong +I did thee is forgotten even as forgiven? But, oh, Arthur! it was not +so unjustifiable as it seemed then. I dared not breathe the truth in +Isabella's court. I dare not whisper it now save to thee, who would +die rather than reveal it. Arthur, dearest Arthur, it was no Christian +whom I wedded. We had been betrothed from early childhood, though I +knew it not; and when the time came, I could not draw down on me a +father's curse, or dash with agony a heart that so cherished, so loved +me, by revelation of a truth which could avail me nothing, and would +bring him but misery. Ferdinand was my cousin--a child of Israel, as +myself." + +"Now heaven bless thee for those words, my own, true, precious Marie!" +exclaimed Stanley, in strong emotion, and clasping her still closer, +he pressed his quivering lips to her forehead, starting in agony as he +marked the cold, damp dews which had gathered upon it, too truly +the index of departing life. He besought her to speak no more--the +exertion was exhausting her; she smiled faintly, drank of the reviving +draught which Julien proffered, and lay for a few minutes calm and +still. + +"I am better now," she said, after an interval. "It was only the +excitement of speaking that truth, which I have so long desired to +reveal--to clear my memory from the caprice and inconstancy with which +even thy love must have charged me; and now, Arthur, promise me that +thou wilt not mourn me too long: that thou wilt strive to conquer the +morbid misery, which I know, if encouraged, will cloud thy whole life, +and unfit thee for the glorious career which must otherwise be thine. +Do not forget me wholly, love, but deem it not a duty to my memory +never to love again. Arthur, dearest, thou canst bestow happiness on +another, and one of thine own faith, even such happiness as to have +been thy wife would have given me. Do not reject the calm rest and +peacefulness, which such love will bring to thee, though now thou +feelest as if the very thought were loathing. She will speak to thee +of me; for Jewess as she knew me, she has loved and tended me in +suffering, and so wept my banishment, that my frozen tears had well +nigh flowed in seeing hers. Seek her in Isabella's court, and try to +love her, Arthur--if at first merely for my sake, it will soon, soon +be for her own." + +Impressively and pleadingly, these words fell on Arthur's aching +heart, even at that moment when he felt to comply with them was and +must ever be impossible. When time had done its work, and softened +individual agony, they returned again and yet again; and at each +returning, seemed less painful to obey. + +"And Isabella, my kind, loving, generous mistress," she continued, +after a very long pause, and her voice was so faint as scarcely +to make distinguishable the words, save for the still lingering +sweetness, and clearness of her articulation--"Oh! what can I say to +her? Arthur, dearest Arthur, thou must repay the debt of gratitude +I owe her. Her creed condemns, but her heart loves me--aye, still, +still! And better (though she cannot think so) than had I for earthly +joy turned traitor to my God. Oh, tell her how with my last breath I +loved and blessed her, Arthur; tell her we shall meet again, where +Jew and Gentile worship the same God! Oh that I could but have +proved--proved--How suddenly it has grown dark! Uncle Julien, is it +not time for the evening prayer?" + +And her lips moved in the wordless utterance of the prayer for which +she had asked, forgetting it had some time before been said; and then +her head sunk lower and lower on Arthur's bosom, and there was no +sound. Twilight lingered, as loth to disappear, then deepened into +night, and the silver lamps within the tents brighter and more +brightly illumined the gloom; but Arthur moved not, suppressing even +his breath, lest he should disturb that deep and still repose. It was +more than an hour ere Julien Morales could realize the truth, and then +he gently endeavored to unclasp Arthur's almost convulsive hold, and +with, kindly force to lead him from the couch. The light of the lamp +fell full upon that sweet, sweet face; and, oh! never had it seemed so +lovely. The awful stillness of sculptured repose was indeed there; the +breath of life and its disturbing emotions had passed away, and nought +but the shrine remained. But like marble sculptured by God's hand, +that sweet face gleamed--seeming, in its perfect tracery, its heavenly +repose, to whisper even to the waves of agony, "Be still--my spirit is +with God!" + + * * * * * + +Julien Morales and Arthur Stanley--the aged and the young--the Jewish +recluse and Christian warrior--knelt side by side on the cold earth, +which concealed the remains of one to both so inexpressibly dear. The +moonlit shrubs and spangled heaven alone beheld their mutual sorrow, +and the pale moon waned, and the stars gleamed paler and paler in the +first gray of dawn ere that vigil was concluded. And then both arose +and advanced to the barrier wall; the spring answered to the touch, +and the concealed door flew back. The young Christian turned, and +was folded to the heart of the Jew. The blessing of the Hebrew was +breathed in the ear of the Englishman, and Stanley disappeared. + +Oh, love! thou fairest, brightest, most imperishable type of heaven! +what to thee are earth's distinctions? Alone in thy pure essence thou +standest, and every mere earthly feeling crouches at thy feet. And art +thou but this world's blessing? Oh! they have never loved who thus +believe. Love is the voice of God, Love is the rule of Heaven! As one +grain to the uncounted sands, as one drop to the unfathomed depths--is +the love of earth to that of heaven; but when the mortal shrine is +shivered, the minute particle will re-unite itself with its kindred +essence, to exist unshadowed and for ever. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + + "Why then a final note prolong, + Or lengthen out a closing song, + Unless to bid the gentles speed + Who long have listened to my rede?" + + SIR WALTER SCOTT. + + +The fickle sun of "merrie England" shone forth in unusual splendor; +and, as if resolved to bless the august ceremony on which it gazed, +permitted not a cloud to shadow the lustrous beams, which, darted +their floods of light through the gorgeous casements of Westminster +Abbey, in whose sacred precincts was then celebrating the bridal of +the young heir of England, with a fair and gentle daughter of Spain. +It was a scene to interest the coldest heart--not for the state and +splendor of the accoutrements, nor the high rank of the parties +principally concerned, nor for the many renowned characters of church, +state, and chivalry there assembled; it was the extreme youth and +touching expression, impressed on the features, of both bride and +bridegroom. + +Neither Arthur, Prince of Wales, nor Catherine, Infanta of Arragon, +had yet numbered eighteen years, the first fresh season of joyous +life; but on neither countenance could be traced the hilarity and +thoughtlessness, natural to their age. The fair, transparent brow of +the young Prince, under which the blue veins could be clearly seen, +till lost beneath the rich chesnut curls, that parted on his brow, +fell loosely on either shoulder; the large and deep blue eye, which +was ever half concealed beneath the long, dark lash, as if some untold +languor caused the eyelid to droop so heavily; the delicate pink of +his downless cheek, the brilliant hue on his lips, even his peculiar +smile, all seemed to whisper the coming ill, that one so dear to +Englishmen would not linger with them to fulfil the sweet promise of +his youth. + +Beauty is, perhaps, too strong a word to apply to the youthful bride. +It was the pensive sadness of her mild and pleasing features that so +attracted--natural enough to her position in a strange land, and the +thoughts of early severance from a mother she idolized, but recalled +some twenty years afterwards as the dim shadow of the sorrowing +future, glooming through the gay promise of the present. And there, +too, was Prince Henry, then only in his twelfth year, bearing in his +flashing eye and constantly varying expression of brow and mouth, true +index of those passions which were one day to shake Europe to the +centre; and presenting in his whole appearance a striking contrast +to his brother, and drawing around him, even while yet so young, the +hottest and wildest spirits of his father's court, who, while they +loved the person, scorned the gentle amusements of the Prince of +Wales. + +Henry the Seventh and his hapless consort, Elizabeth of York, were, of +course, present--the one rejoicing in the conclusion of a marriage for +which he had been in treaty the last seven years, and which was at +last purchased at the cost of innocent blood; the other beholding only +her precious son, whose gentle and peculiarly domestic virtues, were +her sweetest solace for conjugal neglect and ill-concealed dislike. + +Amongst the many noble Spaniards forming the immediate attendants of +the Infanta, had been one so different in aspect to his companions as +to attract universal notice; and not a few of the senior noblemen of +England had been observed to crowd round him whenever he appeared, and +evince towards him the most marked and pleasurable cordiality. His +thickly silvered hair and somewhat furrowed brow bore the impress +of some five-and-fifty years; but a nearer examination might have +betrayed, that sorrow more than years, had aged him, and full six, +or even ten years might very well be subtracted from the age which a +first glance supposed him. Why the fancy was taken that he was not a +Spaniard could not have been very easily explained; for his wife was +the daughter of the famous Pedro Pas, whose beauty, wit, and high +spirits were essentially Spanish, and was the Infanta's nearest and +most favored attendant; and he himself was constantly near her person, +and looked up to by the usually jealous Spaniards as even higher in +rank and importance that many of themselves. How, then, could he be a +foreigner? And marvel merged into the most tormenting curiosity, when, +on the bridal day of the Prince of Wales, though he still adhered to +the immediate train of the Princess, he appeared in the rich and full +costume of an English Peer. The impatience of several young gallants +could hardly by restrained even during the ceremony; at the conclusion +of which they tumultuously surrounded Lord Scales, declaring they +would not let him go, till he had told them who and what was this +mysterious friend: Lord Scales had headed a gallant band of English +knights in the Moorish war, and was therefore supposed to know every +thing concerning Spain, and certainly of this Anglo-Spaniard, as ever +since his arrival in England they had constantly been seen together. +He smiled good-humoredly at their importunity, and replied-- + +"I am afraid my friend's history has nothing very marvellous or +mysterious in it. His family were all staunch Lancastrians, and +perished either on the field or scaffold; he escaped almost +miraculously, and after a brief interval of restless wandering, went +to Spain and was treated with such consideration and kindness by +Ferdinand and Isabella, that he has lived there ever since, honored +and treated in all things as a child of the soil. On my arrival, I was +struck by his extraordinary courage and rash disregard of danger, and +gladly hailed in him a countryman. I learned afterwards that this +reckless bravery had been incited by a wish for death, and that events +had occurred in his previous life, which would supply matter for many +a minstrel tale." + +"Let us hear it, let us hear it!" interrupted many eager voices, but +Lord Seales laughingly shook his head. + +"Excuse me, my young friends: at present I have neither time nor +inclination for a long story. Enough that he loved, and loved +unhappily; not from its being unreturned, but from a concatenation of +circumstances and sorrows which may not be detailed." + +"But he is married; and he is as devoted to Donna Catherine as she is +to him. I heard they were proverbial for their mutual affection and +domestic happiness. How could he so have loved before?" demanded, +somewhat skeptically, a very young man. + +"My good friend, when you get a little older, you will cease to marvel +at such things, or imagine, because a man has been very wretched, he +is to be for ever. My friend once felt as you do (Lord Seales changed +his tone to one of impressive seriousness); but he was wise enough +to abide by the counsels of the beloved one he had lost, struggle to +shake off the sluggish misery which was crushing him, cease to wish +for death, and welcome life as a solemn path of usefulness and good, +still to be trodden, though its flowers might have faded. Gradually as +he awoke to outward things, and sought the companionship of her whom +his lost one had loved, he became sensible that, spiritless as he had +thought himself, he could yet, did he see fit, win and rivet regard; +and so he married, loving less than he was loved, perchance at the +time but scarcely so now. His marriage, and his present happiness, are +far less mysterious than his extraordinary interference in the event +which followed the conquest of the Moors--I mean the expulsion of the +Jews." + +"By the way, what caused that remarkable edict?" demanded one of the +circle more interested in politics than in individuals. "It is a good +thing indeed to rid a land of such vermin; but in Spain they had +so much to do with the successful commerce of the country, that it +appears as impolitic as unnecessary." + +"Impolitic it was, so far as concerned the temporal interests of the +kingdom; but the sovereigns of Spain decided on it, from the religious +light in which it was placed before them, by Torquemada. It is +whispered that Isabella would never have consented to a decree, +sentencing so many thousands of her innocent subjects to misery and +expulsion, had not her confessor worked on her conscience in an +unusual manner; alluding to some unprecedented favor shown to one of +that hated race, occasioned, he declared, by those arts of magic which +might occur again and yet again, and do most fatal evil to the land. +Isabella had, it appears, when reproached by Torquemada for her act +of mercy, which he termed weakness, pledged herself, not to interfere +with his measures for the extermination of the unbelief, and on this +promise of course he worked, till the edict was proclaimed." + +"But this stranger, what had he to do with it?" demanded many of the +group, impatient at the interruption. + +"What he had to do with it I really cannot tell you, but his zeal +to avert the edict lost him, in a great measure the confidence of +Ferdinand. When he found to prevent their expulsion was impossible, +he did all in his power to lessen their misfortune, if such it may be +called, by relieving every unbeliever that crossed his path." + +An exclamation of horrified astonishment escaped his auditors. "What +could such conduct mean? did he lean towards unbelief himself--" + +"That could hardly be," replied Lord Scales. "Unless he had been a +Catholic, earnest and zealous as herself, Isabella would never have so +esteemed him, as to give him as wife her especial favorite, Catherine +Pas, and place him so near the person of her child. When I left Spain, +I entreated my friend to accompany me, and resume his hereditary title +and estate, but I pleaded in vain. Some more than common tie seemed to +devote him to the interests of the Queen of Castile, whom he declared +he would never leave unless in England he could serve her better than +in Spain. At that time there was no chance of such an event. He now +tells me, that it was Isabella's earnest request that he should attend +the Princess; be always near her, and so decrease the difficulties, +which in a foreign land must for a time surround her. The Queen is +broken in health, and dispirited, from many domestic afflictions; and +it was with tears, she besought him to devote his remaining years, to +the service of her child, and be to the future Queen of England true, +faithful, and upright, as he had ever been to the Queen of Spain. +Need I say the honorable charge was instantly accepted, and while he +resumes his rank and duties as a Peer of his native land, the grateful +service of an adopted son of Spain will ever be remembered and +performed." + +"But his name, his name?" cried many eager voices. + +"ARTHUR STANLEY, EARL OF DERBY." + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12725 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..502de4a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #12725 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12725) diff --git a/old/12725-8.txt b/old/12725-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..165abb2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12725-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10173 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Vale of Cedars , by Grace Aguilar + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Vale of Cedars + +Author: Grace Aguilar + +Release Date: June 24, 2004 [eBook #12725] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VALE OF CEDARS *** + + +E-text prepared by the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading +Team + + + +THE VALE OF CEDARS; + +or, The Martyr + +BY GRACE AGUILAR, + +AUTHOR OF "HOME INFLUENCE," "WOMAN'S FRIENDSHIP," ETC. + +1851 + + + + + + + + "The wild dove hath her nest--the fox her cave-- + Mankind their country--Israel but the grave." + + BYRON. + + + + + +MEMOIR OF GRACE AGUILAR. + + +Grace Aguilar was born at Hackney, June 2nd, 1816. She was the eldest +child, and only daughter of Emanuel Aguilar, one of those merchants +descended from the Jews of Spain, who, almost within the memory of +man, fled from persecution in that country, and sought and found an +asylum in England. + +The delicate frame and feeble health observable in Grace Aguilar +throughout her life, displayed itself from infancy; from the age +of three years, she was almost constantly under the care of some +physician, and, by their advice, annually spending the summer months +by the sea, in the hope of rousing and strengthening a naturally +fragile constitution. This want of physical energy was, however, in +direct contrast to her mental powers, which developed early, and +readily. She learned to read with scarcely any trouble, and when once +that knowledge was gained, her answer when asked what she would like +for a present, was invariably "A book," which, was read, re-read, +and preserved with a care remarkable in so young a child. With the +exception of eighteen months passed at school, her mother was her sole +instructress, and both parents took equal delight in directing her +studies, and facilitating her personal inspection of all that was +curious and interesting in the various counties of England to which +they resorted for her health. + +From the early age of seven she commenced keeping a journal, which was +continued with scarce any intermission throughout her life. In 1825 +she visited Oxford, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Worcester, Ross, and Bath, +and though at that time but nine years old, her father took her to +Gloucester and Worcester cathedrals, and also to see a porcelain and +pin manufactory, &c., the attention and interest she displayed on +these occasions, affording convincing proof that her mind was alive +to appreciate and enjoy what was thus presented to her observation. +Before she had completed her twelfth year she ventured to try her +powers in composition, and wrote a little drama, called Gustavus Vasa, +never published, and only here recorded as being the first germ of +what was afterwards to become the ruling passion. + +In September, 1828, the family went to reside in Devonshire for the +health of Mr. Aguilar, and there a strong admiration for the beauties +and wonders of nature manifested itself: she constantly collected +shells, stones, seaweed, mosses, &c., in her daily rambles; and not +satisfied with admiring their beauty, sedulously procured whatever +little catechisms or other books on those subjects she could purchase, +or borrow, eagerly endeavoring by their study, to increase her +knowledge of their nature and properties. + +When she had attained the age of fourteen, her father commenced a +regular course of instruction for his child, by reading aloud, while +she was employed in drawing, needlework, &c. History was selected, +that being the study which now most interested her, and the first work +chosen was Josephus. + +It was while spending a short time at Tavistock, in 1830, that the +beauty of the surrounding scenery led her to express her thoughts in +verse. Several small pieces soon followed her first essay, and she +became extremely fond of this new exercise and enjoyment of her +opening powers, yet her mind was so well regulated, that she never +permitted herself to indulge in original composition until her duties, +and her studies, were all performed. + +Grace Aguilar was extremely fond of music; she had learned the piano +from infancy, and in 1831 commenced the harp. She sang pleasingly, +preferring English songs, and invariably selecting them for the beauty +or sentiment of the words; she was also passionately fond of dancing, +and her cheerful lively manners in the society of her young friends, +would scarcely have led any to imagine how deeply she felt and +pondered upon the serious and solemn subjects which afterwards formed +the labor of her life. She seemed to enjoy all, to enter into all, but +a keen observer would detect the hold that sacred and holy principle +ever exercised over her lightest act, and gayest hour. A sense of duty +was apparent in the merest trifle, and her following out of the divine +command of obedience to parents, was only equalled by the unbounded +affection she felt for them. A wish was once expressed by her mother +that she should not waltz, and no solicitation could afterwards tempt +her. Her mother also required her to read sermons, and study religion +and the Bible regularly; this was readily submitted to, first as a +task, but afterwards with much delight; for evidence of which we +cannot do better than quote her own words in one of her religious +works. + +"This formed into a habit, and persevered in for a life, would in +time, and without labor or weariness, give the comfort and the +knowledge that we seek; each year it would become lighter, and more +blest, each year we should discover something we knew not before, and +in the valley of the shadow of death, feel to our heart's core that +the Lord our God is Truth."--_Women of Israel_, Vol. II, page 43. + +Nor did Grace Aguilar only study religion for her own personal +observance and profit. She embraced its _principles_ (the principles +of all creeds) in a widely extended and truly liberal sense. She +carried her practice of its holy and benevolent precepts into every +minutiae of her daily life, doing all the good her limited means would +allow, finding time, in the midst of her own studies, and most +varied and continual occupations, to work for, and instruct her poor +neighbors in the country, and while steadily venerating and adhering +to her own faith, neither inquiring nor heeding the religious opinions +of the needy whom she succored or consoled. To be permitted to help +and comfort, she considered a privilege and a pleasure; she left the +rest to God; and thus bestowing and receiving blessings and smiles +from all who had the opportunity of knowing her, her young life flowed +on, in an almost uninterrupted stream of enjoyment, until she had +completed her nineteenth year. + +Alas! the scene was soon to change, and trials awaited that spirit +which, in the midst of sunshine, had so beautifully striven to prepare +itself a shelter from the storm. The two brothers of Miss Aguilar, +whom she tenderly loved, left the paternal roof to be placed far from +their family at school. Her mother's health necessitated a painful and +dangerous operation, and from that time for several years, alternate +hopes and fears through long and dreary watchings beside the sick bed +of that beloved mother, became the portion of her gifted child. But +even this depressing and arduous change in the duties of her existence +did not suspend her literary pursuits and labors. She profited by all +the intervals she could command, and wrote the tale of the "Martyr," +the "Spirit of Judaism," and "Israel Defended;" the latter translated +from the French, at the earnest request of a friend, and printed only +for private circulation. The "Magic Wreath," a little poetical work, +and the first our authoress ever published, dedicated to the Right +Honorable the Countess of Munster, also appeared about this time. + +In the Spring of 1835, Grace Aguilar was attacked with measles, and +never afterwards recovered her previous state of health, suffering +at intervals with such exhausting feelings of weakness, as to become +without any visible disease really alarming. + +The medical attendants recommended entire rest of mind and body; she +visited the sea, and seemed a little revived, but anxieties were +gathering around her horizon, to which it became evidently impossible +her ardent and active mind could remain passive or indifferent, and +which recalled every feeling, every energy of her impressible nature +into action. Her elder brother, who had long chosen music as his +profession, was sent to Germany to pursue his studies; the younger +determined upon entering the sea service. The excitement of these +changes, and the parting with both, was highly injurious to their +affectionate sister, and her delight a few months after, at welcoming +the sailor boy returned from his first voyage, with all his tales of +danger and adventure, and his keen enjoyment of the path of life he +had chosen, together with her struggles to do her utmost to share his +walks and companionship, contributed yet more to impair her inadequate +strength. + +The second parting was scarcely over ere her father, who had long +shown symptoms of failing health, became the victim of consumption. He +breathed his last in her arms, and the daughter, while sorrowing over +all she had lost, roused herself once more to the utmost, feeling that +she was the sole comforter beside her remaining parent. Soon after, +when her brother again returned, finding the death of his father, he +resolved not to make his third voyage as a midshipman, but endeavor +to procure some employment sufficiently lucrative to prevent his +remaining a burthen upon his widowed mother. Long and anxiously did he +pursue this object, his sister, whose acquaintance with literary and +talented persons had greatly increased, using all her energy and +influence in his behalf, and concentrating all the enthusiastic +feelings of her nature in inspiring him with patience, comfort, and +hope, as often as they failed him under his repeated disappointments. +At length his application was taken up by a powerful friend, for her +sake, and she had the happiness of succeeding, and saw him depart +at the very summit of his wishes. Repose, which had been so long +necessary, seemed now at hand; but her nerves had been too long and +too repeatedly overstrung, and when this task was done, the worn and +weary spirit could sustain no more, and sank under the labor that had +been imposed upon it. + +Severe illness followed, and though it yielded after a time to skilful +remedies and tender care, her excessive languor and severe headaches, +continued to give her family and friends great uneasiness. + +During all these demands upon her time, her thoughts, and her health, +however, the ruling passion neither slumbered nor slept. She completed +the Jewish Faith, and also prepared Home Influence for the press, +though very unfit to have taxed her powers so far. Her medical +attendant became urgent for total change of air and scene, and again +strongly interdicted _all_ mental exertion--a trip to Frankfort, to +visit her elder brother, was therefore decided on. In June, 1847, she +set out, and bore the journey without suffering nearly so much as +might have been expected. Her hopes were nigh, her spirits raised--the +novelty and interest of her first travels on the Continent gave her +for a very transient period a gleam, as it were, of strength. For a +week or two she appeared to rally, then again every exertion became +too much for her, every stimulating remedy to exhaust her. She +was ordered from Frankfort to try the baths and mineral waters of +Schwalbach, but without success. After a stay of six weeks, and +persevering with exemplary patience in the treatment prescribed, she +was one night seized with alarming convulsive spasms, so terrible that +her family removed her next morning with all speed back to Frankfort, +to the house of a family of most kind friends, where every attention +and care was lavishly bestowed. + +In vain. She took to her bed the very day of her arrival, and never +rose from it again; she became daily weaker, and in three weeks from +that time her sufferings ceased for ever. She was perfectly conscious +to within less than two hours before her death, and took an +affectionate leave of her mother and brother. Speech had been a +matter of difficulty for some time previous, her throat being greatly +affected by her malady; but she had, in consequence, learned to use +her fingers in the manner of the deaf and dumb, and almost the last +time they moved, it was to spell upon them feebly, "Though He slay me, +yet will I trust in Him." + +She was buried in the cemetery of Frankfort, one side of which is set +apart for the people of her faith. The stone which marks the spot +bears upon it a butterfly and five stars, emblematic of the soul in +heaven, and beneath appears the inscription-- + + "Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise + her in the gates."--Prov. ch. xxxi, v. 31. + +And thus, 16th September, 1847, at the early age of thirty-one, Grace +Aguilar was laid to rest--the bowl was broken, the silver cord was +loosed. Her life was short and checkered with pain and anxiety, +but she strove hard to make it useful and valuable, by employing +diligently and faithfully the talents with which she had been endowed. +Nor did the serious view with which she ever regarded earthly +existence, induce her to neglect or despise any occasion of enjoyment, +advantage, or sociality which presented itself. Her heart was ever +open to receive, her hand to give. + +Inasmuch as she succeeded to the satisfaction of her fellow beings, +let them be grateful; inasmuch as she failed, let those who perceive +it deny her not the meed of praise, for her endeavor to open the path +she believed would lead mankind to practical virtue and happiness, and +strive to carry out the pure philanthropic principles by which she was +actuated, and which she so earnestly endeavored to diffuse. + +OCTOBER, 1849. + + + + +THE VALE OF CEDARS; + +OR, + +THE MARTYR. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + "They had met, and they had parted; + Time had closed o'er each again, + Leaving lone the weary hearted + Mournfully to wear his chain."--MS. + + +A deliciously cool, still evening, had succeeded the intense heat of a +Spanish summer day, throwing rich shadows and rosy gleams on a wild, +rude mountain pass in central Spain. Massive crags and gigantic trees +seemed to contest dominion over the path, if path it could be called; +where the traveller, if he would persist in going onwards, could only +make his way by sometimes scrambling over rocks, whose close approach +from opposite sides presented a mere fissure covered with flowers and +brushwood, through which the slimmest figure would fail to penetrate; +sometimes wading through rushing and brawling streams, whose rapid +currents bore many a jagged branch and craggy fragment along with +them; sometimes threading the intricacies of a dense forest, +recognizing the huge pine, the sweet acorn oak, the cork tree, +interspersed with others of lesser growth, but of equally wild +perplexing luxuriance. On either side--at times so close that two +could not walk abreast, at others so divided that forests and streams +intervened--arose mountain walls seeming to reach the very heavens, +their base covered with trees and foliage, which gradually thinning, +left their dark heads totally barren, coming out in clear relief +against the deep blue sky. + +That this pass led to any inhabited district was little probable, for +it grew wilder and wilder, appearing to lead to the very heart of the +Sierra Toledo--a huge ridge traversing Spain. By human foot it had +evidently been seldom trod; yet on this particular evening a traveller +there wended his solitary way. His figure was slight to boyishness, +but of fair proportion, and of such graceful agility of movement, +that the obstacles in his path, which to others of stouter mould and +heavier step might have been of serious inconvenience, appeared by him +as unnoticed as unfelt. The deep plume of his broad-rimmed hat could +not conceal the deep blue restless eyes, the delicate complexion, and +rich brown clustering hair; the varying expression of features, which +if not regularly handsome, were bright with intelligence and +truth, and betraying like a crystal mirror every impulse of the +heart--characteristics both of feature and disposition wholly +dissimilar to the sons of Spain. + +His physiognomy told truth. Arthur Stanley was, as his name implied, +an Englishman of noble family; one of the many whom the disastrous +wars of the Roses had rendered voluntary exiles. His father and four +brothers had fallen in battle at Margaret's side. Himself and a twin +brother, when scarcely fifteen, were taken prisoners at Tewkesbury, +and for three years left to languish in prison. Wishing to conciliate +the still powerful family of Stanley, Edward offered the youths +liberty and honor if they would swear allegiance to himself. They +refused peremptorily; and with a refinement of cruelty more like +Richard of Gloucester than himself, Edward ordered one to the block, +the other to perpetual imprisonment. They drew lots, and Edwin Stanley +perished. Arthur, after an interval, succeeded in effecting his +escape, and fled from England, lingered in Provence a few months, +and then unable to bear an inactive life, hastened to the Court +of Arragon; to the heir apparent of which, he bore letters of +introduction, from men of rank and influence, and speedily +distinguished himself in the wars then agitating Spain. The character +of the Spaniards--impenetrable and haughty reserve--occasioned, in +general, prejudice and dislike towards all foreigners. But powerful +as was their pride, so was their generosity; and the young and lonely +stranger, who had thrown himself so trustingly and frankly on their +friendship, was universally received with kindness and regard. In men +of lower natures, indeed, prejudice still lingered; but this was +of little matter; Arthur speedily took his place among the noblest +chivalry of Spain; devoted to the interests of the King of Sicily, but +still glorying in the name and feeling of an Englishman, he resolved, +in his young enthusiasm, to make his country honored in himself. + +He had been five years in Spain, and was now four and twenty; but +few would have imagined him that age, so frank and free and full of +thoughtless mirth and hasty impulse was his character. These last +fifteen months, however, a shadow seemed to have fallen over him, not +deep enough to create remark, but _felt_ by himself. His feelings, +always ardent, had been all excited, and were all concentrated, on a +subject so wrapt in mystery, that the wish to solve it engrossed his +whole being. Except when engaged in the weary stratagem, the rapid +march, and actual conflict, necessary for Ferdinand's interest, but +one thought, composed of many, occupied his mind, and in solitude so +distractingly, that he could never rest; he would traverse the country +for miles, conscious indeed of what he _sought_, but perfectly +unconscious where he _went_. + +It was in one of these moods he had entered the pass we have +described, rejoicing in its difficulties, but not thinking where it +led, or what place he sought, when a huge crag suddenly rising almost +perpendicularly before him, effectually roused him from his trance. +Outlet there was none. All around him towered mountains, reaching +to the skies. The path was so winding, that, as he looked round +bewildered, he could not even imagine how he came there. To retrace +his steps, seemed quite as difficult as to proceed. The sun too had +declined, or was effectually concealed by the towering rocks, for +sudden darkness seemed around him. There was but one way, and Stanley +prepared to scale the precipitous crag before him with more eagerness +than he would a beaten path. He threw off his cloak, folded it in +the smallest possible compass, and secured it like a knapsack to his +shoulders, slung his sword over his neck, and, with a vigorous spring, +which conquered several paces of slippery rock at once, commenced the +ascent. Some brushwood, and one or two stunted trees, gave him now +and then a hold for his hands; and occasional ledges in the rock, a +resting for his foot; but still one false step, one failing nerve, and +he must have fallen backwards and been dashed to pieces; but to Arthur +the danger was his safety. Where he was going, indeed he knew not. He +could see no further than the summit of the crag, which appeared like +a line against the sky; but any bewilderment were preferable to the +strange stagnation towards outward objects, which had enwrapped him +ten minutes before. + +Panting, breathless, almost exhausted, he reached the summit, and +before him yawned a chasm, dark, fathomless, as if nature in some wild +convulsion had rent the rock asunder. The level ground on which +he stood was barely four feet square; behind him sloped the most +precipitous side of the crag, devoid of tree or bush, and slippery +from the constant moisture that formed a deep black pool at its base. +Stanley hazarded but one glance behind, then looked steadily forward, +till his eye seemed accustomed to the width of the chasm, which did +not exceed three feet. He fixed his hold firmly on a blasted trunk +growing within the chasm; It shook--gave way--another moment and he +would have been lost; but in that moment he loosed his hold, clasped +both hands above his head, and successfully made the leap--aware only +of the immense effort by the exhaustion which followed compelling him +to sink down on the grass, deprived even of energy to look around him. + +So marvellous was the change of scenery on which his eyes unclosed, +that he started to his feet, bewildered. A gradual hill, partly +covered with rich meadow grass, and partly with corn, diversified +with foliage, sloped downwards, leading by an easy descent to a small +valley, where orange and lime trees, the pine and chestnut, palm and +cedar, grew in beautiful luxuriance. On the left was a small dwelling, +almost hidden in trees. Directly beneath him a natural fountain threw +its sparkling showers on beds of sweet-scented and gayly-colored +flowers. The hand of man had very evidently aided nature in forming +the wild yet chaste beauty of the scene; and Arthur bounded down the +slope, disturbing a few tame sheep and goats on his way, determined on +discovering the genius of the place. + +No living object was visible, however; and with his usual reckless +spirit, he resolved on exploring further, ere he demanded the +hospitality of the dwelling. A narrow path led into a thicker wood, +and in the very heart of its shade stood a small edifice, the nature +of which Arthur vainly endeavored to understand. It was square, and +formed of solid blocks of cedar; neither carving nor imagery of any +kind adorned it; yet it had evidently been built with skill and care. +There was neither tower nor bell, the usual accompaniments of a +chapel, which Stanley had at first imagined it; and he stood gazing +on it more and more bewildered. At that moment, a female voice of +singular and thrilling beauty sounded from within. It was evidently +a hymn she chanted, for the strain was slow and solemn, but though +_words_ were distinctly intelligible, their language was entirely +unknown. The young man listened at first, conscious only of increasing +wonderment, which was quickly succeeded by a thrill of hope, so +strange, so engrossing, that he stood, outwardly indeed as if turned +to stone; inwardly, with every pulse so throbbing that to move or +speak was impossible. The voice ceased; and in another minute a door, +so skilfully constructed as when closed to be invisible in the solid +wall, opened noiselessly; and a female figure stood before him. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + "Farewell! though in that sound be years + Of blighted hopes and fruitless tears-- + Though the soul vibrate to its knell + Of joys departed--yet farewell." + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +To attempt description of either face or form would be useless. The +exquisite proportions of the rounded figure, the very perfection of +each feature, the delicate clearness of the complexion--brunette when +brought in close contact with the Saxon, blonde when compared with the +Spaniard--all attractions in themselves, were literally forgotten, or +at least unheeded, beneath the spell which dwelt in the _expression_ +of her countenance. Truth, purity, holiness, something scarcely of +this nether world, yet blended indescribably with all a woman's +nature, had rested there, attracting the most unobservant, and +riveting all whose own hearts contained a spark of the same lofty +attributes. Her dress, too, was peculiar--a full loose petticoat of +dark blue silk, reaching only to the ankle, and so displaying the +beautifully-shaped foot; a jacket of pale yellow, the texture seeming +of the finest woven wool, reaching to the throat; with sleeves tight +on the shoulders, but falling in wide folds as low as the wrist, and +so with every movement displaying the round soft arm beneath. An +antique brooch of curiously wrought silver confined the jacket at the +throat. The collar, made either to stand up or fall, was this evening +unclosed and thrown black, its silver fringe gleaming through the +clustering tresses that fell in all their native richness and raven +blackness over her shoulders, parted and braided on her brow, so as to +heighten the chaste and classic expression of her features. + +On a stranger that beautiful vision must have burst with bewildering +power: to Arthur Stanley she united _memory_ with _being_, the _past_ +with the _present_, with such an intensity of emotion, that for a few +minutes his very breath was impeded. She turned, without seeing him, +in a contrary direction; and the movement roused him. + +"Marie!" he passionately exclaimed, flinging himself directly in her +path, and startling her so painfully, that though there was a strong +and visible effort at self-control, she must have fallen had he not +caught her in his arms. There was an effort to break from his hold, a +murmured exclamation, in which terror, astonishment, and yet joy, were +painfully mingled, and then the heroine gave place to the woman, for +her head sunk on his shoulder and she burst into tears. + +Time passed. Nearly an hour from that strange meeting, and still they +were together; but no joy, nor even hope was on the countenance of +either. At first, Arthur had alluded to their hours of happy yet +unconfessed affection, when both had felt, intuitively, that they were +all in all to each other, though not a syllable of love had passed +their lips; on the sweet memories of those blissful hours, so brief, +so fleeting, but still Marie wept: the memory seemed anguish more than +joy. And then he spoke of returned affection, as avowed by her, when +his fond words had called it forth; and shuddered at the recollection +that that hour of acknowledged and mutual love, had proved the signal +of their separation. He referred again to her agonized words, that a +union was impossible, that she dared not wed him; it was sin even +to love him; that in the tumultuary, yet delicious emotions she had +experienced, she had forgotten, utterly forgotten in what it must +end--the agony of desolation for herself, and, if he so loved her, for +Stanley also--and again he conjured her to explain their meaning. They +had been separated, after that fearful interview, by a hasty summons +for him to rejoin his camp; and when he returned, she had vanished. +He could not trace either her or the friend with whom she had been +staying. Don Albert had indeed said, his wife had gone to one of the +southern cities, and his young guest returned to her father's home; +but where that home was, Don Albert had so effectually evaded, that +neither direct questionings nor wary caution could obtain reply. But +he had found her now; they had met once more, and oh, why need they +part again? Why might he not seek her father, and beseech his blessing +and consent? + +His words were eloquent, his tone impassioned, and hard indeed the +struggle they occasioned. But Marie wavered not in the repetition +of the same miserable truth, under the impression of which they +had separated before. She conjured him to leave her, to forget the +existence of this hidden valley, for danger threatened her father and +herself if it was discovered. So painful was her evident terror, that +Arthur pledged his honor never to reveal it, declaring that to +retrace the path by which he had discovered it, was even to himself +impossible. But still he urged her, what was this fatal secret? Why +was it sin to love him? Was she the betrothed of another? and the +large drops starting to the young man's brow denoted the agony of the +question. + +"No, Arthur, no," was the instant rejoinder: "I never could love, +never could be another's, this trial is hard enough, but it is all I +have to bear. I am not called upon to give my hand to another, while +my heart is solely thine." + +"Then wherefore join that harsh word 'sin,' with such pure love, my +Marie? Why send me from you wretched and most lonely, when no human +power divides us?" + +"No human power!--alas! alas!--a father's curse--an offended +God--these are too awful to encounter, Arthur. Oh do not try me more; +leave me to my fate, called down by my own weakness, dearest Arthur. +If you indeed love me, tempt me not by such fond words; they do but +render duty harder. Oh, wherefore have you loved me!" + +But such suffering tone, such broken words, were not likely to check +young Stanley's solicitations. Again and again he urged her, at least +to say what fatal secret so divided them; did he but know it, it +might be all removed. Marie listened to him for several minutes, with +averted head and in unbroken silence; and when she did look on him +again, he started at her marble paleness and the convulsive quivering +of her lips, which for above a minute prevented the utterance of a +word. + +"Be it so," she said at length; "you shall know this impassable +barrier. You are too honorable to reveal it. Alas! it is not that fear +which restrained me; my own weakness which shrinks from being to thee +as to other men, were the truth once known, an object of aversion and +of scorn." + +"Aversion! scorn! Marie, thou ravest," impetuously exclaimed Stanley; +"torture me not by these dark words: the worst cannot be more +suffering." + +But when the words were said, when with blanched lips and cheeks, and +yet unfaltering tone, Marie revealed the secret which was to separate +them for ever, Arthur staggered back, relinquishing the hands he had +so fondly clasped, casting on her one look in which love and aversion +were strangely and fearfully blended, and then burying his face in his +hands, his whole frame shook as with some sudden and irrepressible +anguish. + +"Thou knowest all, now," continued Marie, after a pause, and she stood +before him with arms folded on her bosom, and an expression of meek +humility struggling with misery on her beautiful features. "Se�or +Stanley, I need not now implore you to leave me; that look was +sufficient, say but you forgive the deception I have been compelled to +practise--and--and forget me. Remember what I am, and you will soon +cease to love." + +"Never, never!" replied Stanley, as with passionate agony he flung +himself before her. "Come with me to my own bright land; who shall +know what thou art there? Marie, my own beloved, be mine. What to me +is race or blood? I see but the Marie I have loved, I shall ever love. +Come with me. Edward has made overtures of peace if I would return to +England. For thy sake I will live beneath his sway; be but mine, and +oh, we shall be happy yet." + +"And my father," gasped the unhappy girl, for the generous nature of +Arthur's love rendered her trial almost too severe. "Wilt thou protect +him too? wilt thou for my sake forget what he is, and be to him a +son?" He turned from her with a stifled groan. "Thou canst not--I knew +it--oh bless thee for thy generous love; but tempt me no more, Arthur; +it cannot be; I dare not be thy bride." + +"And yet thou speakest of love. 'Tis false, thou canst not love me," +and Stanley sprung to his feet disappointed, wounded, till he scarce +knew what he said. "I would give up Spain and her monarch's love for +thee. I would live in slavery beneath a tyrant's rule to give thee a +home of love. I would forget, trample on, annihilate the prejudices +of a life, unite the pure blood of Stanley with the darkened torrent +running through thy veins, forget thy race, descent, all but thine own +sweet self. I would do this, all this for love of thee. And for +me, what wilt thou do?--reject me, bid me leave thee--and yet thou +speakest of love: 'tis false, thou lovest another better!" + +"Ay!" replied Marie, in a tone which startled him, "ay, thou hast +rightly spoken; thy words have recalled what in this deep agony I had +well nigh forgotten. There is a love, a duty stronger than that I bear +to thee. I would resign all else, but not my father's God." + +The words were few and simple; but the tone in which they were spoken +recalled Arthur's better nature, and banished hope at once. A pause +ensued, broken only by the young man's hurried tread, as he traversed +the little platform in the vain struggle for calmness. On him this +blow had fallen wholly unprepared; Marie had faced it from the moment +they had parted fifteen months before, and her only prayer had been (a +fearful one for a young and loving heart), that Stanley would forget +her, and they might never meet again. But this was not to be; and +though she had believed herself prepared, one look on his face, one +sound of his voice had proved how vain had been her dream. + +"I will obey thee, Marie," Stanley said, at length, pausing before +her. "I will leave thee now, but not--not for ever. No, no; if indeed +thou lovest me time will not change thee, if thou hast one sacred tie, +when nature severs that, and thou art alone on earth, thou shalt be +mine, whatever be thy race." + +"Hope it not, ask it not! Oh, Arthur, better thou shouldst hate me, as +thy people do my race: I cannot bear such gentle words," faltered poor +Marie, as her head sunk for a minute on his bosom, and the pent-up +tears burst forth. "But this is folly," she continued, forcing back +the choking sob, and breaking from his passionate embrace. "There is +danger alike for my father and thee, if thou tarriest longer. Not that +way," she added, as his eye glanced inquiringly towards the hill by +which he had descended; "there is another and an easier path; follow +me--thou wilt not betray it?" + +"Never!" was the solemn rejoinder, and not a word more passed between +them. He followed her through what seemed to be an endless maze, and +paused before a towering rock, which, smooth and perpendicular as a +wall built by man, ran round the vale and seemed to reach to heaven. +Pushing aside the thick brushwood, Marie stood beside the rock, and by +some invisible movement, a low door flew open and disclosed a winding +staircase. + +"Thou wilt trust me, Arthur?" + +"Ay, unto death," he answered, springing after her up the rugged +stair. Narrow loopholes, almost concealed without by trees and +brushwood, dimly lighted the staircase, as also a low, narrow passage, +which branched off in zig-zag windings at the top, and terminated, as +their woody path had done, in a solid wall. But again an invisible +door flew open, closing behind them; and after walking about a hundred +yards through prickly shrubs and entangled brushwood that obscured his +sight, Marie paused, and Arthur gazed round bewildered. A seemingly +boundless plain stretched for miles around him, its green level +only diversified by rocks scattered about in huge masses and wild +confusion, as if hurled in fury from some giant's hand. The rock +whence he had issued was completely invisible. He looked around again +and again, but only to bewilder himself yet more. + +"The way looks more dreary than it is. Keep to the left: though it +seems the less trodden path thou wilt find there a shelter for the +night, and to-morrow's sun will soon guide thee to a frontier town; +thy road will be easy then. Night is falling so fast now, thou hadst +best not linger, Arthur." + +But he did linger, till once more he had drawn from her a confession +of her love, that none other could take his place, even while she +conjured him never to seek her again--and so they parted. Five minutes +more, and there was not a vestige of a human form on the wide-extended +plain. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + "Now History unfolds her ample page, + Rich with the spoils of Time." + + +Clearly to comprehend the internal condition of Spain at the period +of our narrative (1479)--a condition which, though apparently purely +national, had influence over every domestic hearth--it is necessary to +glance back a few years. The various petty Sovereignties into which +Spain had been divided never permitted any lengthened period of peace; +but these had at length merged into two great kingdoms, under the +names of Arragon and Castile. The _form_ of both governments was +monarchical; but the _genius_ of the former was purely republican, +and the power of the sovereign so circumscribed by the Junta, the +Justicia, and the Holy Brotherhood, that the vices or follies of the +monarch were of less consequence, in a national point of view, in +Arragon, than in any other kingdom. It was not so with Castile. From +the death of Henry the Third, in 1404, a series of foreign and civil +disasters had plunged the kingdom in a state of anarchy and misery. +John the Second had some virtues as an individual, but none as a king; +and his son Henry, who succeeded him in 1450, had neither the one nor +the other. Governed as his father had been, entirely by favorites, +the discontent of all classes of his subjects rapidly increased; the +people were disgusted and furious at the extravagance of the monarch's +minion; the nobles, fired at his insolence; and an utter contempt of +the king, increased the virulence of the popular ferment. Unmindful of +the disgrace attendant on his divorce from Blanche of Navarre, Henry +sought and obtained the hand of Joanna, Princess of Portugal, whose +ambition and unprincipled intrigues heightened the ill-favor with +which he was already regarded. The court of Castile, once so famous +for chastity and honor, sank to the lowest ebb of infamy, the shadow +of which, seeming to extend over the whole land, affected nobles and +people with its baleful influence. All law was at an end: the people, +even while they murmured against the King, followed his evil example; +and history shrinks from the scenes of debauchery and licentiousness, +robbery and murder, which desecrated the land. But this state of +things could not last long, while there still remained some noble +hearts amongst the Castilians. Five years after their marriage, the +Queen was said to have given birth to a daughter, whom Henry declared +should be his successor, in lieu of his young brother Alfonso (John's +son, by a second wife, Isabella of Portugal). This child the nobles +refused to receive, believing and declaring that she was not Henry's +daughter, and arrogated to themselves the right of trying and passing +sentence on their Sovereign, who, by his weak, flagitious conduct had, +they unanimously declared, forfeited all right even to the present +possession of the crown. + +The confederates, who were the very highest and noblest officers of +the realm, assembled at Avita, and with a solemnity and pomp which +gave the whole ceremony an imposing character of reality, dethroned +King Henry in effigy, and proclaimed the youthful Alfonso sovereign in +his stead. All present swore fealty, but no actual good followed: the +flame of civil discord was re-lighted, and raged with yet greater +fury; continuing even after the sudden and mysterious death of the +young prince, whose extraordinary talent, amiability, and firmness, +though only fourteen, gave rise to the rumor that he had actually been +put to death by his own party, who beheld in his rising genius the +utter destruction of their own turbulence and pride. Be this as +it may, his death occasioned no cessation of hostilities, the +confederates carrying on the war in the name of his sister, the +Infanta Isabella. Her youth and sex had pointed her out as one not +likely to interfere or check the projects of popular ambition, and +therefore the very fittest to bring forward as an excuse for their +revolt. With every appearance of humility and deference, they offered +her the crown; but the proudest and boldest shrank back abashed, +before the flashing eye and proud majesty of demeanor with which she +answered, "The crown is not yours to bestow; it is held by Henry, +according to the laws alike of God and man; and till his death, you +have no right to bestow, nor I to receive it." + +But though firm in this resolution, Isabella did not refuse to +coincide in their plans for securing her succession. To this measure +Henry himself consented, thus appearing tacitly to acknowledge the +truth of the reports that Joanna was a surreptitious child, and for +a brief period Castile was delivered from the horrors of war. Once +declared heiress of Castile and Leon, Isabella's hand was sought by +many noble suitors, and her choice fell on Ferdinand, the young +King of Sicily, and heir-apparent to the crown of Arragon. Love was +Isabella's incentive. Prudence, and a true patriotic ambition, urged +the Archbishop of Toledo not only to ratify the choice, but to smooth +every difficulty in their way; he saw at once the glory which might +accrue to Spain by this peaceful union of two rival thrones. Every +possible and impossible obstacle was privately thrown by Henry to +prevent this union, even while he gave publicly his consent; his +prejudice against Ferdinand being immovable and deadly. But the +manoeuvres of the Archbishop were more skilful than those of the King. +The royal lovers--for such they really were--were secretly united +at Valladolid, to reach which place in safety Ferdinand had been +compelled to travel in disguise, and attended only by four cavaliers; +and at that period so straitened were the circumstances of the Prince +and Princess, who afterwards possessed the boundless treasures of the +new world, that they were actually compelled to borrow money to defray +the expenses of their wedding! + +The moment Henry became aware of this marriage, the civil struggle +recommenced. In vain the firm, yet pacific Archbishop of Toledo +recalled the consent he had given, and proved that the union not only +secured the after-glory of Spain, but Henry's present undisturbed +possession of his throne. Urged on by his wife, and his intriguing +favorite, the Marquis of Villena, who was for ever changing sides, he +published a manifesto, in which he declared on oath that he believed +Joanna to be his daughter, and proclaimed her heiress of Castile. +Ferdinand and Isabella instantly raised an array, regardless of the +forces of Portugal (to whose monarch Joanna had been betrothed), who +were rapidly advancing to the assistance of Henry. Ere, however, war +had regularly commenced, a brief respite was obtained by the death of +Henry, and instantly and unanimously Isabella was proclaimed Queen of +Leon and Castile. Peace, however, was not instantly regained; the King +of Portugal married Joanna, and resolved on defending her rights. Some +skirmishing took place, and at length a long-sustained conflict near +Fero decided the point--Ferdinand and the Castilians were victorious; +the King of Portugal made an honorable retreat to his own frontiers, +and the Marquis of Villena, the head of the malcontents, and by many +supposed to be the real father of Joanna, submitted to Isabella. Peace +thus dawned for Castile; but it was not till three years afterwards, +when Ferdinand had triumphed over the enemies of Arragon, and +succeeded his father as Sovereign of that kingdom, that any vigorous +measures could be taken for the restoration of internal order. + +The petty Sovereignties of the Peninsular, with the sole exception of +the mountainous district of Navarre, and the Moorish territories in +the south, were now all united; and it was the sagacious ambition of +Ferdinand and Isabella to render Spain as important in the scale of +kingdoms as any other European territory; and to do this, they knew, +demanded as firm a control over their own subjects, as the subjection +of still harassing foes. + +Above a century had elapsed since Spain had been exposed to the sway +of weak or evil kings, and all the consequent miseries of misrule and +war. Rapine, outrage, and murder had become so frequent and unchecked, +as frequently to interrupt commerce, by preventing all communication +between one place and another. The people acknowledged no law but +their own passions. The nobles were so engrossed with hatred of each +other, and universal contempt of their late sovereign, with personal +ambition and general discontent, that they had little time or leisure +to attend to any but their own interest. But a very brief interval +convinced both nobles and people that a new era was dawning for them. +In the short period of eighteen months, the wise administration of +Isabella and Ferdinand, had effected a sufficient change to startle +all ranks into the conviction that their best interests lay in prompt +obedience, and in exerting themselves in their several spheres, to +second the sovereign's will. The chivalric qualities of Ferdinand, his +undoubted wisdom and unwavering firmness, excited both love and fear; +while devotion itself is not too strong a term to express the national +feeling entertained toward Isabella. Her sweet, womanly gentleness, +blended as it was with the dignity of the sovereign; her ready +sympathy in all that concerned her people--for the lowest of her +subjects; doing justice, even if it were the proud noble who injured, +and the serf that suffered--all was so strange, yet fraught with such +national repose, that her influence every year increased; while every +emotion of chivalry found exercise, and yet rest in the heart of the +aristocracy for their Queen; her simple word would be obeyed, on the +instant, by men who would have paused, and weighed, and reasoned, +if any other--even Ferdinand himself--had spoken. Isabella knew her +power; and if ever sovereign used it for the good, the happiness of +her people, that proud glory was her own. + +In spite of the miserable condition of the people during the civil +struggles, the wealth of Spain had not decreased. It was protected +and increased by a class of people whose low and despised estate was, +probably, their safeguard--these were the Jews, who for many centuries +had, both publicly and secretly, resided in Spain. There were many +classes of this people in the land, scattered alike over Castile, +Leon, Arragon, Navarre, and also in the Moorish territories; some +there were confined to the mystic learning and profound studies of the +schools, whence they sent many deeply learned men to other countries, +where their worth and wisdom gained them yet greater regard than they +received in Spain: others were low and degraded in outward seeming, +yet literally holding and guiding the financial and commercial +interests of the kingdom;--whose position was of the lowest--scorned +and hated by the very people who yet employed them, and exposed to +insult from every class; the third, and by far the largest body of +Spanish Jews, were those who, Israelites in secret, were so completely +Catholic in seeming, that the court, the camp, the council, even the +monasteries themselves, counted them amongst them. And this had been +the case for years--we should say for centuries--and yet so inviolable +was the faith pledged to each other, so awful the dangers around them, +were even suspicion excited, that the fatal secret never transpired; +offices of state, as well as distinctions of honor, were frequently +conferred on men who, had their faith or race been suspected, would +have been regarded as the scum of the earth, and sentenced to torture +and death, for daring to pass for what they were not. At the period +of which we write, the fatal enemy to the secret Jews of more modern +times, known as the Holy Office, did not exist; but a secret and +terrible tribunal there was, whose power and extent were unknown to +the Sovereigns of the land. + +The Inquisition is generally supposed to have been founded by +Ferdinand and Isabella, about the year 1480 or '82; but a deeper +research informs us that it had been introduced into Spain several +centuries earlier, and obtained great influence in Arragon. Confiding +in the protection of the papal see, the Inquisitors set no bounds to +their ferocity: secret informations, imprisonments, tortures, midnight +assassinations, marked their proceedings; but they overreached +themselves. All Spain, setting aside petty rivalships, rose up against +them. All who should give them encouragement or assistance were +declared traitors to their country; the very lives of the Inquisitors +and their families were, in the first burst of fury, endangered; but +after a time, imagining they had sunk into harmless insignificance, +their oppressors desisted in their efforts against them, and +were guilty of the unpardonable error of not exterminating them +entirely.[A] + +[Footnote A: Stockdale's History of the Inquisition.] + +According to the popular belief, the dreaded tribunal slept, and so +soundly, they feared not, imagined not its awakening. They little +knew that its subterranean halls were established near almost all the +principal cities, and that its engines were often at work, even in the +palaces of kings. Many a family wept the loss of a beloved member, +they knew not, guessed not how--for those who once entered those fatal +walls were never permitted to depart; so secret were their measures, +that even the existence of this fearful mockery of justice and +Religion was not known, or at that time it would have been wholly +eradicated. Superstition had not then gained the ascendency which in +after years so tarnished the glory of Spain, and opened the wide gates +to the ruin and debasement under which she labors now. The fierce +wars and revolutions ravaging the land had given too many, and too +favorable opportunities for the exercise of this secret power; but +still, regard for their own safety prevented the more public display +of their office, as ambition prompted. The vigorous proceedings of +Ferdinand and Isabella rendered them yet more wary; and little did the +Sovereigns suspect that in their very courts this fatal power held +sway. The existence of this tribunal naturally increased the dangers +environing the Israelites who were daring enough to live amongst +the Catholics as one of them; but of this particular danger they +themselves were not generally aware, and their extraordinary skill +in the concealment of their faith (to every item of which they yet +adhered) baffled, except in a very few instances, even these ministers +of darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + "In war did never lion rage more fierce-- + In peace was never gentle lamb more mild, + Than was that young and princely gentleman." + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +The wars ravaging Spain had nursed many a gallant warrior, and given +ample opportunities for the possession and display of those chivalric +qualities without which, in that age, no manly character was +considered perfect. The armies of Ferdinand and Isabella counted some +of the noblest names and most valiant knights of Christendom. The +Spanish chivalry had always been famous, and when once organized under +a leader of such capacity and firmness as Ferdinand; when the notice +and regard of the Queen they idolized could only be obtained by manly +virtue as well as the warrior's ardor, a new spirit seemed to wake +within them; petty rivalships and jealousies were laid aside, all they +sought was to become distinguished; and never had chivalry shone with +so pure and glorious a lustre in the court of Spain as then, when, +invisibly and unconsciously, it verged on its decline. + +It was amongst all this blaze of chivalry that Arthur Stanley had had +ample opportunity to raise, in his own person, the martial glory of +his own still much loved and deeply regretted land. Ferdinand had +honored him with so large a portion of his coveted regard, that +no petty feelings on the part of the Spaniards, because he was a +stranger, could interfere with his advancement; his friends, however, +were mostly among the Arragonese; to Isabella, and the Castilians, he +was only known as a valiant young warrior, and a marked favorite of +the king. There was one person, however, whom the civil contentions of +Spain had so brought forward, that his name was never spoken, either +in council, court, or camp, palace or hut--by monarch or captive, +soldier or citizen--without a burst of such warm and passionate +attachment that it was almost strange how any single individual, and +comparatively speaking, in a private station, could so have won the +hearts of thousands. Yet it had been gradually that this pre-eminence +had been attained--gradually, and entirely by the worth of its +object. At the early age of sixteen, and as page to Gonzalos de +Lara, Ferdinand Morales had witnessed with all the enthusiasm of +a peculiarly ardent, though outwardly quiet nature, the exciting +proceedings at Avila. 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. Her constantly chosen +messenger to Ferdinand, he became known and trusted by both that +prince and his native subjects. His wealth, which, seemed exhaustless, +independent of his preferments, was ever at the service of either +Isabella or her betrothed; he it was from whom the necessary means for +her private nuptials were borrowed. At that scene he was, of course, +present, and, at his own desire, escorted Ferdinand back to his own +domains--an honorable but most dangerous office, performed with his +usual unwavering fidelity and skill. That one so faithful in adversity +should advance from post to post as soon as dawning prosperity +permitted Isabella and Ferdinand to reward merit as well as to evince +gratitude, was not surprising; but no royal favor, no coveted honors, +no extended power, could alter one tittle of his single-hearted +truth--his unrestrained intercourse with and interest in his equals, +were they of the church, court, or camp--his gentle and unassuming +manner to his inferiors. It was these things that made him so +universally beloved. The coldest natures, if thrown in contact with +him, unconsciously to themselves kindled into warmth; vice itself +could not meet the glance of that piercing eye without shrinking, for +the moment, in loathing from itself. + +Until Isabella and Ferdinand were firmly established on the throne, +and Arragon and Castile united, there had been little leisure amongst +their warriors to think of domestic ties, otherwise it might perhaps +have been noticed as somewhat remarkable that Ferdinand Morales +appeared to stand alone; kindred, indeed, he claimed with four or five +of the noblest amongst the Castilians, but he seemed to have no near +relative; and though he mingled courteously, and to some young hearts +far too pleasingly, amongst Isabella's court, it seemed as if he +would never stoop to love. The Queen often jested him on his apparent +insensibility, and entreating him to wed. At first he had smiled away +such words; but two or three months after the commencement of our +tale, he acknowledged that his affections had been for some years +engaged to one living so completely in retirement as to be unknown to +all; he had but waited till peace had dawned for Spain, and he might +offer her not only his love, but a secure and quiet home. He spoke +in confidence, and Isabella, woman-like, had listened with no little +interest, giving her royal approval of his choice, without knowing +more than his own words revealed; but feeling convinced, she said, +that Ferdinand Morales would never wed one whose birth or lineage +would tarnish his pure Castilian blood, or endanger the holy faith +of which he was so true a member. A red flush might have stained the +cheek of the warrior at these words, but the deep obeisance with +which he had departed from the royal presence concealed the unwonted +emotion. Ere a year from that time elapsed, not only the ancient city +of Segovia, where his large estates lay, but all Castile were thrown +into a most unusual state of excitement by the marriage of the popular +idol, Don Ferdinand Morales, with a young and marvellously lovely +girl, whom few, if any, had ever seen before, and whose very name, +Donna Marie Henriquez, though acknowledged as essentially Castilian, +was yet unfamiliar. The mystery, however, as to who she was, and where +he could have found her, was speedily lost in the universal admiration +of her exceeding and remarkable loveliness, and of the new yet +equally attractive character which, as a devoted husband, Morales +thenceforward displayed. Many had imagined that he was too grave, too +wrapt in his many engrossing duties, alike as statesman and general, +ever to play the lover; and he had seemed resolved that this +impression should remain, and shrunk from the exposure of such sacred +feelings; for none, save Isabella, knew he loved until they saw his +bride. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + "And we have won a bower of refuge now + In this fresh waste." + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +The Vale of Cedars, as described in our first chapter, had been +originally the work of a single individual, who had found there a +refuge and concealment from the secret power of the Inquisition, from +whose walls he had almost miraculously escaped: this individual was +Julien Henriquez, the grandfather of Marie. For five years he remained +concealed, working unaided, but successfully, in forming a comfortable +home and concealed retreat, not only for himself but for his family. +Nature herself appeared to have marked the spot as an impenetrable +retreat, and Julien's skill and energy increased and strengthened the +natural barriers. During these five years the secret search for his +person, at first carried on so vigilantly that his enemies supposed +nothing but death could have concealed him, gradually relaxed, and +then subsided altogether. Foes and friends alike believed him dead, +and when he did re-appear in the coarse robe, shrouding cowl, and +hempen belt, of a wandering friar, he traversed the most populous +towns in safety, unrecognized and unsuspected. It was with some +difficulty he found his family, and a matter of no little skill to +convey them, without exciting suspicion by their disappearance, to his +retreat; but all was accomplished at length, and years of domestic +felicity crowned every former effort, and inspired and encouraged +more. + +Besides his own immediate family, consisting of his wife, a son, +and daughter, Henriquez had the charge of two nephews and a niece, +children of his sister, whose husband had perished by the arm of the +same secret power from which Henriquez had escaped; their mother had +died of a broken heart, from the fearful mystery of her husband's +fate, and the orphans were to Julien as his own. + +As years passed, the Vale of Cedars became not only a safe, but a +luxurious home. Every visit to the world Julien turned to profit, by +the purchase first of necessaries, then of luxuries. The little temple +was erected by the active aid of the young men, and the solemn rites +of their peculiar faith adhered to in security. Small as the family +was, deaths, marriages, and births took place, and feelings and +sympathies were excited, and struggles secretly endured, making that +small spot of earth in very truth a world. The cousins intermarried. +Ferdinand and Josephine left the vale for a more stirring life; +Manuel, Henriquez's own son, and Miriam, his niece, preferred the +quiet of the vale. Julien, his nephew, too, had loved; but his +cousin's love was given to his brother, and he departed, unmurmuringly +indeed, but he dared not yet trust himself to associate calmly with +the object of his love: he had ever been a peculiarly sad and silent +boy; the fate of his father never for an instant seemed to leave his +mind, and he had secretly vowed to avenge him. Love, for a while, had +banished these thoughts; but when that returned in all the misery of +isolation to his own breast, former thoughts regained dominion, and he +tried to conquer the one feeling by the encouragement of the other. +His brother and his wife constantly visited the vale; if at no other +time, almost always at those solemn festivals which generally fell +about the period of the Catholic Easter and Michaelmas; often +accompanied by faithful friends, holding the same mysterious bond of +brotherhood, and to whom the secret of that vale was as precious and +secure as to its natural inmates. Its aged founder had frequently the +happiness of gathering around him from twenty to thirty of his secret +race, and of feeling that his work would benefit friends as well as +offspring. Julien alone never returned to the vale, and his family at +length mourned him as one amongst the dead. + +The career of his brother was glorious but brief; he fell fighting +for his country, and his widow and young son returned to the parental +retreat. Though the cousins had married the same day, the son of +Ferdinand was ten years older than his cousin Marie; Manuel and Miriam +having lived twelve years together ere the longed-for treasure was +bestowed. At first, therefore, she had been to the youthful Ferdinand +but as a plaything, to pet and laugh with: he left the vale as page +to his father's companion in arms, Gonzalos de Lara, when Marie was +little more than five years old; but still his love for her and his +home was such that whenever it was possible, he would snatch if it +were but half a day to visit them. Gradually, and to him it seemed +almost strangely, the plaything child changed into the graceful girl, +and then again into the lovely woman; and dearer than ever became his +boyhood's home, though years had snatched away so many of its beloved +inmates, that, at the period of our story, its sole occupants were +Marie and her father. + +Had her mother lived, perchance Marie had never been exposed to the +dangers of an introduction to the world. Betrothed, in the secret +hearts of not only her own parents, but of Ferdinand's mother, to her +cousin, if she lived to attain sufficient age, Miriam would not have +thought it so impossible as Manuel did, that the affections of his +child might be sought for by, and given to another, if she mingled +with the world; she would at least have waited till she was +Ferdinand's wedded wife, and then sent her forth secure. But such +subtle fears and feelings are peculiarly _woman's_; not the tenderest, +most devoted father, could of himself have either thought of, or +understood them. He might perhaps have owned their justice had they +been presented to him by the affectionate warnings of an almost +idolized wife; but that voice was hushed, her sweet counsels buried +in the grave; and the fond, proud father, only thought of his child's +brilliant beauty, and how she would be admired and beloved, could she +be but generally known. And so, for her sake, he actually did violence +to his own love for the quiet retirement of the vale, and bore her to +the care of Donna Emilie de Castro; seeing nothing, feeling nothing, +but the admiration she excited, and that she was indeed the loveliest +there. One wish he had, and that was, that his nephew could have been +there likewise; but being engaged at that time on some important +private business for the Queen, Ferdinand did not even know that his +cousin had ever left the vale. + +That his child's affections could be excited towards any but those of +her own race was a circumstance so impossible, and moreover a sin so +fearful, that it never entered Manuel's mind: he knew not woman's +nature, dreamed not of its quick impulses, its passionate yearnings, +its susceptibility towards all gentle emotions, or he could not have +so trustingly believed in the power of her peculiar faith and creed +to guard her from the danger. Even his dearest desire that she should +become the wife of her cousin she knew not; for the father shrunk from +revealing it to either his child or nephew, unless Ferdinand loved +and sought her himself. What therefore had she to warn her from the +precipice on which she stood, when new, strange, yet most exquisitely +sweet emotions gradually obtained possession of her heart in her daily +intercourse with Arthur Stanley? What they were indeed she knew not; +the word love was never uttered by either; she only knew that his +presence, his voice, the pressure of his hand, brought with it a +thrilling sensation of intense happiness, such as she had never known, +never imagined before. It was indeed but a brief dream, for when +he spoke, when he besought her to be his, then indeed she woke to +consciousness, not only that she loved, but of the dark and fatal +barrier between them, which no human effort could o'erleap. The +sacrifice of race, of faith, of family, indeed might be made; but to +do this never entered the mind and heart of Marie, so utterly was it +impossible. To her peculiar feelings it was sin enough thus to have +loved. + +Manuel Henriquez bore his child back to the vale, little dreaming of +the anguish to which his unguarded love had exposed her. She had ever +been rather a pensive and gentle girl, and therefore that she should +be still serious was no matter of surprise. For fifteen months she +had sought to banish every dream of Arthur, every thought but that in +loving him she had sinned against her God. Time and prayer had in some +measure softened the first acute agony of her feelings; she thought +she was conquering them altogether, when his unexpected appearance +excited every feeling anew. Yet in that harrowing interview still she +had been firm. She had even told him a secret, which it was almost +death to reveal, that he might forget her; for how could he wed with +her? And yet even that barrier he would have passed, and his generous, +his determined love, would linger on her memory spite of every effort +to think of him no more. + +It was a fearful struggle, and often and often she yearned to confess +all to her father, whom she loved with no common love; but she knew +too well, not only the grief such tidings would be to him, but what +his judgment must be, and she shrunk in agony from the condemnation +of her feelings by another, constantly as she was condemning them +herself. + +Henriquez had been absent from the vale during Stanley's unexpected +visit, and he tarried long enough to excite the alarm, not only of his +child but of their domestics; nor was its cause when explained likely +to ease Marie's anxiety. He had been attacked on the day of his +intended return by a strange sensation of giddiness, followed by +insensibility, which appeared to have weakened him more than he had +thought compatible with so brief an illness. He made light of it, but +still he was uneasy, not that he feared death himself, but that it +might take him from his Marie ere his wishes were accomplished, and +her earthly happiness, as he thought, secured. The first attack was +but the forerunner of others, sometimes very slight and brief, at +others longer and more alarming, rendering Marie more and more +determined to keep her fatal secret from him; for it appeared to her +that any stronger emotion than customary would be followed by those +attacks; and as her love for him seemed to increase in intensity with +the anxiety his precarious health occasioned, so did her dread of +occasioning him aught of grief. But how fruitless are our best and +wisest resolutions! One little hour, and every thought was changed. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + "Oh! praise me not-- + Look gently on me, or I sink to earth + Not thus." + + DE CHATILLON. + + +It was the custom of the inmates of the Vale of Cedars, once in every +year, and generally about the season of Michaelmas, to celebrate a +festival, which ordained the erection of a booth or tent of "branches +of thick trees," in which for seven days every meal was taken, and +greater part of the day (except the time passed in the little Temple) +was spent. Large branches of the palm and cedar, the willow, acacia, +and the oak, cut so as to prevent their withering for the seven days, +formed the walls of the tent; their leaves intermingling over head, so +as to form a shelter, and yet permit the beautiful blue of the heavens +to peep within. Flowers of every shade and scent formed a bordering +within; and bouquets, richly and tastefully arranged, placed in vases +filled with scented earth, hung from the branches forming the roof. +Fruit, too, was there--the purple grape, the ripe red orange, the +paler lemon, the lime, the pomegranate, the citron, all of which the +vale afforded, adorned the board (which for those seven days was +always spread within the tent), intermingled with cakes made by Marie. + +This was one of the festivals for which many of the secret race would +visit the vale; but it so happened that, this year, Manuel, his child, +and their retainers, kept it alone--a source of disappointment and +anxiety to the former, whose health was rapidly (but still to his +child almost invisibly) failing. At the close of the solemn fast which +always preceded by five days this festival of rejoicing, he had had +a recurrence of his deathlike fits of insensibility, longer and +more alarming than usual; but he had rallied, and attributed it so +naturally to his long fast, that alarm once more gave place to hope +in the heart of his daughter. Not thus, however, felt her +father--convinced that death could not be long delayed, he but waited +for his nephew's appearance and acknowledged love for his cousin, +at once to give her to him, and prepare her for the worst. Parental +anxiety naturally increased with every hour that passed, and Ferdinand +appeared not. + +It was the eve of the Sabbath; one from which in general all earthly +cares and thoughts were banished, giving place to tranquil and +spiritual joy. The father and daughter were alone within their lovely +tent, but both so wrapt in evidently painful thought, that a strange +silence usurped the usual cheerful converse. So unwonted was the +anxious gloom on Manuel's brow, that his child could bear it no +longer, and flinging her arms round his neck, she besought him in the +tenderest accents to confide in her, as he had ever done, since her +mother's death, to tell her what so pained him--might she not remove +it? Henriquez could not resist that fond yet mournful pleading. He +told her, that he felt health was departing, that death seemed ever +hovering near, but that its pain, its care, would all depart, could he +behold his long-cherished wish fulfilled, and his Marie the wife +of Ferdinand, whose every look and tone during his last visit had +betrayed his devoted love. + +Marie heard; and her cheek and lips blanched to such ashy whiteness, +that her father in alarm folded her to his breast; and sought to +soothe a grief, which he believed was occasioned merely by the sudden +and fearful thought of his approaching death; and sought to soothe, +by a reference to the endearing love, the cherished tenderness which +would still be hers; how Ferdinand would be to her all, aye more +than all that he had been, and how, with love like his, she would be +happier than she had been yet. Much he said, and he might have said +still more, for it was long ere the startled girl could interrupt him. +But when he conjured her to speak to him, not to look upon his death +so fearfully, the beautiful truth of her nature rose up against the +involuntary deceit. It was not his death which thus appalled her; +alas--alas!--and she hated herself for the fearful thought--she had +almost lost sight of that, in the words which followed. Breaking from +his embrace, she sunk down on her knees before him, and buying her +face upon his hand, in broken accents and with choking sobs, revealed +the whole. How could she do her noble kinsman such fearful wrong as +to wed him, when her whole heart, thoughts, nay, life itself, seemed +wrapt in the memory of another? And that other! Oh! who, what was +he? Once she looked up in her father's face, but so fearful were the +emotions written there--wrath struggling with love, grief, pity, +almost terror--that hastily she withdrew her glance, and remained +kneeling, bent even to the dust, long after the confession had been +poured forth, waiting in fear and anguish for his words. + +"Marie, Marie! is it my Marie, my sainted Miriam's, child, who thus +speaks? who hath thus sinned sole representative of a race of ages, in +whose pure thoughts such fearful sin hath never mingled. My child so +to love the stranger as to reject, to scorn her own! Oh God, my God, +why hast thou so forsaken me? Would I had died before!" And the heavy +groan which followed, confirmed the anguish breathed in those broken +words. + +"Father!" implored the unhappy girl, clasping his knees in an agony of +supplication, though she raised not her head--"Oh my father! in mercy +do not speak thus! Words of wrath, of reproach, fearful as they are +from thee, yet I can bear them, but not such woe! Oh, think what I +have borne, what I must still bear. If I have sinned, my sin will +bring, nay, it has already brought its own chastisement. Speak to me +but one word of love--or, if it must be, wrath.--but not, not such +accents of despair!" + +Her father struggled to reply; but the conflux of strong emotion was +too powerful, and Marie sprung up to support him as he fell. She had +often seen him insensible before, when there appeared no cause for +such attacks; but was it strange that at such a moment she should +feel that _she_ had caused it?--that her sin perchance had killed +her father; he might never wake more to say he forgave, he blessed +her,--or that in those agonized moments of suspense she vowed, if +he might but speak again, that his will should be hers, even did it +demand the annihilation of every former treasured thought! And the vow +seemed heard. Gradually and, it appeared, painfully life returned. His +first action was to clasp her convulsively to his heart; his next, to +put her gently yet firmly from him, and bury his face in his hands, +and weep. + +No sight is more terrible, even to an indifferent spectator, than +to behold tears wrung from the eyes of man--and to his child it was +indeed torture. But she controlled the choking anguish--calmly and +firmly she spoke, and gradually the paroxysm subsided. + +"That I have sinned in loving a stranger thus, I have long felt," she +said; "and had I been aware of the nature of these feelings, they +should never have gained ascendency. But I awoke too late--my +very being was enchained. Still I may break from these engrossing +thoughts--I would do so--pain shall be welcome, if it may in time +atone for the involuntary sin of loving the stranger, and the yet +more terrible one of grieving thee. Oh, my father, do what thou wilt, +command me as thou wilt--I am henceforth wholly thine." + +"And thou wilt wed Ferdinand, my child?" + +"Would he still wish it, father, if he knew the whole? And is it +right, is it just, to wed him, and the truth still unrevealed? Oh, if +he do love me, as you say, how can I requite him by deceit?" + +"Tell him not, tell him not," replied Henriquez, again fearfully +agitated; "let none other know what has been. What can it do, save to +grieve him beyond thy power to repair? No, no. Once his, and all these +fearful thoughts will pass away, and their sin be blotted out, in thy +true faithfulness to one who loves thee. His wife, and I know that +thou wilt love him, and be true, as if thou hadst never loved +another--" + +"Ay, could I not be true, I would not wed," murmured Marie, more to +herself than to her father; "and if suffering indeed, atone for sin, +terribly will it be redeemed. But oh, my father, tell me--I have sworn +to be guided by thee, and in all things I will be--tell me, in wedding +him whom thou hast chosen, do I not still do foul wrong, if not to him +(her voice faltered), unto another, whose love is mine as well?" + +"Better for him, as for thee, to wed another, Marie! Would'st thou wed +the stranger, wert thou free?" + +She buried her face in his bosom, and murmured, "Never!" + +"Then in what can this passion end, but in misery for both? In +constant temptation to perjure thy soul, in forsaking all for him. And +if thou didst, would it bring happiness? My child, thou art absolved, +even had aught of promise passed between you. Knowest thou not that +a maiden of herself hath no power to vow? Her father's will alone +absolves it or confirms. Thou doest him no wrong. Be Ferdinand's +bride, and all shall be forgiven, all forgotten--thou art my child, my +Miriam's child once more!" + +He pressed her again fondly to him; but though she made no reply, his +arguments could not convince her. She had indeed told Arthur that she +never could be his, but yet avowed that she loved him; and if he +did meet her as the wife of another, what must he believe her? And +Ferdinand, if he did so love her, that preoccupied heart was indeed a +sad requital. She had, however, that evening but little time to think, +for ere either spoke again, the branches at the entrance of the tent +were hastily pushed aside, and a tall manly form stood upon the +threshold. Marie sprang to her feet with a faint cry--could it be that +the vow of an hour was already called upon to be fulfilled?--but +the intruder attributed her alarm to a different cause, and hastily +flinging off his wrapping mantle and deep plumed morion, he exclaimed, +"What! alarmed by me, my gentle cousin? dearest Marie! am I +forgotten?" And Henriquez, forgetting all of bodily exhaustion, all of +mental suffering, in the deep joy his sudden appearance caused, could +only fold the warrior in his feeble arms, and drooping his head on his +shoulder, sob forth expressively, "My son! my son!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + "And thus how oft do life and death + Twine hand in hand together; + And the funeral shroud, and bridal wreath, + How small a space may sever!" + + MS. + + +One little week did Ferdinand spend within the home of his boyhood; +and in that brief interval the earthly fate of Marie Henriquez was +decided. He had deferred his visit till such peace and prosperity had +dawned for Spain, that he could offer his bride not only a home suited +to his rank, but the comfort of his presence and protection for +an indeterminate time. He had come there purposely to reveal his +long-cherished love; to conjure Marie to bless him with the promise of +her hand; and, if successful, to return, in two short months, for the +celebration of their marriage, according to their own secret rites, +ere the ceremony was performed in the sight of the whole Catholic +world. The intermarriages of first cousins had been so common an +occurrence in his family, that Ferdinand, in spite of some tremblings, +as a lover, had regarded his final union with Marie with almost as +much certainty, and as a thing of course, as his uncle himself. + +The effects of that agitating interview between father and daughter +had been visible to Ferdinand; but he attributed it, very naturally, +to the cause privately assigned for it by his kinsman--Marie's first +conviction that her father's days were numbered. He had been greatly +shocked at the change in Henriquez's appearance, and deeply affected +at the solemn and startling earnestness with which he consigned his +child to his care, beseeching him, under all circumstances, to love +and cherish her. His nephew could scarcely understand, then, such +earnest pleadings. Alas! ere his life closed, their cause was clear +enough. + +Unconscious that her father and cousin were together, or of the nature +of their conversation, Marie had joined them, unexpectedly, ere the +interview was over. From her father's lips, and in a tone of trembling +agitation, she heard that his long-cherished prayer was granted, and +that she was his nephew's plighted, bride. He joined their hands, +blessed them, and left them alone together, ere she had had power +to utter a single word; and when voice was recalled by the tender, +earnest accents of her cousin, beseeching her to ratify her father's +consent--to say she would learn to love him, if she did not then; that +she would not refuse the devotedness he proffered--what could she +answer? She had so long loved him, venerated him, gloried in his +achievements, his honors, as of an elder and much-loved brother, that, +had she followed the impulse of her nature, she would have thrown +herself as a sister on his neck, and poured forth her tale of sorrow. +But she had sworn to be guided by her father, and he had besought her +to reveal nothing; and therefore she promised to be his, even while +with tears she declared herself unworthy. But such words were of +little meaning to her enraptured lover save to bid him passionately +deny them, and excite his ardent affection more than ever--satisfied +that she could be not indifferent, listening as she did, with such +flushed cheek and glistening eye, to the theme of his life since they +had parted--the favor of the sovereigns, and the station he had won. + +During the two months which intervened between Don Ferdinand's +departure and promised return, Marie strained every nerve to face her +destiny, and so meet it with calmness. Had she not loved, it would +have been impossible to feel herself the cherished object of her +cousin's love without returning it, possessing, as he did, alike +inward and outward attraction to win regard. She studiously and +earnestly banished every thought of Arthur as it rose; she prayed only +for strength to be faithful, not only in outward seeming but in inward +thought; that Stanley might never cross her path again, or, if he did, +that his very affections might be estranged from her; that the secret +she had revealed might alone be thought upon, till all of love had +gone. The torture of such prayer, let those who love decide; but it +was the thought of his woe, did he ever know she was another's bride, +that haunted her. Her own suffering it was comparitively easy to bear, +believing as she did, that they were called for by her involuntary +sin: but his--so successfully had she conquered herself; that it was +only when his countenance of reproach would flit before her, that the +groan burst from her heart, and she felt bowed unto the earth. + +Infirmity itself seemed conquered in the rejoicing thankfulness with +which Henriquez regarded this fulfilment of his wishes. He appeared +actually to regain strength and energy; his alarming fainting fits had +not recurred since his nephew's visit, and Marie hoped he would +be spared her longer than he believed. He never recurred to her +confession, but lavished on her, if possible, yet more endearing love, +and constantly alluded to the intense happiness which her consent to +be her cousin's bride had given him. Once he left the vale, despite +his precarious health, taking with him his old retainer, Reuben, and +returned, laden with the richest gems and costliest silks, to adorn +his child, on her bridal day, as befitted the bride of Ferdinand. + +Time passed: the day specified by Ferdinand rapidly approached. He was +there to meet it--and not alone. Thoughtful of his Marie's feeling, he +had resolved that she should not stand beside the altar without +one female friend; and he brought one, the sight of whom awakened +associations with such overpowering strength, that Marie could only +throw herself upon her bosom, almost convulsed with tears. It was +Donna Emelie de Castro, at whose house she had joined the world; but +her emotion, supposed natural to the agitating ceremony impending, +and her father's precarious health, happily for her, passed without +further notice than sympathy and love. + +Henriquez, for once, was indifferent alike to the agitation of Marie, +or the presence of Ferdinand. His glance was fixed on one of a little +group, all of whom, with the exception of this individual, were +familiar to his home and heart. He was clothed as a monk; but his +cowl was thrown back, and his gaze so fixed on Marie that she blushed +beneath it, and turned away. + +"Do not turn from me, my child," he said; and Henriquez started at the +voice, it was so fraught with memories of the departed. "Stranger as +I must be, save in name, to thee--thou art none such to me. I seem +to feel thy mother once again before me--and never was sister more +beloved!--Manuel, hast thou, indeed, forgotten Julien?" + +Almost ere he ceased to speak, the long separated relatives were +clasped in each, other's arms. The five-and-twenty years, which had +changed the prime of manhood into advancing age, and blanched the hair +of each, had had no power to decrease the strong ties of kindred, +so powerful in their secret race. The agitation and excitement of +Henriquez was so excessive, not only then, but during the few days +intervening before the celebration of the bridal, that Marie, in spite +of the near approach of the dreaded day, could only think of him. + +Ferdinand was no exacting lover: his affection for her was so intense, +so true; his confidence in her truth so perfect, that, though he might +at times have fancied that she loved not then with fervor equal to +his own, he was contented to believe that his devotion would in time +create in her as powerful a feeling. He had so watched, so tended her +from infancy: she had so clung to and reverenced him, so opened her +young heart, without one reservation, to his view--so treated him as +her most cherished, most loved friend, that how could he dream she had +aught to conceal, or believe that, did she know there was, she could +have hesitated, one moment, to refuse his hand, preferring even the +misery of so grieving him, to the continued agony of deceit? It was +this perfect confidence, this almost childish trust, so beautiful in +one tried, as he had been, in the ordeal of the world, that wrung +Marie's heart with deepest torture. He believed her other than she +was;--but it was too late--she dared not undeceive him. + +The nuptial morning dawned. The party, not more than twelve or +fourteen in all, assembled within the little edifice, whose nature +had so puzzled Arthur. Its interior was as peculiar as its outward +appearance: its walls, of polished cedar, were unadorned with either +carving, pictures, or imagery. In the centre, facing the east, was a +sort of raised table or desk, surrounded by a railing, and covered +with a cloth of the richest and most elaborately worked brocade. +Exactly opposite, and occupying the centre of the eastern wall, was +a sort of lofty chest, or ark; the upper part of which, arched, and +richly painted, with a blue ground, bore in two columns, strange +hieroglyphics in gold: beneath this were portals of polished cedar, +panelled, and marked out with gold, but bearing no device; their +hinges set in gilded pillars, which supported the arch above. Before +these portals were generally drawn curtains, of material rich and +glittering as that upon the reading-desk. But this day not only were +the curtains drawn aside, but the portals themselves flung open, as +the bridal party neared the steps which led to it, and disclosed six +or seven rolls of parchment, folded on silver pins, and filled with +the same strange letters, each clothed in drapery of variously colored +brocade, or velvet, and surmounted by two sets of silver ornaments, +in which the bell and pomegranate were, though small, distinctly +discernible. A superb lamp, of solid silver, was suspended from the +roof; and one of smaller dimensions, but of equally valuable material, +and always kept lighted, hung just before the ark. + +Julien Morales, at his own particular request, was to read the +ceremony; and three hours after noon he stood within the portals, on +the highest step; a slab of white marble divided him from the bride +and bridegroom, over whom a canopy was raised, supported by four +silver poles. The luxuriant hair of the bride had been gathered +up, and, save two massive braids, shading her brow and cheek, was +concealed under a head-dress, somewhat resembling an eastern turban, +but well suited to her countenance. Her dress, of the fashion before +described, was all of white--the jacket or bodice richly woven with +gold threads; but so thick a veil enveloped face and form, that +her sweet face was concealed, until, at one particular part of the +mysterious rite (for such, to the Spaniards, this ceremony must have +been), the veil was uplifted for her to taste the sacred wine, and not +allowed to fall again. Neither the bridegroom (agitated himself, +for his was not a nature to think lightly of the nuptial rite), nor +Henriquez (whose excitement was extreme) was conscious of the looks +of alarm, blended with admiration, which the raising of the veil +attracted towards Marie. Lovely she was; but it was the loveliness of +a marble statue, not of life--her very lips were blanched, and every +feature still, indeed; but a stillness of so peculiar an expression, +so inexpressibly, so thrillingly sad, that admiration appeared +indefinably and strangely transformed to pain. The wedding ring was +placed upon her hand--a thin crystal goblet broken by Ferdinand, +on the marble at his feet--and the rites were concluded. An almost +convulsive embrace from her father--the unusual wildness of his voice +and manner, as he blessed, and called her his own precious child, who +this day had placed the seal upon his happiness, and confirmed twenty +years of filial devotedness and love--awoke her from that stagnating +trance. She folded her arms round his neck, and burst into passionate +tears; and there were none, not even Ferdinand, to chide or doubt that +emotion--it was but natural to her character, and the solemn service +of the day. + +Gay and joyous was the meal which followed the bridal. No +appurtenances of modern pomp and luxury, indeed, decorated the board: +its only ornaments were the loveliest flowers, arranged in alabaster +vases, and silver baskets filled with blushing fruit. The food was +simple, and the wines not choice; but the guests thought not of mere +sensual enjoyment. In these secret meetings, each felt there was +something holy; richer homes, more gorgeous feasts, were theirs in the +world, whenever they so willed; but such intercourse of brotherhood +seldom occurred, and when it came, was consequently hallowed. + +Some time they sat around the board; and so unrestrained, so full of +varied interest was their eager converse, that sunset came unheeded; +and the silver lamps, fed with sweet incense, were placed upon the +table. Julien then arose, and solemnly pronounced the usual blessing, +or rather thanksgiving, after the bridal feast. Marie did not look up +during its continuance; but as it concluded, she arose, and was about +to retire with Donna Emilie, when her eye caught her father, and a cry +of alarm broke from her. The burning flush had given place to a livid +paleness--the glittering of the eye to a fixed and glassy gaze. The +frame was, for a moment, rigid as stone, then fearfully convulsed; +and Reuben, starting forward, caught his master as he fell. There was +something so startling and unusual in the seizure, that even those +accustomed to his periods of insensibility were alarmed; and vain was +every effort of Ferdinand to awaken hope and comfort in the seemingly +frozen spirit of his bride. + +Henriquez was conveyed to his room, and every restorative applied; but +even the skill of Julien, well versed as he was in the healing art, +was without effect. More than an hour passed, and still he lay like +death; and no sound, no sob, broke from the torn heart of his hapless +child, who knelt beside his couch; her large dark eyes, distended +to even more than their usual size, fixed upon his face; her hands +clasped round one of his; but had she sought thus to give warmth she +would have failed, for the hand of the living was cold and damp as +that of the seeming dead. + +A slight, almost imperceptible flush floated over that livid +cheek--the eyes unclosed, but so quickly closed again that it was more +like the convulsive quivering of the muscle than the effort of the +will; and Marie alone had marked the change. + +"Father!" she almost shrieked in agony, "in mercy speak to me +again--say but you forgive--bless--" + +"Forgive" feebly repeated the dying man; and the strong feeling of +the father, for a brief interval, conquered even death--"Forgive?--my +beautiful--my own!--the word is meaningless, applied to thee. Art thou +not my Ferdinand's bride, and hast thou not so taken the sting, the +trial even from this dread moment? My precious one!--would I could see +that face once more--but it is dark--all dark--kiss me, my child!" + +She threw herself upon his bosom, and covered his cheek with kisses. +He passed his hand feebly over her face, as if the touch could once +more bring her features to his sight; and then extending his left +hand, feebly called--"Ferdinand!" + +His nephew caught the withered hand, and kneeling down, pressed it +reverentially and fondly to his lips. + +Henriquez's lips moved, but there came no word. + +"Doubt me not, my more than father! From boyhood to youth, from youth +to manhood, I have doted on thy child. Shall I love and cherish her +less now, that she has only me? Oh, trust me!--if devotion can give +joy, she will know no grief, that man can avert, again!" + +A strange but a beautiful light for a single minute dispersed the +fearful shadow creeping over Henriquez's features. + +"My son! my son!--I bless thee--and thou, too, my drooping flower. +Julien! my brother--lay me beside my Miriam. Thou didst not come for +this--but it is well. My children--my friends--send up the hymn of +praise--the avowal of our faith; once more awake the voice of our +fathers!" + +He was obeyed; a psalm arose, solemn and sweet, in accents familiar +as their mother tongue, to those who chanted; but had any other been +near, not a syllable would have been intelligible. But the voice which +in general led to such solemn service--so thrilling in its sweetness, +that the most indifferent could not listen to it unmoved--now lay +hushed and mute, powerless even to breathe the sobs that crushed +her heart. And when the psalm ceased, and the prayer for the dying +followed, with one mighty effort Henriquez raised himself, and +clasping his hands, uttered distinctly the last solemn words ever +spoken by his race, and then sunk back--and there was silence. +Minutes, many minutes, rolled by--but Marie moved not. Gently, and +tenderly, Don Ferdinand succeeded in disengaging the convulsive hold +with which she still clasped her parent, and sought to bear her from +that sad and solemn room. Wildly she looked up in his face, and then +on those beloved features, already fixed and gray in death;--with +frantic strength she pushed aside her husband, and sunk down by her +father's side. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + "Slight are the outward signs of evil thought: + Within, within--'twas there the spirit wrought. + Love shows all changes: hate, ambition, guile, + Betray no further than the bitter smile." + + BYRON. + + +Our readers must imagine that nearly a year and a half has elapsed +since the conclusion of our last chapter. During that interval the +outward life of Marie had passed in a calm, even stream; which, could +she have succeeded in entirely banishing thoughts of the past, would +have been unalloyed enjoyment. Her marriage, as we hinted in our +fourth chapter, had been solemnized in public, with all the form and +ceremony of the Catholic Church, and with a splendor incumbent on the +high rank and immense wealth of the bridegroom. In compliance with +Marie's wishes, however, she had not yet been presented to the +Queen; delicate health (which was the fact, for a terrible fever +had succeeded the varied emotions of her wedding day) and her +late bereavement, was her husband's excuse to Isabella for her +non-appearance--an excuse graciously accepted; the rather that the +Queen of Castile was then much engrossed with political changes and +national reforms, than from any failing of interest in Don Ferdinand's +bride. + +Changed as was her estate, from her lovely home in the Vale of Cedars, +where she had dwelt as the sole companion of an ailing parent, to the +mistress of a large establishment in one of the most populous cities +of Castile; the idolized wife of the Governor of the town--and, as +such, the object of popular love and veneration, and called upon, +frequently, to exert influence and authority--still Marie did not fail +performing every new duty with a grace and sweetness binding her more +and more closely to the doting heart of her husband. For her inward +self, Marie was calm--nay, at intervals, almost happy. She had neither +prayed nor struggled in vain, and she felt as if her very prayer was +answered in the fact that Arthur Stanley had been appointed to some +high and honorable post in Sicily, and they were not therefore likely +yet to meet again. The wife of such a character as Morales could not +have continued wretched unless perversely resolved so to be. But his +very virtues, while they inspired the deepest reverence towards him, +engendered some degree of fear. Could she really have loved him as--he +believed she did--this feeling would not have had existence; but its +foundation was the constant thought that she was deceiving him--the +remorse, that his fond confidence was so utterly misplaced--the +consciousness, that there was still something to conceal, which, if +discovered, must blight his happiness for ever, and estrange him from +her, were it only for the past deceit. Had his character been less +lofty--his confidence in her less perfect--his very love less fond +and trusting--she could have borne her trial better; but to one true, +ingenuous, open as herself, what could be more terrible than the +unceasing thought that she was acting a part--and to her husband? +Often and often she longed, with an almost irresistible impulse, to +fling herself at his feet, and beseech him not to pierce her heart +with such fond trust; but the impulse was forcibly controlled. What +would such confession avail her now?--or him, save to wound? + +Amongst the many Spaniards of noble birth who visited Don Ferdinand's, +was one Don Luis Garcia, whose actual rank and office no one seemed to +know; and yet, in affairs of church or state, camp or council, he was +always so associated, that it was impossible to discover to which of +these he was allied; in fact, there was a mystery around him, which no +one could solve. Notwithstanding his easy--nay, it was by some thought +fascinating manners, his presence generally created a restraint, felt +intuitively by all, yet comprehended by none. That there is such, an +emotion as antipathy mercifully placed within us, often as a warning, +we do most strenuously believe; but we seldom trace and recognize it +as such, till circumstances reveal its truth. + +The real character of Don Luis, and the office he held, our future +pages will disclose; suffice it here to state, that there was no +lack of personal attractions or mental graces, to account for the +universal, yet unspoken and unacknowledged dislike which he inspired. +Apparently in the prime of life, he yet seemed to have relinquished +all the pleasures and even the passions of life. Austere, even rigid, +in those acts of piety and personal mortifications enjoined by his +religion--voluntary fasts, privations, nights supposed to be past in +vigil and in penance; occasional rich gifts to patron saints, and +their human followers; an absence of all worldly feeling, even +ambition; some extraordinary deeds of benevolence--all rendered him an +object of actual veneration to the priests and monks with which the +goodly city of Segovia abounded; and even the populace declared him +faultless, as a catholic and a man, even while their inward shuddering +belied the words. + +Don Ferdinand Morales alone was untroubled with these contradictory +emotions. Incapable of hypocrisy himself, he could not imagine it +in others: his nature seemed actually too frank and true for the +admission even of a prejudice. Little did he dream that his name, +his wealth, his very favor with the Queen, his influence with her +subjects, had already stamped him, in the breast of the man to whom +his house and heart alike were open, as an object of suspicion and +espial; and that ere a year had passed over his wedded life, these +feelings were ripened, cherished--changed from the mere thought of +persecution, to palpable resolve, by personal and ungovernable hate. + +Don Luis had never known love; not even the fleeting fancy, much less +the actual passion, of the sensualist, or the spiritual aspirings of +true affection. Of the last, in fact, he was utterly incapable. +No feeling, with him, was of an evanescent nature: under the cold +austerity of the ordinary man, lay coals of living fire. It mattered +not under what guise excited--hate, revenge, ambition, he was capable +of all. At love, alone, he had ever laughed--exulting in his own +security. + +The internal condition of Spain, as we have before said, had been, +until the accession of Isabella and Ferdinand, one of the grossest +license and most fearful immorality. Encouraged in the indulgence of +every passion, by the example of the Court, no dictates of either +religion or morality ever interfered to protect the sanctity of home; +unbridled desires were often the sole cause of murderous assaults; and +these fearful crimes continually passing unpunished, encouraged the +supposition that men's passions were given to be their sole guide, +before which, honor, innocence, and virtue fell powerless. + +The vigorous proceedings of Ferdinand and Isabella had already +remedied these terrible abuses. Over the public safety and reform they +had some power; but over the hearts of individuals they had none; and +there were still some with whom past license was far more influencing +than present restraint and legal severity; still some who paused at +no crime so that the gratification of their passions was ensured; and +foremost amongst these, though by his secret office pledged to the +annihilation of all domestic and social ties, as regarded his own +person, was Don Luis Garcia. + +For rather more than a year, Don Ferdinand Morales had enjoyed the +society of his young wife uninterruptedly, save by occasional visits, +of brief duration, to Valladolid and Leon, where Isabella alternately +held her court. He was now, however, summoned to attend the +sovereigns, on a visit to Ferdinand's paternal dominions, an office +which would cause his absence for a much longer interval. He obeyed +with extreme reluctance--nor did Marie feel the separation less. There +was, in some measure, a feeling of security in his presence, which, +whenever he was absent, gave place to fearful tremblings as to what +might transpire to shake her faith in her, ere he returned. + +Resolved that not the very faintest breath of scandal should touch +_his_ wife, Marie, during the absence of Morales, always kept herself +secluded. This time her retirement was stricter than ever; and great, +then, was her indignation and astonishment, when about a fortnight +before her husband's expected return, and in direct contradiction +to her commands, Don Luis Garcia was admitted to her presence; and +nothing but actual flight, for which she was far too proud and +self-possessed, could have averted the private interview which +followed. The actual words which passed we know not, but, after a very +brief interval of careless converse on the part of Garcia--something +he said earnestly, and in the tones of pitying sympathy, which caused +the cheek and lips of Marie to blanch to marble, and her whole frame +to shiver, and then grow rigid, as if turned to stone. Could it be +that the fatal secret, which she believed was known only to herself +and Arthur, that she had loved another ere she wedded Ferdinand, had +been penetrated by the man towards whom she had ever felt the most +intense abhorrence? and that he dared refer to it as a source of +sympathy--as a proof that he could feel for her more than her +unsuspecting husband? Why was speech so frozen up within her, that she +could not, for the moment, answer, and give him back the lie? But that +silence of deadly terror lasted not long: he had continued to speak; +at first she was unconscious of his change of tone, words, and even +action; but when his actual meaning flashed upon her, voice, strength, +energy returned in such a burst of womanly indignation, womanly +majesty, that Garcia himself, skilled in every art of evil as he was, +quailed beneath it, and felt that he was powerless, save by violence +and revenge. + +While that terrible interview lasted, the wife of Morales had not +failed; but when once more alone, the most deadly terror took +possession of her. She had, indeed, so triumphed as to banish Garcia, +defeated, from her presence; but fearful threats of vengeance were in +that interview divulged--allusions to some secret power, over which +he was the head, armed with authority even greater than that of +the sovereign's--mysteriously spoken, but still almost strangely +intelligible, that in her betrayal or her silence lay the safety or +the danger of her husband--all compelled the conviction that her +terror and her indignation at the daring insult must be buried deep in +her own breast; even while the supposition that Don Luis knew all the +past (though how, her wildest imagination could not discover), and +that therefore she was in his power, urged her yet more to a full +confession to her husband. Better if his heart must be wrung by her, +than by a foe; and yet she shrunk in anguish from the task. + +She was, however, deceived as to the amount of Garcia's knowledge of +her past life. Accustomed to read human nature under all its varied +phases--employing an unusually acute penetration so to know his +fellows as to enable him, when needed, to create the greatest amount +of misery--he had simply perceived that Marie's love for her husband +was of a different nature to his for her, and that she had some secret +to conceal. On this he had based his words: his suspicions were, +unhappily, confirmed by the still, yet expressive agony they had +occasioned. Baffled, as in some measure he had been, his internal rage +that he should have so quailed before a woman, naturally increased the +whirlwind of contending passions: but schooled by his impenetrable +system of hypocrisy to outward quietness and control, he waited, +certain that circumstances would either of themselves occur, or be so +guided by him as to give him ample means of triumph and revenge. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + "You would have thought the very windows spake; + So many greedy looks of young and old + Through casements darted their desiring eyes." + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +In an apartment, whose pale, green hangings, embroidered with +richly-colored flowers, and whose furniture and ornaments, all of +delicate material and refined taste, marked it as a meet boudoir for +gentle blood, sat Marie and her husband. She occupied her favorite +seat--a cushion at his feet, and was listening with interest to his +animated history of the Sovereign's welcome to Saragossa, the popular +ferment at their appearance, the good they had accomplished, and would +still accomplish, as their judicious plans matured. It was clear, he +said, that they had resolved the sovereign power should not be merely +nominal, as it had been. By making himself proclaimed and received +as grand master of the three great orders of knighthood--Saint +Iago, Compostella, and Alcantara--the immense influence of those +associations must succumb to, and be guided by, Ferdinand alone; the +power of the nobles would thus be insensibly diminished, and the mass +of the kingdom--the PEOPLE--as a natural consequence, become of more +importance, their position more open to the eyes of the sovereigns, +and their condition, physically and morally, ameliorated and improved. + +"I feel and acknowledge this, dearest; though one of the class whose +power must be diminished to accomplish it;" he continued, "I am too +anxious for the internal prosperity of my country to quarrel with any +measures which minds so enlightened as its present sovereigns may deem +requisite. But this is but a grave theme for thee, love. Knowest +thou that her Grace reproached me with not bringing thee to join the +Arragonese festivities? When Donna Emilie spoke of thee, and thy +gentle worth and feminine loveliness, as being such as indeed her +Grace would love, my Sovereign banished me her presence as a disloyal +cavalier for so deserting thee; and when I marked how pale and thin +thou art, I feel that she was right; I should have borne thee with +me." + +"Or not have left me. Oh, my husband, leave me not again!" she +replied, with sudden and involuntary emotion, which caused him to +throw his arm round her, and fondly kiss her brow. + +"Not for the court, dearest; but that gentle heart must not forget +thou art a warrior's wife, and as such, for his honor's sake, must +sometimes bear the pang of parting. Nay, thou tremblest, and art still +paler! Ere such summons come, thou wilt have learned to know and love +thy Queen, and in her protecting favor find some solace, should I be +called to war." + +"War! talk they of war again? I thought all was now at peace?" + +"Yes, love, in our sovereign's hereditary dominions; but there can be +no lasting peace while some of the fairest territory of Spain still +dims the supremacy of Castile, and bows down to Moorish masters. It is +towards Grenada King Ferdinand looks, yearning for the day when, all +internal commotions healed, he can head a gallant army to compel +subjection; and sad as it will be to leave thee, sweet, thou wilt +forgive thy soldier if he say, would that the day were come!" + +"And will not their present extent of kingdom suffice the sovereigns? +When they recall their former petty domains, and compare them with the +present, is it not enough?" + +Morales smiled. "Thou speakest as a very woman, gentle one, to whom +the actual word 'ambition' is unknown. Why, the very cause thou namest +urges our sovereigns to the conquest of these Moors. They are the blot +upon a kingdom otherwise as fair and great as any other European land. +They thirst to raise it in the scale of kingdoms--to send down their +names to posterity, as the founders of the Spanish monarchy--the +builders and supporters of a united throne, and so leave their +children an undivided land. Surely this is a glorious project, one +which every Spanish warrior must rejoice to aid. But fear not a speedy +summons, love; much must be accomplished first. Isabella will visit +this ancient city ere then, and thou wilt learn to love and reverence +her as I do." + +"In truth, my husband, thou hast made me loyal as thyself; but say +they not she is severe, determined, stern?" + +"To the guilty, yes; even the weak crafty will not stand before her +repelling glance: but what hast thou to fear, my love? Penetrative as +she is, seeming to read the heart through the countenance, she can +read nought in thee save qualities to love. I remember well the eagle +glance she fixed on King Ferdinand's young English favorite, Senor +Stanley, the first time he was presented to her. But she was +satisfied, for he ranks as deservedly high in her favor as in her +husband's. Thou hast heard me speak of this young Englishman, my +Marie?" + +Her face was at that moment turned from him, or he might have started +at its sudden flush; but she assented by a sign. + +"He was so full of joyousness and mirth, that to us of graver nature +it seemed almost below his dignity as man; and now they tell me he +is changed so mournfully; grave, sad, silent, maturity seems to have +descended upon him ere he has quite passed boyhood; or he has some +secret sorrow, too sacred to be revealed. There is some talk of his +recall from Sicily, he having besought the king for a post of more +active and more dangerous service. Ferdinand loves such daring +spirits, and therefore no doubt will grant his boon. Ha! Alberic, what +is it?" he continued, eagerly, as a page entered, and delivered a +packet secured with floss silk, and sealed with the royal signet, +adding that it had been brought by an officer of the royal guard, +attended by some men at arms. "Give him welcome suited to his rank, +boy: I will but peruse these, and attend him instantly." + +The page withdrew, and Don Ferdinand, hastily cutting the silk, was +speedily so engrossed in his despatches, as to forget for the time +even the presence of his wife; and well it was so; for it enabled her +with a strong effort to conquer the deadly sickness Morale's careless +words had caused--the pang of dread accompanying every thought of +Arthur's return to Spain--to still the throbbing pulse and quivering +lip, and, outwardly unmoved, meet his joyous glance once more. + +"'Tis as I thought and hoped," he said, with animation: "the +sovereigns hold their court for some months in this city; coeval, +in antiquity, associations, and loyalty, with Valladolid and Leon, +Isabella, with her characteristic thought for all her subjects, has +decided on making it occasionally the seat of empire alternately with +them, and commissions me, under her royal seal, to see the castle +fittingly prepared. Listen, love, what her Grace writes further--'Take +heed, my good lord, and hide not in a casket the brightest gem which +we have heard adorns thy home. We would ourselves judge the value of +thy well-hoarded jewel--not that we doubt its worth; for it would be +strange, indeed, if he who hath ever borne off the laurel wreath from +the competitors for glory, should not in like manner seek and win +the prize of beauty. In simple language, let Donna Marie be in +attendance.' And so thou shalt, love; and by thy gentle virtues and +modest loveliness, add increase of honor to thy husband. Ha! what +says Gonzalo de Lara?" he added, as his eye glanced over another +paper--"'Tumults in Sicily--active measures--Senor Stanley--enough on +which to expend his chivalric ardor, and evince his devotedness to +Ferdinand; but Sicily quieted--supposed the king will still grant +his request--assign him some post about his person, be at hand for +military service against the Moors.' Good! then the war is resolved +on. We must bestir ourselves, dearest, to prepare fit reception for +our royal guests; there is but brief time." + +He embraced and left her as he spoke; and for several minutes Marie +remained without the power even to rise from her seat: one pang +conquered, another came. Arthur's recall appeared determined; would +it be so soon that he would join this sovereigns before they reached +Segovia? She dared not think, save to pray, with wild and desperate +fervor, that such might not be. + +Magnificent, indeed, were Don Ferdinand's preparations for the banquet +with which he intended to welcome his sovereigns to Segovia. The +castle was to be the seat of their residence, and the actual _locale_ +of their court; but it was at his own private dwelling he resolved, by +a sumptuous entertainment, to evince how deeply and reverentially +he felt the favor with which he was regarded by both monarchs, more +especially by Isabella, his native Sovereign. + +In the many struggles which were constantly occurring between the +Spaniards and Moors, the former had become acquainted with the light +yet beautiful architecture and varied skill in all the arts peculiar +to the latter, and displayed their improved taste in both public and +private buildings. Morales, in addition to natural taste, possessed +great affluence, which enabled him to evince yet greater splendor in +his establishment than was usual to his countrymen. + +There was one octangular room, the large panels forming the walls of +which were painted, each forming a striking picture of the principal +events in the history of Spain, from the descent of Don Palayo, and +the mountaineers of Asturias, who struck the first blow for Spanish +freedom, to the accession of Ferdinand and Isabella. The paintings +were not detached pictures, but drawn and colored on the wall itself, +which had been previously prepared for the reception of the colors by +a curious process, still in use among the Orientals.[A] The colors, +when dry, were rubbed, till the utmost brilliancy was attained; and +this, combined as it was with a freedom and correctness of drawing, +produced an effect as striking then as it would be novel to modern +eyes. One side, divided into three compartments, contained in one a +touching likeness of the young Alfonso. His figure, rather larger than +life, was clothed in armor, which shone as inlaid with gold. His head +was bare, and his bright locks flowed over his shoulders as he wore +them in life. His brilliant eye, his lofty brow, and peculiarly sweet +expression of mouth, had been caught by the limner, and transferred to +his painting in all their original beauty. Round him were grouped +some of the celebrated cavaliers of his party; and the back-ground, +occupied by troops not in regular battalions, but as impelled by some +whelming feeling of national excitement, impossible to be restrained. +Answering to this was a full length of the infanta Isabella I., in +the act of refusing the crown offered by the confederates. The centre +compartment represented the union of Castile and Arragon by the +nuptials of their respective sovereigns in the cathedral church of +Valladolid. Over these pictures were suspended golden lamps, inlaid +with gems; so that, day or night, the effect should remain the same. +Opposite the dais, huge folding-doors opened on an extensive hall, +where the banquets were generally held, and down which Don Ferdinand +intended to range the tables for his guests of lesser rank, leaving +the octangular apartment for the royal tables, and those of the most +distinguished nobles; the one, however, so communicating with the +other, as to appear one lengthened chamber. On the right hand of the +dais, another large door opened on a withdrawing-room, the floor of +which was of marble, curiously tinted; and the walls hung with Genoa +velvet, ruby-colored, and bordered by a wide fringe of gold. Superb +vases of alternate crystal and frosted silver, on pedestals of +alabaster and of aqua-marine, were ranged along the walls, the +delicate beauty of their material and workmanship coming out well +against the rich coloring of the hangings behind. The roof, a lofty +dome, displayed the light Arabesque workmanship, peculiar to Moorish +architecture, as did the form and ornaments of the windows. This +apartment opened into another, much smaller, each side of which, +apparently formed of silver plate, reflected as mirrors every object; +and the pillars supporting the peculiarly light roof of the same +glittering material. Some parts of the extensive gardens Morales +intended to illuminate; and others, for the effect of contrast, to be +left in deepest shadow. + +[Footnote A: See Art Union Journal, August, 1845.] + +Nothing was omitted which could do honor to the royal guests, or +cast a reproach upon the magnificent hospitality of their hosts. The +preparations were but just completed, when an advance guard arrived at +Segovia with the tidings of the rapid approach of the sovereigns; and +Morales, with a gallant troop of his own retainers, and a procession +of the civil and military officers of Segovia, hastened to meet and +escort them to the town. + +With an uncontrollable impulse, Marie had followed the example of +almost every female in Segovia, and, wrapt in her shrouding veil, had +stationed herself, with some attendants at a casement overlooking the +long line of march. The city itself presented one scene of gladsome +bustle and excitment: flags were suspended from every "turret, dome, +and tower," rich tapestries hung over balconies, which were filled +with females of every rank and grade, vying in the richness and +elegance of their apparel, and their coquettish use of the veil and +fan, so as to half-hide and half-display their features, more or less +beautiful--for beautiful as a nation, the Spanish women undoubtedly +are. Bells were ringing from every church; ever and anon came a burst +of warlike music, as detached troops galloped in the town, welcomed +with shouts as the officer at their head was recognized. Even the +priests themselves, with their sober dresses and solemn countenances, +seemed touched with the universal excitement, relaxing into smiles and +hearty greeting with the laymen they encountered. As the hours waned, +popular excitement increased. It was the first visit of Isabella to +the city; and already had her character been displayed in such actions +as to kindle the warmest love towards the woman, in addition to the +enthusiastic loyalty towards the Queen. + +At length the rumor rose that the main body was approaching--in little +more than a hour the sovereigns would pass the gates, and excitement +waxed wilder and wilder, and impatience was only restrained by the +interest excited towards the gallant bodies of cavalry, which now in +slow and measured march approached, forming the commencement of a +line, which for three hours continued to pour within the city in one +unbroken strain. + +Even Marie herself, pre-occupied as she was in the dread search for +one object, could not glance down on the moving multitude beneath her +without in some degree sharing the enthusiasm of her countrymen. There +were gallant warriors of every age, from the old man to the beardless +youth; chargers, superb in form and rich in decoration; a field of +spears glittering in the broad sunshine, some bearing the light gay +pennoncelle, others absolutely bending beneath the heavy folds of +banners, which the light breeze at times extended so as to display +their curious heraldic bearings, and then sunk heavily around their +staffs. Esquires bearing their masters' shields, whose spotless +fields flung back a hundred-fold the noonday sun--plumes so long and +drooping, as to fall from the gilded crest till they rested on the +shoulder--armor so bright as to dazzle the eyes of the beholders, save +when partly concealed under the magnificent surcoats and mantles, +amongst which the richest velvets, slashed with gold or silver, +distinguished the highest nobles. Pageantry like this mingled with +such stirring sounds as the tramp of the noble horse, curveting, +prancing, rearing, as if disdaining the slow order of march--the +thrilling blast of many trumpets, the long roll, or short, sharp call +of the drum; and the mingled notes of martial instruments, blending +together in wild yet stirring harmony, would be sufficient even +in this prosaic age to bid the heart throb and the cheek burn, +recognizing it, as perhaps we should, merely as the _symbol_, not the +_thing_. What, then, must it have been, when men felt such glittering +pageant and chivalric seeming, the _realities_ of life? + +At length came the principal group; the pressure of the crowds +increased, and human hearts so throbbed, that it seemed as if they +could not breathe, save in the stunning shouts, bidding the very +welkin ring. Surrounded by a guard of honor, composed indiscriminately +of Castilians and Arragonese, mounted on a jet black steed, which +pawed the ground, and shook his graceful head, as conscious of his +princely burden, magnificently attired, but in the robes of peace, +with a circlet of gold and gems enwreathing his black velvet cap, his +countenance breathing this day but the kindly emotions of his more +youthful nature, unshadowed by the wile and intrigue of after-years, +King Ferdinand looked the mighty monarch, whose talents raised his +country from obscurity, and bade her stand forth among the first of +European nations. But tumultuary as were the shouts with which he was +recognized, they were faint in comparison to those which burst forth +at sight of the Princess at his side. Isabella had quitted her litter +on re-entering her own dominions, and now rode a cream-colored +charger, which she managed with the grace and dignity of one well +accustomed to the exercise, alike in processions of peace and scenes +of war. + +The difference of age between the sovereigns was not perceivable,[A] +for the grave and thoughtful character of Ferdinand gave him rather +the appearance of seniority; while the unusual fairness of Isabella's +complexion, her slight and somewhat small stature, produced on her the +contrary effect. The dark gray eye, the rich brown hair and delicate +skin of the Queen of Castile deprived her, somewhat remarkably, of +all the characteristics of a Spaniard, but, from their very novelty +attracted the admiration of her subjects. Beautiful she was not; but +her charm lay in the variable expression of her features. Peculiarly +and sweetly feminine, infused, as Washington Irving observes, with "a +soft, tender melancholy," as was their general expression, they could +yet so kindle into indignant majesty, so flash with reproach or scorn, +that the very color of the eye became indistinguishable, and the +boldest and the strongest quailed beneath the mighty and the holy +spirit, which they could not but feel, that frail woman form +enshrined. + +[Footnote A: Isabella was eight or ten years Ferdinand's senior.] + +Round the sovereigns were grouped, in no regular order of march, but +forming a brilliant _cort�ge_, many of the celebrated characters of +their reign--men, not only of war, but of literature and wisdom, whom +both monarchs gloried in distinguishing above their fellows, seeking +to exalt the honor of their country, not only in extent of dominion, +but by the shining qualities of her sons. It was to this group the +strained gaze of Marie turned, and became riveted on the Queen, +feeling strangely and indefinably a degree of comfort as she gazed; to +explain wherefore, even to herself, was impossible; but she felt as if +she no longer stood alone in the wide world, whose gaze she dreaded; +a new impulse rose within her, urging her, instead of remaining +indifferent, as she thought she should, to seek and win Isabella's +regard. She gazed and gazed, till she could have fancied her +very destiny was in some way connected with the Queen's visit to +Segovia--that some mysterious influences were connecting her, +insignificant as she was, with Isabella's will. She strove with the +baseless vision; but it would gain ground, folding up her whole mind +in its formless imaginings. The sight of her husband, conversing +eagerly with the sovereign, in some degree startled her back to the +present scene. His cheek was flushed with exercise and excitement; his +large dark eyes glittering, and a sunny smile robbing his mouth of +its wonted expression of sternness. On passing his mansion he looked +eagerly up, and with proud and joyous greeting doffed his velvet cap, +and bowed with as earnest reverence as if he had still to _seek_ and +win her. The chivalry of Don Ferdinand Morales was proved, yet more +_after_ marriage than _before_. + +It was over: the procession had at length passed: she had scanned +every face and form whose gallant bearing proclaimed him noble; but +Arthur Stanley was not amongst them, and inexpressibly relieved, Marie +Morales sunk down on a low seat, and covering her face with her hands, +lifted up her whole soul in one wild--yet how fervent!--burst of +thanksgiving. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + "Yet was I calm. I knew the time + My breast would thrill before thy look; + But now, to tremble were a crime: + We met, and not a nerve was shook." + + BYRON. + + +The excitement of the city did not subside with the close of the +procession. The quiet gravity and impressive appearance of age, which +had always marked Segovia, as a city more of the past than present, +gave place to all the bustling animation peculiar to a provincial +residence of royalty. Its central position gave it advantages over +Valladolid, the usual seat of the monarchs of Castile and Leon, to +sovereigns who were seeking the internal peace and prosperity of their +subjects, and were resolved on reforming abuses in every quarter of +their domains. The deputation from the city was graciously received; +their offering--a golden vase filled with precious stones--accepted, +and the seal put to their loyal excitement by receiving from +Isabella's own lips, the glad information that she had decided on +making Segovia her residence for the ensuing year, and that she +trusted the loyalty which the good citizens of Segovia had so warmly +proffered would be proved, by their endeavors in their own households +to reform the abuses which long years of misrule and misery had +engendered. She depended on them, her people, to aid her with heart +and hand, and bade them remember, no individual was so insignificant +as to remove his shoulder from the wheel on plea of uselessness. She +trusted to her citizen subjects to raise the internal glory of her +kingdom, as she did to her nobles to guard their safety, elevate her +chivalry, and by their untarnished honor and stainless valor, present +an invincible front to foreign foes. Isabella knew human nature well; +the citizens returned to their houses bound for ever to her service. + +Don Luis Garcia had joined the train of Morales when he set forth to +meet the sovereigns. His extraordinary austerity and semblance of +lowly piety, combined as they were with universal talent, had been so +much noised abroad as to reach the ears of Ferdinand and Isabella; and +Morales, ever eager to promote the interests of a countryman, took +the earliest opportunity of presenting him to them. He was graciously +enough received: but, though neither spoke it, an indefinable feeling +of disappointment took possession of their minds, the wherefore they +knew not. Don Luis had conversed well, both as to the matter and +the manner; but neither Ferdinand nor Isabella felt the smallest +inclination to advance him to any post about themselves. In virtue +of his supposed rank, however, he of course mingled with the courtly +crowd, which on the appointed evening thronged the mansion of Don +Ferdinand. + +Tremblingly as Marie looked forward to that evening, she spared no +pains to gratify her husband in the choice of her toilet. Sorrow had +never made her indifferent, and she sought to please him even in the +most trifling occurrences of life. Her beautiful hair still lay in +soft, glossy bands against the delicate cheeks, and was gathered up +behind in a massive plait, forming, as it were, a diadem at the back +of the exquisitely shaped head, from which fell a white veil--rather, +perhaps, a half mantle, as it shaded the shoulders, not the face--of +silver tissue, so delicately woven as to resemble lace, save in its +glittering material. A coronet of diamonds was wreathed in and out +the plait, removing all semblance of heaviness from the headgear, and +completely divesting it of gaudiness. Her robe, of blue brocade, so +closely woven with silver threads as to glisten in the light of a +hundred lamps almost like diamonds, had no ornament save the large +pearls which looped up the loose sleeves above the elbow, buttoned +the bodice or jacket down the front, and richly embroidered the wide +collar, which, thrown back, disclosed the wearer's delicate throat and +beautiful fall of the shoulders, more than her usual attire permitted +to be visible. The tiny white silk slipper, embroidered in pearl, a +collaret and bracelets of the same beautiful ornament, of very large +size, completed her costume. + +Not even the presence of royalty could restrain the burst of +undisguised admiration which greeted Marie, as, led forward by her +eager husband, she was presented to the sovereigns, and knelt to do +them homage. Ferdinand himself gazed on her a moment astonished; then +with animated courtesy hastily raised her, and playfully chid the +movement as unmeet from a hostess to her guests. + +A strange moisture had risen to the eyes of the Queen as she first +beheld Marie. It might have been that marvellous perfection of face +and form which caused the emotion; for if all perfection, even from +man's hand, is affecting even to tears, what must be the work of God? +It might have been that on that young, sweet face, to the Queen's +mental eye, a dim shadow from the formless realms of the future +hovered--that, stealing from that outward form of loveliness, she +beheld its twin sister, sorrow. Whatever it might have been, kind and +gentle as Isabella's manner ever was, especially to her own sex, to +Marie it was kinder and gentler still. + +How false is the charge breathed from man's lips, that woman never +admires woman!--that we are incapable of the lofty feeling of +admiration of our own sex either for beautiful qualities or beauteous +form! There is no object in creation more lovely, more fraught with +intensest interest (if, indeed, we are not so wholly wrapt in the +petty world of self as to have none for such lofty sympathies) than a +young girl standing on the threshold of a new existence; beautiful, +innocent, and true; offspring as yet of joy and hope alone, but +before whom stretches the dim vista of graver years, and the yearning +thoughts, unspoken griefs, and buried feelings, which even in the +happiest career must still be woman's lot. There may be many who can +see no charm and feel no interest in girlhood's beauty: but not in +such is woman's best and holiest nature; and therefore not by such +should she be judged. + +"We will not chide thee, Senor, for thy jealous care of this most +precious gem," said Isabella, addressing Don Ferdinand, while her eye +followed Marie, who, re-assured by the Queen's manner, had conquered +her painful timidity, and was receiving and returning with easy grace +and natural dignity the greetings and gallantries of her guests: "she +is too pure, too precious to meet the common eye, or breathe a courtly +atmosphere." + +Don Ferdinand's eye glistened. "And yet I fear her not," he rejoined: +"she is as true, as loving, as she is loved and lovely." + +"I doubt it not: nay, 'tis the spotless purity of soul breathing in +that sweet face, which I would not behold tainted, by association with +those less pure. No: let her rest within the sanctuary of thy heart +and hearth, Don Ferdinand. We do not command her constant attendance +on our person, as we had intended." + +Conscious of the inexpressible relief which this assurance would be to +his wife, Morales eagerly and gratefully expressed his thanks; and the +Queen passed on, rejoicing in the power of so easily conferring joy. + +We may not linger on the splendor of this scene, or attempt +description of the varied and picturesque groups filling the gorgeous +suite of rooms, pausing at times to admire the decorations of the +domed chamber, or passing to and fro in the hall of mirrors, gayly +reflected from the walls and pillars. The brilliant appearance of the +extensive gardens; their sudden and dazzling illuminations as night +advanced; their curious temples, and sparkling fountains sending up +sheets of silver in the still air and darkening night, and falling in +myriads of diamonds on innumerable flowers, whose brilliant coloring, +illuminated by small lamps, concealed beneath their foliage, shone +forth like gems; the groups of Moorish slaves, still as statues in +their various attitudes; the wild, barbaric music, startling, yet +delighting all who listened, and causing many an eager warrior to +grasp his sword, longing even at such a moment to exchange that +splendid scene for the clash and stir of war--we must leave all to +the imagination of our readers, and bid them follow us to the banquet +hall, where, summoned by the sound of the gong, the numerous guests +sat down to tables, groaning beneath the profuse hospitality of their +host, and the refined magnificence of the display. + +All the warrior stirred the soul of the King, as, on taking his seat +at the dais, he glanced round and beheld the glorious triumphs of his +country so strikingly portrayed. But Isabella saw but one picture, +felt but one thought; and Marie never forgot the look she fixed on the +breathing portrait of Alfonso, nor the tone with which she inquired-- + +"Hadst thou ever a brother, Marie?" + +"Never, royal Madam." + +"Then thou canst not enter into the deep love I bore yon princely boy, +nor the feeling that picture brings. Marie, I would cast aside my +crown, descend my throne without one regretful murmur, could I but +hold him to my heart once more, as I did the night he bade me his glad +farewell. It was for ever! Thy husband speaks of him sometimes?" + +"Often, often, my gracious liege, till his lip has quivered and his +eye has glistened!" + +Isabella pressed her hand, and with even more than her wonted +graciousness, turned to receive from the hand of her host the gemmed +goblet of wine, which, in accordance with established custom, Don +Ferdinand knelt down to present, having first drunk of it himself. + +Inspiringly sounded the martial music during the continuance of the +banquet. Brightly sparkled the brimming goblets of the far-famed +Spanish wine. Lightly round the table ran the gay laugh and gayer +jest. Soft and sweet were the whispers of many a gallant cavalier +to his fair companion; for, in compliment to Isabella, the national +reserve of the daughters of Spain was in some degree laid aside and a +free intercourse with their male companions permitted. Each, indeed, +wore the veil, which could be thrown off, forming a mantle behind, or +drawn close to conceal every feature, as coquettish fancy willed; nor +were the large fans wanting, with which the Spanish woman is said to +hold as long and desperate a flirtation as the coquette of other lands +can do with the assistance of voice and eye. Isabella's example had, +however, already created reformation in her female train, and +the national levity and love of intrigue, had in a great degree +diminished. + +The animation of the scene was at its height when suddenly the music +ceased, a single gong was heard to sound, and Alberic, the senior +page, brought tidings of the arrival of new guests; and his master, +with native courtesy, hastened down the hall to give them welcome. + +Marie had not heard, or, perhaps, had not heeded the interruption +in the music; for, fascinated by the manner and conversation of the +Queen, she had given herself up for the time wholly to its influence, +to the forgetfulness even of her inward self. The sound of many +footsteps and a rejoicing exclamation from the King, excited the +attention at once of Isabella and her hostess. Marie glanced down the +splendid hall; and well was it for her that she was standing behind +the Queen's seat, and somewhat deep in shadow. Momentary as was all +_visible_ emotion, its effect was such as must have caused remark and +wonder had it been perceived: on herself, that casual glance, was as +if she had received some invisibly dealt, yet fearful blow. Her brain +reeled, her eyes swam, a fearful, stunning sound awoke within her +ears, and such failing of bodily power as compelled her, spite of +herself, to grasp the Queen's chair for support. But how mighty--how +marvellous is the power of _will_ and _mind_! In less than a minute +every failing sense was recalled, every slackened nerve restrung, and, +save in the deadly paleness of lip, as well as cheek, not a trace of +that terrible conflict remained. + +Aware that it was at a gay banquet he was to meet the King, Arthur +Stanley had arranged his dress with some care. We need only +particularize his sword, which was remarkable for its extreme +simplicity, the hilt being of the basket shape, and instead of being +inlaid with precious stones, as was the general custom of this day, +was composed merely of highly burnished steel. He had received it from +his dying father: and it was his pride to preserve it unsullied, as +it had descended to him. He heeded neither laughter at its uncouth +plainness, nor even the malicious sneer as to the poor Englishman's +incapacity to purchase a handsomer one; rejecting every offer of a +real Toledo, and declaring that he would prove both the strength and +brightness of English steel, so that none should gainsay it. + +"Welcome, Don Arthur! welcome, Senor Stanley! By St. Francis, I shall +never learn thy native title, youth!" exclaimed the monarch, frankly, +as he extended his hand, which Stanley knelt to salute. "Returned with +fresher laurels, Stanley? Why, man, thou wilt make us thy debtor in +good earnest!" + +"Nay, my gracious liege: that can never be!" replied Stanley, +earnestly. "Grateful I am, indeed, when there is opportunity to evince +fidelity and valor in your Grace's service; but believe me, where so +much has been and is received, not a life's devotion on my part can +remove the impression, that I am the debtor still." + +"I believe thee, boy! I do believe thee! I would mistrust myself ere I +mistrusted thee. We will hear of thy doings to-morrow. Enough now to +know we are well satisfied with thy government in Sicily, and trust +our native subject who succeeds thee will do his part as well. Away to +thy seat, and rejoice that thou hast arrived ere this gay scene has +closed. Yet stay: our lovely hostess hath not yet given thee welcome. +Where is the Senora? Isabella, hast thou spirited her hence? She was +here but now." + +"Nay, good my Lord: she has vanished unwittingly," replied Isabella, +as she turned towards the spot where Marie had been standing. "Don +Ferdinand, we must entreat thee to recall her!" + +"It needs not, royal Madam: I am here:" and Marie stepped forward from +the deep shade of the falling drapery behind the royal seats which +had concealed her, and stood calmly, almost proudly erect beside the +Queen, the full light falling on her face and form. But there was +little need for light to recognize her: the voice was sufficient; and +even the vivid consciousness of where he stood, the hundred curious +eyes upon him, could not restrain the sudden start--the bewildered +look. Could that be Marie? Could that be the wife of Ferdinand +Morales? If she were the one, how could she be the other, when +scarcely eighteen months previous, she had told him that which, if +it were true, must equally prevent her union with Morales as with +himself? In what were they different save in the vast superiority of +wealth and rank? And in the chaos of bewildering emotions, so trustful +was he in the truth of her he loved, that, against the very evidence +of his own senses, he for the moment disbelieved in the identity +of the wife of Morales with the Marie Henriquez of the Cedar Vale. +Perhaps it was well he did so, for it enabled him to still the +tumultuous throbbing of his every pulse as her voice again sounded in +his ear, saying he was welcome, most welcome as her husband's friend, +and to retire without any apparent emotion to his seat. + +He had merely bowed reverentially in reply. In any other person the +silence itself would have caused remark: but for the last three years +Stanley's reserve and silence in the company of women had been such, +that a departure from his general rule even in the present case would +have been more noticed than his silence. Thoughts of painful, almost +chaotic bewilderment indeed, so chased each other across his mind as +to render the scene around him indistinct, the many faces and eager +voices like the phantasma of a dream. But the pride of manhood roused +him from the sickening trance, and urged him to enter into the +details, called for by his companions in arms, of the revolt of the +Sicilians, with even more than usual animation. + +One timid glance Marie had hazarded towards her husband, and it was +met by such a look and smile of love and pride that she was re-assured +to perform the duties of the evening unfalteringly to the end. Alas! +she little knew that her momentary emotion and that of Arthur had +alike been seen, commented upon, and welcomed with fiend-like glee, +as the connecting link of an until then impalpable plot, by one +individual in that courtly crowd, whose presence, hateful as it was, +she had forgotten in the new and happier thoughts which Isabella's +presence and notice had occasioned. + +And who was there, the mere spectator of this glittering pageant, +but would have pronounced that there, at least, all was joy, and +good-will, and trust, and love? Who, even did they acknowledge the +theory that one human heart, unveiled, would disperse this vain dream +of seeming unalloyed enjoyment, would yet have selected the right +individual for the proof, or would not have shrunk back awed and +saddened had the truth been told? Surely it is well for the young, +the hopeful, and the joyous, that in such scenes they see but life's +surface--not its depths. + +The festive scene lasted some time longer, nor did it conclude with +the departure of the King and Queen: many still lingered, wandering at +their own will about the rooms and gardens, and dispersing gradually, +as was then the custom, without any set farewell. + +Her attendance no longer required by the Queen, and aware that her +presence was not needed by her guests, Marie sought the gardens; her +fevered spirit and aching head yearning to exchange the dazzling +lights and close rooms for the darkness and refreshing breeze of +night. Almost unconsciously she had reached some distance from the +house, and now stood beside a beautiful statue of a-water-nymph, +overlooking a deep still pool, so clear and limpid, that when the moon +cast her light upon it, it shone like a sheet of silver, reflecting +every surrounding object. There were many paths that led to it, +concealed one from the other by gigantic trees and overhanging shrubs. +It was a favorite spot with. Marie, and she now stood leaning against +the statue, quite unconscious that tears were falling faster and +faster from her eyes, and mingling with the waters at her feet. + +"Marie!" exclaimed the voice of Stanley at that moment: "Canst thou be +Marie? so false, so--" but his words were checked, for the terror, the +tumult of feeling, while it impelled her to start from him, deprived +her of all power; and a rapid movement on his part alone prevented her +from falling in the deep pool beneath their feet. It was but a moment: +she withdrew herself from his supporting arms, and stood erect before +him, though words she had none. + +"Speak to me!" reiterated Arthur, his voice sounding hollow and +changed; "I ask but one word. My very senses seem to play me false, +and mock me with thy outward semblance to one I have so loved. Her +name, too, was Marie; her voice soft and thrilling as thine own: +and yet, yet, I feel that 'tis but semblance--'tis but mockery--the +phantasy of a disordered brain. Speak, in mercy! Say that it is but +semblance--that thou art not the Marie I have so loved." + +"It is true--I am that Marie. I have wronged thee most cruelly, most +falsely," she answered, in a tone low and collected indeed, but +expressive of intense suffering. "It is too late now, either to atone +or to explain. Leave me, Senor Stanley: I am another's!" + +"Too late to explain? By heaven but thou shalt!" burst fiercely and +wrathfully from Stanley. "Is it not enough, that thou hast changed my +whole nature into gall, made truth itself a lie, purity a meaningless +word, but thou wilt shroud thyself under the specious hood of duty to +another, when, before heaven, thou wast mine alone. Speak!" + +"Ay, I will speak--implore thee by the love thou didst once bear me, +Arthur, leave me now! I can hear no more to-night." + +"On condition thou wilt see me in private once again. Marie, thou +darest not refuse me this! Thou canst not have so fallen as to give no +reason for this most foul wrong--fancied weak, futile as it may be. We +part now, but we meet again!" And with a strong effort at control he +strode hastily from her. + +The moon at that moment breaking from thick clouds, darted her full +light upon the pool, till it shone like an illuminated mirror amidst +the surrounding darkness; and though Arthur had disappeared, its clear +surface distinctly reflected the outline of another closely shrouded +figure. Marie turned in terror, and beheld, gleaming with the triumph +of a fiend, the hated countenance of Don Luis Garcia. One look told +her that he Lad seen all, heard all; but she had no power to speak or +move. Keeping his basilisk gaze fixed on her, he withdrew backwards +into the deep shade till he had entirely disappeared. + +Summoning all her energy, Marie fled back towards the house, and at +the moment she reached it, Don Ferdinand crossed the deserted hall. + +"Marie, dearest, here and alone? Pale, too, and trembling! In heaven's +name, what hath chanced?" + +A moment more, and she would have flung herself at his feet and told +him all--all, and beseeching his forgiveness, conjure him to shield +her from Arthur, from herself; but as she looked up in his face, +and met its beaming animation, its manly reflection of the pure +gratification that evening had bestowed, how could she, how dared she +be the one to dash it with woe? And, overpowered with this fearful +contention of feeling, she threw her arms around him as he bent +tenderly over her, and burying her head in his bosom, burst into +tears. + +"Thou art exhausted, mine own love! It has been too exciting, too +wearying a scene for thee. Why, what a poor, weak girl thou art! How +fortunate for thee that thy Queen demands not thy constant attendance, +and that thy husband is not ambitious to behold thee shining in the +court, as thy grace and beauty might! I am too glad to feel thee all, +all my own. Smile on me, love, and then to thy couch. A few hours' +quiet rest, and thou wilt be thyself again." And he bore her himself +with caressing gentleness to her apartment. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + "Then Roderick from the Douglas broke, + As flashes flame through sable smoke, + Kindling its wreaths long, dark, and low. + To one broad blaze of ruddy glow; + So the deep anguish of despair + Burst in fierce jealousy to air." + + SIR WALTER SCOTT. + + +"Sure, now, Pedro, the poor young Senor cannot be entirely in his +right mind; he does nothing but tramp, tramp, tramp, the whole night +long, and mutters so fiercely to himself, and such dark words, it +would make one tremble were they not belied by His sweet face and sad +smile," was the observation of old Juana Lopez to her husband some ten +days after Arthur Stanley had been domiciled in their dwelling. The +old man muttered something about his being a foreigner from the Wild +Island, where they had all been busy cutting one another's throats, +and what could she expect otherwise?" + +"Expect? why that he must have become Spanish born and bred since he +has been in King Ferdinand's service so long, and was such a boy when +he left England." + +"Stuff, woman; there's no taking the foreign blood out of him, try as +you will," growled the old man, who in common with many of his class, +was exceedingly annoyed that a foreigner should possess so much of +the King's confidence, and not a little displeased that his dwelling +should have been fixed on for the young officer's quarters. "It would +not have been Isabella, God bless her! to have chosen such a minion; +she tolerates him for Ferdinand's sake; but they will find him out one +day. Saint Iago forbid the evil don't fall first." + +"Now that is all prejudice, Viego Pedro, and you know it. Bless his +beautiful face! there is no thought of evil there, I'd stake my +existence. He is tormented in his mind about something, poor youth; +but his eyes are too bright and his smile too sad for any thing evil." + +"Hold your foolish tongue: you women think if a man is better looking +than his fellows, he is better in every respect--poor fools as ye are; +but as for this Englisher, with such a white skin and glossy +curls, and blue eyes--why I'd be ashamed to show myself amongst +men--pshaw--the woman's blind." + +"Nay, Viego Pedro, prejudice has folded her kerchief round your eyes, +not mine," retorted the old dame; and their war of words concerning +the merits and demerits of their unconscious lodger continued, till +old Pedro grumbled himself off, and his more light-hearted helpmate +busied herself in preparing a tempting meal for her guest, which, to +her great disappointment, shared the fate of many others, and left his +table almost untouched. + +To attempt description of Stanley's feelings would be as impossible as +tedious; yet some few words must be said. His peculiarly enthusiastic, +perhaps romantic disposition, had caused him to cling tenaciously to +the memory of Marie, even after the revelation of a secret which to +other men would have seemed to place an impassable barrier between +them. To Arthur, difficulties in pursuit of an object only rendered +its attainment the more intensely desired. Perhaps his hope rested +on the conviction not so much of his own faithful love as on the +unchangeable nature of hers. He might have doubted himself, but to +doubt her was impossible. Conscious himself that, wrong as it might +be, he could sacrifice every thing for her--country, rank, faith +itself, even the prejudice of centuries, every thing but honor--an +ideal stronger in the warrior's mind than even creed--he could not and +would not believe that her secret was to her sacred as his honor to +him, and that she could no more turn renegade from the fidelity which +that secret comprised, than he could from his honor. She had spoken +of but one relation, an aged father; and he felt in his strong +hopefulness, that it was only for that father's sake she had striven +to conquer her love, and had told him they might never wed, and that +when that link was broken he might win her yet. + +Loving and believing thus, his anguish in beholding her the wife of +another may be imagined. The more he tried to think, the more confused +and mystifying his thoughts became. Every interview which he had with +her, and more especially that in the Vale of Cedars, was written in +indelible characters on his heart and brain; and while beholding her +as the wife of Morales contradicted their every word, still it could +not blot them from his memory; and he would think, and think, in the +vain search for but one imaginary reason, however faint, however +unsatisfactory, for her conduct, till his brain turned, and his senses +reeled. It was not the mere suffering of unrequited love; it was the +misery of having been deceived; and then, when racked and tortured +by the impossibility of discovering some cause for this deceit, her +secret would flash across him, and the wild thought arise that both he +and Don Ferdinand were victims to the magic and the sorcery, by means +of which alone her hated race could ever make themselves beloved. + +Compelled as he was to mingle with the Court as usual, these powerful +emotions were of course always under strong restraint, except when in +the solitude of his own quarters. That when there he should give them +vent, neither conscious of, nor caring for the remarks they excited +from his host and hostess, was not very remarkable; perhaps he was +scarcely aware how powerfully dislike towards Don Ferdinand shared his +thoughts with his vain suggestions as to the cause of Marie's falsity. +The reason for this suddenly aroused dislike he could not indeed +have defined, except that Morales had obtained without difficulty a +treasure, to obtain which he had offered to sacrifice so much. So +fourteen days passed, and though firmly resolved to have one more +interview with Marie, no opportunity had presented itself, nor in fact +could he feel that he had as yet obtained the self-command necessary +for the cold, calm tone which he intended to assume. It happened that +once or twice the King had made Arthur his messenger to Don Ferdinand; +but since the night of the entertainment he had never penetrated +farther than the audience chamber, there performed his mission +briefly, and departed. Traversing the principal street of Segovia one +morning, he was accosted somewhat too courteously, he thought, for +their slight acquaintance, by Don Luis Garcia. + +"And whither so early, Senor Stanley?" he inquired so courteously that +it could not give offence, particularly as it followed other queries +of a graceful greeting, and was not put forth abruptly. + +"To the mansion of Don Ferdinand Morales," replied the young +Englishman, frankly. + +"Indeed! from the King?" + +Stanley answered in the affirmative, too deeply engrossed with his own +thoughts, to attend much to his companion, whose interrogations he +would undoubtedly in a more natural mood have felt inclined to resent. + +"Don Ferdinand Morales ranks as high in the favor of the people as +of the King--a marvellous conjunction of qualities, is it not, Senor +Stanley?" continued Garcia, after walking by his side some minutes in +silence. "A Monarch's favorite is seldom that of his subjects; but +Morales is unusually deserving. I wonder not at the love he wins." + +"Neither Ferdinand nor Isabella bestows favors on the undeserving," +briefly, almost sternly answered Stanley, with an unconscious change +of tone and manner, which did not escape his companion. + +"And he is so singularly fortunate, every thing he touches seems to +turn to gold--an universal idol, possessed too of such wealth and +splendor, and, above all, with such a being to share them with him. +Fortune has marked him favored in all things. Didst ever behold a +creature equal in loveliness to Donna Marie, Senor Stanley?" + +A momentary, and to any other but Don Luis, incomprehensible emotion, +passed over the countenance of Stanley at these words; but though +it was instantly recalled, and indifference both in expression of +countenance and voice resumed, it passed not unobserved; and Don Luis, +rejoicing in the pain he saw he was inflicting, continued an eloquent +panegyric on the wife of Morales, the intense love she bore her +husband, and the beautiful unity and harmony of their wedded life, +until they parted within a short distance of the public entrance to +Don Ferdinand's mansion, towards which Stanley turned. + +Don Luis looked after his retreating form, and folding his arms in his +mantle, bent down his head, assuming an attitude which to passers-by +expressed the meek humility of his supposed character. There was a +wild gleam of triumph, in his eyes which he knew, and therefore they +were thus bent down, and there were thoughts in his heart which might +thus be worded:--"I have it all, all. Waiting has done better for me +than acting; but now the watch is over, and the coil is laid. There +have been those who, standing on the loftiest pinnacle, have fallen +by a touch to earth; none knew the how or wherefore." And shrouding +himself closer in his wrapping mantle, he walked rapidly on till he +reached a side entrance into the gardens, which stretched for many +acres around Don Ferdinand's mansion. Here again he paused, looked +cautiously around him, then swiftly entered, and softly closed the +door behind him. + +Already agitated by the effort to retain calmness during Garcia's +artful words, it was no light matter for Stanley to compose himself +for his interview with Morales. Vain was the gentle courtesy of the +latter, vain his kindly words, vain his confidential reception of the +young Englishman, to remove from Arthur's heart the wild torrent of +passion called forth by Garcia's allusion to Marie's intense love +for her husband. To any one but Morales, his abrupt and unconnected +replies, his strange and uncourteous manners, must have excited +irritation; but Don Ferdinand only saw that the young man was +disturbed and pained, and for this very reason exerted his utmost +kindliness of words and manner to draw him from, himself. They parted +after an interval of about half an hour, Morales to go to the castle +as requested; Arthur to proceed, as he thought, to the environs of the +city. But in vain did he strive with himself. The window of the room +in which he had met Don Ferdinand looked into the garden, and there, +slowly pacing a shaded path, he had recognized the figure of Marie. +The intense desire to speak with her once more, and so have the fatal +mystery solved, became too powerful for control. Every feeling of +honor and delicacy perished before it, and hardly knowing what he did, +he retraced his steps, entered unquestioned, passed through the hall +to the gardens beyond, and in less than ten minutes after he had +parted from her husband, stood in the presence of Marie. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + "If she be false, oh, then Heaven mock itself! + I'll not believe it." + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +Don Ferdinand had scarcely quitted his mansion ere fleet steps +resounded behind him, and turning, he beheld Don Luis Garcia, who +greeted him with such a marked expression, both in voice and face, +of sadness, that Morales involuntarily paused, and with much +commiseration inquired what had chanced. + +"Nothing of personal misfortune, my friend; but there are times when +the spirit is tortured by a doubtful duty. To preserve silence is +undoubtedly wrong, and may lead to wrong, yet greater; and yet, to +speak, is so painfully distressing to my peace-loving disposition, +that I am tossed for ever on conflicting impulses, and would gladly be +guided by another." + +"If you would be guided by my counsel, my good friend, I must entreat +a clearer statement," replied Morales, half smiling. "You have spoken +so mysteriously, that I cannot even guess your meaning. I cannot +imagine one so straightforward and strong-minded as yourself +hesitating and doubtful as to duty, of whatever nature." + +"Not if it concerned myself: but in this case I must either continue +to see wrong done, with the constant dread of its coming to light, +without my interference; or inflict anguish where I would gladly give +but joy; and very probably, in addition, have my tale disbelieved, +and myself condemned, though for that matter, personal pain is of no +consequence, could I but pursue the right." + +"But how stands this important case, my good friend?" + +"Thus: I have been so unfortunate as to discover that one is false, +whom her doting husband believes most true--that the lover of her +youth has returned, and still holds her imagination chained--that she +meets him in secret, and has appointed another clandestine interview, +from which who may tell the evil that may ensue? I would prevent this +interview--would recall her to her better nature, or put her husband +on his guard: but how dare I do this--how interfere thus closely +between man and wife? Counsel me, my friend, in pity!" + +"If you have good foundation for this charge, Don Luis, it is your +duty to speak out," replied Morales, gravely. + +"And to whom?" + +"To the lawful guardian of this misguided one--her husband." + +"But how can I excite his anguish--how turn his present heaven of joy +to a very hell of woe, distrust, suspicion?" + +"Does the leech heed his patient's anguish when probing a painful +wound, or cutting away the mortified flesh? His office is not +enviable, but it is necessary, and; if feelingly performed, we love +him not the less. Speak out. Don Luis, openly, frankly, yet gently, to +the apparently injured husband. Do more: counsel him to act as openly, +as gently with his seemingly guilty wife; and that which now appears +so dark, may be proved clear, and joy dawn again for both, by a few +words of mutual explanation. But there must be no mystery on your +part--no either heightening or smoothing what you may have learnt. +Speak out the simple truth; insinuate nought, for that love is +worthless, that husband false to his sacred charge, if he believes in +guilt ere he questions the accused." + +Don Luis looked on the open countenance before him for a few minutes +without reply, thinking, not if he should spare him, but if his plans +might not be foiled, did Morales himself act as he had said. But the +pause was not long: never had he read human countenance aright, if +Arthur Stanley were not at that moment with Marie. He laid his hand +on Don Ferdinand's arm, and so peculiar was the expression on his +countenance, so low and plaintively musical the tone in which be +said, "God give you strength, my poor friend," that the rich color +unconsciously forsook the cheek of the hardy warrior, leaving him +pallid as death; and so sharp a thrill passed through his heart, that +it was with difficulty he retained his feet; but Morales was not +merely physically, he was mentally brave. With a powerful, a mighty +effort of will, he called life, energy, courage back, and said, +sternly and unfalteringly, "Don Luis Garcia, again I say, speak out! I +understand you; it is I who am the apparently injured husband. Marie! +Great God of heaven! that man should dare couple her pure name with +ignominy! Marie! my Marie! the seemingly guilty wife! Well, put forth +your tale: I am not the man to shrink from my own words. Speak truth, +and I will hear you; and--and, if I can, not spurn you from me as a +liar! Speak out!" + +Don Luis needed not a second bidding: he had remarked, seen, and +heard quite enough the evening of Don Ferdinand's banquet, to require +nothing more than the simple truth, to harrow the heart of his hearer, +even while Morales disbelieved his every word. Speciously, indeed, +he turned his own mere suspicions as to Marie's unhappiness, and her +early love for Arthur, into realities, founded on certain information, +but with this sole exception--he told but the truth. Without moving +a muscle, without change of countenance, or uttering a syllable of +rejoinder, Don Ferdinand listened to Garcia's recital, fixing his +large piercing eye on his face, with a gaze that none but one so +hardened in hypocrisy could have withstood. Once only Morales's +features contracted for a single instant, as convulsed by some spasm. +It was the recollection of Marie's passionate tears, the night of the +festival; and yet she had shed them on _his_ bosom. How could she be +guilty? And the spasm passed. + +"I have heard you, Don Luis," he said, so calmly, as Garcia ceased, +that the latter started. "If there be truth in this strange tale, I +thank you for imparting it: if it be false--if you have dared pollute +my ears with one word that has no foundation, cross not my path +again, lest I be tempted to turn and crush you as I would a loathsome +reptile, who in very wantonness has stung me." + +He turned from him rapidly, traversed the brief space, and disappeared +within his house. Don Luis looked after him with a low, fiendish +laugh, and plunged once more into the gardens. + +"Is the Senora within?" Inquired Don Ferdinand, encountering his +wife's favorite attendant at the entrance of Marie's private suit of +rooms; and though his cheek was somewhat pale, his voice was firm as +usual. The reply was in the negative; the Senora was in the gardens. +"Alone? Why are you not with her as usual, Manuella?" + +"I was with her, my Lord; she only dismissed me ten minutes ago." + +Without rejoinder, Don Ferdinand turned in the direction she had +pointed out. It was a lovely walk, in the most shaded parts of the +extensive grounds, walled by alternate orange and lemon trees; some +with the blossom, germ, and fruit all on one tree; others full of +the paly fruit; and others, again, as wreathed with snow, from the +profusion of odoriferous flowers. An abrupt curve led to a grassy +plot, from which a sparkling fountain sent up its glistening showers, +before a luxurious bower, which Morales's tender care had formed of +large and healthy slips, cut from the trees of the Vale of Cedars, and +flowery shrubs and variegated moss from the same spot; and there he +had introduced his Marie, calling it by the fond name of "Home!" As he +neared the curve, voices struck on his ear--Marie's and another's. She +was not alone! and that other!--could it be?--nay, it was--there was +neither doubt nor hesitation--it was his--his--against whom Don Luis +had warned him. Was it for this Marie had dismissed her attendant? +It could not be; it was mere accident, and Don Ferdinand tried to go +forward to address them as usual; but the effort even for him was too +much, and he sunk down on a rustic bench near him, and burying his +head in his hands, tried to shut out sight and sound till power and +calmness would return. But though he could close his eyes on all +outward things, he could not deaden hearing; and words reached him +which, while he strove not to hear, seemed to be traced by a dagger's +point upon his heart, and from very physical agony deprived him of +strength to move. + +"And thou wilt give me no reason--idle, weak as it must be--thou wilt +refuse me even an excuse for thy perjury?" rung on the still air, in +the excited tones of Arthur Stanley. "Wealth, beauty, power--ay, they +are said to be omnipotent with thy false sex; but little did I dream +that it could be so with thee; and in six short months--nay, less +time, thou couldst conquer love, forget past vows, leap over the +obstacle thou saidst must part us, and wed another! 'Twas short space +to do so much!" And he laughed a bitter, jibing laugh. + +"It was short, indeed!" faintly articulated Marie; "but long enough to +bear." + +"To bear!" he answered; "nay, what hadst thou to bear? The petted +minion of two mighty sovereigns, the idol of a nation--came, and +sought, and won--how couldst thou resist him? What were my claims to +his--an exile and a foreigner, with nought but my good sword, and a +love so deep, so faithful (his voice softened), that it formed my very +being? But what was love to thee before ambition? Oh, fool, fool that +I was, to believe a woman's tongue--to dream that truth could dwell in +those sweet-sounding words--those tears, that seemed to tell of grief +in parting, bitter as my own--fool, to believe thy specious tale! +There could be no cause to part us, else wherefore art thou Morales's +wife? Thou didst never love me! From the first deceived, thou calledst +forth affection, to triumph in thy power, and wreck the slender joys +left to an exile! And yet I love thee--oh, God, how deeply!" + +"Arthur!" answered Marie, and her bloodless lips so quivered, they +could scarcely frame the word--"wrong I have done thee, grievous +wrong; but oh! blast not my memory with injuries I have not inflicted. +Look back; recall our every interview. Had I intended to deceive, to +call forth the holiest feelings of the human heart, to make them a +mock and scorn, to triumph in a power, of whose very existence till +thou breathed love I was unconscious--should I have said our love +was vain--was so utterly hopeless, we could never be other than +strangers--should I have conjured thee to leave--aye, and to forget +me, had I not felt that I loved too well, and trembled for myself yet +more than for thee? Oh, Arthur, Arthur, do not add to the bitterness +of this moment by unjust reproaches! I have injured thee enough by my +ill-fated beauty, and too readily acknowledged love: but more I have +not done. From the first I said that there was a fate around us--thine +I might never be!" + +"Then wherefore wed Morales? Is he not as I am, and therefore equally +unmeet mate for thee--if, indeed, thy tale be true? Didst thou not +tell me, when I implored thee to say if thy hand was pledged unto +another, that such misery was spared thee--thou wert free, and free +wouldst remain while thy heart was mine?" + +"Ay," faltered Marie, "thou rememberest all too well." + +"Then didst thou not deceive? Art thou not as perjured now as I once +believed thee true--as false as thou art lovely? How couldst thou +love, if so soon it was as nought?" + +"Then believe me all thou sayest," replied Marie, more +firmly--"believe me thus false and perjured, and forget me, Senor +Stanley; crush even my memory from thy heart, and give not a thought +to one so worthless! Mystery as there was around me when we first met, +there is a double veil around me now, which I may not lift even to +clear myself with thee. Turn thy love into the scorn which my perjury +deserves, and leave me." + +"I will not!" burst impetuously from Arthur, as he suddenly flung +himself at her feet. "Marie, I will not leave thee thus; say but that +some unforeseen circumstances, not thine own will, made thee the +wife of this proud Spaniard; say but that neither thy will nor thy +affections were consulted, that no word of thine could give him hope +he was beloved--that thou lovest me still; say but this, and I will +bless thee!" + +"Ask it not, Senor Stanley. The duty of a wife would be of itself +sufficient to forbid such words; with me gratitude and reverence +render that duty more sacred still. Wouldst thou indeed sink me so low +as, even as a wife, to cease to respect me? Rise, Senor Stanley! such +posture is unsuited to thee or me; rise, and leave me; we must never +meet alone again." + +Almost overpowered with contending emotions, as he was, there was +a dignity, the dignity of truth in that brief appeal, which Arthur +vainly struggled to resist. She had not attempted a single word of +exoneration, and yet his reproaches rushed back into his own heart as +cruel and unjust, and answer he had none. He rose mechanically, and +as he turned aside to conceal the weakness, a deep and fearful +imprecation suddenly broke from him; and raising her head, Marie +beheld her husband. + +Every softened feeling fled from Stanley's breast; the passionate +anger which Marie's words had calmed towards herself, now burst fourth +unrestrained towards Morales. His sudden appearance bringing the +conviction that he had played the spy upon their interview, roused +his native irritation almost into madness. His sword flew from its +scabbard, and in fearful passion he exclaimed--"Tyrant and coward! How +durst thou play the spy? Is it not enough that thou hast robbed me of +a treasure whose value thou canst never know? for her love was mine +alone ere thou earnest between us, and by base arts and cruel force +compelled her to be thine. Ha! wouldst thou avoid me? refuse to cross +my sword! Draw, or I will proclaim thee coward in the face of the +whole world!" + +With a faint cry, Marie had thrown herself between them; but strength +failed with the effort, and she would have fallen had not Morales +upheld her with his left arm. But she had not fainted; every sense +felt wrung into unnatural acuteness Except to support her, Morales had +made no movement; his tall figure was raised to its fullest height, +and his right arm calmly uplifted as his sole protection against +Arthur. "Put up your sword," he said firmly, and fixing his large dark +eyes upon his irritated adversary, with a gaze far more of sorrow than +of anger, "I will not fight thee. Proclaim me what thou wilt. I fear +neither thy sword nor thee. Go hence, unhappy boy; when this chafed +mood is past, thou wilt repent this rashness, and perchance find it +harder to forgive thyself than I shall to forgive thee. Go; thou art +overwrought. We are not equals now." + +Stanley involuntarily dropped the point of his sword. "I obey thee," +he said, in that deep concentrated tone, which, betrays strong passion +yet more than violent words; "obey thee, because I would not strike an +undefended foe; but we shall meet again in a more fitting place and +season. Till then, hear me, Don Ferdinand! We have hitherto been as +companions in arms, and as friends, absent or together; from this +moment the tie is broken, and for ever. I am thy foe! one who hath +sworn to take thy life, or lose his own. I will compel thee to meet +me! Ay, shouldst thou shun me, to the confines of the world I will +track and find thee. Coward and spy! And yet men think thee noble!" + +A bitter laugh of scorn concluded these fatal words. He returned his +sword violently to its sheath; the tread of his armed heel was heard +for a few seconds, and then all was silent. + +Morales neither moved nor spoke, and Marie lifted her head to look on +his face in terror. The angry words of Arthur had evidently fallen +either wholly unheeded, or perhaps unheard. There was but one feeling +expressed on those chiseled features, but one thought, but one +conviction; a low, convulsive sob broke from her, and she fainted in +his arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + "Why, when my life on that one hope, cast, + Why didst thou chain my future to her past? + Why not a breath to say she loved before?" + + BULWER. + + "Oh leave me not! or know + Before thou goest, the heart that wronged thee so + But wrongs no more." + + BULWER. + + +In the first painful moments of awakening sense, Marie was only +conscious of an undefined yet heavy weight on heart and brain; but as +strength returned she started up with a faint cry, and looked wildly +round her. The absence of Morales, the conviction that he had left her +to the care of others, that for the first time he had deserted her +couch of pain, lighted up as by an electric flash the marvellous links +of memory, and the whole of that morning's anguish, every word spoken, +every feeling endured, rushed back upon her with such overwhelming +force as for the moment to deprive her of the little strength she +had regained. Why could she not die? was the despairing thought that +followed. What had she to live for, when it was her ill fate to wreck +the happiness of all who loved her? and yet in that moment of agony +she never seemed to have loved her husband more. It was of him she +thought far more than of Arthur, whose angry words and fatal threat +rung again and again in her ears. + +"My Lord had only just left when you recovered consciousness, Senora," +gently remarked her principal attendant, whose penetration had +discovered the meaning of Marie's imploring look and passive silence, +so far at least that it was Don Ferdinand she sought, and that his +absence pained her. "He tarried till life seemed returning, and then +reluctantly departed for the castle, where he had been summoned, he +said, above an hour before." + +"To the castle!" repeated Marie internally. "Ay, he will do his duty, +though his heart be breaking. He will take his place and act his part, +and men will report him calm, wise, collected, active as his wont, and +little dream his wife, his treasured wife, has bowed his lofty spirit +to the dust, and laid low his light of home. Tell me when he returns," +she said aloud, "and bid all leave me but yourself." + +Two hours passed, and Marie lay outwardly still and calm, neither +speaking nor employed. But at the end of that time she started up +hastily, resumed the robe which had been cast aside, and remained +standing, as intently listening to some distant sound. Several minutes +elapsed, and though she had sunk almost unconsciously on the seat +Manuella proffered, it was not till full half an hour that she spoke. + +"The Senor has returned," she said calmly; "bid Alberic hither." + +The page came, and she quietly inquired if any strangers had entered +with his master. + +"No, Senora, he is alone." + +"Has he long returned?" + +"Almost half an hour, Senora. He went directly to his closet, desiring +that he might not be disturbed." + +Ten minutes more, and Marie was standing in her husband's presence, +but unobserved. For the first time in his whole life had her light +step approached him unheard. For two hours he had borne a degree of +mental suffering which would either have crushed or roused any other +man into wildest fury--borne it with such an unflinching spirit, that +in neither look nor manner, nor even tone, had he departed from his +usual self, or given the slightest occasion for remark. But the +privacy of his closet obtained, the mighty will gave way, and the +stormy waves rolled over him, deadening every sense and thought and +feeling, save the one absorbing truth, that he had never been beloved. +Father and child had deceived him; for now every little word, every +trifling occurrence before his marriage in the Vale of Cedars +rushed back on his mind, and Henriquez imploring entreaty under all +circumstances to love and cherish her was explained. + +"Ferdinand!" exclaimed a voice almost inarticulate from sobs; and +starting, he beheld his wife kneeling by his side. "Oh! my husband, do +not turn from me, do not hate me. I have none but thee." + +He tried to withdraw his hand, but the words, the tone, unmanned him, +and throwing his arm round her, he clasped her convulsively to his +heart, and she felt his slow scalding tears fall one by one, as wrung +from the heart's innermost depths, upon her cheek. + +For several minutes there was silence. The strong man's emotion is as +terrible to witness as terrible to feel. Marie was the first to regain +voice; and in low beseeching accents she implored him to listen to +her--to hear ere he condemned. + +"Not thus," was his sole reply, as he tried to raise her from her +kneeling posture to the cushion by his side. + +"Yes, thus my husband. I will not rise till thou say'st thou canst +forgive; wilt take the loving and the weak back to thy heart, if not +to love as thou hast loved, to strengthen and forgive. I have not +wronged thee. Were I false in word or thought I would not kneel to ask +forgiveness, but crawl to thy feet and die! If thou couldst but know +the many, many times I have longed to confess all; the agony to +receive thy fond caress, thy trusting confidence, and know myself +deceiving; the terror lest thou shouldst discover aught from other +than myself; oh! were it not for thy deep woe, I could bless this +moment, bidding me speak Truth once more!" + +"And say thou hast never loved me? Wert true from duty, not from love? +Marie, can I bear this?" + +"Yes--for I do love thee. Oh! my husband, I turn to thee alone, under +my God, for rest and peace. If I might not give thee the wild passions +of my youth, when my heart was sought, and won ere I was myself +conscious of the precipice I neared, I cling to thee now alone--I +would be thine alone. Oh, take me to thy heart, and let me lie there. +Ferdinand, Ferdinand! forgive me!--love--save me from myself!" + +"Ay, now and ever! Come to my heart, beloved one!" answered her +husband, rousing himself from all of personal suffering to comfort +her; and he drew her to him till her head rested on his bosom. "Now +tell me thy sorrowing tale, to me so wrapt in mystery. Fear not +from me. It is enough thou clingest to me in such sweet guileless +confidence still." + +She obeyed him; and the heavy weight of suffering years seemed +lightening as she spoke. From her first meeting Arthur, to that +morning's harrowing interview, every feeling, every incident, every +throb of reproach and dread were revealed with such touching and +childlike truth, that even in his suffering, Morales unconsciously +clasped his wife closer and closer to him, as if her very confidence +and truth, rendered her yet dearer than before, and inexpressibly +soothed at the very moment that they pained. Their interview was long, +but fraught with mutual comfort. Morales had believed, when he entered +his closet that day, that a dense cloud was folded round him, sapping +the very elements of life; but though he still felt as if he had +received some heavy physical blow, the darkness had fled from his +spirit, and light dawned anew for both, beneath the heavenly rays of +openness and Truth. + +"And Arthur?" Marie said, as that long commune came to a close; and +she looked up with the fearless gaze of integrity in her husband's +face. "Thou wilt forgive him, Ferdinand? he knew not what he said." + +"Trust me, beloved one. I pity and forgive him. He shall learn to love +me, despite himself." + +Great was the astonishment and terrible the disappointment of Don Luis +Garcia at the visible failure of one portion of his nefarious schemes. +Though seldom in Don Ferdinand's actual presence, he was perfectly +aware that instead of diminishing, Morales' confidence in and love +for his wife had both increased, and that Marie was happier and more +quietly at rest than she had been since her marriage. But though +baffled, Garcia was not foiled. The calm, haughty dignity which, +whenever they did chance to meet, now characterized Don Ferdinand's +manner towards him; the brief, stern reply, if words were actually +needed; or complete silence, betraying as it did tire utter contempt +and scorn with which his crafty design was regarded, heightened his +every revengeful feeling, and hastened on his plans. + +Two or three weeks passed: a calm security and peaceful happiness had +taken the place of storm and dread in Marie's heart. She felt that +it had been a secret consciousness of wrong towards her husband, the +dread of discovery occasioning estrangement, the constant fear of +encountering Stanley, which had weighed on her heart far more than +former feelings; and now that the ordeal was past, that all was known, +and she could meet her husband's eye without one thought concealed; +now that despite of all he could love and cherish, aye, trust her +still, she clung to him with love as pure and fond and true as ever +wife might feel; and her only thought of Stanley was prayer that peace +might also dawn for him. It was pain indeed to feel that the real +reason of her wedding Ferdinand must for ever remain concealed. Could +that have been spoken, one little sentence said, all would have been +explained, and Stanley's bitter feelings soothed. + +It was the custom of Ferdinand and Isabella to gather around +them, about once a month, the wisest and the ablest of their +realm--sometimes to hold council on public matters, at others merely +in friendly discussion on various subjects connected with, politics, +the church, or war. In these meetings merit constituted rank, and mind +nobility. They commenced late, and continued several hours through the +night. To one of these meetings Don Ferdinand Morales had received a +summons as usual. As the day neared, he became conscious of a strange, +indefinable sensation taking possession of heart and mind, as +impossible to be explained as to be dismissed. It was as if some +impassable and invisible, but closely-hovering evil were connected +with the day, blinding him--as by a heavy pall--to all beyond. He +succeeded in subduing the ascendency of the sensation, in some +measure, till the day itself; when, as the hours waned, it became more +and more overpowering. As he entered his wife's apartment, to bid her +farewell ere he departed for the castle, it rose almost to suffocation +in his throat, and he put his arm round her as she stood by the +widely-opened casement, and remained by her side several minutes +without speaking. + +"Thou art not going to the castle yet, dearest?" she inquired. "Is it +not much earlier than usual?" + +"Yes, love; but I shall not ride to-night. I feel so strangely +oppressed, that I think a quiet walk in the night air will recover me +far more effectually than riding." + +Marie looked up anxiously in his face. He was very pale, and his hair +was damp with the moisture on his forehead. "Thou art unwell," she +exclaimed; "do not go to-night, dearest Ferdinand,--stay with me. Thy +presence is not so imperatively needed." + +He shook his head with a faint smile. "I must go, love, for I have no +excuse to stay away. I wish it were any other night, indeed, for I +would so gladly remain with thee; but the very wish is folly. I never +shrunk from the call of duty before, and cannot imagine what has come +over me to-night; but I would sacrifice much for permission to stay +within. Do not look so alarmed, love, the fresh air will remove this +vague oppression, and give me back myself." + +"Fresh air there is none," replied his young wife, "the stillness is +actually awful--not a leaf moves, nor a breeze stirs. It seems too, +more than twilight darkness; as if a heavy storm were brooding." + +"It may be; oppression in the air is often the sole cause of +oppression in the mind. I should be almost glad if it came, to explain +this sensation." + +"But if thou must go, thou wilt not loiter, Ferdinand." + +"Why--fearest thou the storm will harm me, love? Nay, I have +frightened thee into foreboding. Banish it, or I shall be still more +loth to say farewell!" + +He kissed her, as if to depart, but still he lingered though neither +spoke; and then, as with an irresistible and passionate impulse, he +clasped her convulsively to his heart, and murmuring hoarsely, "God +for ever and ever bless thee, my own beloved!" released her, and was +gone. + +On quitting his mansion and entering the street, the dense weight +of the atmosphere became more and more apparent. The heat was so +oppressive that the streets were actually deserted--even the artisans +had closed their stores; darkness had fallen suddenly, shrouding +the beautiful twilight peculiar to Spain as with a pall. Morales +unconsciously glanced towards the west, where, scarcely half-an-hour +before, the sun had sunk gloriously to rest; and there all was not +black. Resting on the edge of the hill, was a far-spreading crimson +cloud, not the rosy glow of sunset, but the color of blood. So +remarkable was its appearance, that Don Ferdinand paused in +involuntary awe. The blackness closed gradually round it; but +much decreased, and still decreasing in size, it floated +onwards--preserving its blood-red hue, in appalling contrast with +the murky sky. Slowly Morales turned in the direction of the castle, +glancing up at times, and unable to suppress a thrill of supernatural +horror, as he observed this remarkable appearance floating just before +him wherever he turned. Denser and denser became the atmosphere, and +blacker the sky, till he could not see a single yard before him; +thunder growled in the distance, and a few vivid flashes of lightning +momentarily illumined the gloom, but still the cloud remained. Its +course became swifter; but it decreased in size, floating onwards, +till, to Morales' strained gaze, it appeared to remain stationary over +one particularly lonely part of the road, known by the name of the +Calle Soledad, which he was compelled to pass; becoming smaller and +smaller, till, as he reached the spot, it faded into utter darkness, +and all around was black. + +That same evening, about an hour before sunset, Arthur Stanley, +overpowered by the heat, and exhausted with some fatiguing military +duties, hastily unbuckled his sword, flung it carelessly from him, +and, drinking off a large goblet of wine, which, as usual, stood ready +for him on his table, threw himself on his couch, and sunk into a +slumber so profound that he scarcely seemed to breathe. How he had +passed the interval which had elapsed since his interview with Marie +and her husband, he scarcely knew himself. His military duties were +performed mechanically, a mission for the king to Toledo successfully +accomplished; but he himself was conscious only of one engrossing +thought, which no cooling and gentler temper had yet come to subdue. +It was a relief to acquit Marie of intentional falsehood--a relief to +have some imaginary object on which to vent bitterness and anger; and +headstrong and violent without control or guide, when his passions +were concerned, he encouraged every angry feeling against Morales, +caring neither to define nor subdue them, till the longing to meet him +in deadly combat, and the how to do so, became the sole and dangerous +occupation of heart and mind. + +Stanley's heavy and unnatural sleep had lasted some hours, when he was +suddenly and painfully awakened by so loud and long a peal of thunder +that the very house seemed to rock and shake with the vibration. He +started up on his couch; but darkness was around him so dense that +he could not distinguish a single object. This sleep had been +unrefreshing, and so heavy an oppression rested on his chest, that he +felt as if confined in a close cage of iron. He waved his arms to feel +if he were indeed at liberty. He moved in free air, but the darkness +seemed to suffocate him; and springing up, he groped his way to the +window, and flung it open. Feverish and restless, the very excitement +of the night seemed to urge him forth, thus to disperse the oppressive +weight within. A flash of lightning playing on the polished sheath of +his sword, he secured it to his side, and threw his mantle over his +shoulders. As he did so his hand came in contact with the upper part +of the sheath, from which the hilt should have projected; but, to his +astonishment and alarm, no hilt was there--the sheath was empty. + +In vain he racked his memory to ascertain whether he had left his +sword in its scabbard, or had laid the naked blade, as was his custom, +by him while he slept. The more he tried to think the more confused +his thoughts became. His forehead felt circled with burning iron, +his lips were dry and parched, his step faltering as if under the +influence of some potent spell. He called for a light, but his voice +sounded in his own ears thick and unnatural, and no one answered. His +aged hosts had retired to rest an hour before, and though they had +noticed and drew their own conclusions from his agitated movements, +his call was unregarded. In five minutes more they heard him rush from +the house; and anxious as she was to justify all the ways and doings +of her handsome lodger, old Juanna was this night compelled to lean +to her husband's ominously expressed belief, that no one would +voluntarily go forth on such an awful night, save for deeds of evil. + +His rapid pace and open path were illumined every alternate minute +with, the vivid lightning, and the very excitement of the storm +partially removed the incomprehensible sensations under which Stanley +labored. He turned in the direction of the castle, perhaps with the +unconfessed hope of meeting some of his companions in arms returning +from the royal meeting, and in their society to shake off the spell +which chained him. As he neared the Calle Soledad the ground suddenly +became slippery, as with some thick fluid, of what nature the dense +darkness prevented his discovering, his foot came in contact with some +heavy substance lying right across his path. He stumbled and fell, and +his dress and hands became literrally dyed with the same hue as the +ground. He started up in terror; a long vivid flash lingering more +than a minute in the air, disclosed the object against which he had +fallen; and paralyzed with horror, pale, ghastly, as if suddenly +turned to stone, he remained. He uttered no word nor cry; but flash +after flash played around him, and still beheld him gazing in +stupefied and motionless horror on the appalling sight before him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + 1st MONK.--The storm increases; hark! how dismally + It sounds along the cloisters! + + BERNARD.--As on I hastened, bearing thus my light, + Across my path, not fifty paces off, + I saw a murdered corse, stretched on its back, + Smeared with new blood, as though but freshly slain. + + JOANNA BAILLIE. + + +The apartment adjoining the council-room of the castle, and selected +this night as the scene of King Ferdinand's banquet, was at the +commencement of the storm filled with the expected guests. From forty +to fifty were there assembled, chosen indiscriminately from the +Castilians and Arragonese, the first statesmen and bravest warriors +of the age. But the usual animated discussion, the easy converse, and +eager council, had strangely, and almost unconsciously, sunk into a +gloomy depression, so universal and profound, that every effort +to break from it, and resume the general topics of interest, was +fruitless. The King himself was grave almost to melancholy, though +more than once he endeavored to shake it off, and speak as usual. Men +found themselves whispering to each other as if they feared to speak +aloud--as if some impalpable and invisible horror were hovering round +them. It might have been that the raging storm without affected all +within, with a species of awe, to which even the wisest and the +bravest are liable when the Almighty utters His voice in the tempest, +and the utter nothingness of men comes home to the proudest heart. +But there was another cause. One was missing from the council and the +board; the seat of Don Ferdinand Morales was vacant, and unuttered but +absorbing anxiety occupied every mind. It was full two hours, rather +more, from the given hour of meeting; the council itself had been +delayed, and was at length held without him, but so unsatisfactory did +it prove, that many subjects were postponed. They adjourned to the +banquet-room; but the wine circled but slowly, and the King leant back +on his chair, disinclined apparently for either food or drink. + +"The storm increases fearfully," observed the aged Duke of Murcia, +a kinsman of the King, as a flash of lightning blazed through the +casements, of such extraordinary length and brilliance, that even the +numerous lustres, with which the room was lighted, looked dark when +it disappeared. It was followed by a peal of thunder, loud as if a +hundred cannons had been discharged above their heads, and causing +several glasses to be shivered on the board. "Unhappy those compelled +to brave it." + +"Nay, better out than in," observed another. "There is excitement in +witnessing its fury, and gloom most depressing in listening to it +thus." + +"Perchance 'tis the shadow of the coming evil," rejoined Don Felix +d'Estaban. "Old legends say, there is never a storm like this, without +bringing some national evil on its wings." + +"Ha! say they so?" demanded the King, suddenly, that his guests +started. "And is there truth in it?" + +"The lovers of such marvels would bring your Grace many proofs that, +some calamity always followed such a tempest," replied Don Felix. "It +may or may not be. For my own part, I credit not such things. We are +ourselves the workers of evil--no fatality lurking in storms." + +"Fated or casual, if evil has occurred to Don Ferdinand Morales, +monarch and subject will alike have cause to associate this tempest +with national calamity," answered the King, betraying at once the +unspoken, but engrossing subject of his thoughts. "Who saw him last?" + +Don Felix d'Estaban replied that he had seen him that day two hours +before sunset. + +"And where, my Lord--at home or abroad?" + +"In his own mansion, which he said he had not quitted that day," was +the rejoinder. + +"And how seemed he? In health as usual?" + +"Ay, my liege, save that he complained of a strange oppressiveness, +disinclining him for all exertion." + +"Did he allude to the council of to-night?" + +"He did, my Lord, rejoicing that he should be compelled to rouse +himself from his most unwonted mood of idleness." + +"Then some evil has befallen him," rejoined the King; and the +contraction of his brow denied the calmness, implied by his unmoved +tone. "We have done wrong in losing all this time, Don Alonzo," he +added, turning to the Senor of Aguilar, "give orders that a band of +picked men scour every path leading hence to Morales' mansion: head +them thyself, an thou wilt, we shall the more speedily receive +tidings. Thine eyes have been more fixed on Don Ferdinand's vacant +seat, than on the board this last hour; so hence, and speed thee, man. +It may be he is ill: we have seen men stricken unto death from one +hour to the other. If there be no trace of him in either path, hie +thee to his mansion; but return not without news. Impalpable evil is +ever worse than the tangible and real." + +Don Alonzo scarcely waited the conclusion of the King's speech, so +eager was he to depart; and the longing looks cast after him betrayed +how many would have willingly joined him in his search. + +"His wife?" repeated the King, in answer to some suggestions of his +kinsman's. "Nay, man; hast thou yet to learn, that Morales' heart +would break ere he would neglect his duty? No: physical incapacity +would alone have sufficient power to keep him from us--no mental ill." + +If the effort to continue indifferent conversation had been difficult +before, it now became impossible. The very silence felt ominous. What +evil could have befallen? was asked internally by each individual; but +the vague dread, the undefined horror of something terrible impending, +prevented all reply; and so nearly an hour passed, when, far removed +as was the council-room from the main body of the castle, a confusion +as of the entrance of many feet, and the tumultuary sound of eager +voices, was distinguished, seeming to proceed from the great hall. + +"It cannot be Don Alonzo so soon returned," remarked the Duke of +Murcia; but even as he spoke, and before the King had time to make an +impatient sign for silence, so intently was he listening, the Lord of +Aguilar himself re-entered the apartment. + +"Saints of heaven!" ejaculated the King, and his exclamation was +echoed involuntarily by all around. The cheek of the warrior, never +known to blanch before, was white as death; his eye haggard and wild; +his step so faltering, that his whole frame reeled. He sunk on the +nearest seat, and, with a shuddering groan, pressed both hands before +his eyes. + +"Wine! wine! give him wine!" cried Ferdinand impetuously, pushing a +brimming goblet towards him. "Drink, man, and speak, in Heaven's name. +What frightful object hast thou seen, to bid thee quail, who never +quailed before? Where is Morales? Hast thou found him?" + +"Ay," muttered Don Alonzo, evidently struggling to recall his +energies, while the peculiar tone of the single monosyllable caused +every heart to shudder. + +"And where is he? Why came he not hither? Why neglect our royal +summons?" continued the King, hurrying question after question with +such an utter disregard of his usual calm, imperturbable cautiousness, +that it betrayed far more than words how much he dreaded the Senor's +reply. "Speak, man; what has detained him?" + +"_Death_!" answered the warrior, his suppressed grief and horror +breathing in his hollow voice; and rising, he approached the King's +seat, and kneeling down, said in that low, concentrated tone, which +reaches every ear, though scarce louder than a whisper, "Sire, he is +murdered!" + +"Murdered!" reiterated the King, as the word was echoed in all the +various intonations of horror, grief, and indignation from all around; +and he laid his hand heavily on Aguilar's shoulder--"Man, man, how can +this be? Who would dare lift up the assassin's hand against him--him, +the favorite of our subjects as of ourselves? Who had cause of +enmity--of even rivalship with him? Thou art mistaken, man; it +_cannot_ be! Thou art scared with the sight of murder, and no marvel; +but it cannot be Morales thou hast seen." + +"Alas! my liege, I too believed it not; but the murdered corpse now +lying in the hall will be too bloody witness of my truth." + +The King released his hold, and without a word of rejoinder, strode +from the apartment, and hastily traversing the long galleries, and +many stairs, neither paused nor spoke, till, followed by all his +nobles, he reached the hall. It was filled with soldiers, who, with +loud and furious voices, mingled execrations deep and fearful on +the murderer, with bitter lamentations on the victim. A sudden +and respectful hush acknowledged the presence of the Sovereign; +Ferdinand's brows were darkly knit, his lip compressed, his eyes +flashing sternly over the dense crowd; but he asked no question, nor +relaxed his hasty stride till he stood beside the litter on which, +covered with a mantle, the murdered One was lying. For a single minute +he evidently paused, and his countenance, usually so controlled as +never to betray emotion, visibly worked with some strong feeling, +which seemed to prevent the confirmation of his fears, by the trifling +movement of lifting up the mantle. But at length, and with a hurried +movement, it was cast aside; and there lay that noble form, cold, +rigid in death! The King pushed the long, jetty hair, now clotted with +gore, from the cheek on which it had fallen; and he recognized, too +well, the high, thoughtful brow, now white, cold as marble; the large, +dark eye, whose fixed and glassy stare had so horribly replaced the +bright intelligence, the sparkling lustre so lately there. The +clayey, sluggish white of death was already on his cheek; his lip, +convulsively compressed, and the left hand tightly clenched, as if the +soul had not been thus violently reft from the body, without a strong: +pang of mortal agony. His right hand had stiffened round the hilt +of his unsheathed sword, for the murderous blow had been dealt from +behind, and with such fatal aim, that death must have been almost +instantaneous, and the tight grasp of his sword the mere instinctive +movement of expiring nature. Awe-struck, chilled to the heart, did the +noble friends of the departed gather round him. On the first removal +of the mantle, an irresistible yell of curses on the murderer burst +forth from the soldiery, wrought into fury at thus beholding their +almost idolized commander; but the stern woe on the Sovereign's face +hushed them into silence; and the groan of grief and horror which +escaped involuntarily from Ferdinand's lips, was heard throughout the +hall. + +"The murderer?" at length demanded many of the nobles at the same +moment. "Who has dared do this awful deed? Don Alonzo, is there no +clue to his person--no trace of his path?" + +"There is trace and clue enough," was the brief and stern reply. "The +murderer is secured!" + +"Ha!" exclaimed the King, roused at once; "secured, sayest thou? In +our bitter grief we had well-nigh forgotten justice. Bring forth the +dastardly craven; we would demand the reason of this cowardly blow ere +we condemn him to the death of torture which his crime demands. Let +him confront his victim. Why do you pause, my Lord? Produce the +murderer." + +Still Don Alonzo stood irresolute, and a full minute passed ere he +signed to the men who had accompanied him. A figure was instantly led +forward, his arms strongly secured in his own mantle, and his hat so +slouched over his face, that not a feature could be distinguished. +Still there was something in his appearance that struck a cold chill +of doubt to the heart of the King, and in a voice strangely expressive +of emotion, he commanded--"Remove his hat and mantle: we should know +that form." + +He was obeyed, for there was no resistance on the part of the +prisoner, whose inner dress was also stained with blood, as were his +hands. His cheek was ashy pale; his eye bloodshot and pale; and his +whole appearance denoting such excessive agitation, that it would have +gone far to condemn him, even had there been no other proof. + +"Stanley!" burst from the astonished King, as a wild cry ran round +the hall, and "Death to the ungrateful foreigner!"--"Death to the +base-born Englishman!"--"Tortures and death!" escaped, in every +variety of intonation, from the fierce soldiery, who, regardless even +of their Sovereign's presence, drew closer and closer round, clashing +their weapons, and with difficulty restrained from tearing him to +pieces where he stood. + +"He was my foe," muttered the prisoner, almost unconscious of the +import of his words, or how far they would confirm the suspicions +against him. "He robbed me of happiness--he destined me to misery. I +hated him; but I did not murder him. I swore to take his life or lose +my own; but not thus--not thus. Great God! to see him lying there, and +feel it might have been my hand. Men, men! would ye quench hatred, +behold its object stricken before you by a dastard blow like this, and +ye will feel its enormity and horror. I did not slay him; I would +give my life to the murderer's dagger to call him back, and ask his +forgiveness for the thoughts of blood I entertained against him; but I +touched him not--my sword is stainless." + +"Thou liest, false traitor!" exclaimed Don Felix, fiercely, and he +held up the hilt and about four inches of a sword, the remainder of +which was still in the body. "Behold the evidence to thy black lie! +My liege, this fragment was found beside the body deluged in gore. +We know the hilt too well to doubt, one moment, the name of its +possessor; there is not another like it throughout Spain. It snapt in +the blow, as if more honorable than its master, it could not survive +so foul a stain. What arm should wield it save his own?" + +A universal murmur of execration, acknowledged this convincing +evidence; doubly confirmed, as it seemed to be by the fearful start +and muttered exclamation, on the part of the prisoner the moment it +was produced. The nobles thronged round the King, some entreating him +to sentence the midnight assassin to instant execution; others, to +retain him in severest imprisonment till the proofs of his guilt could +be legally examined, and the whole European World hear of the crime, +and its chastisement; lest they should say that as a foreigner, +justice was refused to him. To this opinion the King leaned. + +"Ye counsel well and wisely, my lords," he said. "It shall not be +said, because the murdered was our subject, and the murderer an alien, +that he was condemned without examination of proofs against him, or +being heard in his own defence. Seven suns hence we will ourselves +examine every evidence for or against him, which, your penetration, my +lords, can collect. Till then, Don Felix, the prisoner is your +charge, to be produced when summoned; and now away with the midnight +assassin--he has polluted our presence too long. Away with the base +ingrate, who has thus requited our trust and love; we would look on +him no more." + +With, a rapid movement the unfortunate young man broke from the guard, +which, at Don Felix's sign, closed round and sought to drag him from +the hall, and flung himself impetuously at Ferdinand's feet. + +"I am no murderer!" he exclaimed, in a tone of such passionate agony, +that to any less prejudiced than those around, it must at least have +raised doubt as to his guilt. "I am not the base ingrate you would +deem me. Condemn me to death an thou wilt, I kneel not to sue for +life; for, dishonored and suspected, I would not accept it were it +offered. Let them bring forward what they will, I am innocent. Here, +before ye all, in presence of the murdered victim, by all held sacred +in Heaven or on Earth, I swear I slew him not! If I am guilty I call +upon the dead himself to rise, and blast me with his gaze!" + +Involuntarily every eye turned towards the corpse; for, vague as such +an appeal might seem now, the age was then but barely past, when the +assistance of the murdered was often required in the discovery of the +murderer. Many a brave heart grew chill, and brown cheeks blanched, in +anticipation of the unearthly sign, so fully were they convinced of +Stanley's guilt, but none came. The stagnated blood did not flow forth +again--the eye did not glare with more consciousness than before--the +cold hand did not move to point its finger at the prisoner; and Don +Felix, fearing the effect of Stanley's appeal upon the King, signed to +the guards, who rudely raised and bore him from the hall. + +The tumults of these events had naturally spread far and wide over the +castle, reaching the apartments of the Queen who, perceiving the awe +and terror which the raging tempest had excited in her attendants, +though incapable of aught like fear herself, had refrained from +dismissing them as usual. The confusion below seeming to increase with +every moment, naturally excited her surprise; and she commanded one +of her attendants to learn its cause. Already terrified, none seemed +inclined to obey, till a young girl, high spirited, and dauntless +almost as Isabella herself, departed of her own free will, and in a +few minutes returned, pale and trembling, with the dread intelligence, +that Don Ferdinand Morales lay murdered in the hall, and that Arthur +Stanley was his murderer. + +Isabella paused not a moment, though the shock was so terrible that +for the minute she became faint and sick, and hastily quitting her +apartments, she entered the great hall at the moment the prisoner was +being borne from it. Stupefied with contending feelings. Ferdinand did +not perceive her entrance. The nobles, drawn together in little knots, +were conversing in low eager tones, or endeavoring to reduce the +tumultuary soldiery to more order; and the Queen moved on unperceived, +till she stood beside the corpse. She neither shrunk from it, nor +paled; but bending over him, murmured in a tone, that from its +startling indication of her unexpected presence, readied the ear of +all--"His poor, _poor_ Marie!" + +The effect was electric. Until that moment horror and indignation had +been the predominant feeling; but with those words came the thought +of his young, his beautiful, his treasured wife--the utter, utter +desolation which that fearful death would bring to her; the contrast +between her present position, and that in which they had so lately +beheld her; and there was scarcely a manly spirit there, that did not +feel unwonted moisture gather in his eyes, or his heart swell with an +emotion never felt before. + +"Now blessings on thy true woman's heart, my Isabel!" exclaimed the +King, tenderly drawing her from the couch of the dead. "I dare vouch +not one of us, mourning the noble dead, has, till now, cast a thought +upon the living. And who shall breathe these fearful tidings? Who +prepare the unfortunate Marie for the loss awaiting her, and yet tarry +to behold and soothe her anguish?" + +"That will I do," replied the Queen, instantly. "None else will +prepare her so gently, so kindly; for none knew her husband's worth so +well, or can mourn his loss more deeply. She shall come hither. And +the murderer," she continued after a brief pause, and the change +was almost startling from the tender sympathy of the Woman to the +indignant majesty of the Queen--"Ferdinand, have they told me true as +to his person--is he secured?" + +"Ay," answered the King, briefly and bitterly: and from respect to his +feelings, Isabella asked no more. Orders were issued for the body to +be laid in one of the state apartments; a guard to be stationed at the +entrance of the chamber, and measures taken to keep the events of that +fatal night profoundly secret, lest confusion should be aroused in the +easily excited populace, or her terrible loss too rudely reach the +ears of the most painfully bereaved. These orders were punctually +obeyed. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + "Yet again methinks + Some unknown sorrow, ripe in Future's womb, + Is coming towards me; and my inward soul + With nothing trembles. At something it grieves + More than the parting with my lord." + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +Long did Marie Morales linger where her husband had left her after his +strangely passionate farewell. His tone, his look, his embrace haunted +her almost to pain--all were so unlike his wonted calmness: her full +heart so yearned towards him that she would have given worlds, if she +had had them, to call him to her side once more--to conjure him again +to forgive and assure her of his continued trust--to tell him she was +happy, and asked no other love than his. Why had he left her so early? +when she felt as if she had so much to say--so much to confide. And +then her eye caught the same ominous cloud which had so strangely +riveted Don Ferdinand's gaze, and a sensation of awe stole over her, +retaining her by the casement as by some spell which she vainly strove +to resist; until the forked lightnings began to illumine the murky +gloom, and the thunder rolled awfully along. Determined not to give +way to the heavy depression creeping over her, Marie summoned her +attendants, and strenuously sought to keep up an animated conversation +as they worked. Not expecting to see her husband till the ensuing +morning, she retired to rest at the first partial lull of the storm, +and slept calmly for many hours. A morning of transcendent loveliness +followed the awful horrors of the night. The sun seemed higher in the +heavens than usual, when Marie started from a profound sleep, with a +vague sensation that something terrible had occurred; every pulse +was throbbing, though, her heart felt stagnant within her. For some +minutes she could not frame a distinct thought, and then her husband's +fond farewell flashed back; but what had that to do with gloom? +Ringing a little silver bell beside her, Manuella answered the +summons, and Marie anxiously inquired for Don Ferdinand. Had he +not yet returned? A sensation of sickness--the deadly sickness of +indefinable dread--seemed to stupefy every faculty, as Manuella +answered in the negative, adding, it was much beyond his usual hour. + +"Send to the castle, and inquire if aught has detained him," she +exclaimed; hastily rising as she spoke, and commencing a rapid toilet. +She was scarcely attired before Alberic, with a pale cheek and voice +of alarm, brought information that a messenger and litter from the +palace were in the court, bringing the Queen's mandate for the instant +attendance of Donna Marie. + +"Oh! lady, dearest lady, let me go with thee," continued the boy, +suddenly clasping her robe and bursting into tears. "My master--my +good, noble master--something horrible has occurred, and they will not +tell me what. Every face I see is full of horror--every voice seems +suppressed--every--" + +"Hush!" angrily interposed Manuella, as she beheld Marie's very lips +lose their glowing tint, and her eyes gaze on vacancy. "For God's +sake, still thine impudent tongue; thou'lt kill her with thy +rashness." + +"Kill! who is killed?" gasped Marie. "What did he say? Where is my +husband?" + +"Detained at the palace, dearest lady," readily answered Manuella. +"This foolish boy is terrified at shadows. My lord is detained, and +her Grace has sent a litter requiring thine attendance. We must haste, +for she wills no delay. Carlotta, my lady's mantilla; quick, girl! +Alberic, go if thou wilt: my Lord may be glad of thee! Ay, go," she +continued some little time afterwards, as her rapid movements speedily +placed her passive, almost senseless mistress, in the litter; and she +caught hold of the page's hand with a sudden change of tone, "go; and +return speedily, in mercy, Alberic. Some horror is impending; better +know it than this terrible suspense." + +How long an interval elapsed ere she stood in Isabella's presence, +Marie knew not. The most incongruous thoughts floated, one after +another, through her bewildered brain--most vivid amongst them all, +hers and her husband's fatal secret: had it transpired? Was he +sentenced, and she thus summoned to share his fate? And then, when +partially relieved by the thought, that such a discovery had +never taken place in Spanish annals--why should she dread an +impossibility?--flashed back, clear, ringing, as if that moment +spoken, Stanley's fatal threat; and the cold shuddering of every limb +betrayed the aggravated agony of the thought. With her husband she +could speak of Arthur calmly; to herself she would not even think his +name: not merely lest he should unwittingly deceive again, but that +the recollection of _his_ suffering--and caused by her--ever created +anew, thoughts and feelings which she had vowed unto herself to bury, +and for ever. + +Gloom was on every face she encountered in the castle. The very +soldiers, as they saluted her as the wife of their general, appeared +to gaze upon her with rude, yet earnest commiseration; but neither +word nor rumor reached her ear. Several times she essayed to ask of +her husband, but the words died in a soundless quiver on her lip. Yet +if it were what she dreaded, that Stanley had fulfilled his threat, +and they had fought, and one had fallen--why was she thus summoned? +And had not Morales resolved to avoid him; for her sake not to avenge +Arthur's insulting words? And again the thought of their fatal secret +obtained ascendency. Five minutes more, and she stood alone in the +presence of her Sovereign. + + * * * * * + +It was told; and with such deep sympathy, so gently, so cautiously, +that all of rude and stunning shock was averted; but, alas! who could +breathe of consolation at such a moment? Isabella did not attempt it; +but permitted the burst of agony full vent. She had so completely +merged all of dignity, all of the Sovereign into the woman and the +friend, that Marie neither felt nor exercised restraint; and words +mingled with her broken sobs and wild lament, utterly incomprehensible +to the noble heart that heard. The awful nature of Don Ferdinand's +death, Isabella had still in some measure concealed; but it seemed as +if Marie had strangely connected it with violence and blood, and, in +fearful and disjointed words, accused herself as its miserable cause. + +"Why did not death come to me?" she reiterated; "why take him, my +husband--my noble husband? Oh, Ferdinand, Ferdinand! to go now, when I +have so learnt to love thee! now, when I looked to years of faithful +devotion to prove how wholly the past was banished--how wholly I was +thine alone! to atone for hours of suffering by years of love! Oh, how +couldst thou leave me friendless--desolate?" + +"Not friendless, not desolate, whilst Isabella lives," replied the +Queen, painfully affected, and drawing Marie closer to her, till her +throbbing brow rested on her bosom. "Weep, my poor girl, tears must +flow for a loss like this; and long, long weeks must pass ere we may +hope for resignation; but harrow not thyself by thoughts of more +fearful ill than the reality, my child. Do not look on what might be, +but what has been; on the comfort, the treasure, thou wert to the +beloved one we have lost. How devotedly he loved thee, and thou--" + +"And I so treasured, so loved. Oh, gracious Sovereign!" And Marie sunk +down at her feet, clasping her robe in supplication. "Say but I may +see him in life once more; that life still lingers, if it be but to +tell me once more he forgives me. Oh, let me but hear his voice; but +once, only once, and I will be calm--quite calm; I will try to bear +this bitter agony. Only let me see him, hear him speak again. Thou +knowest not, thou canst not know, how my heart yearns for this." + +"See him thou shalt, my poor girl, if it will give thee aught of +comfort; but hear him, alas! alas! my child, would that it might be! +Would for Spain and her Sovereign's sake, then how much more for +thine, that voice could be recalled; and life, if but for the briefest +space, return! Alas! the blow was but too well aimed." + +"The blow! what blow? How did he die? Who slew him?" gasped Marie; her +look of wild and tearless agony terrifying Isabella, whose last words +had escaped unintentionally. "Speak, speak, in mercy; let me know the +truth?" + +"Hast thou not thyself alluded to violence, and wrath, and hatred, +Marie? Answer me, my child; didst thou know any one, regarding the +generous Morales with such feelings? Could there be one to regard him +as his foe?" + +Crouching lower and lower at Isabella's feet, her face half burled in +her robe, Marie's reply was scarcely audible; but the Queen's brow +contracted. + +"None?" she repeated almost sternly; "wouldst thou deceive at such a +moment? contradict thyself? And yet I am wrong to be thus harsh. Poor +sufferer!" she added, tenderly, as she vainly tried to raise Marie +from the ground; "thou hast all enough to bear; and if, indeed, the +base wretch who has dared thus to trample on the laws alike of God +and man, and stain his own soul with the foul blot of midnight +assassination, be him whom we have secured, thou couldst not know him +as thy husband's foe. It is all mystery--thine own words not least; +but his murder shall be avenged. Ay, had my own kinsman's been the +hand to do the dastard deed." + +"Murder! who was his murderer?" repeated Marie, the horror of such a +fate apparently lost in other and more terrible emotion; "who could +have raised his sword against my husband? Said I he had no foe? Had he +not one, and I, oh, God! did not I create that enmity? But he would +not have murdered him; oh, no--no: my liege, my gracious liege, tell +me in mercy--my brain feels reeling--who was the murderer?" + +"One thou hast known but little space, poor sufferer," replied the +Queen, soothingly; "one whom of all others we could not suspect of +such a deed. And even now, though appearances are strong against him, +we can scarce believe it; that young foreign favorite of my royal +husband, Arthur Stanley." + +"STANLEY!" repeated Marie, in a tone so shrill, so piercing, that the +wild shriek which it formed rung for many and many a day in the ears +of the Queen. And as the word passed her lips she started to her feet, +stood for a second erect, gazing madly on her royal mistress, and +then, without one groan or struggle, dropped perfectly lifeless at her +feet. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + List! hear ye, through the still and lonely night, + The distant hymn of mournful voices roll + Solemn and low? It is the burial rite; + How deep its sadness sinks into the soul, + As slow the passing bell wakes its far ling'ring knoll. + + CHARLES SWAIN. + + +Spain has often been regarded as an absolute monarchy; an opinion, +no doubt, founded on the absolute measures of her later sovereigns. +Ferdinand and Isabella certainly laid the foundation of the royal +prerogative by the firmness and ability with which they decreased the +power of the nobles, who, until their reign, had been like so many +petty sovereigns, each with his independent state, and preserving his +authority by the sword alone. When Ferdinand and Isabella, however, +united their separate kingdoms under one denomination, neither Castile +nor Arragon could be considered as an absolute monarchy. In Castile, +the people, as representatives of the cities, had, from, early ages, +obtained seats in the Cortes, and so in some measure balanced the +power of the aristocracy. The Cortes, similar to our houses of +parliament, could enact laws, impose taxes, and redress grievances, +often making the condition of granting pecuniary aid to the Sovereign, +his consent to the regulations they had laid down, and refusing the +grant if he demurred. In addition to these privileges of the Cortes +of Castile, the Junta of Arragon could coin money, declare war, and +conclude peace; and what was still more remarkable, they could be +neither prorogued nor dissolved by their Sovereign without their own +consent. Alluding to the Castilians, a few years after the period of +our tale, Robertson says-- + + "The principles of liberty seem to have been better understood, + by the Castilians than by any other people in Europe. They had + acquired more liberal notions with respect to their own rights + and privileges. They had formed more bold and generous sentiments + concerning government, and discovered an extent of political + knowledge to which the English themselves did not attain till + nearly a century afterwards." + +When we compare this state of things with the misery and anarchy +pervading Castile before the accession of Isabella, we may have +some idea of the influence of her vigorous measures, and personal +character, on the happiness and freedom of her subjects. The laws +indeed existed before, but they wanted the wisdom and moderation of an +enlightened Sovereign, to give them force and power to act. + +In the kingdom of Arragon, besides the Junta, or National Assemblage, +there was always a Justizia, or supreme judge, whose power, in some +respects, was even greater than the King's; his person was sacred; he +could remove any of the royal ministers whom he deemed unworthy of the +trust, and was himself responsible to none but the Cortes or Junta by +whom he had been elected. The personal as well as the national rights +of the Arragonese, were also more accurately defined than was usual +in that age: no native of Arragon could be convicted, imprisoned, or +tortured, without fair and legal evidence.[A] + +[Footnote A: See History of Spain, by John Bigland.] + +Such being the customs of the kingdom of Arragon, the power of the +crown was more limited than Ferdinand's capacious mind and desire +of dominion chose to endure: the Cortes, or nobles, there were +pre-eminent; the people, as the Sovereign, ciphers, save that the +rights of the former were more cared for than the authority of the +latter. But Ferdinand was not merely ambitious; he had ability and +energy, and so gradually were his plans achieved that he encountered +neither rebellion nor dislike. The Cortes found that he frequently and +boldly transacted business of importance without their interference; +intrusted offices of state to men of inferior rank, but whose +abilities were the proof of his discernment; took upon himself the +office of Justizia, and, in conjunction with Isabella, re-established +an institution which had fallen into disuse through the civil wars, +but which was admirably suited for the internal security of their +kingdom by the protection of the peasantry and lower classes: it was +an association of all the cities of Castile and Arragon, known as the +Sainta Hermandad, or Holy Brotherhood, to maintain a strong body of +troops for the protection of travellers, and the seizure of criminals, +who were brought before judges nominated by the confederated cities, +and condemned according to their crime, without any regard to feudal +laws. Against this institution the nobles of both kingdoms were most +violently opposed, regarding it as the complete destroyer, which in +reality it was, of all their feudal privileges, and taking from +them the long possessed right of trying their own fiefs, and the +mischievous facility of concealing their own criminals. + +Thus much of history--a digression absolutely necessary for the clear +elucidation of Ferdinand and Isabella's conduct with regard to the +events just narrated. The trial of Arthur Stanley they had resolved +should be conducted with all the formula of justice, the more +especially that the fact of his being a foreigner had prejudiced many +minds against him. Ferdinand himself intended to preside at the trial, +with a select number of peers, to assist in the examination, and +pronounce sentence, or confirm the royal mandate, as he should think +fit. Nor was this an extraordinary resolution. Neither the victim, +nor the supposed criminal, was of a rank which allowed a jury of +an inferior grade. Morales had been fief to Isabella alone; and on +Ferdinand, as Isabella's representative, fell the duty of his avenger. +Arthur Stanley owned no feudal lord in Spain, save, as a matter of +courtesy, the King, whose arms he bore. He was accountable, then, +according to the feudal system, which was not yet entirely extinct, +to Ferdinand alone for his actions, and before him must plead his +innocence, or receive sentence for his crime. As his feudal lord, or +suzerain, Ferdinand might at once have condemned him to death; but +this summary proceeding was effectually prevented by the laws of +Arragon and the office of the Holy Brotherhood; and therefore, in +compliance with their mandates, royal orders were issued that every +evidence for or against the prisoner should be carefully collected +preparatory to the trial. More effectually to do this, the trial was +postponed from seven to fourteen days after the discovery of the +murder. + +The excitement which this foul assassination excited in Segovia was so +extreme, that the nobles were compelled to solicit Isabella's personal +interference, in quieting the populace, and permitting the even course +of justice: they had thronged in tumultuary masses round the prison +where Stanley was confined, with wild shouts and imprecations, +demanding his instant surrender to their rage, mingling groans and +lamentations with yells and curses, in the most fearful medley. Old +Pedro, who had been Arthur's host, unwittingly added fuel to the +flame, by exulting in his prophecy that evil would come of Ferdinand's +partiality for the white-faced foreigner; that he had seen it long, +but guessed not how terribly his mutterings would end. By the Queen's +permission, the chamber of state in which the body lay was thrown open +to the eager citizens, who thronged in such crowds to behold the sole +remains of one they had well nigh idolized, that the guards were +compelled to permit the entrance of only a certain number every +day. Here was neither state nor pomp to arrest the attention of the +sight-loving populace: nought of royalty or gorgeous symbols. No; men +came to pay the last tribute of admiring love and sorrow to one who +had ever, noble as he was by birth, made himself one with them, +cheering their sorrows, sharing their joys; treating age, however poor +or lowly, with the reverence springing from the heart, inspiring +youth to deeds of worth and honor, and by his own example, far more +eloquently than by his words, teaching all and every age the duties +demanded by their country and their homes, to their families and +themselves. And this man was snatched from them, not alone by the +ruthless hand of death, but by midnight murder. Was it marvel, the +very grief his loss occasioned should rouse to wildest fury men's +passions against his murderer? + +It was the evening of the fifth day after the murder, that with a +degree of splendor and of universal mourning, unrivalled before in the +interment of any subject, the body of Ferdinand Morales was committed +to the tomb. The King himself, divested of all insignia of royalty, +bareheaded, and in a long mourning cloak, headed the train of chief +mourners, which, though they counted no immediate kindred, numbered +twenty or thirty of the highest nobles, both of Arragon and Castile. +The gentlemen, squires, and pages of Morales' own household followed: +and then came on horse and on foot, with arms reversed, and lowered +heads, the gallant troops who had so often followed Morales to +victory, and under him had so ably aided in placing Isabella on her +throne; an immense body of citizens, all in mourning, closed the +procession. Every shop had been closed, every flag half-masted; +and every balcony, by which the body passed, hung with black. The +cathedral church was thronged, and holy and thrilling the service +which consigned dust to dust, and hid for ever from the eyes of his +fellow men, the last decaying remains of one so universally beloved. +The coffin of ebony and silver, partly open, so as to disclose the +face of the corpse, as was customary with Catholic burials of those of +high or priestly rank, and the lower part covered with a superb velvet +pall, rested before the high altar during the chanted service; at the +conclusion of which the coffin was closed, the lid screwed down, and +lowered with slow solemnity into the vault beneath. A requiem, chanted +by above a hundred of the sweetest and richest voices, sounding in +thrilling unison with the deep bass and swelling notes of the organ, +had concluded the solemn rites, and the procession departed as +it came; but for some days the gloom in the city continued; the +realization of the public loss seemed only beginning to be fully felt, +as excitement subsided. + +Masses for the soul of the Catholic warrior, were of course sung for +many succeeding days. It was at midnight, a very short time after +this public interment, that a strange group were assembled within the +cathedral vaults, at the very hour that mass for the departed was +being chanted in the church above their heads; it consisted of monks +and travelling friars, accompanied by five or six of the highest +nobility; their persons concealed in coarse mantles and shrouding +hoods; they had borne with them, through the subterranean passages +of the crypt, leading to the vaults, a coffin so exactly similar in +workmanship and inscription to that which contained the remains of +their late companion, that to distinguish the one from the other was +impossible. The real one, moved with awe and solemnity, was conveyed +to a secret recess close to the entrance of the crypt, and replaced +in the vault by the one they had brought with them. As silently, as +voicelessly as they had entered and done their work, so they departed. +The following night, at the same hour, the coffin of Morales, over +which had been nailed a thick black pall, so that neither name, +inscription, nor ornament could be perceived, was conveyed from +Segovia in a covered cart, belonging, it appeared, to the monastery of +St. Francis, situated some leagues southward, and attended by one or +two monks and friars of the same order. The party proceeded leisurely, +travelling more by night than by day, diminishing gradually in number +till, at the entrance of a broad and desolate plain, only four +remained with the cart. Over this plain they hastened, then wound +through a circuitous path concealed in prickly brushwood, and paused +before a huge, misshapen crag, seemingly half buried in the earth: in +this a door, formed of one solid stone, flew back at their touch; +the coffin, taken with reverence from the cart, was borne on their +shoulders through the dark and narrow passage, and down the winding +stair, till they stood in safety in the vale; in the secret entrance +by which they entered, the lock closed as they passed, and was +apparently lost in the solid wall. Three or four awaited them--nobles, +who had craved leave of absence for a brief interval from the court, +and who had come by different paths to the secret retreat (no doubt +already recognized by our readers as the Vale of Cedars), to lay +Morales with his fathers, with the simple form, yet solemn service +peculiar to the burials of their darkly hidden race. The grave was +already dug beside that of Manuel Henriquez; the coffin, resting +during the continuance of a brief prayer and psalm in the little +temple, was then borne to the ground marked out, which, concealed by +a thick hedge of cypress and cedar, lay some little distance from the +temple; for, in their secret race, it was not permitted for the house +destined to the worship of the Most High, to be surrounded by the +homes of the dead. A slow and solemn hymn accompanied the lowering of +the coffin; a prayer in the same unknown language; a brief address, +and the grave was filled up; the noble dead left with his kindred, +kindred alike in blood as faith; and ere the morning rose, the living +had all departed, save the few retainers of the house of Henriquez and +Morales, to whose faithful charge the retreat had been intrusted. No +proud effigy marked those simple graves; the monuments of the dead +were in the hearts of the living. But in the cathedral of Segovia a +lordly monument arose to the memory of Ferdinand Morales, erected, +not indeed for idle pomp, but as a tribute from the gratitude of a +Sovereign--and a nation's love. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + ANGELO. We must not make a scarecrow of the law, + Setting it up to fear the birds of prey; + And let it keep one shape, till custom make it + Their perch, and not their terror. + + ESCALUS. Ay, but yet + Let us be keen, and rather cut a little, + Than fall and bruise to death. + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +On the evening preceding the day appointed for the trial, Isabella, +unattended and unannounced, sought her husband's private closet; she +found him poring so intently over maps and plans, which strewed the +tables before him, that she spoke before he perceived her. + +"Just come when most wished for, dear wife, and royal liege," was his +courteous address, as he rose and gracefully led her to a seat beside +his own. "See how my plans for the reduction of these heathen Moors +are quietly working; they are divided within themselves, quarrelling +more and more fiercely. Pedro Pas brings me information that the road +to Alhama is well nigh defenceless, and therefore the war should +commence in that quarter. But how is this, love?" he added, after +speaking of his intended measures at some length, and perceiving that +they failed to elicit Isabella's interest as usual. "Thy thoughts are +not with me this evening." + +"With thee, my husband, but not with the Moors," replied the Queen, +faintly smiling. "I confess to a pre-occupied mind; but just now my +heart is so filled with sorrowing sympathy, that I can think but +of individuals, not of nations. In the last council, in which the +question of this Moorish war was agitated, our faithful Morales was +the most eloquent. His impassioned oratory so haunted me, as your +Grace spoke, that I can scarcely now believe it hushed for ever, save +for the too painful witness of its truth." + +"His lovely wife thou meanest, Isabel? Poor girl! How fares she?" + +"As she has been since that long faint, which even I believed was +death; pale, tearless, silent. Even the seeing of her husband's body, +which I permitted, hoping the sight would break that marble calm, +has had no effect, save to increase, if possible, the rigidity of +suffering. It is for her my present errand." + +"For her!" replied the King, surprised. "What can I do for her, apart +from thee?" + +"I will answer the question by another, Ferdinand. Is it true that she +must appear as evidence against the murderer in to-morrow's trial?" + +"Isabella, this must be," answered the King, earnestly. "There seems +to me no alternative; and yet surely this cannot be so repugnant to +her feelings. Would it not be more injustice, both to her, and to the +dead, to withhold any evidence likely to assist in the discovery of +the murderer?" + +"But why lay so much stress on her appearance? Is there not sufficient +evidence without her?" + +"Not to satisfy me as to Stanley's guilt," replied the King. "I +have heard indeed from Don Luis Garcia quite enough, _if it be true +evidence_, to condemn him. But I like not this Garcia; it is useless +now to examine wherefore. I doubt him so much, that I would not, if +possible, lay any stress upon his words. He has declared on oath that +he saw Stanley draw his sword upon Morales, proclaim aloud his undying +hatred, and swear that he would take his life or lose his own; but +that, if I were not satisfied with this assurance, Donna Marie herself +had been present, had seen and heard all, and could no doubt give a +very efficient reason, in her own beautiful person, for Stanley's +hatred to her husband, as such matters were but too common in Spain. +I checked him with a stern rebuke; for if ever there were a +double-meaning hypocrite, this Don Luis is one. Besides, I cannot +penetrate how he came to be present at this stormy interview. He has +evaded, he thinks successfully, my questions on this head; but if, as +I believe, it was dishonorably obtained, I am the less inclined to +trust either him or his intelligence. If Marie were indeed present, +which he insists she was, her testimony is the most important of any. +If she confirm Don Luis's statement, give the same account of the +interview between her husband and Stanley, and a reason for this +suddenly proclaimed enmity; if she swear that he did utter such +threatening words, I will neither hope nor try to save him; he is +guilty, and must die. But if she deny that he thus spoke; if she +declares on oath that she knew of no cause for, nor of the existence +of any enmity, I care not for other proofs, glaring though they be. +Accident or some atrocious design against him, as an envied foreigner, +may have thrown them together. Let Marie swear that this Garcia has +spoken falsely, and Stanley shall live, were my whole kingdom to +implore his death. In Donna Marie's evidence there can be no deceit; +she can have no wish that Stanley should be saved; as her husband's +supposed murderer, he must be an object of horror and loathing. Still +silent Isabel? Is not her evidence required?" + +"It is indeed. And yet I feel that, to demand it, will but increase +the trial already hers." + +"As how?" inquired the King, somewhat astonished. "Surely thou canst +not mean--" + +"I mean nothing; I know nothing," interrupted Isabella hastily. "I can +give your Grace no reason, save my own feelings. Is there no way to +prevent this public exposure, and yet serve the purpose equally?" + +Ferdinand mused. "I can think of none," he said. "Does Marie know of +this summons? and has her anguish sent thee hither? Or is it merely +the pleadings of thine own heart, my Isabel?" + +"She does not know it. The summons appeared to me so strange and +needless, I would not let her be informed till I had sought thee." + +"But thou seest it is not needless!" answered the King anxiously, for +in the most trifling matter he ever sought her acquiescence. + +"Needless it is not, my liege. The life of the young foreigner, who +has thrown himself so confidingly on our protection and friendship, +must not be sacrificed without most convincing proofs of his guilt. +Marie's evidence is indeed important; but would not your Grace's +purpose be equally attained, if that evidence be given to me, her +native Sovereign, in private, without the dread formula which, if +summoned before a court of justice, may have fatal effects on a +mind and frame already so severely tried? In my presence alone the +necessary evidence may be given with equal solemnity, and with less +pain to the poor sufferer herself." + +King Ferdinand again paused in thought. "But her words must be on +oath, Isabel. Who will administer that oath?" + +"Father Francis, if required. But it will surely be enough if she +swear the truth to me. She cannot deceive me, even if she were so +inclined. I can mark a quivering lip or changing color, which others +might pass unnoticed." + +"But how will this secret examination satisfy the friends of the +murdered?" again urged the cautious King. "How will they be satisfied, +if I acquit Stanley from Donna Marie's evidence, and that evidence be +kept from them?" + +"Is not the word of their Sovereign enough? If Isabella say so it is, +what noble of Castile would disgrace himself or her by a doubt as to +its truth?" replied the Queen proudly. "Let me clearly understand all +your Grace requires, and leave the rest to me. If Marie corroborates +Garcia's words, why, on his evidence sentence may be pronounced +without her appearance in it at all; but if she deny in the smallest +tittle his report, in my presence they shall confront each other, and +fear not the truth shall be elicited, and, if possible, Stanley saved. +I may be deceived, and Marie not refuse to appear as witness against +him; if so, there needs not my interference. I would but spare her +increase of pain, and bid her desolate heart cling to me as her mother +and her friend. When my subjects look upon me thus, my husband, then, +and then only is Isabella what she would be." + +"And do they not already thus regard thee, my own Isabel?" replied the +King, gazing with actual reverence upon her; "and as such, will future +ages reverence thy name. Be it as thou wilt. Let Marie's own feelings +decide the question. She _must_ take part in this trial, either in +public or private; she _must_ speak on oath, for life and death hang +on her words, and her decision must be speedy. It is sunset now, and +ere to-morrow's noon she must have spoken, or be prepared to appear." + +Ere Queen Isabella reached her own apartments her plan was formed. Don +Luis's tale had confirmed her suspicions as to the double cause of +Marie's wretchedness; she had herself administered to her while in +that dead faint--herself bent over her, lest the first words of +returning consciousness should betray aught which the sufferer might +wish concealed; but her care had been needless: no word passed those +parched and ashy lips. The frame, indeed, for some days was powerless, +and she acceded eagerly to Isabella's earnest proffer (for it was not +command) to send for her attendants, and occupy a suite of rooms in +the castle, close to her royal mistress, in preference to returning to +her own home; from which, in its desolate grandeur, she shrunk almost +in loathing. + +For seven days after her loss she had not quitted her apartment, seen +only by the Queen and her own woman; but after that interval, at +Isabella's gently expressed wish, she joined her, in her private +hours, amongst her most favored attendants; called upon indeed for +nothing save her presence! And little did her pre-occupied mind +imagine how tenderly she was watched, and with what kindly sympathy +her unexpressed thoughts were read. + +On the evening in question, Isabella was seated, as was her frequent +custom, in a spacious chamber, surrounded by her female attendants, +with whom she was familiarly conversing, making them friends as well +as subjects, yet so uniting dignity with kindness, that her favor was +far more valued and eagerly sought than had there been no superiority; +yet, still it was more for her perfect womanhood than her rank that +she was so reverenced, so loved. At the farther end of the spacious +chamber were several young girls, daughters of the nobles of Castile +and Arragon, whom Isabella's maternal care for her subjects had +collected around her, that their education might be carried on under +her own eye, and so create for the future nobles of her country, wives +and mothers after her own exalted stamp. They were always encouraged +to converse freely and gayly amongst each other; for thus she learned +their several characters, and guided them accordingly. There was +neither restraint nor heaviness in her presence; for by a word, a +smile, she could prove her interest in their simple pleasures, her +sympathy in their eager youth. + +Apart from all, but nearest Isabella, silent and pale, shrouded in the +sable robes of widowhood--that painful garb which, in its voiceless +eloquence of desolation, ever calls for tears, more especially when +it shrouds the young; her beautiful hair, save two thick braids, +concealed under the linen coif--sat Marie, lovely indeed still, but +looking like one + + "Whose heart was born to break-- + A face on which to gaze, made every feeling ache." + +An embroidery frame was before her, "but the flowers grew but slowly +beneath her hand. About an hour after Isabella had joined her +attendants, a light signal was heard at the tapestried door of the +apartment. The Queen was then sitting in a posture of deep meditation; +but she looked up, as a young girl answered the summons, and then +turned towards her Sovereign. + +"Well, Catherine?" + +"Royal madam, a page, from his Grace the King, craves speech of Donna +Marie." + +"Admit him then." + +The boy entered, and with a low reverence advanced towards Marie. +She looked up in his face bewildered--a bewilderment which Isabella +perceived changed to a strong expression of mental torture, ere he +ceased to speak. + +"Ferdinand, King of Arragon and Castile," he said, "sends, with all +courtesy, his royal greeting to Donna Marie Henriquez Morales, and +forthwith commands her attendance at the solemn trial which is held +to-morrow's noon; by her evidence to confirm or refute the charge +brought against the person of Arthur Stanley, as being and having been +the acknowledged enemy of the deceased Don Ferdinand Morales (God +assoilize his soul!) and as having uttered words of murderous import +in her hearing. Resolved, to the utmost of his power, to do justice to +the living as to avenge the dead, his royal highness is compelled thus +to demand the testimony of Donna Marie, as she alone can confirm or +refute this heavy and most solemn charge." + +There was no answer; but it seemed as if the messenger required +none--imagining the royal command all sufficient for obedience--for he +bowed respectfully as he concluded, and withdrew. Marie gazed after +him, and her lip quivered as if she would have spoken--would have +recalled him; but no word came, and she drooped her head on her hands, +pressing her slender fingers strongly on her brow, as thus to bring +back connected thought once more. What had he said? She must appear +against Stanley--she must speak his doom? Why did those fatal words +which must condemn him, ring in her ears, as only that moment spoken? +Her embroidery fell from her lap, and there was no movement to replace +it. How long she thus sat she knew not; but, roused by the Queen's +voice uttering her name, she started, and looked round her. She +was alone with Isabella; who was gazing on her with such unfeigned +commiseration, that, unable to resist the impulse, she darted +forwards, and sinking at her feet, implored-- + +"Oh, madam--gracious madam! in mercy spare me this!" + +The Queen drew her tenderly to her, and said, with evident emotion-- + +"What am I to spare thee, my poor child? Surely thou wouldst not +withhold aught that can convict thy husband's murderer? Thou wouldst +not in mistaken mercy elude for him the justice of the law?" + +"No--no," murmured Marie; "let the murderer die; but not Stanley! Oh, +no--no; he would not lift his hand against my husband. Who says he +slew him? Why do they attach so foul a crime to his unshadowed name? +Let the murderer die; but it is not Arthur: I know it is not. Oh, do +not slay him too!" + +Marie knew not the wild entreaty breathing in her words: but the +almost severely penetrating gaze which Isabella had fixed upon her, +recalled her to herself; a crimson flush mounted to cheek and brow, +and, burying her face in the Queen's robe, she continued less wildly-- + +"Oh, madam, bear with me; I know not what I say. Think I am mad; +but oh, in mercy, ask me no question. Am I not mad, to ask thee to +spare--spare--him they call my husband's murderer? Let him die," and +the wild tone returned, "if he indeed could strike the blow; but oh, +let not my lips pronounce his death-doom! Gracious Sovereign, do not +look upon me thus--I cannot bear that gaze." + +"Fear me not, poor sufferer," replied Isabella, mildly; "I will ask no +question--demand nought that will give thee pain to answer--save that +which justice compels me to require. That there is a double cause for +all this wretchedness, I cannot but perceive, and that I suspect its +cause I may not deny; but guilty I will not believe thee, till +thine own words or deeds proclaim it. Look up then, my poor child, +unshrinkingly; I am no dread Sovereign to thee, painful as is the +trial to which I fear I must subject thee. There are charges brought +against young Stanley so startling in their nature, that, much as we +distrust his accuser, justice forbids our passing them unnoticed. On +thy true testimony his Grace the King relies to confirm or refute +them. Thy evidence must convict or save him." + +"My evidence!" repeated Marie. "What can they ask of me of such +weight? Save him." she added, a sudden gleam of hope irradiating her +pallid face, like a sunbeam upon snow? "Did your Grace say _I_ could +save him? Oh, speak, in mercy!" + +"Calm this emotion then, Marie, and thou shalt know all. It was for +this I called thee hither. Sit thee on the settle at my feet, and +listen to me patiently, if thou canst. 'Tis a harsh word to use to +grief such as thine, my child," she added, caressingly, as she laid +her hand on Marie's drooping head; "and I fear will only nerve thee +for a still harsher trial. Believe me, I would have spared thee if I +could; but all I can do is to bid thee choose the lesser of the two +evils. Mark me well: for the Sovereign of the murdered, the judge of +the murderer, alike speak through me." And clearly and forcibly she +narrated all, with which our readers are already acquainted, through +her interview with the King. She spoke very slowly, as if to give +Marie time to weigh well each sentence. She could not see her +countenance; nay, she purposely refrained from looking at her, lest +she should increase the suffering she was so unwillingly inflicting. +For some minutes she paused as she concluded; then, as neither word +nor sound escaped from Marie, she said, with emphatic earnestness--"If +it will be a lesser trial to give thine evidence on oath to thy +Queen alone, we are here to receive it. Our royal husband--our loyal +subjects--will be satisfied with Isabella's report. Thy words will be +as sacred--thy oath as valid--as if thy testimony were received in +public, thy oath administered by one of the holy fathers, with all the +dread formula of the church. We have repeated all to which thy answers +will be demanded; it remains for thee to decide whether thou wilt +speak before his Grace the King and his assembled junta, or here and +now before thy native Sovereign. Pause ere thou dost answer--there is +time enough." + +For a brief interval there was silence. The kind heart of the Queen +throbbed painfully, so completely had her sympathy identified her with +the beautiful being, who had so irresistibly claimed her cherishing +love. But ere she had had time to satisfy herself as to the issue of +the struggle so silently, yet so fearfully at work in her companion, +Marie had arisen, and with dignity and fearlessness, strangely at +variance with the wild agony of her words and manner before, stood +erect before her Sovereign; and when she spoke, her voice was calm and +firm. + +"Queen of Spain!" she said. "My kind, gracious Sovereign! Would that +words could speak one-half the love, the devotion, all thy goodness +has inspired; but they seem frozen, all frozen now, and it may be that +I may never even prove them--that it will be my desolate fate, to seem +less and less worthy of an affection I value more than life. Royal +madam! I will appear at to-morrow's trial! Your Grace is startled; +deeming it a resolve as strange as contradictory. Ask not the +wherefore, gracious Sovereign: it is fixed unalterably. I will obey +his Grace's summons. Its unexpected suddenness startled me at first; +but it is over. Oh, madam," she continued--tone, look, and manner +becoming again those of the agitated suppliant, and she sunk once more +at Isabella's feet: "In my wild agony I have forgotten the respect and +deference due from a subject to her Sovereign; I have poured forth my +misery, seemingly as regardless of kindness, as insensible to the wide +distance between us. Oh, forgive me, my gracious Sovereign; and in +token of thy pardon, grant me but one boon!" + +"Nought have I to forgive, my suffering child," replied the Queen, +powerfully affected, and passing her arm caressingly round her +kneeling favorite; "what is rank--sovereignty itself--in hours of +sorrow? If I were so tenacious of dignity as thou fearest, I should +have shrunk from that awful presence--affliction from a Father's +hand--in which his children are all equals, Marie. And as for thy +boon: be it what it may, I grant it." + +"Thou sayest so now, my liege; but when the hour to grant it comes, +every feeling will revolt against it; even thine, my Sovereign, kind, +generous, as thou art. Oh, Madam, thou wilt hear a strange tale +to-morrow--one so fraught with mystery and marvel, thou wilt refuse to +believe; but when the trial of to-morrow is past, then think on what +I say now: what thou nearest will be TRUE--true as there is a heaven +above us; I swear it! Do not look upon me thus, my Sovereign; I am not +mad--oh, would that I were! Dark, meaningless as my words seem now, +to-morrow they will be distinct and clear enough. And then--then, +if thou hast ever loved me, oh, grant the boon I implore thee now: +whatever thou mayest hear, do not condemn me--do not cast me wholly +from thee. More than ever shall I need thy protecting care. Oh, my +Sovereign--thou who hast taught me so to love thee, in pity love me +still!" + +"Strange wayward being," said Isabella, gazing doubtingly on the +imploring face upturned to hers; "towards other than thyself such +mystery would banish love for ever; but I will not doubt thee. Darkly +as thou speakest, still I grant the boon. What can I hear of thee, to +cast thee from me?" + +"Thou wilt hear of deceit, my liege," replied Marie, very slowly, and +her eyes fell beneath the Queen's gaze; "thou wilt hear of long years +of deceit and fraud, and many--many tongues will speak their scorn and +condemnation. Then wilt thou grant it--then?" + +"Even then," replied Isabella fearlessly; "an thou speakest truth +at last, deceit itself I will forgive. But thou art overwrought and +anxious, and so layest more stress on some trivial fault than even I +would demand. Go to thy own chamber now, and in prayer and meditation +gain strength for to-morrow's trial. Whatever I may hear, so it be not +meditated and unrepented guilt, (which I know it cannot be,) I will +forgive, and love thee still. The holy saints bless and keep thee, my +fair child!" + +And as Marie bent to salute the kind hand extended to her, Isabella +drew her towards her, and fondly kissed her cheek. The unexpected +caress, or some other secret feeling, subdued the overwrought energy +at once; and for the first time since her husband's death, Marie burst +into natural tears. But her purpose changed not; though Isabella's +gentle and affectionate soothing rendered it tenfold more painful to +accomplish. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + LEONTES.--These sessions, to our great grief, we pronounce + Even pushes 'gainst our heart. + Let us be cleared + Of being tyrannous, since we openly + Proceed in justice--which shall have due course, + Even to the guilt, or the purgation. + Produce the prisoner!--SHAKSPEARE. + + +The day of trial dawned, bright, sunny, cloudless, as was usual +in beautiful Spain--a joyous elasticity was in the atmosphere, a +brilliance in the heavens, which thence reflected on the earth, so +painfully contrasted with misery and death, that the bright sky +seemed to strike a double chill on the hearts of those most deeply +interested. + +Never had the solemn proceedings of justice created so great an +excitement; not only in Segovia itself, but the towns and villages, +many miles round, sent eager citizens and rustic countrymen to learn +the issue, and report it speedily to those compelled to stay at home. +The universal mourning for Morales was one cause of the popular +excitement; and the supposition of the young foreigner being his +murderer another. + +The hall of the castle was crowded at a very early hour, Isabella +having signified not only permission, but her wish that as many of her +citizen subjects as space would admit should be present, to witness +the faithful course of justice. Nearest to the seat destined for the +King, at the upper end of the hall, were ranged several fathers from +an adjoining convent of Franciscans, by whom a special service had +been impressively performed that morning in the cathedral, in which +all who had been summoned to preside at the trial had solemnly joined. + +The Monks of St. Francis were celebrated alike for their sterling +piety, great learning, and general benevolence. Their fault, if such +it could be termed in a holy Catholic community, was their rigid +exclusiveness regarding religion; their uncompromising and strict love +for, and adherence to, their own creed; and stern abhorrence towards, +and violent persecution of, all who in the slightest degree departed +from it, or failed to pay it the respect and obedience which they +believed it demanded. At their head was their Sub-Prior, a character +whose influence on the after position of Spain was so great, that we +may not pass it by, without more notice than our tale itself perhaps +would demand. To the world, as to his brethren and superiors, in the +monastery, a stern unbending spirit, a rigid austerity, and unchanging +severity of mental and physical discipline, characterized his whole +bearing and daily conduct. Yet, his severity proceeded not from the +superstition and bigotry of a weak mind or misanthropic feeling. +Though his whole time and thoughts appeared devoted to the interest +of his monastery, and thence to relieving and guiding the poor, and +curbing and decreasing the intemperate follies and licentious conduct +of the laymen, in its immediate neighborhood; yet his extraordinary +knowledge, not merely of human nature, but of the world at large--his +profound and extensive genius, which, in after years was displayed, +in the prosecution of such vast schemes for Spain's advancement, that +they riveted the attention of all Europe upon him--naturally won him +the respect and consideration of Ferdinand and Isabella, whose acute +penetration easily traced the natural man, even through the thick veil +of monkish austerity. They cherished and honored him, little thinking +that, had it not been for him, Spain would have sunk at their death, +into the same abyss of anarchy and misery, from which their vigorous +measures had so lately roused, and, as they hoped, So effectually +guarded her. + +When Torquemada, Isabella's confessor, was absent from court, which +not unfrequently happened, for his capacious mind was never at peace +unless actively employed--Father Francis, though but the Sub-Prior of +a Franciscan monastery, always took his place, and frequently were +both sovereigns guided by his privately asked and frankly given +opinions, not only on secular affairs, but on matters of state, and +even of war. With such a character for his Sub-Prior, the lordly Abbot +of the Franciscans was indeed but a nominal dignitary, quite contented +to enjoy all the indulgences and corporeal luxuries, permitted, or +perhaps winked at, from his superior rank, and leaving to Father +Francis every active duty; gladly, therefore, he deputed on him +the office of heading the Monks that day summoned to attend King +Ferdinand. + +Not any sign of the benevolence and goodness--in reality the +characteristics of this extraordinary man--was visible on his +countenance as he sat. The very boldest and haughtiest of the +aristocracy, involuntarily perhaps, yet irresistibly, acknowledged his +superiority. Reverence and awe were the emotions first excited towards +his person: but already was that reverence largely mingled with +the love which some three years afterwards gave him such powerful +influence over the whole sovereignty of Spain. Next to the holy +fathers, and ranged according to rank and seniority, were the nobles +who had been selected to attend, the greater number of whom, were +Castilians, as countrymen of the deceased. Next to them were the +Santa Hermandad, or Brethren of the Associated Cities, without whose +presence and aid, no forms of justice, even though ruled and guided by +royalty itself, were considered valid or complete. A semicircle was +thus formed, the centre of which was the King's seat; and opposite to +him, in the hollow, as it were of the crescent, a space left for the +prisoner, accusers, and witnesses. Soldiers lined the hall; a treble +guard being drawn up at the base of the semicircle, and extending in a +wide line right and left, behind the spot destined for the prisoner. +There was still a large space left, and this was so thronged with +citizens, that it presented the appearance of a dense mass of human +heads, every face turned in one direction, and expressive in various +ways of but one excitement, one emotion. + +There was not a smile on either of the stern countenances within the +hall. As the shock and horror of Don Ferdinand's fate in some measure +subsided, not only the nobles, but the soldiers themselves, began to +recall the supposed murderer in the many fields of honorable warfare, +the many positions of mighty and chivalric bearing in which they had +hitherto seen the young Englishman play so distinguished a part; and +doubts began to arise as to the possibility of so great a change, and +in so short a time. To meet even a supposed enemy in fair field, +and with an equality of weapons, was the custom of the day; such, +therefore, between Stanley and Morales, might have excited marvel as +to the _cause_, but not as to the _act_. But murder! it was so wholly +incompatible with even the very lowest principles of chivalry (except +when the unfortunate victim was of too low a rank to be removed by any +other means), that when they recalled the gallantry, the frankness of +speech and deed, the careless buoyancy, the quickly subdued passion, +and easily accorded forgiveness of injury, which had ever before +characterized young Stanley, they could not believe his guilt: but +then came the recollection of the startling proofs against him, and +such belief was almost involuntarily suspended. There was not a +movement in that immense concourse of human beings, not a word spoken +one to the other, not a murmur even of impatience for the appearance +of the King. All was so still, so mute, that, had it not been for the +varied play of countenances, any stranger suddenly placed within the +circle might have imagined himself in an assemblage of statues. + +Precisely at noon, the folding-doors at the upper end of the hall were +thrown widely but noiselessly back, and King Ferdinand, attended by a +few pages and gentlemen, slowly entered, and taking his seat, gazed +a full minute, inquiringly and penetratingly around him, and then +resting his head on his hand, remained plunged in earnest meditation +some moments before he spoke. + +It was a strange sight--the noiseless, yet universal rising of the +assemblage in honor to their Sovereign, changing their position as by +one simultaneous movement. Many an eye turned towards him to read +on his countenance the prisoner's doom; but its calm, almost stern +expression, baffled the most penetrating gaze. Some minutes passed ere +Ferdinand, rousing himself from his abstraction, waved his hand, +and every seat was instantaneously resumed, and so profound was the +silence, that every syllable the Monarch spoke, though his voice was +not raised one note above his usual pitch, was heard by every member +of those immense crowds, as individually addressing each. + +"My Lords and holy Fathers, and ye Associated Brethren," he said, "the +cause of your present assemblage needs no repetition. Had the murdered +and the supposed murderer been other than they are, we should have +left the course of justice in the hands of those appointed to +administer it, and interfered not ourselves save to confirm or annul +the sentence they should pronounce. As the case stands, we are deputed +by our illustrious Consort and sister Sovereign, Isabella of Castile, +to represent her as Suzerain of the deceased (whom the saints +assoilize), and so ourselves guide the proceedings of justice on his +murderer. Our prerogative as Suzerain and Liege would permit us to +condemn to death at once; but in this instance, my Lords and holy +Fathers, we confess ourselves unwilling and incapable of pronouncing +judgment solely on our own responsibility. The accused is a friendless +foreigner, to whom we have been enabled to show some kindness, and +therefore one towards whom we cannot feel indifference: he has, +moreover, done us such good service both in Spain and Sicily, that +even the grave charge brought against him now, cannot blot out the +memories of the past. We find it difficult to believe that a young, +high-spirited, honorable warrior, in whose heart every chivalric +feeling appeared to beat, could become, under any temptation, under +any impulse, that base and loathsome coward--a midnight murderer! On +your counsels, then, we implicitly depend: examine, impartially and +deliberately, the proofs for and against, which will be laid before +you. But let one truth be ever present, lest justice herself be but a +cover for prejudice and hate. Let not Europe have cause to say, that +he who, flying from the enemies and tyrants of his own land, took +refuge on the hearths of our people, secure there of kindness and +protection, has found them not. Were it a countryman we were about to +judge, this charge were needless; justice and mercy would, if it were +possible, go hand in hand. The foreigner, who has voluntarily assumed +the name and service of a son of Spain, demands yet more at our hands. +My Lords and holy Fathers, and ye Associated Brethren, remember +this important truth, and act accordingly: but if, on a strict, +unprejudiced examination of the evidence against the prisoner, ye +pronounce him guilty, be it so: the scripture saith, 'blood must flow +for blood!'" + +A universal murmur of assent filled the hall as the King ceased: his +words had thrilled reprovingly on many there present, particularly +amongst the populace, who felt, even as the Monarch spoke, the real +cause of their violent wrath against the murderer. Ere, however, they +had time to analyze why the violent abhorrence of Stanley should be +so calmed merely at the King's words, the command, "Bring forth the +prisoner!" occasioned an intensity of interest and eager movement +of the numerous heads towards the base of the hall, banishing every +calmer thought. The treble line of soldiers, forming the base of the +crescent, divided in the centre, and wheeling backwards, formed two +files of dense thickness, leaving a lane between them through which +the prisoner and his guards were discerned advancing to the place +assigned. He was still heavily fettered, and his dress, which he had +not been permitted to change, covered with dark, lurid stains, hung so +loosely upon him, that his attenuated form bore witness, even as the +white cheek and haggard eye, to the intense mental torture of the last +fortnight. His fair hair lay damp and matted on his pale forehead; but +still there was that in his whole bearing which, while it breathed of +suffering, contradicted every thought of guilt. He looked round him +steadily and calmly, lowered his head a moment in respectful deference +to the King, and instantly resumed the lofty carriage which suffering +itself seemed inadequate to bend. King Ferdinand fixed his eyes upon +him with an expression before which the hardiest guilt must for the +moment have quailed; but not a muscle of the prisoner's countenance +moved, and Ferdinand proceeded to address him gravely, yet feelingly. + +"Arthur Stanley," he said, "we have heard from Don Felix d'Estaban +that you have refused our proffered privilege of seeking and +employing some friends, subtle in judgment, and learned in all the +technicalities of such proceedings, as to-day will witness, to +undertake your cause. Why is this? Is your honor of such small amount, +that you refuse even to accept the privilege of defence? Are you so +well prepared yourself to refute the evidence which has been collected +against you, that you need no more? Or have we indeed heard aright, +that you have resolved to let the course of justice proceed, without +one effort on your part to avert an inevitable doom? This would seem a +tacit avowal of guilt; else, wherefore call your doom inevitable? If +conscious of innocence, have you no hope, no belief in the Divine +Justice, which can as easily make manifest innocence as punish +crime? Ere we depute to others the solemn task of examination, and +pronouncing sentence, we bid you speak, and answer as to the wherefore +of this rash and contradictory determination--persisting in words that +you are guiltless, yet refusing the privilege of defence. Is life so +valueless, that you cast it degraded from you? As Sovereign and Judge, +we command you answer, lest by your own rash act the course of justice +be impeded, and the sentence of the guilty awarded to the innocent. +As man to man, I charge thee speak; bring forward some proof of +innocence. Let me not condemn to death as a coward and a murderer, +one whom I have loved and trusted as a friend! Answer--wherefore this +strange callousness to life--this utter disregard of thine honor and +thy name?" + +For a moment, while the King addressed him as man to man, the pallid +cheek and brow of the prisoner flushed with painful emotion, and there +was a scarcely audible tremulousness in his voice as he replied: + +"And how will defence avail me? How may mere assertion deny proof, and +so preserve life and redeem honor? My liege, I had resolved to attempt +no defence, because I would not unnecessarily prolong the torture of +degradation. Had I one proof, the slightest proof to produce, which +might in the faintest degree avail me, I would not withhold it; +justice to my father's name would be of itself sufficient to command +defence. But I have none! I cannot so perjure myself as to deny one +word of the charges brought against me, save that of murder! Of +thoughts of hate and wrath, ay, and blood, but such blood as honorable +men would shed, I am guilty, I now feel, unredeemably guilty, but not +of murder! I am not silent because conscious of enacted guilt. I will +not go down to the dishonored grave, now yawning for me, permitting, +by silence, your Highness, and these your subjects, to believe me +the monster of ingratitude, the treacherous coward which appearances +pronounce me. No!" he continued, raising his right hand as high as +his fetters would permit, and speaking in a tone which fell with +the eloquence of truth, on every heart--"No: here, as on the +scaffold--now, as with my dying breath, I will proclaim aloud my +innocence; I call on the Almighty Judge himself, as on every Saint +in heaven, to attest it--ay, and I believe it WILL be attested, when +nought but my memory is left to be cleared from shame--I am not the +murderer of Don Ferdinand Morales! Had he been in every deed my +foe--had he given me cause for the indulgence of those ungovernable +passions which I now feel were roused against him so causelessly and +sinfully, I might have sought their gratification by honorable combat, +but not by midnight murder! I speak not, I repeat, to save my life: it +is justly forfeited for thoughts of crime! I speak that, when in after +years my innocence will be made evident by the discovery of the real +assassin, you will all remember what I now say--that I have not so +basely requited the King and Country who so generously and trustingly +befriended me--that I am no murderer!" + +"Then, if so convinced of innocence, young man, wherefore not attempt +defence?" demanded the Sub-Prior of St. Francis. "Knowest thou not +that wilfully to throw away the life intrusted to you, for some +wise purpose, is amenable before the throne of the Most High as +self-committed murder? Proofs of this strongly asserted innocence, +thou must have." + +"I have none," calmly answered the prisoner, "I have but words, and +who will believe them? Who, here present, will credit the strange +tale, that, tortured and restless from mental suffering, I courted the +fury of the elements, and rushed from my quarters on the night of the +murder _without_ my sword?--that, in securing the belt, I missed the +weapon, but still sought not for it as I ought?--who will believe that +it was accident, not design, which took me to the Calle Soledad? and +that it was a fall over the murdered body of Don Ferdinand which +deluged my hands and dress with the blood that dyed the ground? Who +will credit that it was seeing him thus which chained me, paralyzed, +horror-stricken, to the spot? In the wild fury of my passions I had +believed him my enemy, and sworn his death; then was it marvel that +thus beholding him turned me well-nigh to stone, and that, in my +horror, I had no power to call for aid, or raise the shout after the +murderer, for my own thoughts arose as fiends, to whisper, such might +have been nay work--that I had wished his death? Great God! the awful +wakening from the delusion of weeks--the dread recognition in that +murdered corse of my own thoughts of sin!" He paused involuntarily, +for his strong agitation completely choked his voice, and shook his +whole frame. After a brief silence, which none in the hall had heart +to break, he continued calmly, "Let the trial proceed, gracious +Sovereign. Your Highness's generous interest in one accused of a +crime so awful, comprising the death, not of a subject only, but of a +friend, does but add to the heavy weight of obligation already mine, +and would of itself excite the wish to live, to prove that I am not +so utterly unworthy; but I feel that not to such as I, may the Divine +mercy be so shown, as to bring forward the real murderer. The misery +of the last fortnight has shown me how deeply I have sinned in +thought, though not in deed; and how dare I, then, indulge the wild +dream that my innocence will be proved, until too late, save for +mine honor? My liege, I have trespassed too long on the time of this +assemblage; let the trial proceed." + +So powerful was the effect of his tone and words, that the impulse was +strong in every heart to strike off his fetters, and give him life +and freedom. The countenance of the Sub-Prior of St. Francis alone +retained its unmoved calmness, and its tone, its imperturbable +gravity, as he commanded Don Felix d'Estaban to produce the witnesses; +and on their appearance, desired one of the fathers to administer the +oath. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + "His unaltering-cheek + Still vividly doth hold its natural hue, + And his eye quails not. Is this innocence?" + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +During the examination of Don Alonzo of Aguilar, and of old Pedro and +Juana, the prisoner remained with his arms calmly folded and head +erect, without the smallest variation of feature or position denoting +either anxiety or agitation. Don Alonzo's statement was very simple. +He described the exact spot where he had found the body, and the +position in which it lay; the intense agitation of Stanley, the bloody +appearance of his clothes, hands, and face, urging them to secure his +person even before they discovered the broken fragment of his sword +lying beside the corse. His account was corroborated, in the very +minutest points, by the men who had accompanied him, even though +cross-questioned with unusual particularity by Father Francis. Old +Pedro's statement, though less circumstantial, was, to the soldiers +and citizens especially, quite as convincing. He gave a wordy +narrative of Senor Stanley's unnatural state of excitement from the +very evening he had become his lodger--that he had frequently heard +him muttering to himself such words as "blood" and "vengeance." He +constantly appeared longing for something; never eat half the meals +provided for him--a sure proof, in old Pedro's imagination, of a +disordered mind, and that the night of the murder he had heard him +leave the house, with every symptom of agitation. Old Juana, with very +evident reluctance, confirmed this account; but Father Francis was +evidently not satisfied. "Amongst these incoherent ravings of the +prisoner, did you ever distinguish the word 'murder?'" he demanded--a +question which would be strange, indeed, in the court of justice of +the present day, but of importance in an age when such words as blood +and vengeance, amongst warriors, simply signified a determination to +fight out their quarrel in (so-called) honorable combat. The answer, +after some hesitation, was in the negative. "Did you ever distinguish +any name, as the object of Senor Stanley's desired vengeance?" + +Pedro immediately answered "No;" but there was a simper of hesitation +in old Juana, that caused the Sub-Prior to appeal to her. "Please your +Reverence, I only chanced to hear the poor young man say, 'Oh, Marie! +Marie!' one day when I brought him his dinner, which he put away +untouched, though I put my best cooking in it." + +A slight, scarcely perceptible flush passed over the prisoner's cheek +and brow. The King muttered an exclamation; Father Francis's brow +contracted, and several of the nobles looked uneasily from one to the +other. + +"At what time did the prisoner leave his apartments the night of the +murder?" continued the Sub-Prior. + +"Exactly as the great bell of the cathedral chimed eleven," was the +ready reply from Pedro and Juana at the same moment. + +"Did you hear nothing but his hasty movements, as you describe? Did he +not call for attendance, or a light? Remember, you are on oath," he +continued sternly, as he observed the hesitation with which old Pedro +muttered "No;" and that Juana was silent. "The church punishes false +swearers. Did he speak or not?" + +"He called for a light, please your Reverence, but--" + +"But you did not choose to obey at an hour so late!" sternly responded +Father Francis; "and by such neglect may be guilty of accelerating the +death of the innocent, and concealing the real murderer! You allege +that Senor Stanley returned from some military duty at sunset, and +slept from then till just before eleven, so soundly that you could not +rouse him even for his evening meal. This was strange for a man with +murder in his thoughts! Again, that he called for a light, which, +you neglected to bring; and Senor Stanley asserts that he missed his +sword, but rushed from the house without it. Your culpable neglect, +then, prevents our discovering the truth of this assertion; yet you +acknowledge he called loudly for light; this appears too unlikely +to have been the case, had the prisoner quitted the house with the +intention to do murder." + +"Intention at that moment he might not have had, Reverend Father," +interposed the head of the Associated Brethren, who had taken an +active part in the examination. "Were there no evidence as to +premeditated desire of vengeance, premeditated insult, and +long-entertained enmity, these conclusions might have foundation. As +the case stands, they weigh but little. Where evil passions have +been excited, opportunity for their indulgence is not likely to pass +unused." + +"But evidence of that long-entertained enmity and premeditated +vengeance we have not yet examined," replied the Sub-Prior. "If it +only rest on the suppositions of this old couple, in one of whom it +is pretty evident, prejudice is stronger than clearly defined truth, +methinks that, despite this circumstantial evidence, there is still +hope of the prisoner's innocence, more especially as we have one other +important fact to bring forward. You are certain," he continued, +addressing old Pedro, "that the bell chimed eleven when Senor Stanley +quitted your dwelling?" The man answered firmly in the affirmative. +"And you will swear that the Senor slept from sunset till that hour?" + +"I dare not swear to it, your Reverence, for Juana and I were at a +neighbor's for part of that time; but on our return, Juana took up his +supper again, and found him so exactly in the same position as we had +left him, that we could not believe he had even moved." + +"Was he alone in the house during this interval?" + +"No; the maid Beta was at her work in the room below Senor Stanley's." + +"Let her be brought here." + +The order was so rapidly obeyed, that it was very evident she was +close at hand; but so terribly alarmed at the presence in which she +stood, as to compel the Sub-Prior to adopt the gentlest possible tone, +to get any answer at all. He merely inquired if, during the absence of +her master and mistress, she had heard any movement in the prisoner's +room. She said that she thought she had--a quiet, stealthy step, and +also a sound as if a door in the back of the house closed; but the +sounds were so very indistinct, she had felt them at the time more +like a dream than reality; and the commencement of the storm had so +terrified her, that she did not dare move from her seat. + +"And what hour was this?" + +It might have been about nine; but she could not say exactly. And from +the assertion that she did hear a slight sound, though puzzlingly +cross-questioned, she never wavered. The King and the Sub-Prior both +looked disappointed. The chief of the Santa Hermandad expressed +himself confirmed in his previous supposition. + +The prisoner retained his calmness; but a gleam of intelligence seemed +to flit across his features. + +"You would speak, Senor Stanley," interposed the King, as the girl was +dismissed. "We would gladly hear you." + +"I would simply say, your Highness," replied Stanley, gratefully, +"that it is not unlikely Beta may have heard such sounds. I am +convinced my evening draught was drugged; and the same secret enemy +who did this, to give him opportunity undiscovered to purloin my +sword--may, nay, _must_ have entered my chamber during that deathlike +sleep, and committed the theft which was to burden an innocent man +with his deed of guilt. The deep stillness in the house might have +permitted her ear to catch the step, though my sleep was too profound. +I could hardly have had time to waken, rise, commit the deed of death, +and return to such a completely deceiving semblance of sleep, in the +short hour of Pedro and Juana's absence; and if I had, what madness +would have led me there again, and so appalled me, as to prevent all +effort of escape?" + +"Conscience," replied the chief of the Santa Hermandad, sternly. "The +impelling of the Divine Spirit, whom you had profaned, and who +in justice so distracted you, as to lead you blindly to your own +destruction--no marvel the darkness oppressed, and the storm appalled +you; or that heaven in its wrath should ordain the events you yourself +have described--the fall over your own victim, and the horror thence +proceeding. We have heard that your early years have been honorable, +Senor Stanley, and to such, guilt is appalling even in its +accomplishment. Methinks, Father Francis, we need now but the evidence +of the premeditation." + +"Your pardon, brother; but such, conclusions are somewhat over-hasty. +It is scarcely probable, had Senor Stanley returned after the +committal of such a deed, that his reentrance should not have been +heard as well as his departure; whereas the witness expressly +declares, that though her attention was awakened by the previous faint +sound, and she listened frequently, she never heard another movement, +till her master and mistress's return; and as they went into the +Senor's room directly, and found him without the very least appearance +of having moved, justice compels us to incline to the belief in Senor +Stanley's suggestion--that he could scarcely have had sufficient time +to rouse, depart, do murder, and feign sleep during Pedro Benito's +brief interval of absence." + +"We will grant that so it may be, Reverend Father, but what proof have +we that the murder had not been just committed when the body and the +assassin were discovered?" + +Father Francis replied, by commanding the appearance of Don +Ferdinand's steward, and after the customary formula, inquired what +hour his late lamented master had quitted his mansion the night of the +murder. The man replied, without hesitation, "Exactly as the chimes +played the quarter before nine." + +"But was not that unusually early? The hour of meeting at the castle +was ten, and the distance from Don Ferdinand's mansion not twenty +minutes' ride, and scarce forty minutes' walk. Are you perfectly +certain as to the hour?" + +"I can take my oath upon it, your Reverence, and Lopez will say the +same. Our sainted master (Jesu rest his soul!) called to him a few +minutes before he entered my lady's room, and told him not to get his +horse ready, as he should walk to the castle. Lopez asked as to who +should attend him, and his reply was he would go alone. He had done so +before, and so we were not surprised; but we were grieved at his look, +for it seemed of suffering, unlike himself, and were noticing it to +each other as he passed us, after quitting my lady, and so quickly and +so absorbed, that he did not return our salutation, which he never in +all his life neglected to do before. My poor, poor master! little did +we think we should never see him again!" And the man's unconstrained +burst of grief excited anew the indignation of the spectators against +the crime, till then almost forgotten, in the intense interest as +to the fate of the accused. Lopez was called, and corroborated the +steward's account exactly. + +"If he left his house at a quarter before nine, at what hour, think +you, he would reach the Calle Soledad?" + +From ten to fifteen minutes past the hour, your Reverence, unless +detained by calling elsewhere on his way." + +"Did he mention any intention of so doing?" The answer was in the +negative. "According to this account, then, the murder must have taken +place between nine and ten; and Senor Stanley was not heard to quit +his apartment till eleven. This would corroborate his own assertion, +that the deed was committed ere he reached the spot." + +"But what proof have we that Don Ferdinand was not detained on his +way?" replied the chief of the Santa Hermandad. "His domestics assert +no more than the hour of his quitting the house." + +"The hour of the royal meeting was ten," rejoined the Sub-Prior; "he +was noted for regularity, and was not likely to have voluntarily +lingered so long, as not even to reach the Calle till one hour +afterwards." + +"Not voluntarily; but we have heard that he appeared more suffering +than he was ever seen to do. His illness might have increased, and so +cause detention; and yet, on even partial recovery, we know him +well enough to believe he would still have endeavored to join his +Highness." + +"He would; but there is evidence that when brought to the castle, he +had been dead at the very least three hours. Let Curador Benedicto +come forward." + +A respectable man, dressed in black, and recognized at once as the +leech or doctor of the royal household, obeyed the summons, and on +being questioned, stated that he had examined the body the very moment +it had been conveyed to the castle, in the hope of discovering some +signs of animation, however faint. But life was totally extinct, and, +according to his judgment, had been so at the very least three hours." + +"And what hour was this?" + +"Just half-an-hour after midnight." + +A brief silence followed the leech's dismissal; Ferdinand still seemed +perplexed and uneasy, and not one countenance, either of the nobles or +Associated Brethren, evinced satisfaction. + +"Our task, instead of decreasing in difficulty, becomes more and more +complicated, my lords and brethren," observed the Sub-Prior, after +waiting for the chief of the Santa Hermandad to speak. "Had we any +positive proof, that Senor Stanley really slept from the hour of sunset +till eleven the same evening, and never quitted his quarters until then, +we might hope that the sentence of Curador Benedicto, as to the length +of time life had been extinct in his supposed victim, might weigh +strongly against the circumstantial chain of evidence brought against +him. Believing that the prisoner having slept from the hour of sunset to +eleven was a proven and witnessed fact, I undertook the defensive and +argued in his favor. The sounds heard by the girl Beta may or may not +have proceeded from the stealthy movements of the accused, and yet +justice forbids our passing them by unnoticed. The time of this movement +being heard, and that of the murder, according to the leech's evidence, +tally so exactly that we cannot doubt but the one had to do with the +other; but whether it were indeed the prisoner's step, or that of the +base purloiner of his sword, your united judgment must decide. +Individual supposition, in a matter of life or death, can be of no +avail. My belief, as you may have discovered, inclines to the prisoner's +innocence. My brother, the chief Hermano, as strongly believes in his +guilt. And it would appear as if the evidence itself, supports the one +judgment equally with the other; contradictory and complicated, it has +yet been truthfully brought forward and strictly examined. Your united +judgment, Senors and Hermanos, must therefore decide the prisoner's +fate." + +"But under your favor, Reverend Father, all the evidence has not been +brought forward," rejoined the chief Hermano. "And methinks that which +is still to come is the most important of the whole. That the business +is complicated, and judgment most difficult, I acknowledge, and +therefore gladly avail myself of any remaining point on which the +scale may turn. Sworn as I am to administer impartial justice, +prejudice against the prisoner I can have none; but the point we have +until now overlooked, appears sufficient to decide not only individual +but general opinion. I mean the _premeditated vengeance_ sworn by the +prisoner against the deceased--long indulged and proclaimed enmity, +and premeditated determination to take his life or lose his own. +Don Ferdinand Morales--be his soul assoilized!--was so universally +beloved, so truly the friend of all ranks and conditions of men, that +to believe in the existence of any other enmity towards his person is +almost impossible. We have evidence that the prisoner was at feud with +him--was harboring some design against him for weeks. It may be he was +even refused by Don Ferdinand the meeting he desired, and so sought +vengeance by the midnight dagger. Let the evidence of this enmity be +examined, and according or not as premeditated malice is elicited, so +let your judgment be pronounced." + +"Ay, so let it be," muttered the King as a loud murmur of assent ran +through the hall. "We have two witnesses for this; and, by heaven, if +the one differ from the other in the smallest point, the prisoner may +still be reprieved!" + +Whether the royal observation was heard or not, there was no +rejoinder, for at the summoning of the chief Hermano, Don Luis Garcia +stood before the assemblage. His appearance excited surprise in many +present, and in none more than the prisoner himself. He raised his +head, which had been resting on his hand during the address of the +Sub-Prior, and the reply of the Hermano, and looked at the new witness +with bewildered astonishment. As Don Luis continued his relation of +the stormy interview between the deceased and the accused, and the +words of threatening used by the latter, astonishment itself, changed +into an indignation and loathing impossible to be restrained. + +"Thou base dishonored villain!" he exclaimed, so suddenly and +wrathfully that it startled more by its strange contrast with his +former calmness than by its irreverent interruption to the formula of +the examination; "where wert thou during this interview? Hearing so +well, and so invisibly concealed, none but the voluntary spy could +have heard all this; so skilfully detailed that thou wouldst seem in +very truth _witness_ as well as hearer. What _accident_ could have led +thee to the most retired part of Don Ferdinand's garden, and, +being there, detained thee? Thou treacherous villain! and on thy +evidence--evidence so honorably, so truthfully obtained, my life or +death depends! Well, be it so." + +"But so it shall not be," interposed the King himself, ere either +Sub-Prior or the Hermano could reply; "even as the prisoner, we +ourselves hold evidence dishonestly obtained of little moment--nay, +of no weight whatever. Be pleased, Don Luis Garcia, to explain +the casualty which led you, at such an important moment, to Don +Ferdinand's grounds; or name some other witness. The voluntary +listener is, in our mind, dishonorable as the liar, and demanding no +more account." + +With a mien and voice of the deepest humility, Don Luis replied; +grieving that his earnest love of justice should expose him to the +royal displeasure; submitting meekly to unjust suspicion as concerned +himself, but still upholding the truth and correctness of his +statement. The other witness to the same, he added mysteriously, he +had already named to his Royal Highness. + +"And she waits our pleasure," replied the King; "Don Felix d'Estaban, +be pleased to conduct the last witness to our presence." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + But love is strong. There came + Strength upon Woman's fragile heart and frame; + There came swift courage. + + MRS. HEMANS. + + Death has no pang + More keen than this. Oh, wherefore art thou here? + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +A profound silence followed Don Felix's departure. Don Luis had so +evidently evaded the King's demand, as to how he had witnessed this +important interview, that even those most prejudiced in his favor, on +account of his extreme sanctity, found themselves doubting his honor; +and those who had involuntarily been prejudiced against him, by the +indefinable something pervading his countenance and voice, doubly +rejoiced that their unspoken antipathy had some foundation. In modern +courts of justice, to refuse the validity of evidence merely because +the manner of obtaining it was supposed dishonorable, would be +pronounced the acme of folly and romance. In the age of which we +write, and in Spain especially, the sense of honor was so exquisitely +refined, that the King's rebuke, and determination not to allow the +validity of Don Luis's evidence, unless confirmed by an honorable +witness, excited no surprise whatever; every noble, nay, every one of +the Associated Brethren, there present, would have said the same; and +the eager wonder, as to the person of the witness on whom so much +stress was laid, became absolutely intense. The prisoner was very +evidently agitated; his cheek flushed and paled in rapid alternation, +and a suppressed but painful exclamation escaped from him as Don Felix +re-entered, leading with him a female form; but the faint sound was +unheard, save by the King and the Sub-Prior, who had been conversing +apart during d'Estaban's absence--lost in the irrepressible burst of +wonder and sympathy, which broke from all within the hall, as in the +new witness, despite the change of garb, and look, from the dazzling +beauty of health and peace, to the attenuated form of anxiety and +sorrow, they recognized at once the widow of the murdered, Donna +Marie. Nor was this universal sympathy lessened, when, on partially +removing her veil, to permit a clear view of the scene around her, her +sweet face was disclosed to all--profoundly, almost unnaturally, calm, +indeed--but the cheek and lips were perfectly colorless; the ashy +whiteness of the former rendered them more striking from the long +black lash resting upon it, unwetted by a single tear: and from the +peculiarly dark eye appearing the larger, from the attenuation of the +other features. One steady and inquiring glance she was seen to fix +upon the prisoner, and then she bent in homage to the Sovereign; and +emotion, if there were any, passed unseen. + +"Sit, lady," said the King, with ready courtesy, touched more than he +could have imagined possible, by the change fourteen short days had +wrought. "We would feign render this compelled summons as brief and +little fatiguing as may be: none can grieve more than ourselves at +this harsh intrusion on thy hours of sorrow; but in a great measure +the doom of life or death rests with thee, and justice forbids our +neglecting evidence so important. Yet sit, lady; we command it." + +"It needs not, gracious Sovereign; my strength will not fail me," +replied Marie, her sweet voice falling distinctly on every ear, while +Stanley started at its calmness; and she gracefully refused the seat +Don Felix proffered. "Give no more thought to me than to any other +witness; it is not a subject's place to sit in presence of her +Sovereign." + +But Ferdinand's kindliest feelings were excited, and instead of +permitting the Sub-Prior to give the necessary details, he himself, +with characteristic brevity, but clearly and kindly, narrated the +progress of the evidence for and against the prisoner, and how great +the weight laid on the proofs, if there were any, of acknowledged +enmity, and premeditated injury, on the part of the accused towards +the deceased. The questions to which he was compelled to request her +reply were simply, "Was she aware of any cause of hatred existing +between the accused and the deceased?" "Had she ever heard opprobrious +and insulting epithets used by the former or the latter?" "or any +threat, implying that the death of Don Ferdinand Morales was desired +by the prisoner?" "Had she ever seen the prisoner draw his sword upon +the deceased?--and had she any reason to believe that Don Ferdinand +had ever refused, or intended to refuse to meet the prisoner in +honorable combat, and so urged the gratification of vengeance by a +deed of murder? Reverend Father," continued the King, "be pleased +yourself to administer the customary oath." + +Father Francis instantly rose from his seat, and taking the large and +richly embossed silver crucifix from the Monk, who had administered +the oath to all the other witnesses, himself approached Marie. "Marie +Henriquez Morales," he said, as he reverentially held the solemn +symbol of his religion before her, "art thou well advised of the +solemnity of the words thou art called upon to speak? If so, swear to +speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Swear by +the Holy Symbol which I support; by the unpronounceable name of the +Father, by the flesh and blood, the resurrection and the life of our +Lord and Saviour Christ Jesu; by the Holy Spirit; by the saving and +glorious Trinity; by the goodly army of Saints and Martyrs; daughter, +swear, and the blessing or the curse be with you as you swear true or +falsely." + +The fine countenance of the Sub-Prior glowed with the holy enthusiasm +of his appeal; his form, as he stood, one hand clasping the crucifix, +the other emphatically raised, seemed dilated to unusual height and +majesty, and the deep solemnity of his accents so enhanced the awful +responsibility of the oath, that it thrilled throughout the multitude +as it had never done before. So deep was the stillness which followed, +that not one of those vast crowds seemed to breathe. To the prisoner +it was a moment of intense emotion: for if, indeed, Marie had once +told him truth, that oath, to her, even in its solemnity, was as +nought; but ere he could even think as to the wording of her answer, +that answer came, and so distinct, so unfalteringly spoken, that there +was not one person present who even strained his ear to catch the +words. + +"Reverend Father," she said, "I am grateful for thy counsel; and, +believe me, am well advised of the truth and solemnity of the words I +speak. But I cannot aid his Grace, and these his subjects, in their +decision as to the prisoner's sentence. My evidence is valueless. +I belong to that race whose word is never taken as witness, for or +against, in a court of justice. I cannot take the oath required, for I +deny the faith in which it is administered. I am a JEWESS!" + +A wild cry, in every variety of intonation--astonishment, horror, +wrath, and perhaps terror, ran through the hall--from Sovereign, +Noble, Monk, and Citizen, simultaneously. Father Francis staggered +back several paces, as if there were contamination in remaining by her +side, and then stood as rooted to the ground, his hand convulsively +grasping the crucifix which had nearly fallen from his hold; his lips +apart, his nostrils slightly distended, and his eyes almost starting +from their sockets, in the horrified and astonished gaze he fixed upon +the pale and fragile being who had dared speak such impious words. The +attendant fathers rose simultaneously, and formed a semicircle round +their superior, ready, at his slightest signal, to hurl down on +her the anathema of the church; reverence to the Sub-Prior alone +preventing the curse from instantly bursting forth. The nobles, the +Associated Brethren, Ferdinand himself, started almost unconsciously +to their feet, and an eager rush brought many of the citizens still +nearer to the scene of action. The prisoner, with an irresistible +impulse, darted forwards, and ere any one had recovered from his +trance of bewilderment, had flung himself at Marie's feet. + +"Marie! Marie!" he exclaimed, in a voice so hoarse and choked, its +words were heard by her alone. "Oh! why hast thou done this? Why not +take the required oath, and condemn me at once? Marie, I am unworthy +of such self-sacrifice!" + +"Ha! didst thou slay him then? Have I judged thee too kindly, Arthur," +she answered; and the hand she laid heavily on his shoulder trembled +so violently, it was evident she had thus placed it only to save her +from sinking to the ground, for the unnatural strength had gone. + +"No!" he exclaimed, in a tone and with a look that satisfied her at +once, and there was no time for more. The King had perceived that the +Sub-Prior was recovering composure, and with it energy of action; +though himself a zealous Catholic, he felt compelled to save Marie. +"Hold! hold!" he said hastily, as Father Francis was about to speak. +"Reverend Father, we pray thee, be not over hasty in this matter; +these are strange and terrible words; but they are meaningless; they +must be. Her misery has turned her brain; she is mad; heed her not; be +silent all of ye! See how she glares upon the prisoner! Is that the +look of sanity? By St. Francis, we have done wrong to call her hither! +Stand back, good fathers. Remove the prisoner; and let Donna Marie be +conducted from the hall. Our Consort should have warned us of this!" + +"Forbear, my liege!" replied the Sub-Prior sternly. "The blaspheming +words were all too calmly and collectively spoken for the ravings of +madness. Let not the false unbeliever pass hence till at least she +has done reverence to the sacred symbol, she has, by daring denial, +insulted. As thou wouldst save thine own soul from hell-fire, my +liege, interfere not in this!" + +As he spoke, several soldiers had endeavored rudely to drag Arthur +from Marie: he strove fiercely for freedom, for but one hour's power +to protect her, but in vain. And the look she fixed upon him, as he +was torn from her, from its contrast with her previous profound calm, +did indeed seem almost of madness. The excitement which had enabled +her to make this dread avowal--an avowal comprising such variety, and +terrible danger, that the magnitude of the sacrifice comprised in the +confession can now scarcely be understood; danger, not merely from the +vengeance of the church for long years of fraud, nor from the secret +and awful tribunal of whose existence she was conscious (though not of +its close vicinity); not merely these, but danger from the wrath, and +terrors of the secret members of her own faith, who might naturally +imagine their own safety endangered in the suspicion, engendered by +her rash confession. Of all this she had thought; had believed herself +strengthened to brave and bear every possible suffering, rather than +breathe those words which must seal Stanley's fate; but now that she +had spoken, though she would not have recalled them if she could--such +an overpowering, crushing sense of all she had drawn upon herself, +such fearful, spectral shapes of indefinable horror came upon her, +that, as the Sub-Prior stood again before her with the uplifted cross, +bidding her kneel and acknowledge him whose fate it imaged--she burst +into a wild hysteric laugh, and fell prone upon the floor. + +"Said I not she was mad? And what need was there for this unmanly +violence?" angrily exclaimed the Monarch; and, starting from his seat, +he authoritatively waved back the denouncing monks, and himself bent +over Marie. The Duke of Murcia, Don Felix d'Estaban, the Lord of +Aguilar, and several other nobles following the Sovereign's example, +hastened to her assistance. But to restore animation was not in their +power, and on the King's whispered commands, Don Felix gently, even +tenderly raised her, and bore her in his arms from the hall. Even in +that moment of excitement Ferdinand could not forbear glancing at the +prisoner, whose passionate struggles to escape from the guard, when +Marie fell, had been noticed by all, and unhappily, combined with, his +previous irritation, but confirmed the unspoken suspicions of many as +to the real cause of his enmity against Don Ferdinand. The expression +of his countenance was of such contending, terrible suffering, that +the King hastily withdrew his gaze, vainly endeavoring to disbelieve, +as he had done, the truth of Garcia's charge. + +Order was at length universally restored, and after a brief silence, +the chief of the Santa Hermandad demanded of the prisoner if he had +aught to say in his defence, or reply himself to Don Luis Garcia's +charge. The reply was a stern, determined negative; and, deputed so to +do by the Sub-Prior, who seemed so absorbed in the horror of Marie's +daring avowal, as to be incapable of further interference, the Hermano +proceeded to sum up the evidence. As the widow of the deceased had so +strangely, yet effectually deprived them of her evidence, he said, +he thought some slight regard ought to be paid to Don Luis Garcia's +words; but even without doing so, the circumstantial evidence, though +contradictory and complicated, was enough in his opinion to convict +the prisoner; but he referred to his associates and to the peers +then present, to pronounce sentence. His task was but to sum up the +evidence, which he trusted he had done distinctly; his opinion was +that of but one individual; there were at least fifty or sixty voices, +to confirm or to oppose it. + +Deep and sustained as had been the interest throughout the trial, it +was never more intense than during the awful pause which heralded the +prisoner's doom. It was spoken at length; the majority alike of the +nobles and of the Santa Hermandad, believed and pronounced him guilty, +and sentence of death was accordingly passed; but the Duke of Murcia +then stepped forward, and urged the following, not only in the name of +his brother peers, but in the name of his native sovereign, Isabella; +that in consideration of the complicated and contradictory evidence, +of the prisoner's previous high character, and of his strongly +protested innocence, a respite of one month should be granted between +sentence and execution, to permit prayers to be offered up throughout +Spain for the discovery of the real murderer, or at least allow time +for some proof of innocence to appear; during which time the prisoner +should be removed from the hateful dungeon he had till that morning +occupied, and confined under strict ward, in one of the turrets of the +castle; and that, if at the end of the granted month affairs remained +as they were then, that no proof of innocence appeared, a scaffold was +to be erected in the Calle Soledad, on the exact spot where the murder +was committed; there the prisoner, publicly degraded from the honors +and privileges of chivalry, his sword broken before him, his spurs +ignominiously struck from his heels, would then receive the award +of the law, death from hanging, the usual fate of the vilest and +commonest malefactors. + +Ferdinand and the Sub-Prior regarded him attentively while this +sentence was pronounced, but not a muscle in his countenance moved; +what it expressed it would have been difficult to define; but it +seemed as if his thoughts were on other than himself. The King +courteously thanked the assemblage for their aid in a matter so +momentous, and at once ratified their suggestion. The Associated +Brethren were satisfied that it was Isabella's will; confident also in +their own power to prevent the evasion, and bring about the execution +of the sentence, if still required, at the termination of the given +time; and with a brief but impressive address from the Sub-Prior to +the prisoner, the assemblage dispersed. + +But the excitement of the city ceased not with the conclusion of the +trial: not alone the populace, but the nobles themselves, even the +Holy Fathers and Associated Brethren were seen, forming in various +groups, conversing eagerly and mysteriously. The interest in the +prisoner had in some measure given way to a new excitement. Question +followed question, conjecture followed conjecture, but nothing could +solve the mystery of Donna Marie's terrible avowal, or decrease the +bewilderment and perplexity which, from various causes, it created in +every mind. One alone, amongst the vast crowds which had thronged the +trial, shunned his fellows. Not a change in the calm, cold, sneering +expression of Don Luis Garcia's countenance had betrayed either +surprise at, or sympathy with, any one of the various emotions +stirring that vast multitude of human hearts; he had scarcely even +moved his position during the continuance of the trial, casting indeed +many a glance on the immediate scene of action, from beneath his +thick and shadowy eyebrows, which concealed the sinister gaze from +observation. He shunned the face of day; but in his own dark haunts, +and with his hellish colleagues, plans were formed and acted on, with +a rapidity which, to minds less matured in iniquity, would have seemed +incredible. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + The quality of mercy is not strain'd, + It droppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven + Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed, + It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes; + 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes + The throned monarch better than his crown. + + SHAKSPEARE. + +The interest attending a trial, in which royalty had evinced such +powerful sympathy, naturally extended to every member of Isabella's +female train: her anxiety as to the issue had been very visible, +notwithstanding her calm and quiet demeanor. The Infanta Isabella and +the Infant Don Juan were with her during the morning as usual; but +even their infantile caresses, dearer to her true woman's heart than +all her vast possessions, had failed to disperse the anxiety of +thought. Few can peruse the interesting life of Isabella of Castile +without being struck by the fact, that even as her public career was +one of unmixed prosperity for her country and herself, her private +sorrows and domestic trials vied, in their bitterness, with those of +the poorest and humblest of her subjects. Her first-born, the Infanta +Isabella, who united all the brilliant and endearing qualities of her +mother, with great beauty, both of face and form, became a loving +bride only to become a widow--a mother, only to gaze upon her babe, +and die; and her orphan quickly followed. Don Juan, the delight +and pride and hope of his parents, as of the enthusiasm and almost +idolatry of their subjects, died in his twentieth year. The hapless +Catherine of Arragon, with whose life of sorrow and neglect every +reader of English history is acquainted, though they sometimes forget +her illustrious parentage; her sorrows indeed Isabella was spared, as +she died before Henry the Eighth ascended the English throne. But +it was Juana, the wife of Philip, and mother of Charles V., whose +intellects, always feeble, and destroyed by the neglect and unkindness +of the husband she idolized, struck the last and fatal blow. And she, +whom all Europe regarded with unfeigned veneration--she whom her own +subjects so idolized, they would gladly have laid down a thousand +lives for hers--she fell a victim to a mother's heart-consuming +grief.[A] Who then, after perusing her life, and that of how many +other sovereigns, will refuse them, the meed of sympathy, because, +raised so far above us in _outward_ things, we deem the griefs and +feelings of common humanity unknown and uncared for? To our mind, +the destiny of the Sovereign, the awful responsibility, the utter +loneliness of station, the general want of sympathy, the proneness to +be condemned for faults or omissions of which they are, individually, +as innocent as their contemners, present a subject for consideration +and sympathy, and ought to check the unkind thoughts and hasty +condemnation, excited merely because they are placed in rank and +circumstances above us. A King of kings has placed them there, and a +Universal Father calls them His children, even as ourselves. + +[Footnote A: Isabella had been previously attacked by dangerous +indisposition, from which, however, the natural strength of her +constitution would have enabled her in some degree to rally; but the +springs of life had been injured by previous bereavement. Her lungs +became affected, and the symptoms of decline rapidly and fatally +increased from continual affliction of mind.--_History of Spain_.] + +Isabella had not seen Marie that morning; her trusty attendant, Donna +Inez de Leon, had alone been with her, and had reported that she was +calm and composed, and more like herself than she had been since her +bereavement. Time passed but slowly, and Catherine Pas, the same +high-spirited maiden mentioned in a former chapter, perceiving that +the Queen's anxiety evidently increased as the hours waned, quietly +left the chamber, unbidden, and even unseen. A brief interval saw +her return, and with a countenance so expressive of horrified +bewilderment, as to excite the astonishment of all. + +"Oh, madam!" she exclaimed, as she flew to the Queen's seat, +regardless of either decorum or rebuke; "Oh, madam, it has killed her; +she is dying!" + +"Dying!" repeated Isabella, and the whole strength of her character +was put forth, to prevent her starting from her seat. "Dying!--who is +dying? Speak out, in Santa Maria's name!" + +"Donna Marie--the poor, unhappy Marie; she has been borne from the +hall! Don Felix had her in his arms; I saw her; I followed them, and +she looked dead, quite dead; they would not let me go to her at first, +till I called them hard-hearted wretches! And I have tried to rouse +her, but I could not. Oh, save her, gracious madam! Do not let her +die!" + +"And have they none with her?" demanded the Queen. "But whom can they +have, save her own terrified women? Inez--Leonor--go to her at once! +Your skill and tenderness will soon revive her; this silly child +is terrified at shadows. 'Tis but a faint, such as followed the +announcement of her husband's death. If any one dare refuse you +entrance, tell them you go in your Queen's name. Foolish trembler," +she added, in a tone of relief, as her commands were instantly obeyed, +"why this excessive agitation, when thou hast seen a faint like this +before?" + +"Nay, but by your leave, gracious madam, I have not," replied +Catherine, with emotion. "There is far more of horror in this; she is +cold--cold, like stone; and they have planted a guard at the entrance +of her apartments, and they tell a tale so wild and strange, I cannot +give it credence!" + +"Ha! what say they?" demanded the Queen hastily, her eyes flashing +with light, as they always did when she was excited. "What can it be, +too wild and strange for thy hair-brained fancy to believe? Marvellous +it must be indeed!" + +Isabella spoke jestingly, but her heart was not with her words: and +Catherine replied with tears starting to her eyes, "Oh, do not speak +thus, my liege. It is indeed no theme for jest." And she continued so +rapidly, that to any but the quickened mind of Isabella, her words +must have seemed unintelligible. "They say she is a heretic, royal +madam! Nay, worse--a blaspheming unbeliever; that she has refused to +take the oath, on plea of not believing in the Holy Catholic Church; +that she has insulted, has trampled on the sacred cross! Nor is +this all--worse, yet worse; they say she has proclaimed herself a +JEWESS!--an abhorred, an unbelieving Jewess!" + +A general start and loud exclamation of horror was the natural +rejoinder to this unlooked-for intelligence; but not from Isabella, +whose flashing eyes were still fixed on the young girl's face, as to +read in her soul the confirmation of these strange words. "What dost +thou say?" she said at length, and so slowly, a second might have +intervened between each word. "Speak! let me hear again! A Jewess! +Santa Maria! But no; it _cannot_ be. They must have told thee false!" + +So the Queen spoke; but ere Catherine had concluded a calmer +repetition of the tale, Marie's words of the preceding evening rushed +back on her mind, confirming it but too surely. "To-morrow all will be +distinct and clear enough!" she had said; ay, distinct it was; and +so engrossingly intense became the thoughts thronging in her mind, +bewildering succession, that Isabella sat motionless, her brow leaning +on her hand, wholly unconscious of the lapse of time. + +A confusion in the gallery, and the words, "The King! the King!" +roused her at length; and never was the appearance of Ferdinand more +welcome, not only to Isabella, but to her attendants, as giving them +the longed-for opportunity to retire, and so satisfy curiosity, and +give vent to the wonderment which, from their compelled silence in +Isabella's presence, had actually become intolerable. + +Ferdinand speedily narrated the affairs of the morning, and concluded +by inquiring if any thing had occurred in her interview with Marie to +excite suspicion of her mad design. The Queen replied by relating, in +her turn, all that had passed between them. The idea of madness could +no longer exist; there was not the faintest hope that in a moment of +frenzy she had spoken falsely. + +"And yet, was it not madness," the King urged, "thus publicly to avow +a determined heresy, and expose herself to all the horrors of the +church's vengeance! 'Years of deception and fraud!' she told thee, +'would be disclosed.' By St. Francis! fraud enough. Who could have +suspected the wife of Don Ferdinand Morales a Jewess? It was on this +account he kept her so retired. How could he reconcile his conscience +to a union with one of a race so abhorred, beautiful as she is? And +where could he have found her? But this matters not: it is all wild +conjecture, save the madness of the avowal. What cause could there +have been for such self-sacrifice?" + +"There was a cause," replied the Queen earnestly; "cause enough to +render life to her of little moment. Do not ask me my meaning, dearest +Ferdinand; I would not do her such wrong as to breathe the suspicion +that, spite of myself, spite of incomprehensible mystery, will come, +even to thee. Do not let us regret her secret is discovered. Let her +but recover from the agony of these repeated trials, and with the help +of our holy fathers, we may yet turn her from her abhorred faith, and +so render her happy in this world, and secure her salvation in the +next." + +"The help of the holy fathers!" repeated the King. "Nay, Isabel, +their sole help will be to torture and burn! They will accuse her +of insulting, by years of deceit, the holy faith, of which she has +appeared a member. Nay, perchance of using foul magic on Morales (whom +the saints preserve), and then thou knowest what will follow!" + +The Queen shuddered. "Never with my consent, my husband! From the +first moment I beheld this unfortunate, something attracted me towards +her; her misery deepened the feeling; and even now, knowing what she +is, affection lingers. The Holy Virgin give me pardon, if 'tis sin!" + +"For such sin I will give thee absolution, dearest," replied the King, +half jestingly, half earnestly. "Do not look so grave. No one knows, +or values thy sterling piety half so tenderly and reverentially as +I do. But this is no common case. Were Marie one of those base and +grovelling wretches, those accursed unbelievers, who taint our fair +realm with their abhorred rites--think of nothing but gold and usury, +and how best to cheat their fellows; hating us almost as intensely as +we hate them--why, she should abide by the fate she has drawn upon +herself. But the wife of my noble Morales, one who has associated so +long with zealous Catholics, that she is already most probably one of +us, and only avowed her descent from some mysterious cause--by St. +Francis, she shall be saved!" + +"But how?" inquired Isabella anxiously. "Wouldst thou deny her faith +to Father Francis, and persuade him she has spoken falsely?" + +The King shook his head. "That will never do, Isabel. I have had the +holy man closeted with me already, insisting on the sanity of her +words, and urging me to resign the unbeliever at once to the tender +mercy of the church. All must depend on thee." + +"On me?" repeated Isabella, in a tone of surprised yet anxious +inquiry. + +"On thee, love. Thy perfect humility is ignorant of the fact--yet it +is nevertheless perfectly true--that thou art reverenced, well nigh +canonized, by the holy church; and thy words will have weight when +mine would be light as air. Refuse the holy fathers all access to her; +say she is unfitted to encounter them; that she is ill; nay, mad, if +thou wilt. Bring forward the state in which she was borne from the +hall; her very laugh (by St. Francis, it rings in my ear still) to +confirm it, and they will believe thee. The present excitement will +gradually subside, and her very existence be forgotten. Let none but +thy steadiest, most pious matrons have access to her; forbid thy young +maidens to approach or hold converse with her; and her being under +thy protection can do harm to none. Let her be prisoner in her own +apartments, an thou wilt; she deserves punishment for the deception +practised towards thee. Treat her as thou deemest best, only give her +not up to the mercy of the church!" + +"Talk not of it," replied the Queen earnestly. "Unbeliever though +she be, offspring of a race which every true Catholic must hold in +abhorrence, she is yet a _woman_, Ferdinand, and, as such, demands and +shall receive the protection of her Queen. Yet, would there were some +means of saving her from the eternal perdition to which, as a Jewess, +she is destined; some method, without increase of suffering, to allure +her, as a penitent and believing child, to the bosom of our holy +mother church." + +"And to do this, who so fitted as thyself, dearest Isabel?" answered +the King with earnest affection. "Thou hast able assistants in some +of thy older matrons, and may after a while call in the aid of Father +Denis, whose kindly nature is better fitted for gentle conversion +than either Francis, or thy still sterner chaplain, Torquemada. Thy +kindness has gained thee the love of this misguided one; and if any +one have sufficient influence to convert, by other than sharp means, +it can only be thyself." + +Isabella was not long undecided. Her heart felt that to turn Marie +from blindness and perdition by kindness and affection would be indeed +far more acceptable to the virgin (her own peculiar saint) than the +heretic's blood, and she answered with animation, "Then so it shall +be, Ferdinand; I fear me, alas! that there will be little reason to +prevaricate, to deny all spiritual access to her. Thy report, combined +with my terrified Catherine's, gives me but little hope for health or +reason. But should she indeed recover, trust me she shall be happy +yet." + +Great was the astonishment of the guards as they beheld their +Sovereign fearlessly enter the chamber of a proclaimed Jewess--a word +in their minds synonymous with the lowest, most degraded rank of +being; and yet more, to hear and perceive that she herself was +administering relief. The attendants of Isabella--whose curiosity was +now more than satisfied, for the tale had been repeated with the usual +exaggerations, even to a belief that she had used the arts of sorcery +on Morales--huddled together in groups, heaping every opprobrious +epithet upon her, and accusing her of exposing them all to the horrors +of purgatory by contaminating them with her presence. And as the +Sovereign re-appeared in her saloon with the leech Benedicto, whose +aid she had summoned, there were many who ventured to conjure her not +to expose herself to such pollution as the tending of a Jewess--to +leave her to the fate her fraud so merited. Even Catherine, finding to +disbelieve the tale any longer was impossible, and awed and terrified +at the mysterious words of her companions, which told of danger to her +beloved mistress, flung herself on her knees before her, clasping her +robe to detain her from again seeking the chamber of Marie. Then +was the moment for a painter to have seized on the face and form of +Isabella! Her eye flashed till its very color was undistinguishable, +her lip curled, every feature--usually so mild and feminine--was so +transformed by indignation into majesty and unutterable scorn as +scarcely to have been recognized. Her slight and graceful form dilated +till the very boldest cowered before her, even before she spoke; for +never had they so encountered her reproof:-- + +"Are ye women?" she said at length, in the quiet, concentrated tone of +strong emotion; "or are we deceived as to the meaning of your words? +Pollution! Are we to see a young, unhappy being perish for want of +sympathy and succor, because--forsooth--she is a Jewess? Danger to our +soul! We should indeed fear it; did we leave her to die, without one +effort to restore health to the frame, and the peace of Christ to the +mind! Has every spark of woman's nature faded from your hearts, that +ye can speak thus? If for yourselves you fear, tend her not, approach +her not--we will ourselves give her the aid she needs. And as for +thee," she continued severely, as she forced the now trembling +Catherine to stand upright before her, "whose energy to serve Marie +we loved and applauded; child as thou art, must thou too speak of +pollution? but example may have done this. Follow me, minion; and then +talk of pollution if thou canst!" And with a swift step Isabella led +the way to the chamber of Marie. + +"Behold!" she said emphatically, as she pointed to the unhappy +sufferer, who, though restored to life, was still utterly unconscious +where she was or who surrounded her; her cheek and brow, white and +damp; her large eye lustreless and wandering; her lip and eyelid +quivering convulsively; her whole appearance proving too painfully +that reason had indeed, for the time, fled. The soul had been strong +till the dread words were said; but the re-action had been too much +for either frame or mind. "Catherine! thou hast seen her in her +beauty, the cherished, the beloved of all who knew her--seen her when +no loveliness could mate with hers. Thou seest now the wreck that +misery has made, though she has numbered but few more years than thou +hast! Detest, abhor, avoid her _faith_--for that we command thee; but +her sex, her sorrow, have a claim to sympathy and aid, which not even +her race can remove. Jewess though she be, if thou can look on her +thus, and still speak of pollution and danger, thou art not what we +deemed thee!" + +Struck to the heart, alike by the marked display of a mistress she +idolized and the sympathy her better nature really felt for Marie, +Catherine sunk on her knees by the couch, and burst into tears. +Isabella watched her till her unusual indignation subsided, and then +said more kindly, "It is enough; go, Catherine. If we judge thee +rightly thou wilt not easily forget this lesson! Again I bid thee +abhor her faith; but seek to win her to the right path, by gentleness +and love, not prejudice and hate." + +"Oh! let me tarry here and tend her, my gracious Sovereign," implored +Catherine, again clasping Isabella's robe and looking beseechingly in +her face--but from a very different feeling to the prompter of the +same action a few minutes before--"Oh, madam, do not send me from her! +I will be so gentle, so active--watch, tend, serve; only say your +Grace's bidding, and I will do it, if I stood by her alone!" + +"My bidding would be but the promptings of thine own heart, my girl," +replied the Queen, fondly, for she saw the desired impression had been +made. "If I need thee--which I may do--I will call upon thee; but +now, thou canst do nothing, but think kindly, and judge +mercifully--important work indeed, if thou wouldst serve an erring and +unhappy fellow-creature, with heart as well as hand. But now go: nay, +not so sorrowfully; thy momentary fault is forgiven," she added, +kindly, as she extended her hand towards the evidently pained and +penitent maiden, who raised it gratefully and reverentially to her +lips, and thoughtfully withdrew. + +It was not, however, with her attendants only, this generous and +high-minded princess had to contend--with them her example was enough; +but the task was much more difficult, when the following day, as King +Ferdinand had anticipated, brought the stern Sub-Prior of St. Francis +to demand, in the church's name, the immediate surrender of Marie. But +Isabella's decision once formed never wavered. Marie was under her +protection, she said--an erring indeed, but an unhappy young creature, +who, by her very confession, had thrown herself on the mercy of her +Sovereign--and she would not deliver up the charge. In vain the Prior +urged the abomination of a Jewess residing under her very roof--the +danger to her soul should she be tempted to associate with her, and +that granting protection to an avowed and blaspheming unbeliever must +expose her to the suspicions, or, at least the censure of the church. +Isabella was inexorable. To his first and second clause she quietly +answered as she had done to her own attendants; his third only +produced a calm and fearless smile. She knew too well, as did the +Prior also, though for the time he chose to forget it, that her +character for munificent and heartfelt piety was too well established, +not only in Spain but throughout Europe, to be shaken even by the +protection of a Jewess. Father Francis then solicited to see her; but +even this point he could not gain. Isabella had, alas! no need to +equivocate as to the reason of his non-admission to Marie. Reason had +indeed returned, and with it the full sense of the dangers she had +drawn upon herself; but neither frame nor mind was in a state to +encounter such an interview as the Prior demanded. + +The severity of Father Francis originated, as we have before remarked, +neither in weak intellect nor selfish superstition. Towards himself +indeed he never relented either in severity or discipline; towards +others benevolence and humanity very often gained ascendency; and +something very like a tear glistened in his eye as Isabella forcibly +portrayed the state in which Marie still remained. And when she +concluded, by frankly imparting her intention, if health were indeed +restored, to leave no means untried--even to pursue some degree of +severity if nothing else would do--to wean her from her mistaken +faith, he not only abandoned his previous intentions, but commended +and blessed the nobler purpose of his Sovereign. To his request that +Marie might be restrained from all intercourse with the younger +members of Isabella's female court--in fact, associate with none but +strict and uncompromising Catholics--the Queen readily acceded; and +moreover, granted him full permission to examine the mansion of +Don Ferdinand Morales, that any books or articles of dangerous or +heretical import might be discovered and destroyed. + +With these concessions Father Francis left his Sovereign, affected +at her goodness and astonished at her influence on himself. He had +entered her presence believing nothing could change the severity of +his intentions or the harshness of his feelings; he left her with the +one entirely renounced, and the other utterly subdued. + +Such was the triumph of prejudice achieved by the lofty-minded and +generous woman, who swayed the sceptre of Castile.[A] And yet, though +every history of the time unites in so portraying her; though her +individual character was the noblest, the most magnanimous, the most +complete union of masculine intellect with perfect womanhood, +ever traced on the pages of the past; though under her public +administration her kingdom stood forth the noblest, the most refined, +most generous, ay, and the freest, alike in national position, as in +individual sentiment, amongst all the nations of Europe, Isabella's +was the fated hand to sign two edicts[B] whose consequences +extinguished the lustre, diminished the virtues, enslaved the +sentiments, checked the commerce, and in a word deteriorated the whole +character of Spain. + +[Footnote A: We are authorized to give this character to Isabella of +Castile, and annex the lustre of such action to her memory; as we know +that even when, by the persuasions and representations of Torquemada, +the Inquisition was publicly established, Isabella constantly +interfered her authority to prevent _zeal_ from becoming _inhumanity_. +Rendered unusually penetrating by her peculiarly feeling and gentle +nature, she discovered, what was concealed from others, "That many +enormities may be committed under the veil of religion--many innocent +persons falsely accused; their riches being their only crime. Her +exertions brought such things to light, and the suborners were +punished according to their guilt."--WASHINGTON IRVING'S _Siege of +Granada_.--Of Ferdinand too we are told, "_Respet� la jurisdiction +ecclesiastica, y conservo la real_;" he respected the ecclesiastical +jurisdiction, but _guarded_ or was _jealous_, for that of the crown. +His determination, therefore, to refuse the church's interference in +the case of Marie, though unusual to his _age_, is warranted by his +larger mind and freer policy.] + +[Footnote B: The establishment of the Inquisition, and expulsion of +the Jews.] + +For fourteen days affairs remained the same. At the end of that period +the castle and city of Segovia were thrown anew into a state of +the wildest excitement by a most mysterious occurrence--Marie had +disappeared. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + "Meekly had he bowed and prayed, + As not disdaining priestly aid; + And while before the Prior kneeling, + His heart was weaned from earthly feeling: + No more reproach, no more despair-- + No thought but heaven, no word but prayer." + + BYRON. + + +Time passed slowly on, and no proof appeared to clear Arthur Stanley's +fame. All that man's judgment could counsel, was adopted--secret +measures were taken throughout Spain, for the apprehension of any +individual suspected of murder, or even of criminal deeds; constant +prayers offered up, that if Arthur Stanley were not the real murderer, +proofs of his innocence might be made so evident that not even his +greatest enemy could doubt any longer; but all seemed of no avail. +Week after week passed, and with the exception of one most mysterious +occurrence, affairs remained the same. So strong was the belief of the +nobles in his innocence, that the most strenuous exertions were made +in his favor; but, strong as Ferdinand's own wish was to save him, his +love of justice was still stronger; though the testimony of Don Luis +might be set aside, calm deliberation on all the evidence against +him marked it as sufficiently strong to have sentenced any other so +accused at once. The resolute determination to purge their kingdom +from the black crimes of former years, which both sovereigns felt and +unitedly acted upon, urged them to conquer every private wish and +feeling, rather than depart from the line laid down. The usual +dispensers of justice, the Santa Hermandad--men chosen by their +brother citizens for their lucid judgment, clearness of perception, +and utter absence of all overplus of chivalrous feeling, in matters of +cool dispassionate reasoning--were unanimous in their belief in the +prisoner's guilt, and only acquiesced in the month's reprieve, because +it was Isabella's wish. Against their verdict what could be brought +forward? In reality nothing but the prisoner's own strongly-attested +innocence--an attestation most forcible in the minds of the Sovereign +and the nobles, but of no weight whatever to men accustomed to weigh, +and examine, and cross-examine, and decide on proof, or at least from +analogy, and never from an attestation, which the greatest criminals +might as forcibly make. The power and election of these men Ferdinand +and Isabella had confirmed. How could they, then, interfere in the +present case, and shackle the judgment which they had endowed with +authority, dispute and deny the sentence they had previously given +permission to pronounce? Pardon they might, and restore to life and +liberty; but the very act of pronouncing pardon supposed belief in and +proclamation of guilt. There was but one thing which could save him +and satisfy justice, and that was the sentence of "not guilty." For +this reason Ferdinand refused every petition for Stanley's reprieve, +hoping indeed, spite of all reason, that even at the eleventh hour +evidence of his innocence would and must appear. + +Stanley himself had no such hope. All his better and higher nature had +been called forth by the awful and mysterious death of Morales, dealt +too by his own sword--that sword which, in his wild passions, he had +actually prayed might shed his blood. The film of passion had dropped +alike from mental and bodily vision. He beheld his irritated feelings +in their true light, and knew himself in thought a murderer. He would +have sacrificed life itself, could he but have recalled the words of +insult offered to one so noble; not for the danger to himself from +their threatening nature, but for the injurious injustice done to the +man from whom he had received a hundred acts of little unobtrusive +kindnesses, and whom he had once revered as the model of every thing +virtuous and noble--services which Morales had rendered him, felt +gratefully perhaps at the time, but forgotten in the absorption of +thought or press of occupation during his sojourn in Sicily, now +rushed back upon him, marking him ingrate as well as dishonored. All +that had happened he regarded as Divine judgment on an unspoken, +unacted, but not the less encouraged sin. The fact that his sword had +done the deed, convinced him that his destruction had been connived +at, as well as that of Morales. A suspicion as to the designer, if not +the actual doer of the deed, had indeed taken possession of him; but +it was an idea so wild, so unfounded, that he dared not give it words. + +From the idea of death, and such a death, his whole soul indeed +revolted; but to avert it seemed so utterly impossible, that he +bent his proud spirit unceasingly to its anticipation; and with the +spiritual aid of the good and feeling Father Francis, in some degree +succeeded. It was not the horror of his personal fate alone which bade +him so shrink from death. Marie was free once more; nay, had from +the moment of her dread avowal--made, he intuitively felt, to save +him--become, if possible, dearer, more passionately loved than before. +And, oh! how terrible is the anticipation of early death to those that +love!--the only trial which bids even the most truly spiritual, yet +while on earth still _human_ heart, forget that if earth is loved and +lovely, heaven _must_ be lovelier still. + +From Don Felix d'Estaban, his friendly warder, he heard of Isabella's +humane intentions toward her; that her senses had been restored, and +she was, to all appearance, the same in health as she had been since +her husband's death; only evidently suffering more, which might be +easily accounted for from the changed position in which the knowledge +of her unbelief had placed her with all the members of Isabella's +court; that the only agitation she had evinced was, when threatened +with a visit from Father Francis--who, finding nothing in the mansion +of Don Ferdinand Morales to confirm the truth of her confession, +had declared his conviction that there must be some secret chamber +destined for her especial use. As if shrinking from the interview he +demanded, Marie had said to the Senora, to whose care she had been +intrusted--"He need not seek me to obtain this information. For my +husband's sake alone I concealed the faith in which I glory. Let +Father Francis remove a sliding panel beneath the tapestry behind +the couch in my sleeping apartment, and he will find not only all he +seeks, but the surest proof of my husband's care and tenderness for +me, unbeliever though he might deem me." + +The discovery of this secret closet, Don Felix continued, had caused +much marvel throughout the court. Where Morales had found her, or how +he could have reconciled his conscience not only to make her his wife, +but permit her the free exercise of a religion accursed in the sight +both of God and man, under his own roof, were questions impossible to +solve, or reconcile with the character of orthodox Catholicism he had +so long borne. The examination had been conducted with the church's +usual secrecy; the volumes of heresy and unbelief (it did not signify +that the word of God was amongst them) burnt; the silver lamps and +other ornaments melted down, to enrich, by an image of the virgin, the +church of St. Francis; the recess itself purified with incense and +sprinkled with holy water; the sign of the cross deeply burnt in the +walls; and the panel which formed the secret entrance firmly fastened +up, that its very existence should be forgotten. The matter, however, +Don Felix added, was not publicly spoken of, as both the King and +Queen, in conjunction with the Sub-Prior, seemed to wish all that +had passed, in which Donna Marie was concerned, should be gradually +forgotten. Don Ferdinand's vast possessions had, in consequence of +his widow's being an unbeliever, and so having no power to inherit, +reverted to the crown; but in case of Marie's conversion, of which Don +Felix appeared to entertain little doubt, the greater part would be +restored to her. Till then, Marie was kept in strict confinement in +the palace; but all harsher measures Isabella had resolved to avoid. + +This intelligence relieved Stanley's mind of one painful dread, while +it unconsciously increased his wish to live. Marie free! a Catholic! +what could come between them then? Must she not love him, else why +seek to save him? And then again the mystery darkened round her. A +wild suspicion as to the _real reason_ of her having wedded Ferdinand, +had flitted across his mind; but the words of Estaban so minutely +repeated, seemed to banish it entirely; they alluded but to her +husband's forbearing tenderness, felt the more intensely from its +being extended by a zealous Catholic to one of a race usually so +contemned and hated. In vain he tried to reconcile the seeming +inconsistency of her conduct; his thoughts only became the more +confused and painful, till even the remembrance of her self-devotion +lost its power to soothe or to allay them. + +When Don Felix again visited his prisoner, his countenance was so +expressive of consternation, that Stanley had scarcely power to ask +what had occurred. Marie had disappeared from the castle so strangely +and mysteriously, that not a trace or clue could be discovered of her +path. Consternation reigned within the palace; the King was full of +wrath at the insult offered to his power; the Queen even more grieved +than angry. The guards stationed without the chamber had declared on +oath that no one had passed them; the Senoras Leon and Pas, who slept +in the room adjoining, could tell nothing wherewith to explain the +mystery. In the first paroxsym of alarm they had declared the night +had passed as usual; but on cooler reflection they remembered starting +from their sleep with the impression of a smothered cry, which having +mingled with their dreams, and not being repeated, they had believed +mere fancy. And this faint sound was the only sign, the only trace +that her departure was not a voluntary act. + +"Father Francis! the arm of the church!" gasped Stanley, as Don Felix +paused in his recital, astonished at the effect of his words on the +prisoner, whose very respiration seemed impeded. + +"Father Francis has solemnly sworn," he replied, "that neither he nor +any of his brethren had connived at an act of such especial disrespect +to the sovereign power, and of injustice towards the Queen. Torquemada +is still absent, or suspicion night rest on him--he is stern enough +even for such a deed; but how could even he have withdrawn her from +the castle without discovery?" + +"Can she not have departed voluntarily?" inquired Stanley, with sudden +hope. "The cry you mention may indeed have been but fancy. Is it not +likely that fear as to her fate may have prompted her to seek safety +in flight?" + +"Her Grace thinks not, else some clue as to her path must, ere this, +have been discovered. Besides, escape was literally impossible without +the aid of magic, which however her accursed race know well how to +use. The guards must have seen her, had she passed her own threshold +in any human form. The casement was untouched, remaining exactly as +the Senora Leon secured it with her own hand the preceding evening; +and, even had she thence descended to the ground, she could have gone +no further from the high and guarded walls. It may be magic: if so, +and the devil hides himself in so fair a form, the saints preserve +us! for we know not in whom next he will be hid." So spoke, gravely, +seriously, undoubtingly, a wise and thoughtful Spanish noble, of the +fifteenth century; and so then thought the whole European world. +Stanley scarcely heard the last words; for in his mind, however +sorcery might be synonymous with _Judaism_ it certainly was not with +_Marie_; and he could only realize the fact of the utter impossibility +of a voluntary flight. + +"Had the Queen seen her since her trial?" he inquired. + +"She had not; a fact which deepens her distress; for she fancies had +Marie been nearer her person, and aware of the full extent of her +merciful intentions, this might have been averted. She believes that +the smothered cry alluded to was really Donna Marie's; but, if +so, what the dark power is, which has so trampled on the royal +prerogative, is plunged in as impenetrable mystery as every thing +else, in which Donna Marie has been concerned." + +"Even the same dark power which seeks my destruction, and laid Morales +low," replied Stanley, more as if thinking aloud than addressing his +companion; "and when the clue to one mystery is found, the rest will +follow. Some fiend from hell is at work around us. Morales is gone. +Marie has followed, and I shall be the next; and then, perhaps, the +demon's reign will end, and the saints of heaven triumph." + +"Would to heaven a Jewess had never come amongst us," was the +rejoinder; "there is always evil in their train." And the blood rushed +to Arthur's cheek, his hand involuntarily clenched, and his eye +glanced defiance towards Don Felix, as if, even at such a moment, +insult even in thought towards Marie should not pass unquestioned; but +he restrained himself, and the emotion was unnoticed. + +From that day so engrossed were the thoughts of the prisoner with +vain speculations as to the fate of Marie, that the fact of his own +position remaining the same, and his hours of life waning fast, seemed +actually unheeded. From Don Felix, in various visits, he heard that +Marie was no longer publicly spoken of; the excitement occasioned +alike by her avowal and disappearance was fast fading from the +imagination of the populace. The public jousts and festivals, intended +to celebrate the visit of the sovereigns, but which Morales's death +and the events ensuing had so painfully suspended, were recommencing, +and men flocked to them, as glad to escape from the mourning and +mystery which had held sway so long. + +And now only three days intervened ere the expiration of the given +month; and each day did the Sub-Prior of St. Francis pass with the +prisoner, exhorting, comforting, and strengthening him for the dread +passage through which it was now too evident his soul must pass to +eternity. It was with difficulty and pain, that Stanley could even +then so cease to think of Marie, as to prepare himself with fitting +sobriety and humility for the fate impending; but the warm sympathy of +Father Francis, whose fine feelings had never been blunted by a life +of rigid seclusion, won him to listen and to join in his prayers, and, +gradually weaning his thoughts from their earthly resting, raised them +to that heaven which, if he truly repented of sin, the good father +assured him, was fast opening for him. Under the inviolable seal of +confession, Arthur acknowledged his deep and long-cherished love +for Marie, his dislike to her husband, which naturally followed the +discovery of her marriage, and the evil passions thence arising; but +he never wavered in the reiteration of his innocence; adding, that he +reproached no man with his death. The sentence was just according to +the appearances against him. Had he himself been amongst his judges, +his own sentence would have been the same. Yet still he was innocent; +and Father Francis so believed him that, after pronouncing absolution +and blessing, he hastened from the prisoner to the King to implore a +yet longer reprieve. But Ferdinand, though more moved by the Prior's +recital than he chose to display, remained firm; he had pledged his +kingly word to the chief of the Santa Hermandad that the award of +justice should not be waived without proof of innocence, and he could +not draw back. One chance only he granted, urged to do so by an +irresistible impulse, which how often comes we know not wherefore, +till the event marks it as the whisper of some guardian angel, who has +looked into the futurity concealed from us. The hour of the execution +had been originally fixed for the sixth hour of the morning; it was +postponed till noon. + +The morning dawned, and with its first beams came Father Francis to +the prisoner. He found him calm and resigned: his last thought of +earth was to commend Marie, if ever found, to the holy father's care, +conjuring him to deal gently and mercifully with a spirit so broken, +and lead her to the sole fountain of peace by kindness, not by wrath; +and to tell her how faithfully he had loved her to the last. Much +affected, Father Francis promised--aye, even to protect, if possible, +an unbeliever. And Stanley once mere knelt in prayer, every earthly +thought at rest. The last quarter-bell had chimed; and ere it ceased, +the step of Don Felix was heard in the passage, followed by the +heavy tramp of the guard. The Prior looked eagerly in the noble's +countenance as he entered, hoping even then to read reprieve; but the +stern yet sad solemnity on Don Felix's face betrayed the hope was +vain. The hour had indeed come, and Arthur Stanley was led forth to +death! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + "Oh! blissful days, + When all men worship God as conscience wills! + Far other times our fathers' grandsires knew. + What tho' the skeptic's scorn hath dared to soil + The record of their fame! What tho' the men + Of worldly minds have dared to stigmatize + The sister-cause Religion and the Law + With Superstition's name! Yet, yet their deeds, + Their constancy in torture and in death-- + These on Tradition's tongue shall live; these shall + On History's honest page be pictur'd bright + To latest time." + + GRAHAME. + + +Retrospection is not pleasant in a narrative; but, if Marie has indeed +excited any interest in our readers, they will forgive the necessity, +and look back a few weeks ere they again arrive at the eventful day +with which our last chapter closed. All that Don Felix had reported +concerning the widow of Morales was correct. The first stunning +effects of her dread avowal were recovered, sense was entirely +restored, but the short-lived energy had gone. The trial to passively +endure is far more terrible than that which is called upon to _act_ +and _do_. She soon discovered that, though nursed and treated with +kindness, she was a prisoner in her own apartments. Wish to leave them +she had none, and scarcely the physical strength; but to sit idly down +under the pressure of a double dread--the prisoner's fate and her own +sentence--to have no call for energy, not a being for whom to rouse +herself and live, not one for whose sake she might forget herself +and win future happiness by present exertion; the Past, one yearning +memory for the husband, who had so soothed and cherished her, when any +other would have cast her from his heart as a worthless thing; the +Present, fraught with thoughts she dared not think, and words she +might not breathe; the very prayer for Stanley's safety checked--for +what could he be to her?--the Future shrouded in a pall so dense, she +could not read a line of its dark page, for the torch of Hope was +extinguished, and it is only by her light we can look forward; +Isabella's affection apparently lost for ever; was it marvel energy +and hope had so departed, or that a deadening despondency seemed to +crush her heart and sap the very springs of life? + +But in the midst of that dense gloom one ray there was, feeble indeed +at first as if human suffering had deadened even that, but brightening +and strengthening with every passing day. It was the sincerity of her +faith--the dearer, more precious to its followers, from the scorn and +condemnation, in which it was held by man. + +The fact that the most Catholic kingdom, of Spain, was literally +peopled with secret Jews, brands this unhappy people, with a degree +of hypocrisy, in addition to the various other evil propensities +with which they have been so plentifully charged. Nay, even amongst +themselves in modern times, this charge has gained ascendency; and +the romance-writer who would make use of this extraordinary truth, +to vividly picture the condition of the Spanish Jews, is accused of +vilifying the nation, by reporting practices, opposed to the upright +dictates of the religion of the Lord. It is well to pronounce such +judgment _now_, that the liberal position which we occupy in most +lands, would render it the height of dissimulation, and hypocrisy, to +conceal our faith; but to judge correctly of the secret adherence to +Judaism and public profession of Catholicism which characterized +our ancestors in Spain, we must transport ourselves not only to +the _country_ but to the _time_, and recall the awfully degraded, +crushing, and stagnating position which _acknowledged Judaism_ +occupied over the whole known world. As early as 600--as soon, in +fact, as the disputes and prosecutions of Arian against Catholic, and +Catholic against Arian, had been checked by the whole of Spain being +subdued and governed by Catholic kings--intolerance began to work +against the Jews, who had been settled in vast numbers in Spain +since the reign of the Emperor Adrian; some authorities assert still +earlier.[A] They were, therefore, nearly the original colonists of the +country, and regarded it with almost as much attachment as they had +felt towards Judea. When persecution began to work, "90,000 Jews were +compelled to receive the sacrament of baptism," the bodies of the +more obstinate tortured, and their fortunes confiscated; and yet--a +remarkable instance of inconsistency--_they were not permitted to +leave Spain_; and this species of persecution continued from 600 +downwards. Once or twice edicts of expulsion were issued, but speedily +recalled; the tyrants being unwilling to dismiss victims whom they +delighted to torture, or deprive themselves of industrious slaves over +whom they might exercise a lucrative oppression; and a statute was +enacted, "that the Jews who had been baptized should be _constrained_, +for the honor of the church, to persevere in the _external practice_ +of a religion which they _inwardly_ disbelieved and detested."[B] + +[Footnote A: Basnage asserts that the Jews were introduced into Spain +by the fleet of Soloman, and the arms of Nebuchadnezzar, and that +Hadrian transported _forty thousand_ families of the tribe of Judah, +and ten thousand of the tribe of Benjamin, etc.] + +[Footnote B: "Gibbon's Decline and Fall," vol. 6, chap. xxxvii, +from which all the previous sentences in inverted commas have been +extracted.] + +How, then, can compelled obedience to this statute be termed +hypocrisy? Persecution, privation, tyranny, may torture and destroy +the body, but they cannot force the mind to the adoption of, and +belief in tenets, from which the very treatment they commanded must +urge it to revolt. Of the 90,000 Jews forcibly baptized by order of +Sisebut, and constrained to the external profession of Catholicism, +not ten, in all probability, became actually Christians. And yet how +would it have availed them to relapse into the public profession of +the faith they so obeyed and loved in secret? To leave the country was +utterly impossible. It is easy to talk now of such proceedings being +their right course of acting, when every land is open to the departure +and entrance of every creed; but it was widely different then, and, +even if they could have quitted Spain, there was not a spot of ground, +in the whole European and Asiatic world, where persecution, extortion, +and banishment would not equally have been their doom. Constant +relapses into external as well as internal Judaism, there were, but +they were but the signal for increased misery to the whole nation; and +by degrees they ceased. It was from the forcible baptism of the 90,000 +Hebrews, by Sisebut, that we may trace the origin of the secret +Jews. From father to son, from mother to daughter, the solemn secret +descended, and gradually spread, still in its inviolable nature, +through every rank and every profession, from the highest priest to +the lowest friar, the general to the common soldier, the noble to the +peasant, over the whole land. There were indeed some few in Spain, +before the final edict of expulsion in 1492, who were Hebrews in +external profession as well as internal observance; but their +condition was so degraded, so scorned, so exposed to constant +suffering, that it was not in human nature voluntarily to sink down +to them, when, by the mere continuance of external Catholicism--which +from its universality, its long existence, and being in fact a rigidly +enforced statute of the state, _could_ not be regarded either as +hypocrisy or sin--they could take their station amongst the very +highest and noblest of the land, and rise to eminence and power in any +profession, civil, military, or religious, which they might prefer. +The subject is so full of philosophical inquiry, that in the limits of +a romance we cannot possibly do it justice; but to accuse the secret +Jews of Spain of hypocrisy, of departing from the pure odinances of +their religion, because _compelled_ to simulate Catholicism, is taking +indeed but a one-handed, short-sighted view of an extensive and +intensely interesting topic. We may often hope for the _present_ by +considering the changes of the _past_; but to attempt to pronounce +judgment on the sentiments of the _past_ by reasoning of the +_present_, when the mind is always advancing, is one of the weakest +and idlest fallacies that ever entered the human breast. + +Digression as this is, it is necessary clearly to comprehend the +situation in which Marie's avowal of her religion had placed her, +and her reason for so carefully wording her information as to the +existence of the secret closet, that no suspicion might attach itself +to the religion of her husband. Her confession sent a shock, which +vibrated not only through Isabella's immediate court, but through +every part of Spain. Suspicion once aroused, none knew where it might +end, or on whom fall. In her first impulse to save Arthur, she +had only thought of what such confession might bring to herself +individually, and that was, comparatively, easy to endure; but as the +excitement ceased, as the dread truth dawned upon her, that, if he +must die at the expiration of the given month, her avowal had been +utterly useless, the dread of its consequences, to the numerous secret +members of her faith appalled her, and caused the firm, resolve under +no circumstances to betray the religion of her husband. Him indeed it +could not harm; but that one so high in rank, in influence, in favor +with sovereigns and people, was only outwardly a Catholic, might have +most fatal consequences on all his brethren. That he should have +wedded a Jewess might excite surprise, but nothing more; and in the +midst of her varied sufferings she could rejoice that all suspicion +as to his race and faith had been averted. She felt thankful also at +being kept so close a prisoner, for she dreaded the wrath of those +whom her avowal might have unwittingly injured. Such an instance +had never been known before, and she might justly tremble at the +chastisement it might bring upon her even from her own people. As long +as she was under Isabella's care she was safe from this; all might +feel the vibration, but none dared evince that they did, by the +adoption of any measures against her, further than would be taken by +the Catholics themselves. + +Knowing this, her sole prayer, her sole effort was to obtain mental +strength sufficient under every temptation, either from severity or +kindness, to adhere unshrinkingly to the faith of her fathers--to +cling yet closer to the love of her Father in heaven, and endeavor, +with all the lowly trust and fervid feelings of her nature, to fill +the yearning void within her woman's heart with his image, and so +subdue every human love. It seemed to her vivid fancy as if all the +misfortunes she had encountered sprung from her first sin--that +of loving a Nazarene. Hers was not the age to make allowances for +circumstances in contradistinction to actual deeds. Then, as +unhappily but too often now, all were sufferings from a misplaced +affection--sprung, not from her fault, but from the mistaken kindness +which it exposed her to without due warning of her danger. Educated +with the strong belief, that to love or wed, beyond the pale of her +own people was the greatest sin she could commit, short of actual +apostacy, that impression, though not strong enough, so to conquer +human nature, as to arm against love, returned with double force, as +sorrow after sorrow gathered round her, and there were none beside her +to whisper and strengthen, with the blessed truth that God afflicts +yet more in mercy than in wrath; and that his decrees, however fraught +with human anguish, are but blessings in disguise--blessings, sown +indeed with tears on earth, to reap their deathless fruit in heaven. + +But though firmly believing all her suffering was deserved, aware that +when she first loved Arthur, the rebel-thought--"Why am I of a race so +apart and hated?" had very frequently entered her heart, tempting her +at times with fearful violence to give up all for love of man; yet +Marie knew that the God of her fathers was a God of love, calling even +upon the greatest sinner to return to him repentant and amending, and +that even as a little child such should be forgiven. He had indeed +proclaimed himself a jealous God, and would have no idol-worship, were +it by wood or stone, or, far more dangerous, of human love; and she +prayed unceasingly for strength to return to Him with an undivided +heart, even if to do so demanded not only separation from Stanley--but +a trial in her desolate position almost as severe--the loss of +Isabella's confidence and love. + +Few words passed between Marie and her guardians; their manner was +kind and gentle, but intercourse between rigid Catholics and a +proclaimed Jewess, could not be other wise than restrained. From the +time that reason returned, the Queen had not visited her, doing actual +violence to her own inclinations from tire mistaken--but in that age +and to her character natural--dread that the affection and interest +she felt towards Marie personally, would lessen the sentiments of +loathing and abhorrence with which it was her duty to regard her +faith. Isabella had within herself all the qualifications of a martyr. +Once impressed that it was a religious duty, she would do violence to +her most cherished wishes, sacrifice her dearest desires, her best +affections, resign her most eagerly pursued plans--not without +suffering indeed, but, according to the mistaken tenets of her +religion, the greater personal suffering, the more meritorious was the +deed believed to be. This spirit would, had she lived in an age when +the Catholic faith was the persecuted, not the persecutor, have led +her a willing martyr to the stake; as it was, this same spirit led to +the establishment of the Inquisition, and expulsion of the Jews--deeds +so awful in their consequences, that the actual motive of the +woman-heart which prompted them, is utterly forgotten, and herself +condemned. We must indeed deplore the mistaken tenets that could +obtain such influence--deplore that man could so pervert the service +of a God of love, as to believe and inculcate that such things could +be acceptable to Him; but we should pause, and ask, if we ourselves +had been influenced by such teaching, could we break from it? ere we +condemn. + +Isabella's own devoted spirit could so enter into the real reason of +Marie's self abnegation for Arthur's sake, that it impelled her to +love her more; while at the very same time the knowledge of her +being a Jewess, whom she had always been taught and believed must be +accursed in the sight of God, and lost eternally unless brought to +believe in Jesus, urged her entirely to conquer that affection, lest +its indulgence should interfere with her resolution, if kindness +failed, by severity to accomplish her own version. She was too weak in +health, and Isabella intuitively felt too terribly anxious as to young +Stanley's fate, to attempt any thing till after the expiration of the +month; and she passed that interval in endeavoring to calm down her +own feelings towards her. + +So fifteen days elapsed. On the evening of the fifteenth, Marie, +feeling unusually exhausted, had sunk down, without disrobing, on her +couch, and at length fell into a slumber so deep and calm, that her +guardians, fearing to disturb it, and aware that her dress was so +loose and light, it could not annoy her, retired softly to their own +chamber without arousing her. How many hours this lethargic sleep +lasted, Marie knew not, but was at length broken by a dream of terror, +and so unusually vivid, that its impression lasted even through the +terrible reality which it heralded. She beheld Arthur Stanley on the +scaffold about to receive the sentence of the law--the block, the axe, +the executioner with his arm raised, and apparently already deluged +in blood--the gaping crowds--all the fearful appurtenances of an +execution were distinctly traced, and she thought she sprung towards +Stanley, who clasped her in his arms, and the executioner, instead of +endeavoring to part them, smiled grimly as rejoicing in having two +victims instead of one; and as he smiled, the countenance seemed to +change from being entirely unknown to the sneering features of the +hated Don Luis Garcia. She seemed to cling yet closer to Stanley, +and knelt with, him to receive the blow; when, at that moment, the +scaffold shook violently, as by the shock of an earthquake, a dark +chashm yawned beneath their feet, in the centre of which stood the +spectral figure of her husband, his countenance ghastly and stern, and +his arm upraised as beckoning her to join him. And then he spoke; but +his voice sounded unlike his own:-- + +"Marie Henriquez Morales! awake, arise, and follow!" + +And with such extraordinary clearness did the words fall, that she +started up in terror, believing they must have been spoken by her +side--and they were! they might have mingled with, perhaps even +created her dream. She still lay on her couch; but it seemed to have +sunk down through the very floor of the apartment[A] she had occupied, +and at its foot stood a figure, who, with upraised arm held before her +a wooden cross. His cowl was closely drawn, and a black robe, of the +coarsest serge, was secured round his waist by a hempen cord. Whether +he had indeed spoken the words she had heard in her dream Marie could +not tell, for they were not repeated. She saw him approach her, and +she felt his strong grasp lift her from the couch, which sprung up, by +the touch of some secret spring, to the place whence it had descended; +and she heard no more. + +[Footnote A: I may be accused in this scene, of too closely imitating +a somewhat similar occurrence in Anne of Geirstein. Such seeming +plagiarism was scarcely possible to be avoided, when the superstitious +proceedings of the _vehmic_ tribunal of Germany and the _secret_ +Inquisition of Spain are represented by history as so very similar.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + "Isabel.--Ha! little honor to be much believed, + And most pernicious purpose--seeming, seeming. + I will proclaim thee, Angelo! look for't; + Sign me a present pardon-- + Or, with an outstretch'd throat, I'll tell the world + Aloud what man thou art. + + "Angelo.--Who will believe thee? + My unsoil'd name, th' austereness of my life, + My vouch against you, and my place i' the State, + Will so your accusation overweigh + That you will stifle in your own report + The smile of Calumny." + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +When Marie recovered consciousness, she found herself in a scene so +strange, so terrific, that it appeared as if she must have been borne +many miles from Segovia, so utterly impossible did it seem, that +such awful orgies could be enacted within any short distance of the +sovereigns' palace, or their subjects' homes. She stood in the centre +of a large vaulted subterranean hall, which, from the numerous arched +entrances to divers passages and smaller chambers that opened on every +side, appeared to extend far and wide beneath the very bowels of the +earth. It was lighted with torches, but so dimly, that the gloom +exaggerated the horrors, which the partial light disclosed. +Instruments of torture of any and every kind--the rack, the wheel, the +screw, the cord, and fire--groups of unearthly-looking figures, all +clad in the coarse black serge and hempen belt; some with their faces +concealed by hideous masks, and others enveloped in the cowls, through +which only the eyes could be distinguished, the figure of the cross +upon the breast, and under that emblem, of divine peace, inflicting +such horrible tortures on their fellow-men that the pen shrinks from +their delineation. Nor was it the mere instruments of torture Marie +beheld: she saw them in actual use; she heard the shrieks and groans +of the hapless victims, at times mingled with the brutal leers and +jests of their fiendish tormentors; she seemed to take in at one view, +every species of torture that could be inflicted, every pain that +could be endured; and yet, comparatively, but a few of the actual +sufferers were visible. The shrillest sounds of agony came from the +gloomy arches, in which no object could be distinguished. + +Whatever suffering meets the sight, it does not so exquisitely affect +the brain as that which reaches it through the ear. At the former the +heart may bleed and turn sick; but at the latter the brain seems, +for the moment, wrought into frenzy; and, even though personally in +safety, it is scarcely possible to restrain the same sounds from +bursting forth. How then must those shrill sounds of human agony have +fallen on the hapless Marie, recognizing as she did with the rapidity +of thought, in the awful scene around her, the main hall of that +mysterious and terrible tribunal, whose existence from her earliest +infancy had been impressed upon her mind, as a double incentive to +guard the secret of her faith; that very Inquisition, from which her +own grandfather, Julien Heuriquez, had fled, and in which the less +fortunate grandfather of her slaughtered husband, had been tortured +and burnt. + +For a second she stood mute and motionless, as turned to stone; then, +pressing both hands tightly on her temples, she sunk down at the feet +of her conductor, and sought in words to beseech his mercy; but her +white lips gave vent to no sound save a shriek, so wild that it +seemed, for the moment, to drown all other sorrows, and startle even +the human fiends around her. Her conductor himself started back; but +quickly recovering-- + +"Fool!" he muttered, as he rudely raised her. "I have no power to aid +thee; come before the Superior--we must all obey--ask him, implore +him, for mercy, not me." + +He bore her roughly to a recess, divided off at the upper end of the +hall, by a thick black drapery, in which sat the Grand Inquisitor +and his two colleagues. One or two familiars were behind them, and a +secretary sat near a table covered with black cloth, and on which were +several writing implements. All wore masks of black crape, so thick +that not a feature could be discerned with sufficient clearness for +recognition elsewhere; yet, one glance on the stern, motionless +figure, designated as the Grand Inquisitor, sufficed to bid every drop +of blood recede from the prisoner's heart with human terror, at the +very same moment that it endowed the _woman_ with such supernatural +fortitude that her very form seemed to dilate, and her large eye and +lovely mouth expressed--if it could be, in such a scene and such +an hour--unutterable scorn. Antipathy, even as love, will pierce +disguise; and that one glance, lit up with almost bewildering light, +in the prisoner's mind, link after link of what had before been +impenetrable mystery. Her husband's discovery of her former love for +Arthur; his murder; the suspicion thrown on Stanley; her own summons +as witness against him; her present danger; all, all were traced to +one individual, one still working and most guilty passion, which she, +in her gentle purity and holy strength, had scorned. She could not +be deceived--the mystery that surrounded him was solved--antipathy +explained; and Marie's earthly fate lay in Don Luis Garcia's hands! +The Grand Inquisitor read in that glance that he was known; and for +a brief minute a strange, an incomprehensible sensation, thrilled +through him. It could scarcely have been fear, when one gesture of +his hand would destine that frail being to torture, imprisonment, and +death; and yet never before in his whole life of wickedness, had he +experienced such a feeling as he did at that moment beneath a woman's +holy gaze. Anger at himself for the sensation, momentary as it was, +increased the virulence of other passions; but then was not the hour +for their betrayal. In low, deep tones, he commenced the mockery of a +trial. That her avowal of her faith would elude torture, by at once +condemning her to the flames, was disregarded. She was formally +accused of blasphemy and heresy, and threatened with the severest +vengeance of the church which she had reviled; but that this case of +personal guilt would be mercifully laid aside for the present, for +still more important considerations. Was her late husband, they +demanded, of the same blaspheming creed as herself? And a list of +names, comprising some of the highest families of Spain, was read out +and laid before her, with the stern command to affix a mark against +all who, like herself, had relapsed into the foul heresy of their +ancestors--to do this, or the torture should wring it from her. + +But the weakness of humanity had passed; and so calm, so collected, so +firm, was the prisoner's resolute refusal to answer either question, +that the familiar to whom she had clung for mercy looked at her with +wonder. Again and again she was questioned; instruments of torture +were brought before her--one of the first and slightest used--more +to terrify than actually to torture, for that was not yet the Grand +Inquisitor's design; and still she was firm, calm, unalterable in her +resolution to refuse reply. And then Don Luis spoke of mercy, which +was to consist of imprisonment in solitude and darkness, to allow time +for reflection on her final answer--a concession, he said, in a tone +far more terrifying to Marie than even the horrors around her, +only granted in consideration of her age and sex. None opposed the +sentence; and she was conducted to a close and narrow cell, in which +no light could penetrate save through a narrow chink in the roof. + +How many days and nights thus passed the hapless prisoner could not +have told, for there was nothing to mark the hours. Her food was +delivered to her by means of a turn-screw in the wall, so that not +even the sight of a fellow-creature could disturb her solitude, or +give her the faintest hope of exciting human pity. Her sole hope, her +sole refuge was in prayer; and, oh! how blessed was the calm, the +confidence it gave. + +So scanty was her allowance of food, that more than once the thought, +crossed her, whether or not, death by famine would be her allotted +doom; and human nature shuddered, but the spirit did not quail! Hour +after hour passed, she knew not whether it was night or day, when the +gloom of her dungeon was suddenly illumined; she knew not at first +how or whence, so noiseless was the entrance of the intruder, but +gradually she traced the light to a small lamp held in the hand of +a shrouded individual, whom she recognized at once. There was one +fearful thrill of mortal dread, one voiceless cry for strength from +Heaven, and Marie Morales stood before Don Luis erect and calm, and +firm as in her hour of pride. + +Garcia now attempted no concealment. His mask had been cast aside, and +his features gleamed without any effort at hypocritical restraint, in +all the unholy passions of his soul. We will not pollute our pages +with transcribing the fearful words of passions contending in their +nature, yet united in their object, with which the pure ear of his +prisoner was first assailed--still lingering desire, yet hate, wrath, +fury, that she should dare still oppose, and scorn, and loathe him; +rage with himself, that, strive as he might, even he was baffled by +the angel purity around her; longing to wreak upon her every torture +that his hellish office gave him unchecked power to inflict, yet +fearing that, if he did so, death would release her ere his object was +attained; all strove and raged within him, making his bosom a very +hell, from which there was no retracting, yet whose very flames +incited deeper fury towards the being whom he believed their cause. + +"And solitude, darkness, privation--have they so little availed that +thou wilt tempt far fiercer sufferings?" he at length demanded, +struggling to veil his fury in a quiet, concentrated tone. "Thou hast +but neared the threshold of the tortures which one look, one gesture +of my hand, can gather around thee; tortures which the strongest +sinew, the firmest mind, have been unable to sustain--how will that +weakened frame endure?" + +"It can but die," replied the prisoner, "as nobler and better ones +have done before me!" + +"Die!" repeated Garcia, and he laughed mockingly. "Thinkest thou we +know our trade so little that such release can baffle us? I tell thee, +pain of itself has never yet had power to kill; and we have learned +the measure of endurance in the human form so well, that we have never +yet been checked by death, ere our ends were gained. And so will it be +with thee, boldly as now thou speakest. Thou hast but tasted pain!" + +"Better the sharpest torture than thy hated presence," calmly rejoined +Marie. "My soul thou canst not touch." + +"Soul! Has a Jewess a soul? Nay, by my faith, thou talkest bravely! An +thou hast, thou hadst best be mine, and so share my salvation; there's +none for such as thee." + +"Man!" burst indignantly from the prisoner. "Share thy salvation! +Great God of Israel! that men like these have power to persecute thy +children for their faith, and do it in thy name! And speak of +mercy! Thou hast but given me another incentive for endurance," she +continued, more calmly addressing her tormentor. "If salvation be +denied to us, and granted thee, I would refuse it with my dying +breath; such faith is not of God!" + +"I came not hither to enter on such idle quibbles," was the rejoinder. +"It matters not to me what thou art after death, but before it mine +thou shalt be. What hinders me, at this very moment, from working my +will upon thee? Who will hear thy cry? or, hearing, will approach +thee? These walls have heard too many sounds of human agony to bear +thy voice to those who could have mercy. Tempt me not by thy scorn too +far. What holds me from thee now?" + +"What holds thee from me? GOD!" replied the prisoner, in a tone of +such, thrilling, such supernatural energy, that Garcia actually +started as if some other voice than hers had spoken, and she saw +him glance fearfully round. "Thou darest not touch me! Ay, +villain--blackest and basest as thou art--thou darest not do it. The +God thine acts, yet more than thy words blaspheme, withholds thee--and +thou knowest it!" + +"I defy him!" were the awful words that answered her; and Don Luis +sprang forwards. + +"Back!" exclaimed the heroic girl. "Advance one step nearer, and thy +vengeance, even as thy passion, will alike be foiled--and may God +forgive the deed I do." + +She shook down the beautiful tresses of her long luxuriant hair, and, +parting them with both hands around her delicate throat, stood calmly +waiting in Don Luis's movements the signal for her own destruction. + +"Fool!" he muttered, as involuntarily he fell back, awed--in spite of +his every effort to the contrary--at a firmness as unexpected as it +was unwavering. "Fool! Thou knowest not the power it is thy idle +pleasure to defy; thou wilt learn it all too soon, and then in vain +regret thy scorn of my proffer now. Thou hast added tenfold to my wild +yearning for revenge on thy former scorn--tenfold! ay, twice tenfold, +to thy own tortures. Yet, once more, I bid thee pause and choose. +Fools there are, who dare all personal physical torment, and yet +shrink and quail before the thought of death for a beloved one. +Idiots, who for others, sacrifice themselves; perchance thou wilt be +one of them. Listen, and tremble; or, sacrifice, and save! When in +thy haughty pride, and zenith of thy power, thou didst scorn me, and +bidding me, with galling contempt, go from thy presence as if I were a +loathsome reptile, unworthy even of thy tread, I bade thee beware, and +to myself swore vengeance. And knowest thou how that was accomplished? +Who led thy doting husband where he might hear thine own lips proclaim +thy falsity? Who poisoned the chalice of life, which had been so +sweet, ere it was dashed from his lips by death? Who commanded the +murderer's blow, and the weapon with which it was accomplished? Who +laid the charge of his murder on the foreign minion, and brought thee +in evidence against him? Who but I--even I! And if I have done all +this, thinkest thou to elude my further vengeance? I tell thee, if +thou refuse the grace I proffer, Arthur Stanley dies; accept it, and +he lives!" + +"And not at such a price would Arthur Stanley wish, to live," replied +Marie calmly. "He would spurn existence purchased thus." + +"Ay, perchance, if he knew it; but be it as thou wilt, he shall know +thou couldst have saved him and refused." + +"And thinkest thou he will believe thee? As little as I believed him +my husband's murderer. How little knowest thou the trust of love! He +will not die," she continued emphatically; "his innocence shall save +him--thy crime be known." + +"Ay!" replied Garcia, with a sneering laugh. "Give thyself wings as a +bird, and still stone walls will encircle thee; dwindle into thin air, +and gain the outer world, and tell thy tale, and charge Don Luis Garcia +with the deed, and who will believe thee? Thinkest thou I would have +boasted of my triumphant vengeance to aught who could betray me? Why my +very tool, the willing minister of my vengeance--who slew Morales merely +because I bade him--might not live, lest he should be tempted to betray +me; I slew him with my own hand. What sayest thou now--shall Stanley +live, if I say Let him die?" + +There was no reply, but he looked in vain for any diminution in the +undaunted resolution which still sustained her. + +"I go," he continued, after a pause. "Yet, once more, I charge thee +choose; accept the terms I proffer--be mine--and thou art saved from +all further torture thyself, and Stanley lives. Refuse, and the +English minion dies; and when thou and I next meet, it will be where +torture and executioners wait but my nod to inflict such suffering +that thou wilt die a thousand deaths in every pang. And, +Jewess--unbeliever as thou art--who will dare believe it more than +public justice, or accuse me of other than the zeal, which the service +of Christ demands? Choose, and quickly--wilt thou accept my proffers, +and be mine? Thou must, at last. What avails this idle folly of +tempting torture first?" + +"Thou mayest kill my body, but thou canst not pollute my soul," was +the instant reply, and its tones were unchanged. "And as for Stanley, +his life or death is not in thine hands; but if it were, I could +not--nay, thus I _would_ not--save him. I reject thy proffers, as I +scorn thyself. Now leave me--I have chosen!" + +Don Luis did not reply, but Marie beheld his cheek grow livid, and the +foam actually gather on his lip; but the calm and holy gaze she had +fixed upon him, as he spoke, quailed not, nor changed. The invisible +door of her cell closed with a deep, sullen sound, as if her tormentor +had thus, in some measure, given vent to the unutterable fury shaking +his soul to its centre; and Marie was alone. She stood for many, many +minutes, in the fearful dread of his return; and then she raised her +hand to her brow, and her lip blanched and quivered, and, with a long, +gasping breath, she sunk down upon the cold floor--all the heroine +lost in an agonized burst of tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + "Hovers the steel above his head, + Suspended by a spider thread: + On, on! a life hangs on thy speed; + With lightning wing the gallant steed! + Buoy the full heart up! It will sink + If it but pause to feel and think. + There is no time to dread his fate: + No thought but one--too late, too late!" + + MS. + + +Too soon did Marie realize the power of Don Luis to exercise his +threatened vengeance! Two days after that terrible interview, she +was again dragged to the hall of judgment: the same questions were +proposed as before, whether or not she would denounce the secret +followers of her own creed, and confess her late husband's real +belief; and the same firm answers given. We shrink in loathing from +the delineation of horrible tortures applied to that frail and gentle +being--shrink, for we know that such things actually have been; and +women--young, lovely, inoffensive as Marie Morales--have endured the +same exquisite agony for the same iniquitous purpose! In public, +charged to denounce innocent fellow-beings, or suffer; in private--in +those dark and fearful cells--exposed to all the horror and terror of +such persecution as we have faintly endeavored to describe. It is no +picture of the imagination, delighting to dwell on horrors. Would that +it were! Its parallel will be found, again and again repeated, in the +annals--not of the Inquisition alone--but of every European state +where the Romanists held sway. + +But Marie's prayer for superhuman strength had been heard. No cry, +scarcely a groan, escaped her. She saw Don Luis at her side; she +heard his hissing whisper that there was yet time to retract and +be released; but she deigned him no reply whatever. It was not his +purpose to try her endurance to the utmost in the first, second, or +third trial; though, so enraged at her calmness, as scarcely to be +able to restrain it even before his colleagues, and with difficulty +controlling his fiendish desire to increase the torture to its utmost +at once, he remanded her to her dungeon till his further pleasure +should be known. She had fainted under the intolerable pain, and lay +for many successive hours, too exhausted even to raise to her parched +lips the pitcher of water lying near her. And even the gradual +cessation of suffering, the sensation of returning power, brought with +them the agonized thought, that they did but herald increased and +increasing torture. + +One night--she knew not how long after she had been remanded to her +cell, but, counting by suffering, it felt many weary nights and +days--she sunk into a sleep or trance, which transported her to her +early home in the Vale of Cedars. Her mother seemed again to stand +before her; and she thought, as she heard her caressing voice, and met +the glance of her dove-like eyes, she laid her head on her bosom, as +she was wont to do in her happy childhood; and peace seemed to sink +into her heart so blessedly, so deeply, that the very fever of her +frame departed. A voice aroused her with a start; it was so like her +mother's, that the dream seemed lingering still. + +"Marie, my beloved one," murmured the voice, and a breath fanned +her cheek, as if some one were leaning over her. She unclosed her +eyes--the words, the voice, still so kept up the illusion, though +the tones were deeper than a woman's, that even the hated dress of +a familiar of the Inquisition could not create alarm. "Hast thou +forgotten me, my child? But it matters not now. Say only thou wilt +trust me, and safety lies before us. The fiends hold not their hellish +court to-night; and the arch-fiend himself is far distant, on a sudden +summons from the King, which, though the grand Inquisitor might scorn, +Don Luis will obey. Wilt come with me, my child?" + +"Ay, any where! That voice could not deceive: but 'tis all vain," she +continued, the first accents of awakened hope lost in despondency--"I +cannot rise." + +"It needs not. Do thou hold the lantern, Marie; utter not a +word--check even thy breath--and the God of thy fathers shall save +thee yet." + +He raised her gently in his arms; and the hope of liberty, of rescue +from Don Luis, gave her strength to grasp the light to guide them. She +could not trace their way, but she felt they left the dungeon, and +traversed many long, damp, and narrow passages, seemingly excavated in +the solid earth. All was silent, and dark as the tomb; now and then +her guide paused, as if to listen; but there was no sound. He knew +well the secret paths he trod. + +The rapid motion, even the sudden change, almost deprived Marie of +consciousness. She was only sensible, by a sudden change from the +close, damp, passages to the free breezes of night, that she was in +the open air, and apparently a much freer path; that still her guide +pressed swiftly onwards, apparently scarcely feeling her light weight; +that, after a lengthened interval, she was laid tenderly on a soft, +luxurious couch--at least, so it seemed, compared with the cold floor +of her cell; that the blessed words of thanksgiving that she was +safe broke from that strangely familiar voice; and she asked no +more--seemed even to wish no more--so completely was all physical +power prostrated. She lay calm and still, conscious only that she was +saved. Her guide himself for some time disturbed her not; but after +changing his dress, and preparing a draught of cooling herbs, he knelt +down, raised her head on his knee with almost woman's tenderness, and, +holding the draught to her lips, said, gently-- + +"Drink, beloved child of my sainted sister; there is life and health +in the draught." + +Hastily swallowing it, Marie gazed wildly in his face.--The +habiliments of the familiar had been changed for those of a +Benedictine monk; his cowl thrown back, and the now well remembered +countenance of her uncle Julien was beaming over her. In an instant, +the arm she could still use was thrown round him, and her head buried +in his bosom; every pulse throbbing with the inexpressible joy of +finding, when most desolate, one relative to love and save her still. +Julien left not his work of healing and of security incomplete; +gradually he decreased, by the constant application of linen bathed +in some cooling fluid, the scorching fire which still seemed to burn +within the maimed and shrivelled limb; parted the thick masses of +dishevelled hair from her burning temples, and bathed them with some +cooling and reviving essence; gently removed the sable robes, and +replaced them, with the dress of a young novice which he had +provided; concealed her hair beneath the white linen hood, and then, +administering a potion which he knew would produce deep and refreshing +sleep, and so effectually calm the fevered nerves, she sunk down on +the soft moss and heath which formed her couch, and slept calmly and +sweetly as an infant for many hours. + +Julien Morales had entered Segovia in his monkish garb, as was +frequently his custom, on the evening of the trial.--The excitement of +the whole city naturally called forth his queries as to its cause; +and the information imparted--the murder of Don Ferdinand, and +incomprehensible avowal of Judaism on the part of his niece--demanded +a powerful exercise of self-control to prevent, by a betrayal of +unusual grief and horror, his near relationship to both parties. +Hovering about the palace, he heard of Isabella's merciful intentions +towards Marie; and feeling that his presence might only agitate, +and could in nothing avail her, he had resolved on leaving the city +without seeing her, when her mysterious disappearance excited all +Segovia anew. + +Julien Morales alone, perhaps, amidst hundreds, in his own mind solved +the mystery at once. Well did he know tire existence of the secret +Inquisition. As we narrated in one of our early chapters, the fate +of his father had so fixed itself upon his mind, that he had bound +himself by a secret, though solemn oath, as his avenger. To accomplish +this fully, he had actually spent ten years of his life as familiar in +the Inquisition. The fate of Don Luis's predecessor had been plunged +in the deepest mystery. Some whispered his death was by a subtle +poison; others, that his murderer had sought him in the dead of night, +and, instead of treacherously dealing the blow, had awakened him, and +bade him confess his crimes--one especially; and acknowledge that if +the mandate of the Eternal, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall +his blood be shed," were still to govern man, his death was but an act +of justice which might not be eluded. Whether these whispered rumors +had to do with Julien Morales or not, we leave to the judgment of our +readers.--Suffice it, that not only was his vow accomplished, but, +during his ten years' residence in these subterranean halls, he +naturally became familiarized with all their secret passages and +invisible means of egress and ingress--not only to the apparently +private homes of unoffensive citizens, but into the wild tracts of +country scattered round. By one of these he had, in fact, effected his +own escape; and in the mild and benevolent Benedictine monk--known +alike to the cities and solitudes of Spain--none would have recognized +the former familiar of the Inquisition, and still less have imagined +him the being which in reality he was--a faithful and believing Jew. + +To him, then, it was easy to connect the disappearance of Marie with +the existence of the Holy Office, even though he was entirely ignorant +of Garcia's ulterior designs. In an agony of apprehension, he resolved +on saving her if possible, even while he trembled at the delay which +must necessarily ensue ere he could arrange and execute his plans, +more especially as it was dangerous to associate a second person in +their accomplishment. With all his haste and skill he was not in time +to save her from the barbarity of her misnamed judges. His very soul +was wrung, as he stood amongst the familiars a silent witness of her +sufferings; but to interfere was impossible. One thing, however, was +favorable. He knew she would not be again disturbed till a sufficient +time had elapsed for the recovery of such strength as would enable her +to endure further torture; and he had, therefore, some time before him +for their flight. + +Her voluntary avowal of her faith--aware too, as she was, of the +existence of the Inquisition--had, indeed, perplexed the good uncle +greatly; but she was in no state, even when partially recovered from +physical weakness, to enter into explanation then. He saw she was +unhappy, and the loss of her husband might well account for it. To the +rumors which had reached him in Segovia, as to the suppositions of the +real cause of Stanley's enmity to Morales, and Marie's self-sacrifice, +he would not even listen, so completely without foundation did they +seem to him. + +The second evening after their escape, they left the cave to pursue +their journey. Father Ambrose--for so, now he has resumed his monkish +garb, we must term Julien--had provided a mule for the novice's use; +and thus they leisurely traversed the desolate and mountainous tract +forming the boundaries of the provinces now termed old and new +Castile. Neither uncle nor niece spoke of their destined goal; Marie +intuitively felt she was proceeding to the Vale of Cedars, the only +place of safety now for her; but, so engrossed was her mind with the +vain thought how to save Arthur, that for herself she could not frame +a wish. + +The second evening of their journey they entered a small, straggling +village, so completely buried in mountains that its existence was +unknown save to its own rustic inhabitants. The appearance of a monk +evidently caused an unusual excitement, which was speedily explained. +The chief of the villagers approached Father Ambrose, and, addressing +him with the greatest respect, entreated him to follow him to his +house, where, he said, lay a man at the point of death, who had, from +the time he became aware of his dangerous position, incessantly called +for a priest to shrive him from some deadly sin. He had been found, +the villager continued. In a deep pit sunk in a solitary glen half way +to Segovia, with every appearance of attempted murder, which, being +supposed complete, the assassins had thrown him into the pit to +conceal their deed; but chancing to hear his groans as he passed, he +had rescued him, and hoped to have cured his wounds. For three weeks +they seemed to progress favorably, but then fever--occurring, he +thought, from great restlessness of mind--had rapidly increased, +and, after ten days of fearful struggle between life and death +mortification had ensued, and hope could exist no longer At first, +Perez added, he seemed to shrink from the idea of priestly aid, only +harping on one theme--to get strength enough to reach Segovia, and +speak to the King. They had thought him mad, but humored him; but now +he was almost furious in his wild cries for a priest, not only to +shrive him, but to bear his message to the King. They had tried +to gratify him, but their distance from any town or monastery had +prevented it; and they now, therefore, hailed Father Ambrose almost as +sent from heaven to save a sinner by absolution ere he died. + +This tale was told as the monk and novice hastened with. Perez to his +house. The poor inhabitants thronged his path to crave a blessing, +and proffer every attention their simple means afforded. Fearing for +Marie, Julien's only care was for the supposed novice; and therefore +Perez, at his request, eagerly led her to a large comfortable chamber, +far removed from the bustle of the house, and left her to repose. +But repose was not at that moment possible, even though her slightly +returning strength was exhausted, from the fatigue of a long day's +travel. Fruit and cakes were before her; but, though her mouth was +parched and dry, she turned from them in loathing; and interminable +seemed the space till Father Ambrose returned. Ere he spoke, he +carefully closed and secured the door, and exclaimed, in a low, +cautious tone, "My child, this is indeed the finger of a righteous +God--blessed be His name! The unhappy man to whose dying bed they +brought me--" + +"Is the murderer of my husband!" interposed Marie in a tone of almost +unnatural calmness. "I knew it from the first moment Perez spoke. We +have but to think of one thing now--Stanley is innocent, and must be +saved!" + +"And shall be, if possible, my child; but there are fearful +difficulties in the way. The unhappy man conjures me not to leave him, +and is in such a horrible state of mental and bodily agony that I fear +if I do, he will commit some act of violence on himself, and so render +his evidence of no avail. We are not much above sixty miles from +Segovia, but the roads are cross and rugged; so that it will need +steadiness and speed, and instant audience with the King." + +"But time--have we time?" reiterated Marie. "Say but there is time, +and every other difficulty shall be smoothed." + +"There is full time: the execution is not till the second day after +to-morrow. Nay, my child," he added, observing her look of doubting +bewilderment, "suffering makes the hours seem longer than they are. +Fear not for time, but counsel me whom to send. Who amongst these poor +ignorant rustics will ever reach the King--or, failing him, the Chief +Hermano--and make his tale so sufficiently clear as to release the +prisoner, and send messengers here with the necessary speed to take +down this man's confession? He cannot linger two days more. Would that +I could go myself; but I can leave neither him nor thee." + +"And it needs not," was the firm reply. "Father, I myself will do +thy errand. There must be no delay, no chance of hesitation in its +accomplishment. Ah! do not look upon me as if my words were wild and +vain; were there other means I would not speak them--but he must be +saved!" + +"And again at the sacrifice of thy safety--perchance thy life! Marie, +Marie! what hold has this young stranger upon thee that thou shouldest +twice so peril thyself? Thy life is dearer to me than his--I cannot +grant thy boon." + +"Nay, but thou must. Listen to me, my second father! If Stanley dies, +his blood is on my head!" And struggling with strong emotion, she +poured forth her whole tale. + +"And thou lovest him still--him, a Nazarene--thou, child, wife, of an +unstained race! And is it for this, thy zeal to save him?" ejaculated +Julien, retreating several paces from her--"Can it be?" + +"I would save him because he is innocent--because he has borne more +than enough for me; for aught else, thou wrongest me, father. He will +never be to me more than he is now." + +It was impossible to resist the tone of mournful reproach in which +those simple words were said. Julien pressed her to his bosom, bade +God bless her, and promised, if indeed there were no other means, her +plan should be adopted; objection after objection, indeed, he brought +forward, but all were overruled. She pledged herself to retain her +disguise, and to return with Perez, without hesitation, and accompany +her uncle to the vale, as intended. But that she should start at once, +he positively refused. How could she hope to accomplish her journey +without, at least, two hours' repose? It was then late in the evening. +At six the next morning all should be ready for her journey, and there +would be still more than twenty-four hours before her; Marie tried to +be content, but the horrible dread of being too late did not leave her +for a moment, even in sleep, and inexpressibly thankful was she when +the morning dawned. Julien's provident care had been active while +she slept. Perez, flattered at the trust reposed in him, had offered +himself to accompany the young novice to Segovia: and at the appointed +hour he was ready, mounted himself, and leading a strong, docile +palfrey for brother Ernest's use. He knew an hostellerie, he said, +about twenty miles from the city, where their steeds could be changed; +and promised by two hours after noon, the very latest, the novice +should be with the King. It could be done in less time, he said; but +his reverence had told him the poor boy was unusually delicate, and +had, moreover, lost the use of his left arm; and he thought, as there +was so much time before them, it was needless to exhaust his strength +before his errand was done. Julien expressed his entire satisfaction, +gave them his blessing, and they were rapidly out of sight. + +Once or twice they halted to give their horses rest and refresh +themselves; but so absorbed were the senses of Marie, that she was +unconscious of fatigue. Every mile they traversed seemed bearing a +heavy load from her chest, and enabling her to breathe more freely; +while the fresh breeze and exciting exercise seemed actually to revive +her. It wanted rather more than an hour for noon when they reached the +hostellerie mentioned by Perez. Two fleet and beautiful horses were +speedily provided for them, bread and fruit partaken, and Perez, ready +mounted, was tasting the stirrup cup, when his friend demanded-- + +"Is it to Segovia ye are bound?" + +"Yes, man, on an important errand, charged by his reverence Father +Ambrose himself." + +"His reverence should have sent you two hours earlier, and you +would have been in time for one of the finest sights seen since +Isabella--God bless her!--begun to reign. They were common enough a +few years back." + +"What sight? and why am I not in time?" + +"Now, art thou not the veriest rustic to be so entirely ignorant of +the world's doings? Why, to-day is the solemn execution of the +young foreigner whom they believe we have murdered Don Ferdinand +Morales--the saints preserve him! He is so brave a fellow, they say, +that had it not been for this confounded hostellerie I would have made +an effort to be present: I love to see how a brave man meets death. It +was to have been two hours after day-break this morning, but Juan here +tells me it was postponed till noon. The King--" + +He was proceeding, when he was startled by a sharp cry, and Perez, +hastily turning, caught the novice as he was in the act of falling +from his horse. In an instant, however, he recovered, and exclaiming, +in a thrilling tone of excitement-- + +"Father Ambrose said life or death hung upon our speed and promptness; +he knew not the short interval allowed us. This young foreigner is +innocent--the real murderer is discovered. On--, on, for mercy, or we +shall be too late!"--gave his horse the rein, and the animal started +off at full speed. Perez was at his side in an instant, leaving his +friend open-mouthed with astonishment, and retailing the marvellous +news into twenty different quarters in as many seconds. + +Not a word was spoken; not a moment did the fiery chargers halt in +their headlong way. On, on they went; on, over wide moors and craggy +steeps; on, through the rushing torrent and the precipitous glen; +on, through the forest and the plain, with the same unwavering pace. +Repeatedly did Marie's brain reel, and her heart grow sick, and her +limbs lose all power either to guide or feel; but she neither spoke +nor flagged--convulsively she grasped the reins, and closed her eyes, +as the voice and hand of her companion urged their steeds swifter and +yet swifter on. + +An exclamation from Perez roused her. The turrets of Segovia were +visible in the distance, glittering in the brilliant sun; but her +blood-shot eye turned with sickening earnestness more towards the +latter object than the former. It had not yet attained its full +meridian--a quarter of an hour, perhaps twenty minutes, was still +before them. But the strength of their horses was flagging, foam +covered their glossy hides, their nostrils were distended, they +breathed hard, and frequently snorted--the short, quick, sound of +coming powerlessness. Their steady pace wavered, their heads drooped; +but, still urged on by Perez's encouraging voice, they exerted +themselves to the utmost--at times darting several paces suddenly +forward, then stumbling heavily on. The cold dew stood on Marie's +brow, and every pulse seemed stilled. They passed the outer +gates--they stood on the brow of a hill commanding a view of the whole +city. The castle seemed but a stone's throw from, them; but the sound +of muffled drums and other martial instruments were borne towards them +on the air. Multitudes were thronging in one direction; the Calle +Soledad seemed one mass of human heads, save where the scaffold raised +its frightful sign above them. Soldiers were advancing, forming a +thin, glittering line through the crowds. In their centre stood the +prisoner. On, again, dashed the chargers--scarcely a hundred yards +separated them from the palace-gate. Wildly Marie glanced back once +more--there were figures on the scaffold. And at that moment--borne in +the stillness more loudly, more heavily than usual, or, at least, so +it seemed to her tortured senses--the huge bell of the castle chimed +the hour of noon! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + "The outmost crowd have heard a sound, + Like horse's hoof on harden'd ground; + Nearer it came, and yet more near-- + The very deathsmen pause to hear!" + + SIR WALTER SCOTT. + + +In his private closet, far removed from the excitement stirring +without, King Ferdinand was sitting, on the morning appointed for +Stanley's execution: several maps and plans were before him, over +which he appeared intently engaged; but every now and then his brow +rested on his hand, and his eyes wandered from their object; Isabella +was at work in a recess of the window near him, conversing on his +warlike plans, and entering warmly into all his measures, as he roused +himself to speak of them, or silent when she saw him sunk in thought. +The history of the period dwells with admiration on the domestic +happiness of Ferdinand and Isabella, and most refreshingly do such +annals stand forth amid the rude and stormy scenes, both in public and +private life, most usual to that age. Isabella's real influence on +the far less lofty and more crafty Ferdinand was so silent, so +unobtrusive, that its extent was never known, either to himself or +to her people, till after her death, when in Ferdinand's rapid +deterioration from the nobler qualities of earlier years, it was +traced too clearly, and occasioned her loss to be mourned, yet more +than at the moment of her death. + +The hour of noon chimed, and Ferdinand, with unusual emotion, pushed +the papers from him. + +"There goes the knell of as brave and true a heart as ever beat," he +said. "If he be innocent--as I believe him--may Heaven forgive his +murderer! Hark! what is that?" he continued hurriedly, as the last +chime ceased to vibrate; and, striding to the door of his cabinet he +flung it open and listened intently. + +"Some one seeks the King! follow me, Isabel. By St. Francis, we may +save him yet!" he exclaimed, and rapidly threading the numerous +passages, in less than a minute he stood within the hall. + +"Who wills speech of Ferdinand?" he demanded. "Let him step forth at +once and do his errand." + +"I seek thee, King of Spain!" was the instant answer, and a young lad +in the white garb of a Benedictine novice, staggered forwards. "Arthur +Stanley is innocent! The real murderer is discovered; he lies at the +point of death sixty miles hence. Send--take his confession; but +do not wait for that. Fly, or it is too late. I see it--the axe is +raised--is flashing in the sun; oh, stop it ere it falls!" And with +the wild effort to loose the grasp of an old soldier, who more +supported than detained him, his exhausted strength gave way, and they +laid him, white, stiff, and speechless, on a settle near. + +With his first word, however, Ferdinand had turned to a trusty +soldier, and bade him "fly to stop the work of death;" and the man +needed not a second bidding: he darted from the hall, flew through the +castle-yard, repeated the words to the first individual he met, by +whom it was repeated to another, and by him again on and on till it +reached the crowds around the scaffold; where it spread like wildfire +from mouth to mouth, reaching the ear of Don Felix, even before his +eye caught the rapidly advancing soldier, whom he recognized at once +as one of his Sovereign's private guards; impelling him, with an +almost instinctive movement, to catch the upraised arm of the +executioner at the very instant he was about to strike. + +"Wherefore this delay, Don Felix? it is but a cruel mercy," sternly +inquired the Chief Hermano, whose office had led him also to the +scaffold. + +"Behold, and listen: praised be the holy saints, he is saved!" was +the rapid reply, as the voice of the soldier close by the foot of +the scaffold, was distinguished bidding them "Hold! hold! the King +commands it. He is innocent; the real murderer is discovered!" and +then followed a shout, so loud, so exulting, that it seemed to have +burst from those assembled hundreds at the same instant. The prisoner +heard it, indeed; but to his bewildered senses--taking the place as +it did of the expected blow--it was so utterly meaningless that he +neither moved nor spoke; and even Don Felix's friendly voice charging +him--"Up, Stanley! up, man! thou art saved--thine innocence made +known!" failed to convince him of the truth. He rose from his knees; +but his limbs shook, and his face--which had changed neither hue nor +expression when he had knelt for the fatal blow--was colorless as +marble. He laid his trembling hand on Father Francis's arm, and tried +to speak, but he could not utter a sound. + +"'Tis true, my beloved son: thy sinful thoughts have been sufficiently +chastised; and the mercy of Heaven publicly revealed. Our prayers +have not been said in vain; thine innocence is known--the guilty one +discovered!" + +To doubt these solemn accents was impossible, and though the effort +was mighty to prevent it, Nature would have sway, and Stanley laid his +head on the Prior's arm, and burst into tears. And the wild shout that +again awoke, seemed to clarion forth a thrilling denial to the charge +of weakness, which on such openly demonstrated emotion, some hearts +dead to the voice of Nature might have pronounced. + +King Ferdinand had not been idle while this exciting scene was +enacting; questioning briefly but distinctly the villager who had +accompanied the novice; the latter still remaining in a state of +exhaustion precluding all inquiries from him. Perez, however, could +only repeat the lad's words when informed that the execution of Senor +Stanley was to take place that day. Father Ambrose had merely told him +that he (Perez) had rendered a most important service to more than one +individual by his compassionate care of the dying man, whose desire to +communicate with the King was no idle raving. He had also charged +him to take particular care of the young novice, who was ailing and +weakly; that the emergency of the present case alone had compelled him +to send the lad to Segovia, as his dress and ability, might gain him a +quicker admission to the King or Queen, than the rude appearance and +uncouth dialect of his companion. The father had also requested him to +urge the officers, whom the King might send to take the dying man's +confession, to travel at their utmost speed, for he thought death was +approaching fast. + +With his usual rapidity of thought and decision, Ferdinand's orders +were given and so quickly obeyed, that even before the arrival of the +Sub-Prior and Don Felix with the released prisoner, a band of men, +headed by Don Alonzo and two of the chief officers of the Santa +Hermandad, had already started for the village. The King still +retained Perez, not only to reward him liberally, but that his tale +might be repeated to the proper authorities, and compared with that of +the novice, as soon as he had sufficiently recovered to give it. The +entrance of Stanley effectually prevented his giving more than a +pitying glance towards the poor boy, who had been raised on one of the +benches, surrounded by the soldiers, who were doing all their rude +kindness suggested to revive him. + +Isabella had followed her husband to the hall, and been a quiet but +penetrative observer of all that followed. She had started as the +voice of the novice met her ear, and made a few hasty steps forward; +but then checked herself, and quietly watched the proceedings of the +soldiers. Perceiving how wholly ineffectual their efforts appeared, +she advanced towards them. With the most reverential affection the +men made way for her. They had been so accustomed to see her on the +battle-field, tending the wounded and the dying, soothing their +anguish and removing their cares, ay, and more than once doing the +same kindly office in their rude and lowly homes, that her appearance +and gentle tending of the boy, excited no surprise whatever. She +motioned them all back, apparently to allow a free current of air--in +reality, to prevent them from adopting her own suspicions; she did not +remove the somewhat unusually tightly-secured hood; but for her, one +glance on that white and chiselled face was sufficient. Her skill +was at length successful, and with the first symptom of returning +animation, she left him to the soldiers, and joined the throng around +the King; but her eye, which from long use, appeared literally endowed +with power to take in every desired object, however separated, at one +glance, still watched him as he painfully endeavored to rise, and +threw one searching glance towards the principal group. His eyes +rested a full minute on the prisoner, with an expression which +Isabella alone, perhaps, of all in that hall, could read. A momentary +crimson flushed his cheek, and then his face was bowed in his +spread hands, and his slight frame shook, with the fervor of the +thanksgiving, which his whole soul outpoured. + +Perceiving that the lad had recovered his senses, Perez referred all +the eager questioners to him, feeling so bewildered at the marvellous +transformation of himself, in his own opinion, from, an ignorant +rustic, who had never seen the interior of a town, to the permitted +companion of his sovereign and his nobles, and even of Isabella, and +he received from her lips a few words of kindly commendation, that +it was almost an effort to speak; and he longed to rush back to his +village and astound them all, and still more, triumph over his friend, +the hostellerie-keeper, who, lord it as he might, had never been so +honored. + +"Come hither, boy," said Ferdinand kindly; and the novice slowly and +with evident reluctance obeyed. "We could almost wish thy tastes had +pointed elsewhere than the church, that our acknowledgments of thy +exertions in our service might be more substantial than mere thanks; +however, thy patron saint shall not want a grateful offering. Nay, our +presence is surely not so terrible that thou shouldst tremble thus, +poor child! Hast thou aught more to communicate?--aught for our +private ear, or that of her Highness our consort? If not, we will not +exhaust thy little strength by useless questions." + +In a tone so low and faltering, that Ferdinand was obliged to bend +down his head to hear, the novice replied, that if messengers had been +despatched to the village, his errand was sufficiently accomplished. +Father Ambrose had merely charged him to say that the real murderer +had himself confessed his crime, and that the sin had been incited, +by such a horrible train of secret guilt, that all particulars were +deferred till they could be imparted to the authorities of justice, +and by them to the sovereigns themselves. For himself he only asked +permission to return to the village with Perez, and rejoin his +guardian, Father Ambrose, as soon as his Grace would please to dismiss +him. + +"Thou must not--shalt not--return without my poor thanks, my young +preserver," exclaimed Stanley, with emotion. "Had it not been for +exertions which have well nigh exhausted thee, exertions as gratuitous +as noble--for what am I to thee?--my honor might have been saved +indeed, but my life would have paid a felon's forfeit. Would that I +could serve thee--thou shouldst not find me ungrateful! Give me thine +hand, at least, as pledge that shouldst thou ever need me--if not for +thyself, for others--thou wilt seek me without scruple." + +The boy laid his hand on Stanley's without hesitation, but without +speaking; he merely raised his heavy eyes a moment to his face, and +vainly did Stanley endeavor to account for the thrill which shot +through his heart so suddenly as almost to take away his breath, as he +felt the soft touch of that little hand and met that momentary glance. + +Who has not felt the extraordinary power of a tone--a look--a touch? +which, + + "Touching th' electric chain, wherewith we are darkly bound," + +fills the heart and mind with irresistible impulses, engrossing +thoughts, and startling memories, all defined and united, and yet +lasting for so brief a moment that we are scarcely able to realize +their existence ere they are gone--and so completely, that we perplex +ourselves again and again with the vain effort to recall their subject +or their meaning. And so it was with Stanley. The thrill passed and +he could not even trace its origin or flitting thought; he only saw a +Benedictine novice before him; he only felt regret that there was no +apparent means with which he could evince his gratitude. + +On Father Francis offering to take charge of the boy, till his +strength was sufficiently renovated to permit his safe return to the +village, Isabella spoke, for the first time:-- + +"Reverend Father! We will ourselves take charge of this poor child. +There are some questions we would fain inquire, ere we can permit his +return to his guardian: if satisfactorily answered, a munificent +gift to his patron saint shall demonstrate, how deeply we feel the +exertions he has made; and if we can serve him better than merely +allowing his return to his monastery, trust me we shall not fail. +Follow me, youth!" she continued, as the Sub-Prior and the King, +though surprised at her words, acquiesced. The novice shrunk back +and clung to the side of Perez, as if most unwilling to comply; but +neither the command, nor the look, with which it was enforced could be +disobeyed, and slowly and falteringly he followed Isabella from the +hall. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + 'Tis done! and so she droops. Oh, woman-heart! + How bold and brave to do thy destined part! + Thro' sorrow's waves press firmly, calmly on, + And pause not, sink not, till the goal is won! + + MS. + + +Not a word passed between them, until they had reached Isabella's +private cabinet; and even then the Queen--though she seated herself +and signed to the boy to stand before her, as desirous of addressing +him--asked not a question, but fixed her penetrating eyes on his +pallid features, with a look in which severity was very evidently +struggling, with commiseration and regard. To attempt to retain +disguise was useless; Marie flung aside the shrouding hood, and +sinking down at the Queen's feet, buried her face in her robe, and +murmured in strong emotion-- + +"Gracious Sovereign--mercy!" + +"Again wouldst thou deceive, again impose upon me, Marie? What am I +to think of conduct mysterious as thine? Wherefore fly from my +protection--reject with ingratitude the kindness I would have +proffered--mistrust the interest which thou hadst already proved, +and then return as now? I promised forgiveness, and continuation of +regard, if the truth were revealed and mystery banished, and darker +than ever has thy conduct drawn the veil around thee. What urged thy +flight, and wherefore this disguise? Speak out, and truthfully; we +will be tampered with no longer!" + +But Marie vainly tried to obey; her brain was burning; the rapid ride, +the sudden transition, from the sickening horror of being too late, +to the assurance of Stanley's safety, the thought that she had indeed +parted from him for ever, and now Isabella's evident anger, when her +woman-heart turned to her as a child's to its mother's, yearning +for that gentle sympathy which, at such a moment, could alone have +soothed. Words seemed choked within her, and the effort to speak +produced only sobs. Isabella's eyes filled with tears. + +"Speak," she said, more gently; "Marie--say only why thou didst fly +me, when I had given no evidence, that the boon thou didst implore me +to grant, had become, by thy strange confession, null and void. What +urged thy flight?" + +"Not my own will. Oh, no--no, gracious Sovereign; I would have +remained a contented prisoner with thee, but they bore me away to such +scenes and sounds of horror that their very memory burns my brain. Oh, +madam! do with me what thou wilt, but condemn me not to return to that +fearful place again. Death, death itself--ay, even such a death as +Arthur has escaped--were mercy in its stead!" + +"Of what speakest thou, Marie? Who could have dared bear thee from our +protection without thine own free will? Thy mind has been overwrought +and is bewildered still; we have been harsh, perchance, to urge thee +to speak now: repose may--". + +"Repose! Oh, no--no; let me remain with thee!" she sobbed, as +forgetful of either state or form, her head sunk on Isabella's knee. +"He has borne me from your highness' power once; he can, he may, I +know he will again. Oh, save me from him! It was not because of my +faith he bore me there, and tempted and tortured and laughed at my +agony; he taunted me with his power to wreak the vengeance of a +baffled passion upon me--for, as a Jewess, who would protect me? Oh, +mighty Sovereign! send me not from thy presence. Don Luis will take me +from thy very roof again." + +"Don Luis!" repeated Isabella, more and more convinced that Marie's +sufferings had injured her brain. "What power can he have, so secret +and so terrible? Marie, thou ravest!" + +"Do I rave?" replied the unhappy girl, raising her right hand to her +throbbing brow. "It may be so; perhaps it has all been a dream--a wild +and fearful dream!--and I am awakened from it now; and yet--yet how +can it be; how came my arm thus if it had not been reality--horrible, +agonizing reality!" And as she spoke she removed the covering from +her left arm. Painfully Isabella started: the beautiful limb hung +powerless from wrist to shoulder, a dry and scorched and shrievelled +bone. + +"And couldst thou think thy Sovereign would ordain, or even permit, +such suffering?" she exclaimed, after a moment's pause, passing her +arm fondly round Marie, whom she had raised from the ground to a +cushion by her side. "My poor unhappy child, what is this dark +mystery? Who can have dared to injure thee, and call it justice, +zeal--religion, perchance! Mother of Mercy! pardon the profanation of +the word! Try and collect thy thoughts, and tell me all. Who has dared +thus insult our power?" + +"Don Luis!--Don Luis!" repeated Marie, clinging like an infant to the +Queen, and shuddering with terror at the very recollection of a power +which she had faced so calmly. "Oh, save me from him! torture itself I +could bear, but not his words." + +"Don Luis!" reiterated the astonished Queen. "What has he to do with +torture? Who is he--what is he, my poor child, that his very name +should thus appal thee? He may indeed have dared speak insulting +words, but what power has he thus fearfully to wreak his vengeance?" + +"Who is he--what is he?" repeated Marie, looking with surprise in +the Queen's pitying face. "Does not your highness know--and yet how +shouldst thou?--his very office is as secret as his own black nature? +Has your highness never heard men whisper of a secret Inquisition, +hiding itself even in thy domains? Oh, my Sovereign, it was there they +dragged me! [her voice sunk to a low shuddering whisper] and he was +grand master there; he--even Don Luis! And he will bear me there +again. Oh, save me from those fearful sounds--those horrid sights: +they glare before me now!" + +"And I will save thee, my child! ay, and root out these midnight +horrors from my kingdom," exclaimed Isabella, indignation flashing in +her eye, and flushing on her cheek. "Once we have been insulted--once +deceived; but never to us can such occur a second time. Fearfully +shall this deed of infamy recoil upon its perpetrators! Tremble not +thus, my poor girl, no one shall injure thee; no one can touch thee, +for we are warned, and this fearful tale shall be sifted to the +bottom! Child of a reprobate faith, and outcast race as thou art, +thinkest thou that even to thee Isabella would permit injury and +injustice? If we love thee too well, may we be forgiven, but cared for +thou shalt be; ay, so cared for, that there shall be joy on earth, and +in heaven for thee yet!" + +At another moment, those words would have been understood in their +real meaning; but Marie could then only feel the consoling conviction +of security and love. It was not merely personal kindness which had +so bound her to her Sovereign; it was the unacknowledged but felt +conviction, that Isabella had penetrated her secret feelings, with +regard to Arthur Stanley; and yet not a syllable of this had ever +passed the Queen's lips. Oh, true sympathy seldom needs expression, +for its full consolation to be given and received! The heart +recognizes intuitively a kindred heart, and turns to it in its sorrow +or its joy, conscious of finding in it, repose from itself. But only +a woman can give to woman this perfect sympathy; for the deepest +recesses, the hidden sources of anguish in the female heart no man can +read. + +Engrossed as Isabella was by the mysterious information imparted by +Marie, indefinitely yet forcibly confirmed by her, then unusual, +knowledge of the past history of Spain, she was more easily satisfied +with Marie's hurried and hesitating account of her escape, than she +might otherwise have been. To proclaim her relationship with Father +Ambrose was ruin to him at once. He had been one, she said with truth, +who had received great obligations from her family, and had vowed +to return them whenever it should be in his power so to do; he had, +therefore, made the exertion to save her, and was about taking her to +her childhood's home on the frontiers of Castile, the only place, it +appeared to him, sufficiently secret to conceal her from Don Luis's +thousand spies; but that on the providential discovery of the real +murderer, and the seeming impossibility of ever seeing the King +himself in time--she paused. + +"Could he send thee on such a rapid errand, my child, and suffering +thus?" gently inquired Isabella. + +"No, gracious madam," was the unhesitating rejoinder, though a burning +blush mounted to her very temples; "it was my own voluntary choice. It +was my unhappy fate to have been the actual cause of his arraignment; +it was but my duty to save him if I could." + +"And thou wouldst have returned with Perez had we not penetrated thy +disguise?" + +"Yes, gracious Sovereign." And the flush faded into paleness, ashy as +before; but the tone was calm and firm. + +The Queen looked at her intently, but made no further observation; and +speedily summoning her before trusted attendants, placed the widow of +Morales once more in their charge; imparted to them as much of Marie's +tale as she deemed requisite, and the consequent necessity for her +return to the Queen's care; nay, her very existence was to be kept +secret from all save those to whom she herself should choose to impart +it. Gratified by her confidence, they were eager to obey; and so +skilfully did they enter into her wishes, that their very companions +suspected not the identity of the prisoner, in whom, they were told, +their Sovereign was so much interested. Curiosity might have been busy +with very many, but their vague conjectures fell far short of the +truth; Catharine Pas was the only one of Isabella's younger maidens to +whom the real fact was imparted. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + 'Twas a dark tale of crime, and awed and chilled + E'en indignation seeming horror still'd, + Men stood beside a murd'rer's couch of death, + Watching-the glazing-eye and flickering-breath-- + Speaking with look and hurried sign alone, + Their thoughts, too terror-fraught for word or tone.--MS. + + +The indignation excited in the Queen's mind against Don Louis was +destined, very speedily, to be increased. Ferdinand had had time to +become half angry, and quite impatient, ere his messengers dispatched +to the village returned. Stanley had been released--was regarded by +all as innocent; but this was literally only from a peasant's word and +the half broken intelligence of an exhausted boy: he wanted proof, +and a vague dread would take possession of him that his fate was but +temporarily suspended. At an early hour the next day, however, Don +Alonzo returned; and Ferdinand's impatient anger was averted, when he +found the delay had been occasioned by their determination, to +convey the dying man to Segovia, and the caution necessary for its +accomplishment. The Hermanos had already noted down his confession; +but it was so fraught with extended and dangerous consequences, that +they felt, they dared not act on their responsibility: all suppressing +measures must proceed from the sovereigns themselves. Perez was again +summoned, and at once swore to the identity of the dying man as the +individual he had rescued from a deep pit, in a lonely mountain-pass, +about twenty miles from his village; and the man, whose eagerness to +speak was evident, though his voice was so faint, as scarcely to be +intelligible, commenced his dark and terrible tale. + +The indignation of the Sovereign, and of those whom he had chosen to +be present, was excited to the utmost, mingled with horror as the +mysterious fates of many a loved companion were thus so fearfully +solved; but none felt the recital with the same intensity of emotion +as the Sub-Prior, who, with, head bowed down upon his breast, and +hands tightly clenched, knelt beside the penitent. It was not +indignation, it was not horror; but agony of spirit that a religion +which he loved better than himself, whose purity and honor he would +have so jealously guarded, that he would have sacrificed life itself +for its service, should have been made the cover for such unutterable +villany. Few imagined the deeds of painful mortification and bodily +penance which, in his solitude, the Sub-Prior afterwards inflicted on +himself; as if his individual sufferings should atone for the guilt of +his brethren, and turn from them the wrath of an avenging God. + +Horrible as were the details imparted, incomprehensible as it seemed +that so extended and well-organized a power, should exist so secretly +throughout Spain, as to hide itself even from the sovereigns and +ministers of justice themselves, yet none doubted what they heard. +Sovereigns and nobles well knew that the Inquisition had been +established both in Castile and Arragon centuries before, and that +the annals of those kingdoms, though mentioning the resistance of the +people against this awful power, had been silent as to its entire +extirpation. + +In the first part of his narrative the man had spoken shrinkingly and +fearfully, as if still in dread of vengeance on his betrayal; but +his voice became bolder when he confessed his own share in the late +atrocious crime. Accustomed by the strictest and most rigid training, +to obey as familiars, the will of their superiors without question--to +be mere mindless and feelingless tools, to whom death itself was +awarded, if by word or hint, or even sign, they dared evince +themselves to be as other men--he had, at the command of the Grand +Inquisitor, deeply drugged Senor Stanley's evening draught, and, while +under its potent influence, had purloined his sword; waylaid Don +Ferdinand in the Calle Soledad, effectually done the deed, and--aware +that it would be many hours ere the English Senor could arouse himself +from the stupifying effects of the draught--had intended returning to +his chamber still more effectually to throw on him the suspicion of +the murder. It happened, however, that it was the first time he had +ever been chosen by his superiors as their tool for actual murder, and +the magnitude of the crime, from the greatness of, and universal love +borne towards the victim, had so appalled him, that, combined with the +raging storm and pitchy darkness, he had felt utterly bewildered. Not +well acquainted with Segovia, he had found himself, after more than an +hour's wandering--instead of, as he expected, again near the Senor's +lodgings--in the self-same spot whence he had started, and close by +the body of his victim. The sight horrified and bewildered him yet +more, and he crept behind a low wall, resolved on remaining there +till the tempest had at least partially subsided, and then fulfil the +remainder of his instructions; knowing that to fail in any one point, +would be the signal of his own destruction. Fortune, however, so far +favored him, as to send the young English Senor to the very spot, +and there was therefore no occasion for his further interference. He +tarried till he had seen Stanley's arrest, and had heard the loud +execrations of all proclaiming him the murderer--and then returned to +his employers. + +The education of the familiars had so far failed with him, that, +though aware of its danger, thoughts would enter his mind, as to how +Don Ferdinand Morales could have offended the dread power which he +served, and why the foreign Senor should be thus implicated in the +deed. He hoped to have concealed these doubts; but from the issue, he +imagined that some unguarded word spoken to a companion, must have +betrayed him. He was chosen by the Grand Inquisitor as his companion, +on some secret expedition two days after the trial, unsuspicious +of the danger awaiting him, till the desolate scene on which they +unexpectedly entered flashed terror on his mind. His superior had +there paused, told him that from the witness of Beta, the servant +girl, it was quite evident he had disobeyed part of the instructions +given, or his _return_ to Arthur's lodgings would have been heard by +her as well as his _departure_ and thus at once have implicated the +Englishman as the real murderer; that though chance had thrown equal +suspicion upon him, it did net remove his disobedience, and so he +was doomed to death; and the blow, instantaneously given, felled him +insensible to the ground. When he recovered his senses, he found +himself lying in a deep pit, where he had evidently been thrown as +dead. The wounds and contusions received in the fall, as far as he +could recollect, by producing a most excruciating sense of pain, +roused him from temporary insensibility, and he was convinced he heard +his murderer's voice--though he could not see him--exclaim distinctly, +as if he were leaning over the mouth of the pit, "There goes my last +doubt: other men might call it their last fear, but I know not the +word! Three victims for the possession of one--and who will now +dare to brand me? I had slain that faltering craven without his +disobedience, he dared to _think_ upon his deed." + +Almost insensible from agony as he was, these words had impressed +themselves indelibly; causing the burning desire to live and be +revenged. And the opportune succors of the villager, Perez, with a +party of woodmen; the completely hidden site of the village to which, +he had been conveyed; and the, at first, favorable healing of his +wounds, appeared to give him every hope of its accomplishment. He had +resolved on communicating his tale to none save to Ferdinand himself, +or to the Chief Hermano, under strict promise to reveal it to the +Sovereign: but his intense anxiety had evidently prevented the +attainment of his desire, by producing fever; and thence arose his +wild and almost maniac cravings to make confession, and bind some holy +monk, by a solemn vow, to convey it to the King. + +It was not till the conclusion of this momentous narration, that the +King permitted any questions to be asked; and those he then demanded +were so concise and clear, that but few words were needed in which to +couch the reply. + +"And the designer of this hellish plot, the real murderer--through thy +hand, of one brave friend, and almost another--is the same who has +murdered thee!" he inquired, after learning the exact sites of these +mysterious halls; information which caused some of the bravest hearts +to shudder, from their close vicinity. + +The man answered at once in the affirmative. + +"And he dares assume, in this illegal tribunal, the rank of Grand +Inquisitor?" + +"Ay, gracious liege." + +"And his name?--that by which he is known to man? Speak! And as thy +true confession may be the means of bringing a very fiend to justice, +so may thy share in his deeds be pardoned." + +An indescribable expression passed over the fast stiffening features +of the dying. He half raised himself, and, laying his clammy hand on +Ferdinand's robe, whispered, in clear and thrilling tones-- + +"Bend low, my liege; even at this moment I dare not speak it loud; +but, oh! beware of those who affect superior sanctity to their +fellows: there is one who in the sunshine stands forth wisest, and +purest, and strictest; and at midnight rules arch-fiend--men call him +DON LUIS GARCIA. _He_ is Don Ferdinand's murderer! _He_ sought Senor +Stanley's death and mine; but instead of a victim, he has found an +accuser! His web has coiled round himself--flee him! avoid him as ye +would a walking pestilence, or visible demon! Minister as he may be of +our holy father, the Pope, he is a villain--his death alone can bring +safety to Spain. Ha! what is this? Mother of mercy! save me! The +cross! the cross! Absolution! The flames of hell! Father, bid them +avaunt! I--a true confession." The words were lost in a fearful +gurgling sound, and the convulsion which ensued was so terrible, that +some of the very bravest involuntarily turned away; but Stanley, who +had listened to the tale with emotions too varied and intense for +speech, now sprung forward, wildly exclaiming-- + +"Three victims for one! Where is that one? Speak--speak in mercy! Oh, +God! he dies and says no word!" + +The eyes of the dying man glared on him, but there was no meaning +in their gaze; they rolled in their sockets, glazed, and in another +minute all was stiff in death. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + "Doth Heaven + Woo the free spirit for dishonored breath + To sell its birthright? Doth Heaven set a price + On the clear jewel of unsullied faith + And the bright calm of conscience?" + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +A private council immediately followed the confession received; but +though it continued many hours, no active measures could at once be +decided upon. Secret and illegal, according to Spanish laws, as this +tribunal was, it was yet an instrument of the Pope, acknowledging his +supremacy alone, and, in consequence, always receiving his protection. +Civil justice, it appeared, could not reach those who were protected +by; the head of the church; but Ferdinand's mind was far too capacious +to admit this plea. Rooted out of his dominions--in its present +form, at least--he resolved it should be, and Isabella confirmed the +resolve. Not only was its secret existence fraught with the most awful +crimes and injustice, regarded generally, but it was derogatory and +insulting to that sovereign power, which Ferdinand and Isabella had +both determined on rendering supreme. Father Francis, whose usual +energy of thought and counsel appeared completely annihilated from the +fearful tale he had heard, strenuously urged the sovereigns to wait +the arrival of Torquemada, the Queen's confessor, who was now every +hour expected, and whose sterner and more experienced mind would give +them better counsel. To this both sovereigns agreed, but one measure +they adopted at once. As Grand Inquisitor, the principal actor in this +atrocious drama might be servant of and solely answerable to the Pope; +as Don Luis Garcia, he was subject to Ferdinand and Isabella, and as +such amenable to the laws of Spain. A schedule was therefore drawn up, +stating that whereas the man commonly known as Don Luis Garcia, had +been convicted of many atrocious and capital crimes, and, amongst +the gravest, of having instigated and commanded the murder of Don +Ferdinand Morales, and done to death his own tool, the real committer +of the deed, that Arthur Stanley might be charged with, and executed +for, the same; the sovereigns of Spain called upon their loving +subjects--of every rank and every degree, in all and every part of the +realm--to unite in endeavoring to discover, and deliver up the said +Don Luis Garcia, to the rigor of the law. An enormous reward was +offered for delivering him alive into the hands of justice, and half +the sum, should he have resisted to the death. The proclamation was +made by sound of trumpet in various parts of Segovia, and copies sent, +with all possible speed, to every city, town, and even village, over +Spain. A correct description of his person accompanied the schedule, +and every possible measure was adopted that could tend to his +apprehension. So strong was the popular feeling against him that every +class, almost every individual, felt it a personal duty to assist, in +this case, the course of justice. He had deceived all men, and all men +in consequence leagued themselves against him. So secretly, and yet +so judiciously, were the plans for his seizure carried on, and so +universal the popular ferment, that it appeared marvellous how he +could have escaped; and yet weeks merged into months, and, though the +measures of the Santa Hermandad in no way relaxed, Don Luis was still +at large, and effectually concealed. We may here state at once--though +it carries us much in advance of our present scene--that Father +Francis resolved at all costs to purge the church of Spain from +this most unholy member; and, authorized by the sovereigns, made a +voluntary pilgrimage to the court of St. Peter's, obtained an audience +with the Pope, laid the case before him, and besought the penalty of +excommunication to be fulminated against the hypocrite who had dared +to use, as cover for most atrocious villany, the pure and sacred +ordinances of the church. Alexander the Sixth, himself a worker of +such awful crimes that he was little capable of entering into the pure +and elevated character of the Sub-Prior, heard him calmly, smiled +sneeringly, and then informed him, he was too late. The worthy and +zealous servant of Rome, known to men as Don Luis Garcia, had been +before him, made confession of certain passions as exciting erring +deeds, to which all men were liable, had done penance, received +absolution, and was in a fair way of rising to the highest eminence in +the church. + +Father Francis remonstrated, urged, dared to speak bolder truths than +had ever before reached the papal ear but all without effect: and +this truly good and spiritual man returned to Spain stricken to the +dust. He reported the failure of his mission; heard, with bowed +head and aching soul, the natural indignation of Ferdinand, and the +quieter, but to him, still more expressive sorrow, at this fearful +abuse of her holy religion from Isabella; and then, with an +earnestness impossible to be resisted, conjured the royal permission +to retire entirely from all interference in public life. He could not, +he said, support the weight of shame, which, falling on his church, +had affected him individually. Vain were the royal solicitations, vain +the love of the people, vain the entreaties of the abbot and brethren +of his convent; he resigned the office of Sub-Prior, relinquished +every religious and secular honor, and buried himself in the most +impenetrable solitude, fraught with austerity and mortification, +personal penance, and yet devoted to such extraordinary acquirements, +that, though for long years his very existence was well nigh +forgotten, when next he burst upon the astonished eyes of the world, +it was no longer as Father Francis, the Sub-Prior of a Franciscan +monastery, a good and benevolent monk, but as the learned priest, the +sagacious statesman, the skilful general, ay, and gallant warrior--the +great and good CARDINAL XIMENES! + +To wait the arrival of Torquemada, the sovereigns and their council +unanimously resolved. It was but a very brief delay, and would permit +a more effectual extermination of the secret office than could be +decided upon by the laity alone. Ere the day closed, and in presence +of the sovereigns, of all the nobles, officers of state, the Santa +Hermandad and principal citizens, Arthur Stanley was formally +pronounced INNOCENT of the crime with which he had been charged. The +golden spurs, which had been ignominiously hacked from his heels, were +replaced by the aged Duke of Murcia; knighthood again bestowed by the +King; and Isabella's own hand, with winning courtesy, presented him +a sword, whose real Toledo blade, and richly jewelled hilt, should +replace the valued weapon, the loss of which had caused him such +unmerited suffering, and shame. + +"May it be used for us, as faithfully and nobly as its predecessor," +were Isabella's concluding words; "and its associations, Senor +Stanley, be nought but those of joy." + +The young man's cheek burned, but there was a deep shadow on his +countenance, which neither the honors he received, nor his own urgent +efforts had power to remove. He looked wistfully after the sovereigns +as they quitted the church, then with an irresistible impulse, broke +from the throng with whom he had been endeavoing to join in animated +converse, and, suddenly kneeling before Isabella, exclaimed in low, +agitated tones-- + +"_She_--she may still be in the villain's power. Oh, my liege, wait +not for Torquemada's arrival and leave her to die! He will wreak his +full vengeance upon her." + +"Trust me for her safety, my young friend; measures have been already +taken to secure it," was Isabella's instant reply, in a tone so full +of sympathy, that Arthur caught her robe, and pressed it to his lips. + +She smiled kindly and passed on, still accompanied by Ferdinand, not a +little astonished at her words, and still more so when Marie's whole +tale was imparted to him. + +On retiring to rest that night, his thoughts still engrossed with +vain speculations as to the destined fate of Marie,--Arthur, half +unconsciously, unsheathed Isabella's magnificent gift, to judge of +the temper of the blade; and, as he did so, a scroll, which had been +twisted round the steel, fell to the ground. He raised it with hasty +curiosity, but his heart throbbed as he recognized the handwriting of +the Queen, and deciphered the following words:-- + +"To Senor Stanley, in secrecy and confidence, these: The eye of love +is said to pierce through all disguises. In this instance it has +proved less discriminative than woman's sympathy, and woman's +penetration. She in whom we believe Senor Stanley interested, and to +whose exertions he owes the publication of his innocence in time to +save life as well as honor, is safe, and under the protection of her +Queen. Let this suffice for present peace, and speak of it to none. +ISABELLA R." + +Arthur's first impulse was to press the precious letter to his lips, +and gaze upon it till every letter seemed transferred from the paper +to his heart; his next was to sit down on the nearest seat, and bury +his face in his hands, actually bewildered by the flash of light, +which with those brief words came. Disguise--exertion--could it be +possible? Nay, it must be! The soft touch of that little hand, the +speaking look of those lovely eyes, again thrilled through his very +soul, and he knew their meaning now. Mysterious, bewildering as it +was, the novice, the poor, exhausted, seeming boy--was Marie! Again he +owed his life to her, and the wild yearning to gaze on her again, to +clasp her to his bosom, to pour forth his gratitude, to soothe and +shield, became so painfully intense, as almost to banish the joy, +which her rescue from danger ought to have occasioned. Had it not been +for her refusal to bear witness against him, not even the month's +grace would have been allowed him; he would have been executed at +once. She had saved him then--she had saved him now! And his heart so +swelled he knew not how to contain its fulness, how to calm it down, +to wait till the Queen's further pleasure should be known. But hope +sprung up to give him comfort; Isabella would accomplish her intention +of conversion; Marie could never resist her, and then--then, oh! she +would be all, all his own, and life shine, for both the brighter, for +its former tempest clouds. Meanwhile, he had such sweet thoughts, such +lovely images, to rest on. He owed his life, his honor, to her; and he +thought that it was his devoted gratitude which so deepened love. How +sweet is such illusion! how refreshingly soothing to be grateful, when +the object of that gratitude has been, and is still, the dear object +of our love! How often we deceive ourselves, and imagine we are +experiencing the strongest emotions of gratitude, when, had an +indifferent person conferred the same benefit, we might feel it +indeed, but it would more pain than pleasure; and be an obligation, so +heavy that we should never rest, till in some measure, at least, it +was returned. How contrary the impression of benefits from those we +love! + +Never before had the appearance of the Queen's confessor, the stern, +and some said cruel, Torquemada, been hailed with such excitement. He +was speedily informed of the late transactions, and his counsel most +earnestly demanded by both sovereigns. He required some days to +deliberate, he said, so momentous and important was the affair; and +when he did reply, his counsel was entirely opposed to what many +hoped, and Ferdinand expected. Indignant as he declared himself to +be, at the abuses in religion, he yet put a strong and most decided +negative on the royal proposition, of utterly exterminating this +unlawful tribunal. With all his natural eloquence, and in most +forcible language, he declared that, if kept within proper bounds, +restrained by due authority, and its proceedings open to the +inspection of the Sovereign, and under him, the archbishops and other +dignitaries of the church, the Inquisition would be a most valuable +auxiliary to the well-doing and purifying of the most Catholic +kingdom. He produced argument after argument of most subtle reasoning, +to prove that every effort to abolish the office in Spain had been +entirely useless: it would exist, and if not publicly acknowledged, +would always be liable to abuse and desecration; that the only means +of exterminating its secret, and too arrogant power, was to permit its +public establishment, and so control it, that its measures should be +open to the present, and to every successive sovereign. He allowed the +necessity, the imperious necessity of rooting out the _secret_ office; +but he was convinced this could not be done, nor in fact would the +church allow it, unless it should be recognized in the face of all +Europe, as based on alike the civil and religious laws of Spain. + +On Ferdinand the wily churchman worked, by proving that his royal +prerogative would be insured rather than injured by this proceeding; +that by publicly establishing the Inquisition, he proved his +resolution to control even this power, and render it a mere instrument +in his sovereign hand; that his contemplated conquest of the Moors +could not be better begun than by the recognition of a holy office, +whose glory it would be to bring all heathens to the purifying and +saving doctrines of the church of Rome. Ferdinand, though wary and +politic himself, was no match for Torquemada's Jesuitical eloquence; +he was won over to adopt the churchman's views with scarcely an effort +to resist them. With Isabella the task was much more difficult. He +appealed guardedly and gently to her tender regard for the spiritual +welfare of her people, sympathized with her in her indignant horror +of the crimes committed under religion's name, but persisted that the +evil of a secret Inquisition would never be remedied, save by the +measure he proposed. He pledged himself never to rest, till the +present halls and ministers of darkness were exterminated from every +part of Spain; but it could only be on condition of her assent to his +counsel. He used all his eloquence; he appealed to her as a zealous +Catholic, whose first duty was to further and purify her faith; but +for four days he worked in vain; and when she did give her consent, it +was with such a burst of tears, that it seemed as if her foreboding +eye had indeed read the shrouded annals of the future, and beheld +there, not the sufferings of individuals alone, but of the decline and +dishonor of that fair and lovely land, which she had so labored to +exalt. Ere another year from that day had passed, the Inquisition was +publicly established throughout the kingdom; and Torquemada, as first +Grand Inquisitor, reaped the reward of his persevering counsel, and +sealed, with blood, the destiny of Spain. + +To her confessor, Isabella revealed the story of Marie, and her own +intentions. Torquemada heard the tale with a stern severity, little +encouraging to the Queen's ideas of mercy; he insisted that her +conversion _must_ be effected; if by kindness and forbearance, well +and good; but if she were obstinate, harshness must be resorted +to; and only on that condition would he grant Isabella the desired +blessing on her task. He did not fail to bring forward the fact of +a zealous Catholic, such as Don Ferdinand Morales, wedding and +cherishing one of the accursed race, and conniving at her secret +adherence to her religion, as a further and very strong incentive for +the public establishment of the Inquisition, whose zealous care would +effectually guard the sons of Spain from such unholy alliances in +future. He urged the supposition of Marie's having become the mother +of children by Ferdinand; was it not most probable, nay, certain, that +she would infuse her own unbelief in them; and then how mixed and +defiled a race would take the place of the present pure Castilians. +Isabella could reply nothing satisfactory to this eloquent reasoning. +The prejudices of education are strong in every really earnest heart; +and though her true woman's nature revolted at every thought of +severity, and towards one so suffering as Marie, she acknowledged its +necessity, in case of kindness failing. Under the seal of confession, +she imparted her full plan to Torquemada, entering more into minute +particulars than she had done even to her husband, or in words to +herself. It was so fraught with mercy and gentleness that Torquemada +gave his consent, believing it utterly impossible, if Marie really +loved, as Isabella fancied, that she could resist. + +On the departure of her confessor, the Queen communed, as was her +frequent custom, long and severely with her own heart. What was the +cause of her extreme dislike to using harshness? With any other member +of that detested race, she felt Torquemada's counsel would have been +all-powerful; she would have left it all to him. It was then mere +personal regard, fear of the suffering which, did she cause Marie +increase of pain, she should inflict upon herself, and this must not +be. She was failing in the duty she owed her religion, if she could +not summon resolution to sacrifice even affection at its shrine. And +so she nerved herself, to adopt Torquemada's stern alternative, if +indeed it were required. How strange is self-delusion! how difficult, +even to the noblest, most unselfish natures, to read another spirit by +their own! Isabella felt it might be a duty to sacrifice affection for +religion, and nerved herself to its performance at any cost. And +yet that Marie should do so, she could not believe; and if she did, +harshness and suffering were to be her sole reward! Oh, that in +religion, as in every thing else, man would judge his brother man by +his own heart; and as dear, as precious, as his peculiar creed may be +to him, believe so it is with the faith of his brother! How much of +misery, how much of contention, of cruelty and oppression, would pass +away from this lovely earth, and give place for Heaven's own unity and +peace, and harmony and love. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + "Oh, bear me up + Against the unutterable tenderness + Of earthly love, my God! In the sick hour + Of dying human hope, forsake me not!" + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +For some months all was gayety and rejoicing in Segovia, not a little +heightened by the exciting preparations for the much desired war. The +time had now come when Ferdinand could, with safety to the internal +state of his kingdom, commence the struggle for which he had so +impatiently waited, since the very first hour of the union of Arragon +and Castile. Troops were marshalling secretly all over Spain; the +armorers and smiths were in constant requisition. The nobles were +constantly flitting from their hereditary domains to the court, eager +and active to combine all the pomp and valor of a splendid chivalry +with the more regular force; standing armies, which in almost every +European land were now beginning to take the place of the feudal +soldiery, so long their sole resource. It was necessary for Ferdinand, +ere he commenced operations, to visit his own dominions; a measure he +did not regret, as it effectually concealed his ulterior plans from +the Moors, who were also at that time too much disturbed by internal +dissensions, to give more than a cursory glance on the movements and +appearances of their Christian foes. + +In the festivals of the palace the young Englishman was naturally the +hero of the day; the best feelings of the Spanish character had +been called into play towards him: he had been unjustly accused and +seriously injured; been subject to dishonor and shame; and many might +say it had all sprung from prejudice against him as a foreigner. The +very failing of the Spaniards in this case also operated in his favor; +their national jealousy called upon them to make publicly manifest the +falsity of such a supposition, and he was courted and f�ted by all, +brought forward on every occasion, and raised and promoted both to +civil and military distinction, by those very men who, before the late +events, would have been the first to keep him back, yielding him but +the bare and formal courtesy, which, however prejudiced, no true-born +Spaniard could refuse. + +Amongst Isabella's female train, Arthur Stanley was ever gladly +welcomed, and his presence might have proved dangerous to more than +one of Isabella's younger attendants, had not his manner been such as +to preclude even the boldest and most presuming from any thought of +love. One alone he certainly singled out to talk with, and treat with +more attention than any other; and that one was the maiden we have +more than once had occasion to mention, Catherine Pas. Rallied as she +was by her companions, the young girl herself imagined there could be +no danger to her peace in associating thus with the handsome young +Englishman; for _she_ knew, though her companions did not, the real +reason of his preference for her society. Isabella had once slightly +hinted from which of her attendants Stanley might hear of Marie, and +giving them permission to answer his queries. It was a dangerous +ordeal for Catherine, but she laughed at the idea of permitting her +heart to pass into the possession of one who cared nothing for her, +save as she could speak of Marie. + +Great was the surprise and many the conjectures of the Queen's +female court, when rather more than six months after her strange +disappearance, the widow of Morales re-appeared amongst them; not +publicly indeed, for at the various f�tes and amusements of the +palace, and elsewhere, Marie was never seen. Her existence, however, +and safety, under Isabella's especial protection, were no longer kept +secret; and her recent loss was in itself quite sufficient reason for +her strict retirement. Her identity with brother Ernest, the supposed +novice, never transpired; he was supposed to have returned with Perez +to his guardian, Father Ambrose, who, though seen and questioned by +Don Alonzo at the village, did not accompany his dying penitent to +Segovia, nor, in fact, was ever seen in that city again. + +The tender care and good nursing which had been lavished on Marie, had +restored her sufficiently to health as to permit returning elasticity +of mind. All morbid agony had passed, all too passionate emotions were +gradually relaxing their fire-bands round her heart; and strength, the +martyr strength, for which she unceasingly prayed, to give up all if +called upon for her God, seemed dawning for her. That she was still +under some restraint, a sort of prisoner in the palace, Marie herself +was not aware; she had neither wish nor energy to leave the castle, +and therefore knew not that her egress, save under watchful +guardianship, would have been denied. She had no spirits to mingle +with the light-hearted, happy girls, in her Sovereign's train, and +therefore was unconscious that, with the sole exception of Catherine +whose passionate entreaties had obtained her this privilege, all +intimacy with them would have been effectually prevented. It was +enough, more than enough (for the foreboding dread was ever present, +that such a blissful calm, such mental and bodily repose, were far, +far too sweet for any long continuance) to be employed in little +services for and about the person of the Queen, and to know that +Arthur Stanley was restored to even more than former favor, and fast +rising to eminence and honor. + +Before the sovereigns quitted Segovia, Stanley left the court to march +southward with Pedro Pas, to occupy a strong fortification on the +barrier line, dividing the Spanish from the Moorish territories, and +commanding a very important post, which Ferdinand was anxious to +secure, and where he intended to commence his warlike operations, +as speedily as he could settle affairs at Saragossa. Twice before +Stanley's departure did Isabella contrive an apparently accidental +meeting between him and Marie, permitting them, though in her +presence, ample opportunity for mutual explanation; but not with much +evident success. Stanley, indeed, was painfully and visibly agitated, +finding it difficult, almost impossible to speak the feelings which +had so long filled heart and mind, and been in fancy so often thrown +into eloquent words, that he could not understand why in her presence +words were frozen up, and he could only _feel_. Marie's cheek and lip +had indeed blanched as she beheld him, but the deep and quiet calm she +had so earnestly sought, even then did not forsake her; once only her +voice faltered, when she conjured him to allude no longer to the past, +that the exertions she had made for him demanded no such gratitude +as he expressed. He would have answered with his usual passionate +impetuosity, but there was something in her manner which restrained +him; it was no longer the timid, yielding girl, who, even while she +told him of the barrier between them, had yet betrayed the deep love +she felt: it was the woman whose martyr spirit was her strength. And +yet, spite of himself, he hoped. Isabella, in parting with him, had +spoken such words as sent a thrill of delight over his whole being, +and he quitted Segovia buoyant and glad-hearted, to wait weeks, +months, he thought even years: so certain did he feel of success at +last. + +Isabella accompanied Ferdinand to Arragon, and determined on remaining +at Saragossa during the commencement of his Moorish campaign; but +she did not part from him without demanding and receiving his solemn +promise to send for her as soon as the residence of females in the +camp was practicable. She well knew the inspiring power of her +presence in similar scenes, and the joy and increased ardor which the +vicinity of near and dear relations, composing her court, would excite +in the warrior camp of Ferdinand. The promise was given, and the +annals of the Moorish war tell us how faithfully it was kept, and how +admirably Isabella performed the part she had assigned herself. + +Months glided slowly and peacefully on; as each passed, the trembling +heart of Marie foreboded change and sorrow; but it was not till she +had been eight months a widow that aught transpired which could +account for such strange fears. Then, indeed, the trial came: she +thought she was prepared, but the aching heart and failing strength +with which she listened to the Queen's commands, betrayed how little +our best endeavors can pave the way for sorrow. Isabella spoke gently +and kindly indeed, but so decisively, there was no mistaking the +meaning of her words: she had waited, she said, till time had restored +not only health and strength, but some degree of tranquillity to the +heart, and elasticity to the mind. That, as a Jewess, Marie must have +long known, the Queen could not continue favor; that she was, in fact, +acting without a precedent in thus permitting the attendance of an +unbeliever on her person, or appearance in her court; but that she had +so acted, believing that when perfectly restored to sense and energy, +Marie would herself feel the necessity, and gladly embrace the only +return she required--a calm deliberation of the Catholic faith, and, +as a necessary consequence, its acceptance. She therefore desired that +Marie would devote herself to the instructions of a venerable monk +(Father Denis by name), whom she had selected for the task. That +from that day Marie would not be called upon for either service or +attendance on the Queen, but to devote her whole mind and energies to +the task proposed; and that when Father Denis brought her information +that Marie accepted the cross, that very hour she should resume +her place in Isabella's court, and be the dearest, most cherished +there!--be publicly acknowledged as the inheritrix of her husband's +vast possessions, and a future of love and joy would shine before her, +so bright as to banish even the memories of the stormy past. + +Marie would have replied, but Isabella, with gentle firmness, refused +to hear her. "I demand nothing now," she said, "but obedience. A +willing heart, and open mind, are all you need bring with you to your +task: the father's holy lessons, blessed with God's grace, will do +the rest. I cannot believe that all the kindness and affection I have +shown have been so utterly without effect, that thou too wilt evince +the ungrateful obstinacy, so unhappily the characteristic of thy +blinded people. If banishment from our presence be a source of sorrow, +which I do believe it is, the term of that banishment rests entirely +with thyself. The sooner we can hail the child of the Virgin, even as +thou art now of our affections, the greater share of happiness wilt +thou bestow upon us and upon thyself. We have heard that nought but +harshness and severity can have effect on thy hardened race. It may +be, but with thee, at least, we will not use it, unless--" and her +voice and her look grew sufficiently stern for Marie to feel her words +were no idle threat--"unless obduracy and ingratitude so conquer +affection that we can see no more in the Marie Morales we have loved +than a hardened member of her own stiff-necked race; then--, but we +will not pain ourself or thee, by imagining what thine own will may +avert. Go, and the holy Virgin bless thee. Not a word; I know what +will be thine answer now; but a month hence thou wilt thank me for +this seeming severity." + +And Isabella turned somewhat hastily away; for her lip quivered and +her eye swelled. Marie did not see these indications of emotion, and +silently withdrew. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + "I have lost for that Faith more than thou canst bestow, + As the God who permits thee to prosper doth know. + In His hand is my heart, and my hope; and in thine + The land, and the life, which for Him I resign." + + BYRON. + + +Marie Morales had had many trials. Her life had been one of those +painful mysteries, as to why such a being should have been thus +exposed to scorn, which while on earth we vainly try to solve. Yet it +is no imaginary picture: hundreds, aye thousands, of Israel's devoted +race have thus endured; in every age, in every clime, have been +exposed to martyrdom--not of the frame alone, but of the heart; doomed +but to suffer, and to die. And how may we reconcile these things with +the government of a loving father, save by the firm belief, which, +blessed--thrice blessed--are those who feel; that, for such sufferers +on earth, a future of blessedness is laid up in another and lovelier +world--where there is no more sorrow, no more tears! + +Her former trials had been sharp agony and strong excitement. Her +present had neither the one nor the other; yet it was fraught with as +heavy suffering, as any that had gone before it; even though she knew +not, guessed not, _all_ that depended upon her conversion. It would +have been comparatively easy to have endured, for her faith's sake, +harshness and contempt; in such a case, self-respect rises to sustain +us, and we value our own tenets the more, from their startling +contrast with those which could command the cruelty we endure; but +Father Denis used harshness neither of manner nor of words. Firmly +impressed in his own mind, that it was utterly vain for a soul to hope +for salvation unless it believed in Jesus, the Virgin, the saints and +holy martyrs; he brought heart and soul to his task; and the more he +saw of Marie, the more painfully did he deplore her blind infatuation, +and the more ardently desire, to save her from the eternal +perdition which, as a Jewess, must await her. He poured forth such +soul-breathing petitions, for saving grace to be vouchsafed to her, in +her hearing, that Marie felt as if she would have given worlds, only +to realize the belief for which he prayed; but the more her heart was +wrung, the more vividly it seemed that her own faith, the religion of +her fathers through a thousand ages, impressed itself upon her mind +and heart, rendering it more and more impossible for her to forswear +it, even at the very moment that weak humanity longed to do it, and so +purchase peace. Naturally so meek and yielding, so peculiarly alive +to the voice of sympathy and kindness, it was inexpressibly and +harrowingly distressing to be thus compelled to resist both; to think +also of all Isabella's gentle, cherishing, and manifested affection; +and to know that the only return she demanded, she dared not, might +not give. To some dispositions these considerations would have been of +no weight whatever; to Marie they were so exquisitely painful, that +she could scarcely understand how it was that, feeling them thus +acutely, she could yet so clearly, so calmly, reply to Father Denis, +bring argument for argument, and never waver in her steadfast +adherence to, and belief in her own creed. The very lessons of her +youth, which she had thought forgotten in the varied trials which +had been her portion since, returned with full--she fancied +superhuman--force and clearness to her mind, rendering even the very +wish to embrace the Catholic religion, futile. There was a voice +within her that _would_ be heard, aye above every human feeling, every +strong temptation. She could not drown its clear ringing tones; even +where her mental sufferings seemed to cloud and harrow up the brain, +to the exclusion of every distinct idea, that voice would breathe its +thrilling whisper, telling her it was vain to hope it, she could not +be in heart a Catholic; and so she dared not be in words. + +A romance is no place for polemical discussion, and we will therefore +leave those painful arguments unrecorded. Suffice it, that Marie's +intimate acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures in their original +tongue--the language of her own people--gave her so decided an +advantage over the old monk, that, after nearly three months' trial, +he sought his Sovereign, and, with the most touching humility, +acknowledged his utter incapacity, for the conversion of Donna Marie, +and implored her to dismiss him, and select one more fitted for the +task. + +Astonished, and bitterly disappointed, Isabella cross-questioned him +as to the cause of this sudden feeling of incapacity, and his answers +but increased her desire to compel Marie to abandon Judaism, and +become--in semblance at least, a Catholic; believing fully that, this +accomplished, the Holy Spirit would do the rest, and she would at +least have saved her soul. She retained the father in the palace; +desiring him to inform his charge that one fortnight's grace would be +allowed her, to ponder on all the solemn truths he had advanced, and +on her own decision whether she would not rather yield to kindness, +than tempt the severity her obstinacy demanded; but, save this +enjoyment, he was to commune with her no further. With a trembling +spirit the Queen again sought the counsel of her confessor, and +reported the information of the holy father. Torquemada listened, with +a curling lip and contracted brow. He was not surprised, he said, +for it was exactly what he had expected. It was a part of their +blaspheming creed, to blind by sorcery, the eyes and minds of all +those who had ever attempted to win them over by kind and reasonable +argument. Father Denis had been bewitched, as all were, who ever +attempted to convert, by other than the harshest means. Her grace must +see the necessity of severity, and surely could not refuse the using +it any longer. But Isabella did refuse, till her last resource had +been tried; and all she asked was, if she might hold forth a powerful +temporal temptation to obtain the end she so earnestly desired? +Torquemada hesitated; but at length, on being told the severe +alternative which Isabella would enforce, if her first proposal were +rejected, reluctantly acceded; still persisting that nothing but the +rack and the flame, or fatal expulsion, would ever purge Spain from +the horrible infection of so poisonous a race. Isabella heard him with +a shudder; but, thankful even for this ungracious sanction, waited, +with, trembling impatience, the termination of the given fourteen +days; hoping, aye praying in her meek, fervid piety, that the mistaken +one might be softened to accept the proffered grace, or her own heart +strengthened to sacrifice all of personal feeling for the purifying by +fire and consequent salvation, of that immortal soul now so fearfully +led astray. + +It was with little hope that the father again sought Marie. Bewitched +he might be, but he was so impressed with the fervid earnestness +of her gentle spirit; with the lofty enthusiasm that dictated her +decision; so touched with the uncomplaining, but visible suffering, +which it cost her to argue with, and reject the voice of +kindness--that it required a strong mental effort in the old man, to +refrain from conjuring his Sovereign, to permit that misguided one +to remain unmolested, and wait, till time, and prayer, from those so +interested in her, should produce the desired effect. But this feeling +was so contrary to the spirit of the age, that it scarcely needed +Torquemada's representations to convince him, that he was experiencing +the effect of the invisible sorcery with which the race of Israel +always blinded the eyes of their opponents. The kind old man was awed +and silenced by his stern superior. Liberty of conscience was then a +thing unheard of; and therefore it was, that so much of the divine +part of our mingled nature was so completely concealed, that it lost +alike effect or influence. It was not even the subjection of the weak +to the strong; but the mere superiority of clerical rank. The truest +and the noblest, the most enlarged mind, the firmest spirit would +bend unresistingly to the simple word of a priest; and the purest +and kindest impulses of our holier nature be annihilated, before the +dictates of those, who were supposed to hold so infallibly, in their +sole keeping, the oracles of God. The spiritual in man was kept in +rigid bondage; the divinity worshipped by the Catholics of that age, +represented to the mass like the Egyptian idol, with a key upon his +lips--his attributes, as his law, hid from them, or imparted by chosen +priests, who explained them only as suited their individual purposes. +Is it marvel, then, that we should read of such awful acts committed +in Religion's name by man upon his brother? or that we should see the +purest and loveliest characters led away by priestly influence to +commit deeds, from which now, the whole mind so recoils, that we turn +away disappointed and perplexed at the inconsistency, and refuse the +meed of love and admiration to those other qualities, which would +otherwise shine forth so unsullied? The inconsistency, the seeming +cruelty and intolerance, staining many a noble one in the middle ages, +were the effects of the fearful spirit of the time; but their virtues +were their own. Truth if sought, must triumph over prejudice. By +inspection and earnest study of facts--of _causes_, as well as of +_events_, the mind disperses the mists of educational error, and +enables us to do justice, even to the injurer; and enlarges and +ennobles our feelings towards one another; till we can attain that +perfection of true, spiritual charity, which would look on all men as +children of one common parent. Liable, indeed, to be led astray by +evil inclination, and yet more by evil circumstances; but still our +brethren, in the divine part of our nature; which, however crushed, +hidden, lost to earth, is still existing--still undying. For such is +the immortal likeness of our universal Father; in which He made man, +and by which He marked mankind as brethren! + +Marie's answer was as Father Denis feared. She had pondered on all +he had said, and the dread alternative awaiting her; but the +impossibility of embracing Catholicism was stronger than ever. The +unfeigned distress of the old monk pained and alarmed her, for it +seemed to her as if he were conscious that some dreadful doom was +hanging over her, which he shrunk from revealing. She had not long to +remain in that torturing suspense: a few hours later in the same day, +she was summoned to Isabella's presence. The sensation of terror was +so intense as to render obedience, for the minute, utterly impossible. +Every limb shook, and again came the wild longing for power to believe +as they desired; for a momentary cessation of the voice of conscience, +to embrace the proffered cross, and be at rest. But it _would not_ +cease; and, scarcely able to support herself, she stood before the +dread Princess in whose hand was her earthly fate. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + + "She clasped her hands"!--the strife + Of love--faith--fear, and the vain dream of life, + Within her woman-heart so deeply wrought-- + It seemed as if a reed, so slight and weak, + _Must_, in the rending storm, not quiver only--break! + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +Isabella's expressive countenance was grave and calm; but it was +impossible to doubt the firmness of her purpose, though what that +purpose might be, Marie had no power to read. She stood leaning +against the back of one of the ponderous chairs; her head bent down, +and her heart so loudly and thickly throbbing that it choked her very +breath. + +"We have summoned thee hither, Marie," the Queen said at length, +gravely, but not severely, "to hear from thine own lips the decision +which Father Denis has reported to us; but which, indeed, we can +scarcely credit. Wert thou other than thou art--one whose heavy trials +and lovable qualities have bound thee to us with more than common +love--we should have delivered thee over at once to the judgment of +our holy fathers, and interfered with their sentence no farther. We +are exposing ourselves to priestly censure even for the forbearance +already shown; but we will dare even that, to win thee from thine +accursed creed, and give thee peace and comfort. Marie canst _thou_ +share the ingratitude--the obstinacy--of thy benighted race, that even +with thee we must deal harshly? Compel me not to a measure from which +my whole heart revolts. Do not let me feel that the charge against thy +people is true, without even one exception, and that kindness shown to +them, is unvalued as unfelt." + +A convulsive sob was the sole reply. Marie's face was buried in her +hands; but the tears were streaming through her slender fingers, and +her slight figure shook with the paroxysm. + +"Nay, Marie, we ask not tears. We demand the proof of grateful +affection on thy part; not its weak display. And what is that proof? +The acceptance of a faith without which there can be no security +in this life, nor felicity hereafter! The rejection of a fearfully +mistaken--terribly accursed--creed; condemning its followers to the +scorn and hate of man, and abiding wrath of God." + +"'To the scorn and hate of man?' Alas, gracious Sovereign, it is +even so; but not to the 'abiding wrath of God,'" answered Marie, +suppressing with a desperate effort, her painful emotion. "The very +scorn and loathing we encounter confirms the blessed truth, of our +having been the chosen children of our God, and the glorious promise +of our future restoration. We are enduring now on earth the effects of +the fearful sins of our ancestors; but for those who live and die true +to His law, there is a future after death laid up with Him; that, how +may we forfeit for transitory joy?" + +"If it were indeed so, we would be the last to demand such forfeit," +answered the Queen; "but were it not for the blinding veil of wilful +rejection cast over the eyes and hearts of thy people, thou wouldst +know and feel, that however thy race were _once_ the chosen of God, +the distinction has been lost for ever, by their blaspheming rejection +of Jesus and his virgin mother; and the misery--its consequence--on +earth, is but a faint type of that misery which is for everlasting. It +is from this we would save thee. Father Denis has brought before thee +the solemn truths which our sainted creed advances, in reply to the +mystifying fallacies of thine; and, he tells me, wholly without +effect. My arguments, then, can be of such little weight, that I have +pledged myself to my confessor to attempt none. We summoned thee +merely to tell our decision in this matter; of too vital importance +to be left to other lips. Once more let me ask--and understand thee +rightly!--have all the Holy Father's lessons failed to convince, even +as all our affection has failed to move, thee?" + +"Would--would to Heaven I could believe as thou demandest!" answered +Marie. "Would that those lessons had brought conviction! The bitter +agony of your Grace's displeasure--of feeling that, while my heart so +throbs and swells with grateful devotion that I would gladly die to +serve thee, yet the proof thou demandest I _cannot_ give; and I must +go down to an early grave, leaving with thee the sole impression that +thou hadst cherished a miserable ingrate, whom, even as thou hast +loved, so thou must now hate and scorn. Oh, madam! try me by other +proof! My creed may be the mistaken one it seems to thee; but, oh! +it is no garment we may wear and cast off at pleasure. Have mercy, +gracious Sovereign! condemn me not as reprobate--hardened--more +insensible than the veriest cur, who is grateful for the kindness of +his master!--because I love my faith better even than thy love--the +dearest earthly joy now left me." + +"Methinks scarcely the dearest," replied Isabella, affected, in spite +of her every effort for control; "but of that here after. Marie, I +have pledged myself to my confessor, not to let this matter rest. He +has told me that my very affection for thee is a snare, and must +be sacrificed if it interfere with my duty; not alone as member of +Christ's church, but as Sovereign of a Catholic realm, whose bounden +duty it is to purge away all heresy and misbelief. I feel that he is +right, and, cost what it may, Christ's dictates must be obeyed. The +years of fraud--of passing for what thou wert not--I forgive, for thy +noble husband's sake; but my confessor has told me, and I feel its +truth, that if we allow thy return to thy people as thou art now, we +permit a continuance of such unnatural unions, encourage fraud, +and expose our subjects to the poisonous taint of Jewish blood and +unbelief. A Christian thou must become. The plan we have decided upon +must bring conviction at last; but it will be attended with such +long years of mental and physical suffering, that we shrink from the +alternative, and only thine own obstinacy will force us to adopt it." + +She paused for above a minute; but though Marie's very lips had +blanched, and her large eyes were fixed in terror on the Queen's face, +there was no answer. + +"Thou hast more than once alluded to death," Isabella continued, +her voice growing sterner; "but, though such may be the punishment +demanded, we cannot so completely banish regard as to expose thy soul, +as well as body, to undying flames. Thou hast heard, perchance, of +holy sisterhoods, who, sacrificing all of earthly joys and earthly +ties, devote themselves as the willing brides of Christ, and pass +their whole lives in acts of personal penance, mortification, +self-denial, and austerity; which to all, save those impelled try this +same lofty enthusiasm, would be unendurable. The convent of St. Ursula +is the most strictly rigid and unpitying of this sternly rigid school; +and there, if still thou wilt not retract, thou wilt be for life +immured, to learn that reverence, that submission, that belief, +which thou refusest now. Ponder well on all the suffering which this +sentence must comprise. It is even to us--a Christian--so dreadful, +that we would not impose it, could we save thy deluded spirit by any +other means. The Abbess, from the strict and terrible discipline of +long years, has conquered every womanly weakness; and to a Jewess +placed under her charge, to be brought a penitent to the bosom of +the Virgin, is not likely to decrease the severity of treatment and +discipline, the portion even of her own. Once delivered to her charge, +we interfere no further. Whatever she may command--short of actual +torture, or death--thou must endure. Marie! wilt thou tempt a doom +like this? In mercy to thyself, retract ere it be too late!" + +"If I can bear the loss of thy favor, my Sovereign, I can bear this," +replied Marie, slowly and painfully. "There is more suffering in the +thought, that your Grace's love is lost for ever; that I shall never +see your Highness more; and thou must ever think of me as only a +wretched, feelingless ingrate, than in all the bodily and mental +anguish such a life may bring." + +"Marie!" exclaimed Isabella, with an irrepressible burst of natural +feeling. And Marie had darted forwards, and was kneeling at her feet, +and covering her hand with tears and kisses, ere she had power to +forcibly subdue the emotion and speak again. + +"This must not be," she said at length; but she did not withdraw the +hand which Marie still convulsively clasped, and, half unconsciously +it seemed, she put back the long, black tresses, which had fallen over +her colorless cheek, looked sadly in that bowed face, and kissed +her brow. "It is the last," she murmured to herself. "It may be +the effects of sorcery--it may be sin; but if I do penance for the +weakness, it must have way." + +"Thou hast heard the one alternative," she continued aloud; "now hear +the other. We have thought long, and watched well, some means of +effectually obliterating the painful memories of the past, and making +thy life as happy as it has been sad. We have asked and received +permission from our confessor to bring forward a temporal inducement +for a spiritual end; that even the affections themselves may be made +conducive to turning a benighted spirit from the path of death into +that of life; and, therefore, we may proceed more hopefully. Marie! is +there not a love thou valuest even more than mine? Nay, attempt not +to deny a truth, which we have known from the hour we told thee that +Arthur Stanley was thy husband's murderer. What meant those wild words +imploring me to save him? For what was the avowal of thy faith, but +that thy witness should not endanger him? Why didst thou return to +danger when safety was before thee?--peril thine own life but to save +his? Answer me truly: thou lovest Stanley, Marie?" + +"I have loved him, gracious Sovereign." + +"And thou dost no longer? Marie, methinks there would be less wrong +in loving now, than when we first suspected it," rejoined the Queen, +gravely. + +"Alas! my liege, who may school the heart? He was its first--first +affection! But, oh! my Sovereign, I never wronged my noble husband. He +knew it all ere he was taken from me, and forgave and loved me still; +and, oh! had he been but spared, even memory itself would have lost +its power to sting. His trust, his love, had made me all--all his +own!" + +"I believe thee, my poor child; but how came it that, loving Stanley, +thy hand was given to Morales?" + +For the first time, the dangerous ground on which she stood flashed on +the mind of Marie; and her voice faltered as she answered--"My father +willed it, Madam." + +"Thy father! And was he of thy faith, yet gave his child to one of +us?" + +"He was dying, Madam, and there was none to protect his Marie. He +loved and admired him to whom he gave me; for Ferdinand had never +scorned nor persecuted us. He had done us such good service that my +father sought to repay him; but he would accept nothing but my hand, +and swore to protect my faith--none other would have made such +promise. I was weak, I know, and wrong; but I dared not then confess I +loved another. And, once his wife, it was sin even to think of Arthur. +Oh, Madam! night and day I prayed that we might never meet, till all +of love was conquered." + +"Poor child," replied Isabella, kindly. "But, since thou wert once +more free, since Stanley was cleared of even the suspicion of guilt, +has no former feeling for him returned! He loves thee, Marie, with +such faithful love as in man I have seldom seen equalled; why check +affection now?" + +"Alas! my liege, what may a Jewess be to him; or his love to me, save +as the most terrible temptation to estrange me from my God?" + +"Say rather to gently lure thee to Him, Marie," replied Isabella, +earnestly. "There is a thick veil between thy heart and thy God now; +let the love thou bearest this young Englishman be the blessed means +of removing it, and bringing thee to the sole source of salvation, the +Saviour Stanley worships. One word--one little word--from thee, and +thou shalt be Stanley's wife! His own; dearer than ever from the +trials of the past. Oh! speak it, Marie! Let me feel I have saved thee +from everlasting torment, and made this life--in its deep, calm joy--a +foretaste of the heaven that, as a Christian, will await thee above. +Spare Stanley--aye, and thy Sovereign--the bitter grief of losing thee +for ever!" + +"Would--would I could!" burst wildly from the heart-stricken Marie; +and she wrung her hands in that one moment of intense agony, and +looked up in the Queen's face, with an expression of suffering +Isabella could not meet. "Would that obedience, conviction, could come +at will! His wife?--Stanley's. To rest this desolate heart on his? To +weep upon his bosom?--feel his arm around me?--his love protect me? To +be his--all his? And only on condition of speaking one little word? +Oh! why can I not speak it? Why will that dread voice sound within, +telling me I dare not--cannot--for I do not believe? How dare I take +the Christians's vow, embrace the cross, and in my heart remain a +Jewess still?" + +"Embrace the cross, and conviction will follow," replied the Queen. +"This question we have asked of Father Tomas, and been assured that +the vows of baptism once taken, grace will be found from on high; and +to the _heart_, as well as _lip_, conversion speedily ensue. +Forswear the blaspheming errors of thy present creed--consent to be +baptized--and that very hour sees thee Stanley's wife!" + +"No, no, no!--Oh! say not such words again! My liege, my gracious +liege, tempt not this weak spirit more!" implored Marie, in fearful +agitation. "Oh! if thou hast ever loved me, in mercy spare me this!" + +"In mercy is it that we do thus speak, unhappy girl." replied +Isabella, with returning firmness; for she saw the decisive moment had +come. "We have laid both alternatives before thee; it rests with thee +alone to make thine own election. Love on earth and joy in Heaven, +depends upon one word: refuse to speak it, and thou knowest thy doom!" + +It was well, perhaps, for Marie's firmness, that the Queen's appealing +tone had given place to returning severity; it recalled the departing +strength--the sinking energy--the power once more to _endure!_ For +several minutes there was no sound: Marie had buried her face in her +hands, and remained--half kneeling, half crouching--on the cushion at +the Queen's feet, motionless as stone; and Isabella--internally as +agitated as herself--was, under the veil of unbending sternness, +struggling for control. The contending emotions sweeping over that +frail woman-heart in that fearful period of indecision we pretend not +to describe: again and again the terrible temptation came, to say but +the desired word, and happiness was hers--such intense happiness, that +her brain reeled beneath its thought of ecstasy; and again and again +it was driven back by that thrilling voice--louder than ever in its +call--to remain faithful to her God. It was a fearful contest; and +when she did look up, Isabella started; so terribly was its index +inscribed on those white and chiselled features. + +She rose slowly, and stood before the Sovereign, her hands tightly +clasped together, and the veins on her forehead raised like cords +across it. Three times she tried to speak; but only unintelligible +murmurs came, and her lips shook as with convulsion. "It is over," +she said at length, and her usually sweet voice sounded harsh and +unnatural. "The weakness is conquered, gracious Sovereign, condemn, +scorn, hate me as thou wilt, thou must: I must endure it till my +heart breaks, and death brings release; but the word thou demandest I +_cannot_ speak! Thy favor, Arthur's love, I resign them all! 'Tis the +bidding of my God, and he will strengthen me to bear it. Imprison, +torture, slay, with the lingering misery of a broken heart, but I +cannot deny my faith!" + +Disappointed, grieved, as she was at this unexpected reply, Isabella +was too much an enthusiast in religion herself not to understand the +feeling which dictated it; and much as she still abhorred the faith, +the martyr spirit which could thus immolate the most fervid, the +most passionate emotions of woman's nature at the shrine of her God, +stirred a sympathetic chord in her own heart, and so moved her, that +the stern words she had intended to speak were choked within her. + +"We must summon those then to whose charge we are pledged to commit +thee," she said with difficulty; and hastily rung a silver bell beside +her. "We had hoped such would not have been needed; but, as it is--" + +She paused abruptly; for the hangings were hastily pushed aside, and, +instead of the stern figure of Torquemada, who was to have obeyed the +signal, the Infanta Isabella eagerly entered; and ran up to the Queen, +with childish and caressing glee at being permitted to rejoin her. +The confessor--not imagining his presence would be needed, or that he +would return to his post in time--had restlessly obeyed the summons of +a brother prelate, and, in some important clerical details, forgot the +mandate of his Sovereign. + +Marie saw the softened expression of the Queen's face; the ineffectual +effort to resist her child's caresses, and retain her sternness: and, +with a sudden impulse, she threw herself at her feet. + +"Oh! do not turn from me, my Sovereign!" she implored, wildly clasping +Isabella's knees. "I ask nothing--nothing, but to return to my +childhood's home, and die there! I ask not to return to my people; they +would not receive me, for I have dared to love the stranger; but in my +own isolated home, where but two aged retainers of my father dwell, I +can do harm to none--mingle with none; let me bear a breaking heart for +a brief--brief while; and rest beside my parents. I will swear to thee +never to quit that place of banishment--swear never more to mingle with +either thy people or with mine--to be as much lost to man, as if the +grave had already closed over me, or convent walls immured me! Oh, +Madam! grant me but this! Will it not be enough of suffering to give up +Arthur?--to tear myself from thy cherishing love?--to bear my misery +alone? Leave me, oh! leave me but my faith--the sole joy, sole hope, now +left me! Give me not up to the harsh, and cruel father--the stern mother +of St. Ursula! If I can sacrifice love, kindness--all that would make +earth a heaven--will harshness gain thine end? Plead for me," she +continued, addressing the infant-princess, who, as if affected by the +grief she beheld, had left her mother to cling round Marie caressingly; +"plead for me, Infanta! Oh, Madam! the fate of war might place this +beloved and cherished one in the hands of those who regard thy faith +even as thou dost mine; were such an alternative proffered, how wouldst +thou she should decide? My Sovereign, my gracious Sovereign, oh, have +mercy!" + +"Mamma! dear Mamma!" repeated the princess at the same moment, and +aware that her intercession was required, though unable to comprehend +the wherefore, she clasped her little hands entreatingly; "grant poor +Marie what she wishes! You have told me a Queen's first duty is to be +kind and good; and do all in her power to make others happy. Make her +happy, dear Mamma, she has been so sad!" + +The appeal to Isabella's nature was irresistible; she caught her child +to her heart, and burst into passionate tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + + "I will have vengeance! + I'll crush thy swelling pride! I'll still thy vaunting! + I'll do a deed of blood! + Now all idle forms are over-- + Now open villany, now open hate-- + Defend thy life!" + + JOANNA BAILLIE. + + "Let me but look upon 'her' face once more-- + Let me but say farewell, my soul's beloved, + And I will bless thee still." + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +Some time had elapsed since King Ferdinand and his splendid army had +quitted Saragossa. He himself had not as yet headed any important +expedition, but fixing his head-quarters at Seville, dispatched thence +various detachments under experienced officers, to make sallies on the +Moors, who had already enraged the Christian camp by the capture of +Zahara. Arthur Stanley was with the Marquis of Cadiz, when this insult +was ably avenged by the taking of Albania, a most important post, +situated within thirty miles of the capital. The Spaniards took +possession of the city, massacred many of the inhabitants, placed +strong restrictions on those who surrendered, and strongly garrisoned +every tower and fort. Nor were they long inactive: the Moors resolved +to retake what they considered the very threshold of their capital; +hastily assembled their forces, and regularly entered upon the siege. + +While at Seville, the camp of Ferdinand had been joined by several +foreign chevaliers, amongst whom was an Italian knight, who had +excited the attention and curiosity of many of the younger Spaniards +from the mystery environing him. He was never seen without his armor. +His helmet always closed, keeping surlily aloof, he never mingled in +the brilliant jousts and tournaments of the camp, except when Arthur +Stanley chanced to be one of the combatants: he was then sure to be +found in the lists, and always selected the young Englishman as his +opponent. At first this strange pertinacity was regarded more as a +curious coincidence than actual design; but it occurred so often, that +at length it excited remark. Arthur himself laughed it off, suggesting +that the Italian had perhaps some grudge against England, and wished +to prove the mettle of her sons. The Italian deigned no explanation, +merely saying that he supposed the Spanish jousts were governed by the +same laws as others, and he was therefore at liberty to choose his own +opponent. But Arthur was convinced that some cause existed for this +mysterious hostility. Not wishing to create public confusion, he +contended himself by keeping a watch upon his movements. He found, +however, that he did not watch more carefully than he was watched, +and incensed at length, he resolved on calling his enemy publicly to +account for his dishonorable conduct. This, however, he found much +easier in theory than practice. The wily Italian, as if aware of his +intentions, skilfully eluded them; and as weeks passed without any +recurrence of their secret attacks. Stanley, guided by his own frank +and honorable feelings, believed his suspicions groundless, and +dismissed them altogether. On the tumultuary entrance of the +Spaniards, however, these suspicions were re-excited. Separated by the +press of contending warriors from the main body of his men, Stanley +plunged headlong into the thickest battalion of Moors, intending to +cut his way through them to the Marquis of Cadiz, who was at that +moment entering the town. His unerring arm and lightness of movement +bore him successfully onward. A very brief space divided him from his +friends: the spirited charger on which he rode, cheered by his hand +and voice, with one successful bound cleared the remaining impediments +in his way, but at that moment, with a piercing cry of suffering, +sprung high in the air and fell dead, nearly crushing his astonished +master with his weight. Happily for Stanley, the despairing anguish of +the Moors at that moment at its height, from the triumphant entry of +the Spaniards into their beloved Albania, aggravated by the shrieks +of the victims in the unsparing slaughter, effectually turned the +attention of those around him from his fall. He sprung up, utterly +unable to account for the death of his steed: the dastard blow had +been dealt from behind, and no Moor had been near but those in front. +He looked hastily round him: a tall figure was retreating through the +thickening _mel�e_, whose dull, red armor, and deep, black plume, +discovered on the instant his identity. Arthur's blood tingled with +just indignation, and it was with difficulty that he restrained +himself from following, and demanding on the instant, and at the +sword's point, the meaning of the deed. + +The sudden start, and muttered execration of the Italian, as Stanley +joined the victorious group around the Marquis, convinced him that his +reappearance, and unhurt, was quite contrary to his mysterious enemy's +intention. The exciting events of the siege which followed, the +alternate hope and fear of the Spaniards, reduced to great distress +by the Moors having succeeded in turning the course of a river which +supplied the city with water, and finally, the timely arrival of +succors under the Duke of Medina Sidonia, which compelled the Moors to +raise the siege and disperse--the rejoicing attendant on so great and +almost unexpected a triumph, all combined to prevent any attention to +individual concerns. The Italian had not crossed Arthur's path again, +except in the general attack or defence; and Stanley found the +best means of conquering his own irritation towards such secret +machinations, was to treat them with indifference and contempt. + +The halls of Alhama were of course kept strongly manned; and a guard, +under an experienced officer, constantly occupied the summit of a +lofty tower, situated on a precipitous height which commanded a +view of the open country for miles, and overlooked the most distant +approach of the Moors. As was usual to Moorish architecture, the tower +had been erected on a rock, which on one side shelved down so straight +and smooth, as to appear a continuance of the tower-wall, but forming +from the battlements a precipice some thousand feet in depth. The +strongest nerve turned sick and giddy to look beneath, and the side of +the tower overlooking it was almost always kept unguarded. + +It was near midnight when Stanley, who was that night on command, +after completing his rounds, and perceiving every sentinel on duty, +found himself unconsciously on the part of the tower we have named. +So pre-occupied was his mind, that he looked beneath him without +shrinking; and then retracing his steps some twenty or thirty yards +from the immediate and unprotected edge, wrapped his mantle closely +round him, and lying down, rested his head on his arm, and permitted +the full dominion of thought. He was in that dreamy mood, when the +silence and holiness of nature is so much more soothing than even the +dearest sympathy of man; when every passing cloud and distant star, +and moaning wind, speaks with a hundred tongues, and the immaterial +spirit holds unconscious commune with beings invisible, and immaterial +as itself. Above his head, heavy clouds floated over the dark azure of +the heavens, sometimes totally obscuring the mild light of the full +moon; at others merely shrouding her beams in a transparent veil, +from which she would burst resplendently, sailing majestically along, +seeming the more light and lovely from the previous shade. One +brilliant planet followed closely on her track, and as the dark masses +of clouds would rend asunder, portions of the heavens, studded with +glittering stars, were visible, seeming like the gemmed dome of some +mighty temple, whose walls and pillars, shrouded in black drapery, +were lost in the distance on either side. Gradually, Stanley's +thoughts became indistinct; the stars seemed to lose their radiance, +as covered by a light mist; a dark cloud appearing, in his half +dormant fancy, to take the gigantic proportions of a man, hovered on +the battlement. It became smaller and smaller, but still it seemed +a cloud, through which the moonlight gleamed; but a thrill passed +through him, as if telling of some impalpable and indefinable object +of dread. With a sudden effort he shook off the lethargy of half +sleep, and sprung to his feet, at the very moment a gleaming sword was +pointed at his throat. "Ha, villain! at thy murderous work again!" he +exclaimed, and another moment beheld him closed in deadly conflict +with his mysterious foe. A deep and terrible oath, and then a mocking +laugh, escaped his adversary; and something in those sounds, nerved +Stanley's arms with resistless power: he was sure he could not be +mistaken, and he fought, not with the unguarded desire of one eager +to obtain satisfaction for personal injury--but he was calm, cool, +collected, as threefold an avenger. For once, the demon-like caution +of the supposed Italian deserted him: discovery was inevitable, and +his sole aim was to compass the death of the hated foreigner with his +own. He tried gradually to retreat to the very edge of the precipice, +and Stanley's calm and cautious avoidance of the design lashed him +into yet fiercer desperation. Thick and fast, fell those tremendous +blows. The Italian had the advantage in height and size, Stanley in +steady coolness and prudent guard; the Italian sought only to slay his +adversary, caring not to defend himself; Arthur evidently endeavored +merely to unhelm the traitor, and bring him but slightly wounded to +the ground. For several minutes there was no cessation in that fearful +clash of steel; the strokes were so rapid, so continued, a hundred +combatants might have seemed engaged. A moment they drew back, as if +to breathe; the Italian, with a despairing effort, raised his weapon +and sprung forwards; Arthur lightly leaped aside, and the murderous +stroke clove but the yielding earth. Another second, and ere the +Italian had regained his equilibrium, Arthur's sword had descended +with so true and sure a stroke that the clasp of the helmet gave way, +the dark blood bubbled up from the cloven brow, he reeled and fell; +and a long, loud shout from the officers and soldiers, who, at the +sound of arms, had flocked round, proclaimed some stronger feeling +than simply admiration of Stanley's well-known prowess. + +"Seize him! seize him! or by Heaven he will escape us yet!" were among +the few words intelligible. "The daring villain, to come amongst us! +Did he think for ever to elude Heaven's vengeance? Bind, fetter, hold +him; or his assistant fiends will release him still!" + +Fiercely the fallen man had striven to extricate himself; but +Stanley's knee moved not from his breast, nor his sword from his +throat, until a strong guard had raised and surrounded him: "but the +horrible passions imprinted on those lived features were such, that +his very captors turned away shuddering. + +"Hadst thou not had enough of blood and crime, thou human monster, +that thou wouldst stain thy already blackened soul with, another +midnight murder?" demanded Stanley, as he sternly confronted his +baffled foe. "Don Luis Garcia, as men have termed thee, what claim +have I on thy pursuing and unchanging hate? With what dost thou charge +me? What wrong?" + +"Wrong!" hoarsely and fiercely repeated Don Louis. "The wrong of +baffled hate; of success, when I planned thy downfall; of escape, +when I had sworn thy death! Did the drivelling idiots, who haunted, +persecuted, excommunicated me from these realms, as some loathed +reptile, dream that I would draw back from my sworn vengeance for such +as they? Poor, miserable fools, whom the first scent of danger would +turn aside from the pursuit of hate! I staked my life on thine, and +the stake is lost; but what care I? My hate shall follow thee; wither +thy bones with its curse; poison every joy; blight every hope; rankle +in thy life blood! Bid thee seek health, and bite the dust for anguish +because it flies thee! And for me. Ha, ha! Men may think to judge +me--torture, triumph, slay! Well, let them." And with a movement so +sudden and so desperate, that to avert it was impossible, he burst +from the grasp of his guards; and with one spring, stood firm and +triumphant on the farthest edge of the battlement. "Now follow me who +dares!" he exclaimed; and, with a fearful mocking laugh; flung himself +headlong down, ere the soldiers had recovered his first sudden +movement. Stanley alone retained presence of mind sufficient to dart +forward, regardless of his own imminent danger, in the vain hope of +arresting the leap; but quick as were his movements, he only reached +the brink in time to see the wretched man, one moment quivering in +air, and lost the next in a dark abyss of shade. + +A cry of mingled disappointment, horror, and execration, burst from +all around; and several of the soldiers hastened from the battlements +to the base of the rock, determined on fighting the arch-fiend +himself, if, as many of them firmly believed, he had rendered Don Luis +invulnerable to air, and would wait there to receive him. But even +this heroic resolution was disappointed: the height was so tremendous, +and the velocity of the fall so frightful, that the action of the air +had not only deprived him of life, but actually loosed the limbs from +the trunk, and a fearfully mangled corpse was all that remained to +glut the vengeance of the infuriated soldiers. + +The confusion and excitement attending this important event, spread +like wildfire; not only over Albania, but reaching to the Duke's camp +without the city. To send off the momentous information to the +King, was instantly decided upon; and young Stanley, as the person +principally concerned, selected for the mission. + +Ferdinand was astonished and indignant, and greatly disappointed +that justice had been so eluded; but that such a monster, whose +machinations seemed, in their subtlety and secrecy, to prevent all +defeat, no longer cumbered Spain, was in itself a relief so great both +to monarch and people, as after the first burst of indignation to +cause universal rejoicings. + +It so happened that Ferdinand had been desirous of Stanley's presence +for some weeks; letters from Isabella, some little time previous, had +expressed an earnest desire for the young man's return to Saragossa, +if only for a visit of a few days. This was then impossible. Three +months had elapsed since Isabella's first communication; within the +last two she had not again reverted to Stanley; but the King, thinking +she had merely refrained from doing so, because of its present +impossibility, gladly seized the opportunity of his appearance at +Seville, to dispatch him, as envoy extraordinary, on both public and +private business, to the court of Arragon. + +Isabella was surrounded by her ministers and nobles when Stanley +was conducted to her presence; she received him with cordiality and +graciousness, asked many and eager questions concerning her husband +and the progress of his arms, entered minutely into the affair of Don +Luis, congratulated him on his having been the hand destined to unmask +the traitor and bring him low; gave her full attention on the instant +to the communications from the King, with which he was charged; +occupied some hours in earnest and thoughtful deliberation with her +counsel, which, on perusal of the King's papers, she had summoned +directly. And yet, through all this, Arthur fancied there was an even +unusual degree of sympathy and kindliness in the tone and look with +which she addressed him individually; but he felt intuitively it +was sympathy with sorrow, not with joy. He was convinced that his +unexpected presence had startled and almost grieved her; and why +should this be, if she had still the hope with which she had so +infused his spirit, when they had parted. His heart, so full of +elasticity a few hours previous, sunk chilled and pained within him, +and it was with an effort impossible to have been denied, had it not +been for the Queen's _unspoken_ but real sympathy; he roused himself +sufficiently to execute his mission. + +But Isabella was too much the true and feeling woman, to permit the +day to close without the private interview she saw Stanley needed; +reality, sad as it was, she felt would be better than harrowing +suspense; and, in a few kindly words, the tale was told. + +"I should have known it!" he exclaimed, when the first shock of bitter +disappointment permitted words. "My own true, precious Marie! How +dared I dream that for me thou wouldst sacrifice thy faith; all, all +else--joy, hope, strength; aye, life itself--but not thy God! Oh, +Madam," he continued, turning passionately to the Queen, "thou hast +not condemned her to misery for this! Thou hast not revoked thy former +heavenly mercy, and delivered her over to the stern fathers of our +holy church? No, no! Isabella could not have done this!" + +"Nor have we," replied the Queen, so mildly that Arthur flung himself at +her feet, conjuring her to pardon his disrespectful words. "Give her to +thee, without retracting her fearful misbelief, indeed we dared not, but +further misery has not been inflicted. We have indeed done penance for +our weakness, severe penance; for Father Tomas asserts that we have most +grievously sinned; and more, have pledged ourselves most solemnly, that +what he may counsel for the entire uprooting of this horrible heresy, +and accursed race, shall be followed, cost what it may, politically or +privately; but to refuse the last boon of the unhappy girl, who had so +strangely, perchance so bewilderingly, wound herself about my +heart--Stanley, I must have changed my nature first!" + +"Her last boon! Gracious Sovereign--" + +"Nay, her last to her Sovereign, my friend. It may be that even yet +her errors may be abjured, and grace be granted in her solitude, to +become in this world as the next, what we have prayed for; but we dare +not hope it; nor must thou. She besought permission to return to the +home of her childhood, pledging herself never to leave it, or mingle +with her people or ours more." + +"And she is there! God in Heaven bless, reward your Highness for the +mercy!" burst impetuously from Arthur. "I trust she is, nay, I believe +it; for Jewess as she is, she would not pledge me false. In the garb +of the novice, as she saved thee, Father Denis conducted her to the +frontiers of Castile. More we know not, for we asked not the site of +her home." + +There was a few minutes' pause, and then, with beseeching eloquence, +Arthur conjured the Sovereign to let him see her once, but once again. +He asked no more, but he felt as if he could not sustain the agony of +eternal separation, without one last, last interview. He pledged his +honor, that no temptation of a secret union should interfere with the +sentence of the Queen; that both would submit; only to permit them +once more to meet again. + +Isabella hesitated, but not for long. Perhaps the secret hope arose +that Stanley's presence would effect that for which all else had +failed; or that she really could not resist his passionate pleadings. + +"One word of retraction, and even now she is thine.--And I will bless +thee that thou gavest her to me again," she said in parting; but her +own spirit told her the hope was vain. + +Half an hour after this agitating interview Arthur Stanley was again +on horseback, a deep hectic on either cheek; his eye bloodshot and +strained, traversing with the speed of lightning the open country, in +the direction of Castile. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + + "Oh! love, love, strong as death--from such an hour + Pressing out joy by thine immortal power; + Holy and fervent love! Had earth but rest + For thee and thine, this world were all too fair: + How could we thence be weaned to die without despair! + + "But woe for him who felt that heart grow still + Which with its weight of agony had lain + Breaking on his. Scarce could the mortal chill + Of the hushed bosom, ne'er to heave again, + And all the curdling silence round the eye, + Bring home the stern belief that she could die." + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +The glowing light of a glorious sunset lingered on the Vale of Cedars, +displaying that calm and beautiful retreat in all the fair and rich +luxuriance of former years. Reuben and Ruth, the aged retainers of the +house of Henriquez, had made it their pride and occupation to preserve +the cherished retreat, lovely as it had been left. Nor were they its +only inmates; their daughter, her husband, and children, after various +struggles in the Christian world, had been settled in the Vale by the +benevolence of Ferdinand Morales--their sole duty, to preserve it in +such order, as to render it a fitting place of refuge for any who +should need it. Within the last twelve months, another inmate had been +added to them. Weary of his wanderings, and of the constant course of +deception which his apparent profession of a monk demanded, Julien +Morales had returned to the home of his childhood, there to fix +his permanent abode; only to make such excursions from it, as the +interests of his niece might demand. Her destiny was his sole anxious +thought. Her detention by Isabella convinced him that her disguise had +been penetrated, and filled him with solicitude for her spiritual, yet +more than her temporal welfare. Royal protection of a Jewess was +so unprecedented, that it could only argue the hope--nay, perhaps +conviction--of her final conversion. And the old man actually tried to +divorce the sweet image of his niece from his affections, so convinced +was he that her unhappy love for Arthur, combined with Isabella's +authority, and, no doubt, the threat of some terrible alternative +should she refuse, would compel her acceptance of the proffered cross, +and so sever them for ever. How little can man, even the most gentle +and affectionate, read woman! + +It was the day completing the eleventh month after Don Ferdinand's +murder, when Julien Morales repaired earlier than usual to the little +temple, there to read the service for the dead appointed for the day, +and thence proceeded to his nephew's grave. An unusual object, which +had fallen on, or was kneeling beside the grave, caught his eye, and +impelled him to quicken his pace. His heart throbbed as he recognized +the garb of a novice, and to such a degree as almost to deprive him of +all power, as in the white, chiselled features, resting on the cold, +damp sod, he recognized his niece, and believed, for the first +agonizing moment, that it was but clay resting against clay; and that +the sweet, pure spirit had but guided her to that grave and flown. But +death for a brief interval withdrew his grasp; though his shaft had +reached her, and no human hand could draw it back. Father Denis had +conducted her so carefully and tenderly to the frontiers of Castile, +that she had scarcely felt fatigue, and encountered no exposure to the +elements; but when he left her, her desire to reach her home became +stronger, with the seeming physical incapacity to do so. Her spirit +gave way, and mental and bodily exhaustion followed. The season was +unusually damp and tempestuous, and, though scarcely felt at the time, +sowed the seeds of cold and decline, from which her naturally good +constitution might, in the very midst of her trials, otherwise have +saved her. Her repugnance to encounter the eyes or speech of her +fellows, lest her disguise should be penetrated, caused her to shrink +from entering any habitation, except for the single night which +intervened, between the period of the father's leaving her and her +reaching the secret entrance to the Vale. Her wallet provided her with +more food than her parched throat could swallow; and for the consuming +thirst, the fresh streams that so often bubbled across her path, gave +her all she needed. The fellowship of man, then, was unrequited, +and, as the second night fell, so comparatively short a distance lay +between her and her home, that buoyed up by the desire to reach it, +she was not sensible of her utter exhaustion, till she stood within +the little graveyard of the Vale; and the moon shining softly and +clearly on the headstones, disclosed to her the grave of her husband. +She was totally ignorant that he had been borne there; and the rush +of feeling which came over her, as she read his name--the memories of +their happy, innocent, childhood, of all his love for her--that had he +been but spared, all the last year's misery might have been averted, +for she would have loved him, ay, even as he loved her; and he would +have guarded, saved--so overpowered her, that she had sunk down upon +the senseless earth which covered him, conscious only of the wild, +sickly longing, like him to flee away and be at rest. She had reached +her home; exertion no longer needed, the unnatural strength, ebbed +fast, and the frail tenement withered, hour by hour, away. And how +might Julien mourn! Her work on earth was done. Young, tried, frail +as she was, she had been permitted to show forth the glory, the +sustaining glory, of her faith, by a sacrifice whose magnitude was +indeed apparent, but whose depth and intensity of suffering, none knew +but Him for whom it had been made. She had been preserved from the +crime--if possible more fearful in the mind of the Hebrew than any +other--apostacy: and though the first conviction, that she was indeed +"passing away" even from his affection, was fraught with absolute +anguish, yet her uncle could not, dared not pray for life on earth. +And in the peace, the calm, the depth, of quietude which gradually +sunk on her heart, infusing her every word and look and gentle smile, +it was as if her spirit had already the foretaste of that blissful +heaven for which its wings were plumed. As the frame dwindled, the +expression of her sweet face became more and more unearthly in its +exquisite beauty, the mind more and more beatified, and the heart more +freed from earthly feeling. The reward of her constancy appeared in +part bestowed on earth, for death itself was revealed to her--not as +the King of Terrors, but as an Angel of Light, at whose touch the +lingering raiment of mortality would dissolve, and the freed soul +spring up rejoicing to its home. + +It was the Feast of the Tabernacle and the Sabbath eve. The +tent--formed of branches of thick trees and fragrant shrubs--was +erected, as we have seen it in a former page, a short distance from +the temple. Marie's taste had once again, been consulted in its +decorations; her hand, feeble as it was, had twined the lovely +wreaths of luscious flowers and arranged the glowing fruit. With some +difficulty she had joined in the devotional service performed by her +uncle in the little temple--borne there in the arms of old Reuben, for +her weakness now prevented walking--and on the evening of the Sabbath +in the Festival, she reclined on one of the luxurious couches within +the tent, through the opening of which, she could look forth on the +varied beauties of the Vale, and the rich glorious hues dyeing the +western skies. The Sabbath lamps were lighted, but their rays were +faint and flickering in the still glowing atmosphere. A crimson ray +from the departing luminary gleamed through the branches, and a faint +glow--either from its reflection, or from that deceiving beauty, which +too often gilds the features of the dying--rested on Marie's features, +lighting up her large and lustrous eyes with unnatural brilliance. She +had been speaking earnestly of that life beyond the grave, belief in +which throughout her trials had been her sole sustainer. Julien had +listened, wrapt and almost awe-struck, so completely did it seem as if +the spirit, and not the mortal, spoke. + +"And thine own trials, my beloved one," he said,--"Has the question +never come, why thou shouldst thus have been afflicted?" + +"Often, very often, my father, and only within the last few weeks has +the full answer come; and I can say from my inmost heart, in the words +of Job, 'It is good that I have been afflicted,' and that I believe +all is well. While _on_ earth, we must be in some degree _of_ earth, +and bear the penalty of our earthly nature. The infirmities and +imperfections of that nature in others, as often as in ourselves, +occasion human misery, which our God, in his infinite love, permits, +to try our spirit's strength and faith, and so prepare us for that +higher state of being, in which the spirit will move and act, when +the earthly shell is shivered, and earthly infirmities are for ever +stilled. In the time of suffering we cannot think thus; but looking +back as I do now--when the near vicinity of another world bids me +regard my own past life almost as if it were another's--I feel it in +my inmost heart, and bless God for every suffering which has prepared +me thus early for his home. There is but one feeling, one wish +of earth, remaining," she continued, after a long pause of utter +exhaustion. "It is weak, perhaps, and wrong; but if--if Arthur could +but know that fatal secret which made me seem a worse deceiver than +I was--I know it cannot be, but it so haunts me. If I wedded one +Christian, may he not think there needed not this sacrifice--sacrifice +not of myself, but of his happiness. Oh! could I but--Hush! whose step +is that?" she suddenly interrupted herself; and with the effort of +strong excitement, started up, and laid her hand on her uncle's arm. + +"Nay, my child, there is no sound," he replied soothingly, after +listening attentively for several moments. + +"But there is. Hark, dost thou not hear it now? God of mercy! thou +hast heard my prayer--it is _his_!" she exclaimed, sinking powerlessly +back, at the moment that even Julien's duller ear had caught a rapid +step; and in another minute the branches were hastily pushed aside, +and Stanley indeed stood upon the threshold. + +"Marie--and thus!" he passionately exclaimed; and flinging himself +on his knees beside her, he buried his face on her hand, and wept in +agony. + + * * * * * + +Nearly an hour passed ere Marie could rally from the agitation of +Arthur's unexpected presence sufficiently to speak. She lay with her +hand clasped in his, and his arm around her--realizing, indeed, to the +full, the soothing consolation of his presence, but utterly powerless +to speak that for which she had so longed to see him once again. The +extent of her weakness had been unknown till that moment either to +her uncle or herself, and Julien watched over her in terror lest the +indefinable change which in that hour of stillness was perceptibly +stealing over her features should be indeed the dim shadow of death. +To Arthur speech was equally impossible, save in the scarcely +articulate expressions of love and veneration which he lavished on +her. What he had hoped in thus seeking her he could not himself have +defined. His whole soul was absorbed in the wild wish to see her +again, and the thoughts of death for her had never entered his heart. +The shock, then, had been terrible, and to realize the infinite mercy +which thus bade sorrow cease, was in such a moment impossible. He +could but gaze and clasp her closer and closer, yet, as if even death +should be averted by his love. + +"Uncle Julien," she murmured, as she faintly extended her hand towards +him, "thou wilt not refuse to clasp hands with one who has so loved +thy Marie! And thou, Arthur, oh! scorn him not. Without him the +invisible dungeons of the Inquisition would have been my grave, and +thine that of a dishonored knight and suspected murderer." + +The eyes of her companions met, and their hands were grasped in that +firm pressure, betraying unity of feeling, and reciprocal esteem, +which need no words. + +"Raise me a little, dearest Arthur; uncle Julien" put back that +spreading bough. I would say something more, and the fresher air may +give me strength. Ah! the evening breeze is so fresh and sweet; it +always makes me feel as if the spirits of those we loved were hovering +near us. We hold much closer and dearer communion with the beloved +dead in the calm twilight than in the garish day. Arthur, dearest, +thou wilt think of me sometimes in an hour like this." + +"When shall I not think of thee?" he passionately rejoined. "Oh, +Marie, Marie! I thought separation on earth the worst agony that could +befall me; but what--what is it compared to the eternal one of death?" + +"No, no, not eternal, Arthur. In heaven I feel there is no distinction +of creed or faith; we shall all love God and one another there, and +earth's fearful distinctions can never come between us. I know such +is not the creed of thy people, nor of some of mine; but when thou +standest on the verge of eternity, as I do now, thou wilt feel this +too." + +"How can I gaze on thee, and not believe it?" he replied. "The loudest +thunders of the church could not shake my trust in the purity of +heaven, which is thine." + +"Because thou lovest, Arthur. Thy love for Marie is stronger than thy +hatred of her race; and, oh! if thou lovest thus, I know thou hast +forgiven." + +"Forgiven!" he passionately reiterated. + +"Yes, dearest Arthur. Is the past indeed so obliterated that the wrong +I did thee is forgotten even as forgiven? But, oh, Arthur! it was not +so unjustifiable as it seemed then. I dared not breathe the truth in +Isabella's court. I dare not whisper it now save to thee, who would +die rather than reveal it. Arthur, dearest Arthur, it was no Christian +whom I wedded. We had been betrothed from early childhood, though I +knew it not; and when the time came, I could not draw down on me a +father's curse, or dash with agony a heart that so cherished, so loved +me, by revelation of a truth which could avail me nothing, and would +bring him but misery. Ferdinand was my cousin--a child of Israel, as +myself." + +"Now heaven bless thee for those words, my own, true, precious Marie!" +exclaimed Stanley, in strong emotion, and clasping her still closer, +he pressed his quivering lips to her forehead, starting in agony as he +marked the cold, damp dews which had gathered upon it, too truly +the index of departing life. He besought her to speak no more--the +exertion was exhausting her; she smiled faintly, drank of the reviving +draught which Julien proffered, and lay for a few minutes calm and +still. + +"I am better now," she said, after an interval. "It was only the +excitement of speaking that truth, which I have so long desired to +reveal--to clear my memory from the caprice and inconstancy with which +even thy love must have charged me; and now, Arthur, promise me that +thou wilt not mourn me too long: that thou wilt strive to conquer the +morbid misery, which I know, if encouraged, will cloud thy whole life, +and unfit thee for the glorious career which must otherwise be thine. +Do not forget me wholly, love, but deem it not a duty to my memory +never to love again. Arthur, dearest, thou canst bestow happiness on +another, and one of thine own faith, even such happiness as to have +been thy wife would have given me. Do not reject the calm rest and +peacefulness, which such love will bring to thee, though now thou +feelest as if the very thought were loathing. She will speak to thee +of me; for Jewess as she knew me, she has loved and tended me in +suffering, and so wept my banishment, that my frozen tears had well +nigh flowed in seeing hers. Seek her in Isabella's court, and try to +love her, Arthur--if at first merely for my sake, it will soon, soon +be for her own." + +Impressively and pleadingly, these words fell on Arthur's aching +heart, even at that moment when he felt to comply with them was and +must ever be impossible. When time had done its work, and softened +individual agony, they returned again and yet again; and at each +returning, seemed less painful to obey. + +"And Isabella, my kind, loving, generous mistress," she continued, +after a very long pause, and her voice was so faint as scarcely +to make distinguishable the words, save for the still lingering +sweetness, and clearness of her articulation--"Oh! what can I say to +her? Arthur, dearest Arthur, thou must repay the debt of gratitude +I owe her. Her creed condemns, but her heart loves me--aye, still, +still! And better (though she cannot think so) than had I for earthly +joy turned traitor to my God. Oh, tell her how with my last breath I +loved and blessed her, Arthur; tell her we shall meet again, where +Jew and Gentile worship the same God! Oh that I could but have +proved--proved--How suddenly it has grown dark! Uncle Julien, is it +not time for the evening prayer?" + +And her lips moved in the wordless utterance of the prayer for which +she had asked, forgetting it had some time before been said; and then +her head sunk lower and lower on Arthur's bosom, and there was no +sound. Twilight lingered, as loth to disappear, then deepened into +night, and the silver lamps within the tents brighter and more +brightly illumined the gloom; but Arthur moved not, suppressing even +his breath, lest he should disturb that deep and still repose. It was +more than an hour ere Julien Morales could realize the truth, and then +he gently endeavored to unclasp Arthur's almost convulsive hold, and +with, kindly force to lead him from the couch. The light of the lamp +fell full upon that sweet, sweet face; and, oh! never had it seemed so +lovely. The awful stillness of sculptured repose was indeed there; the +breath of life and its disturbing emotions had passed away, and nought +but the shrine remained. But like marble sculptured by God's hand, +that sweet face gleamed--seeming, in its perfect tracery, its heavenly +repose, to whisper even to the waves of agony, "Be still--my spirit is +with God!" + + * * * * * + +Julien Morales and Arthur Stanley--the aged and the young--the Jewish +recluse and Christian warrior--knelt side by side on the cold earth, +which concealed the remains of one to both so inexpressibly dear. The +moonlit shrubs and spangled heaven alone beheld their mutual sorrow, +and the pale moon waned, and the stars gleamed paler and paler in the +first gray of dawn ere that vigil was concluded. And then both arose +and advanced to the barrier wall; the spring answered to the touch, +and the concealed door flew back. The young Christian turned, and +was folded to the heart of the Jew. The blessing of the Hebrew was +breathed in the ear of the Englishman, and Stanley disappeared. + +Oh, love! thou fairest, brightest, most imperishable type of heaven! +what to thee are earth's distinctions? Alone in thy pure essence thou +standest, and every mere earthly feeling crouches at thy feet. And art +thou but this world's blessing? Oh! they have never loved who thus +believe. Love is the voice of God, Love is the rule of Heaven! As one +grain to the uncounted sands, as one drop to the unfathomed depths--is +the love of earth to that of heaven; but when the mortal shrine is +shivered, the minute particle will re-unite itself with its kindred +essence, to exist unshadowed and for ever. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + + "Why then a final note prolong, + Or lengthen out a closing song, + Unless to bid the gentles speed + Who long have listened to my rede?" + + SIR WALTER SCOTT. + + +The fickle sun of "merrie England" shone forth in unusual splendor; +and, as if resolved to bless the august ceremony on which it gazed, +permitted not a cloud to shadow the lustrous beams, which, darted +their floods of light through the gorgeous casements of Westminster +Abbey, in whose sacred precincts was then celebrating the bridal of +the young heir of England, with a fair and gentle daughter of Spain. +It was a scene to interest the coldest heart--not for the state and +splendor of the accoutrements, nor the high rank of the parties +principally concerned, nor for the many renowned characters of church, +state, and chivalry there assembled; it was the extreme youth and +touching expression, impressed on the features, of both bride and +bridegroom. + +Neither Arthur, Prince of Wales, nor Catherine, Infanta of Arragon, +had yet numbered eighteen years, the first fresh season of joyous +life; but on neither countenance could be traced the hilarity and +thoughtlessness, natural to their age. The fair, transparent brow of +the young Prince, under which the blue veins could be clearly seen, +till lost beneath the rich chesnut curls, that parted on his brow, +fell loosely on either shoulder; the large and deep blue eye, which +was ever half concealed beneath the long, dark lash, as if some untold +languor caused the eyelid to droop so heavily; the delicate pink of +his downless cheek, the brilliant hue on his lips, even his peculiar +smile, all seemed to whisper the coming ill, that one so dear to +Englishmen would not linger with them to fulfil the sweet promise of +his youth. + +Beauty is, perhaps, too strong a word to apply to the youthful bride. +It was the pensive sadness of her mild and pleasing features that so +attracted--natural enough to her position in a strange land, and the +thoughts of early severance from a mother she idolized, but recalled +some twenty years afterwards as the dim shadow of the sorrowing +future, glooming through the gay promise of the present. And there, +too, was Prince Henry, then only in his twelfth year, bearing in his +flashing eye and constantly varying expression of brow and mouth, true +index of those passions which were one day to shake Europe to the +centre; and presenting in his whole appearance a striking contrast +to his brother, and drawing around him, even while yet so young, the +hottest and wildest spirits of his father's court, who, while they +loved the person, scorned the gentle amusements of the Prince of +Wales. + +Henry the Seventh and his hapless consort, Elizabeth of York, were, of +course, present--the one rejoicing in the conclusion of a marriage for +which he had been in treaty the last seven years, and which was at +last purchased at the cost of innocent blood; the other beholding only +her precious son, whose gentle and peculiarly domestic virtues, were +her sweetest solace for conjugal neglect and ill-concealed dislike. + +Amongst the many noble Spaniards forming the immediate attendants of +the Infanta, had been one so different in aspect to his companions as +to attract universal notice; and not a few of the senior noblemen of +England had been observed to crowd round him whenever he appeared, and +evince towards him the most marked and pleasurable cordiality. His +thickly silvered hair and somewhat furrowed brow bore the impress +of some five-and-fifty years; but a nearer examination might have +betrayed, that sorrow more than years, had aged him, and full six, +or even ten years might very well be subtracted from the age which a +first glance supposed him. Why the fancy was taken that he was not a +Spaniard could not have been very easily explained; for his wife was +the daughter of the famous Pedro Pas, whose beauty, wit, and high +spirits were essentially Spanish, and was the Infanta's nearest and +most favored attendant; and he himself was constantly near her person, +and looked up to by the usually jealous Spaniards as even higher in +rank and importance that many of themselves. How, then, could he be a +foreigner? And marvel merged into the most tormenting curiosity, when, +on the bridal day of the Prince of Wales, though he still adhered to +the immediate train of the Princess, he appeared in the rich and full +costume of an English Peer. The impatience of several young gallants +could hardly by restrained even during the ceremony; at the conclusion +of which they tumultuously surrounded Lord Scales, declaring they +would not let him go, till he had told them who and what was this +mysterious friend: Lord Scales had headed a gallant band of English +knights in the Moorish war, and was therefore supposed to know every +thing concerning Spain, and certainly of this Anglo-Spaniard, as ever +since his arrival in England they had constantly been seen together. +He smiled good-humoredly at their importunity, and replied-- + +"I am afraid my friend's history has nothing very marvellous or +mysterious in it. His family were all staunch Lancastrians, and +perished either on the field or scaffold; he escaped almost +miraculously, and after a brief interval of restless wandering, went +to Spain and was treated with such consideration and kindness by +Ferdinand and Isabella, that he has lived there ever since, honored +and treated in all things as a child of the soil. On my arrival, I was +struck by his extraordinary courage and rash disregard of danger, and +gladly hailed in him a countryman. I learned afterwards that this +reckless bravery had been incited by a wish for death, and that events +had occurred in his previous life, which would supply matter for many +a minstrel tale." + +"Let us hear it, let us hear it!" interrupted many eager voices, but +Lord Seales laughingly shook his head. + +"Excuse me, my young friends: at present I have neither time nor +inclination for a long story. Enough that he loved, and loved +unhappily; not from its being unreturned, but from a concatenation of +circumstances and sorrows which may not be detailed." + +"But he is married; and he is as devoted to Donna Catherine as she is +to him. I heard they were proverbial for their mutual affection and +domestic happiness. How could he so have loved before?" demanded, +somewhat skeptically, a very young man. + +"My good friend, when you get a little older, you will cease to marvel +at such things, or imagine, because a man has been very wretched, he +is to be for ever. My friend once felt as you do (Lord Seales changed +his tone to one of impressive seriousness); but he was wise enough +to abide by the counsels of the beloved one he had lost, struggle to +shake off the sluggish misery which was crushing him, cease to wish +for death, and welcome life as a solemn path of usefulness and good, +still to be trodden, though its flowers might have faded. Gradually as +he awoke to outward things, and sought the companionship of her whom +his lost one had loved, he became sensible that, spiritless as he had +thought himself, he could yet, did he see fit, win and rivet regard; +and so he married, loving less than he was loved, perchance at the +time but scarcely so now. His marriage, and his present happiness, are +far less mysterious than his extraordinary interference in the event +which followed the conquest of the Moors--I mean the expulsion of the +Jews." + +"By the way, what caused that remarkable edict?" demanded one of the +circle more interested in politics than in individuals. "It is a good +thing indeed to rid a land of such vermin; but in Spain they had +so much to do with the successful commerce of the country, that it +appears as impolitic as unnecessary." + +"Impolitic it was, so far as concerned the temporal interests of the +kingdom; but the sovereigns of Spain decided on it, from the religious +light in which it was placed before them, by Torquemada. It is +whispered that Isabella would never have consented to a decree, +sentencing so many thousands of her innocent subjects to misery and +expulsion, had not her confessor worked on her conscience in an +unusual manner; alluding to some unprecedented favor shown to one of +that hated race, occasioned, he declared, by those arts of magic which +might occur again and yet again, and do most fatal evil to the land. +Isabella had, it appears, when reproached by Torquemada for her act +of mercy, which he termed weakness, pledged herself, not to interfere +with his measures for the extermination of the unbelief, and on this +promise of course he worked, till the edict was proclaimed." + +"But this stranger, what had he to do with it?" demanded many of the +group, impatient at the interruption. + +"What he had to do with it I really cannot tell you, but his zeal +to avert the edict lost him, in a great measure the confidence of +Ferdinand. When he found to prevent their expulsion was impossible, +he did all in his power to lessen their misfortune, if such it may be +called, by relieving every unbeliever that crossed his path." + +An exclamation of horrified astonishment escaped his auditors. "What +could such conduct mean? did he lean towards unbelief himself--" + +"That could hardly be," replied Lord Scales. "Unless he had been a +Catholic, earnest and zealous as herself, Isabella would never have so +esteemed him, as to give him as wife her especial favorite, Catherine +Pas, and place him so near the person of her child. When I left Spain, +I entreated my friend to accompany me, and resume his hereditary title +and estate, but I pleaded in vain. Some more than common tie seemed to +devote him to the interests of the Queen of Castile, whom he declared +he would never leave unless in England he could serve her better than +in Spain. At that time there was no chance of such an event. He now +tells me, that it was Isabella's earnest request that he should attend +the Princess; be always near her, and so decrease the difficulties, +which in a foreign land must for a time surround her. The Queen is +broken in health, and dispirited, from many domestic afflictions; and +it was with tears, she besought him to devote his remaining years, to +the service of her child, and be to the future Queen of England true, +faithful, and upright, as he had ever been to the Queen of Spain. +Need I say the honorable charge was instantly accepted, and while he +resumes his rank and duties as a Peer of his native land, the grateful +service of an adopted son of Spain will ever be remembered and +performed." + +"But his name, his name?" cried many eager voices. + +"ARTHUR STANLEY, EARL OF DERBY." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VALE OF CEDARS *** + + +******* This file should be named 12725-8.txt or 12725-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/7/2/12725 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/old/12725-8.zip b/old/12725-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0da76ff --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12725-8.zip diff --git a/old/12725.txt b/old/12725.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3890a96 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12725.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10173 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Vale of Cedars , by Grace Aguilar + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Vale of Cedars + +Author: Grace Aguilar + +Release Date: June 24, 2004 [eBook #12725] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VALE OF CEDARS *** + + +E-text prepared by the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading +Team + + + +THE VALE OF CEDARS; + +or, The Martyr + +BY GRACE AGUILAR, + +AUTHOR OF "HOME INFLUENCE," "WOMAN'S FRIENDSHIP," ETC. + +1851 + + + + + + + + "The wild dove hath her nest--the fox her cave-- + Mankind their country--Israel but the grave." + + BYRON. + + + + + +MEMOIR OF GRACE AGUILAR. + + +Grace Aguilar was born at Hackney, June 2nd, 1816. She was the eldest +child, and only daughter of Emanuel Aguilar, one of those merchants +descended from the Jews of Spain, who, almost within the memory of +man, fled from persecution in that country, and sought and found an +asylum in England. + +The delicate frame and feeble health observable in Grace Aguilar +throughout her life, displayed itself from infancy; from the age +of three years, she was almost constantly under the care of some +physician, and, by their advice, annually spending the summer months +by the sea, in the hope of rousing and strengthening a naturally +fragile constitution. This want of physical energy was, however, in +direct contrast to her mental powers, which developed early, and +readily. She learned to read with scarcely any trouble, and when once +that knowledge was gained, her answer when asked what she would like +for a present, was invariably "A book," which, was read, re-read, +and preserved with a care remarkable in so young a child. With the +exception of eighteen months passed at school, her mother was her sole +instructress, and both parents took equal delight in directing her +studies, and facilitating her personal inspection of all that was +curious and interesting in the various counties of England to which +they resorted for her health. + +From the early age of seven she commenced keeping a journal, which was +continued with scarce any intermission throughout her life. In 1825 +she visited Oxford, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Worcester, Ross, and Bath, +and though at that time but nine years old, her father took her to +Gloucester and Worcester cathedrals, and also to see a porcelain and +pin manufactory, &c., the attention and interest she displayed on +these occasions, affording convincing proof that her mind was alive +to appreciate and enjoy what was thus presented to her observation. +Before she had completed her twelfth year she ventured to try her +powers in composition, and wrote a little drama, called Gustavus Vasa, +never published, and only here recorded as being the first germ of +what was afterwards to become the ruling passion. + +In September, 1828, the family went to reside in Devonshire for the +health of Mr. Aguilar, and there a strong admiration for the beauties +and wonders of nature manifested itself: she constantly collected +shells, stones, seaweed, mosses, &c., in her daily rambles; and not +satisfied with admiring their beauty, sedulously procured whatever +little catechisms or other books on those subjects she could purchase, +or borrow, eagerly endeavoring by their study, to increase her +knowledge of their nature and properties. + +When she had attained the age of fourteen, her father commenced a +regular course of instruction for his child, by reading aloud, while +she was employed in drawing, needlework, &c. History was selected, +that being the study which now most interested her, and the first work +chosen was Josephus. + +It was while spending a short time at Tavistock, in 1830, that the +beauty of the surrounding scenery led her to express her thoughts in +verse. Several small pieces soon followed her first essay, and she +became extremely fond of this new exercise and enjoyment of her +opening powers, yet her mind was so well regulated, that she never +permitted herself to indulge in original composition until her duties, +and her studies, were all performed. + +Grace Aguilar was extremely fond of music; she had learned the piano +from infancy, and in 1831 commenced the harp. She sang pleasingly, +preferring English songs, and invariably selecting them for the beauty +or sentiment of the words; she was also passionately fond of dancing, +and her cheerful lively manners in the society of her young friends, +would scarcely have led any to imagine how deeply she felt and +pondered upon the serious and solemn subjects which afterwards formed +the labor of her life. She seemed to enjoy all, to enter into all, but +a keen observer would detect the hold that sacred and holy principle +ever exercised over her lightest act, and gayest hour. A sense of duty +was apparent in the merest trifle, and her following out of the divine +command of obedience to parents, was only equalled by the unbounded +affection she felt for them. A wish was once expressed by her mother +that she should not waltz, and no solicitation could afterwards tempt +her. Her mother also required her to read sermons, and study religion +and the Bible regularly; this was readily submitted to, first as a +task, but afterwards with much delight; for evidence of which we +cannot do better than quote her own words in one of her religious +works. + +"This formed into a habit, and persevered in for a life, would in +time, and without labor or weariness, give the comfort and the +knowledge that we seek; each year it would become lighter, and more +blest, each year we should discover something we knew not before, and +in the valley of the shadow of death, feel to our heart's core that +the Lord our God is Truth."--_Women of Israel_, Vol. II, page 43. + +Nor did Grace Aguilar only study religion for her own personal +observance and profit. She embraced its _principles_ (the principles +of all creeds) in a widely extended and truly liberal sense. She +carried her practice of its holy and benevolent precepts into every +minutiae of her daily life, doing all the good her limited means would +allow, finding time, in the midst of her own studies, and most +varied and continual occupations, to work for, and instruct her poor +neighbors in the country, and while steadily venerating and adhering +to her own faith, neither inquiring nor heeding the religious opinions +of the needy whom she succored or consoled. To be permitted to help +and comfort, she considered a privilege and a pleasure; she left the +rest to God; and thus bestowing and receiving blessings and smiles +from all who had the opportunity of knowing her, her young life flowed +on, in an almost uninterrupted stream of enjoyment, until she had +completed her nineteenth year. + +Alas! the scene was soon to change, and trials awaited that spirit +which, in the midst of sunshine, had so beautifully striven to prepare +itself a shelter from the storm. The two brothers of Miss Aguilar, +whom she tenderly loved, left the paternal roof to be placed far from +their family at school. Her mother's health necessitated a painful and +dangerous operation, and from that time for several years, alternate +hopes and fears through long and dreary watchings beside the sick bed +of that beloved mother, became the portion of her gifted child. But +even this depressing and arduous change in the duties of her existence +did not suspend her literary pursuits and labors. She profited by all +the intervals she could command, and wrote the tale of the "Martyr," +the "Spirit of Judaism," and "Israel Defended;" the latter translated +from the French, at the earnest request of a friend, and printed only +for private circulation. The "Magic Wreath," a little poetical work, +and the first our authoress ever published, dedicated to the Right +Honorable the Countess of Munster, also appeared about this time. + +In the Spring of 1835, Grace Aguilar was attacked with measles, and +never afterwards recovered her previous state of health, suffering +at intervals with such exhausting feelings of weakness, as to become +without any visible disease really alarming. + +The medical attendants recommended entire rest of mind and body; she +visited the sea, and seemed a little revived, but anxieties were +gathering around her horizon, to which it became evidently impossible +her ardent and active mind could remain passive or indifferent, and +which recalled every feeling, every energy of her impressible nature +into action. Her elder brother, who had long chosen music as his +profession, was sent to Germany to pursue his studies; the younger +determined upon entering the sea service. The excitement of these +changes, and the parting with both, was highly injurious to their +affectionate sister, and her delight a few months after, at welcoming +the sailor boy returned from his first voyage, with all his tales of +danger and adventure, and his keen enjoyment of the path of life he +had chosen, together with her struggles to do her utmost to share his +walks and companionship, contributed yet more to impair her inadequate +strength. + +The second parting was scarcely over ere her father, who had long +shown symptoms of failing health, became the victim of consumption. He +breathed his last in her arms, and the daughter, while sorrowing over +all she had lost, roused herself once more to the utmost, feeling that +she was the sole comforter beside her remaining parent. Soon after, +when her brother again returned, finding the death of his father, he +resolved not to make his third voyage as a midshipman, but endeavor +to procure some employment sufficiently lucrative to prevent his +remaining a burthen upon his widowed mother. Long and anxiously did he +pursue this object, his sister, whose acquaintance with literary and +talented persons had greatly increased, using all her energy and +influence in his behalf, and concentrating all the enthusiastic +feelings of her nature in inspiring him with patience, comfort, and +hope, as often as they failed him under his repeated disappointments. +At length his application was taken up by a powerful friend, for her +sake, and she had the happiness of succeeding, and saw him depart +at the very summit of his wishes. Repose, which had been so long +necessary, seemed now at hand; but her nerves had been too long and +too repeatedly overstrung, and when this task was done, the worn and +weary spirit could sustain no more, and sank under the labor that had +been imposed upon it. + +Severe illness followed, and though it yielded after a time to skilful +remedies and tender care, her excessive languor and severe headaches, +continued to give her family and friends great uneasiness. + +During all these demands upon her time, her thoughts, and her health, +however, the ruling passion neither slumbered nor slept. She completed +the Jewish Faith, and also prepared Home Influence for the press, +though very unfit to have taxed her powers so far. Her medical +attendant became urgent for total change of air and scene, and again +strongly interdicted _all_ mental exertion--a trip to Frankfort, to +visit her elder brother, was therefore decided on. In June, 1847, she +set out, and bore the journey without suffering nearly so much as +might have been expected. Her hopes were nigh, her spirits raised--the +novelty and interest of her first travels on the Continent gave her +for a very transient period a gleam, as it were, of strength. For a +week or two she appeared to rally, then again every exertion became +too much for her, every stimulating remedy to exhaust her. She +was ordered from Frankfort to try the baths and mineral waters of +Schwalbach, but without success. After a stay of six weeks, and +persevering with exemplary patience in the treatment prescribed, she +was one night seized with alarming convulsive spasms, so terrible that +her family removed her next morning with all speed back to Frankfort, +to the house of a family of most kind friends, where every attention +and care was lavishly bestowed. + +In vain. She took to her bed the very day of her arrival, and never +rose from it again; she became daily weaker, and in three weeks from +that time her sufferings ceased for ever. She was perfectly conscious +to within less than two hours before her death, and took an +affectionate leave of her mother and brother. Speech had been a +matter of difficulty for some time previous, her throat being greatly +affected by her malady; but she had, in consequence, learned to use +her fingers in the manner of the deaf and dumb, and almost the last +time they moved, it was to spell upon them feebly, "Though He slay me, +yet will I trust in Him." + +She was buried in the cemetery of Frankfort, one side of which is set +apart for the people of her faith. The stone which marks the spot +bears upon it a butterfly and five stars, emblematic of the soul in +heaven, and beneath appears the inscription-- + + "Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise + her in the gates."--Prov. ch. xxxi, v. 31. + +And thus, 16th September, 1847, at the early age of thirty-one, Grace +Aguilar was laid to rest--the bowl was broken, the silver cord was +loosed. Her life was short and checkered with pain and anxiety, +but she strove hard to make it useful and valuable, by employing +diligently and faithfully the talents with which she had been endowed. +Nor did the serious view with which she ever regarded earthly +existence, induce her to neglect or despise any occasion of enjoyment, +advantage, or sociality which presented itself. Her heart was ever +open to receive, her hand to give. + +Inasmuch as she succeeded to the satisfaction of her fellow beings, +let them be grateful; inasmuch as she failed, let those who perceive +it deny her not the meed of praise, for her endeavor to open the path +she believed would lead mankind to practical virtue and happiness, and +strive to carry out the pure philanthropic principles by which she was +actuated, and which she so earnestly endeavored to diffuse. + +OCTOBER, 1849. + + + + +THE VALE OF CEDARS; + +OR, + +THE MARTYR. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + "They had met, and they had parted; + Time had closed o'er each again, + Leaving lone the weary hearted + Mournfully to wear his chain."--MS. + + +A deliciously cool, still evening, had succeeded the intense heat of a +Spanish summer day, throwing rich shadows and rosy gleams on a wild, +rude mountain pass in central Spain. Massive crags and gigantic trees +seemed to contest dominion over the path, if path it could be called; +where the traveller, if he would persist in going onwards, could only +make his way by sometimes scrambling over rocks, whose close approach +from opposite sides presented a mere fissure covered with flowers and +brushwood, through which the slimmest figure would fail to penetrate; +sometimes wading through rushing and brawling streams, whose rapid +currents bore many a jagged branch and craggy fragment along with +them; sometimes threading the intricacies of a dense forest, +recognizing the huge pine, the sweet acorn oak, the cork tree, +interspersed with others of lesser growth, but of equally wild +perplexing luxuriance. On either side--at times so close that two +could not walk abreast, at others so divided that forests and streams +intervened--arose mountain walls seeming to reach the very heavens, +their base covered with trees and foliage, which gradually thinning, +left their dark heads totally barren, coming out in clear relief +against the deep blue sky. + +That this pass led to any inhabited district was little probable, for +it grew wilder and wilder, appearing to lead to the very heart of the +Sierra Toledo--a huge ridge traversing Spain. By human foot it had +evidently been seldom trod; yet on this particular evening a traveller +there wended his solitary way. His figure was slight to boyishness, +but of fair proportion, and of such graceful agility of movement, +that the obstacles in his path, which to others of stouter mould and +heavier step might have been of serious inconvenience, appeared by him +as unnoticed as unfelt. The deep plume of his broad-rimmed hat could +not conceal the deep blue restless eyes, the delicate complexion, and +rich brown clustering hair; the varying expression of features, which +if not regularly handsome, were bright with intelligence and +truth, and betraying like a crystal mirror every impulse of the +heart--characteristics both of feature and disposition wholly +dissimilar to the sons of Spain. + +His physiognomy told truth. Arthur Stanley was, as his name implied, +an Englishman of noble family; one of the many whom the disastrous +wars of the Roses had rendered voluntary exiles. His father and four +brothers had fallen in battle at Margaret's side. Himself and a twin +brother, when scarcely fifteen, were taken prisoners at Tewkesbury, +and for three years left to languish in prison. Wishing to conciliate +the still powerful family of Stanley, Edward offered the youths +liberty and honor if they would swear allegiance to himself. They +refused peremptorily; and with a refinement of cruelty more like +Richard of Gloucester than himself, Edward ordered one to the block, +the other to perpetual imprisonment. They drew lots, and Edwin Stanley +perished. Arthur, after an interval, succeeded in effecting his +escape, and fled from England, lingered in Provence a few months, +and then unable to bear an inactive life, hastened to the Court +of Arragon; to the heir apparent of which, he bore letters of +introduction, from men of rank and influence, and speedily +distinguished himself in the wars then agitating Spain. The character +of the Spaniards--impenetrable and haughty reserve--occasioned, in +general, prejudice and dislike towards all foreigners. But powerful +as was their pride, so was their generosity; and the young and lonely +stranger, who had thrown himself so trustingly and frankly on their +friendship, was universally received with kindness and regard. In men +of lower natures, indeed, prejudice still lingered; but this was +of little matter; Arthur speedily took his place among the noblest +chivalry of Spain; devoted to the interests of the King of Sicily, but +still glorying in the name and feeling of an Englishman, he resolved, +in his young enthusiasm, to make his country honored in himself. + +He had been five years in Spain, and was now four and twenty; but +few would have imagined him that age, so frank and free and full of +thoughtless mirth and hasty impulse was his character. These last +fifteen months, however, a shadow seemed to have fallen over him, not +deep enough to create remark, but _felt_ by himself. His feelings, +always ardent, had been all excited, and were all concentrated, on a +subject so wrapt in mystery, that the wish to solve it engrossed his +whole being. Except when engaged in the weary stratagem, the rapid +march, and actual conflict, necessary for Ferdinand's interest, but +one thought, composed of many, occupied his mind, and in solitude so +distractingly, that he could never rest; he would traverse the country +for miles, conscious indeed of what he _sought_, but perfectly +unconscious where he _went_. + +It was in one of these moods he had entered the pass we have +described, rejoicing in its difficulties, but not thinking where it +led, or what place he sought, when a huge crag suddenly rising almost +perpendicularly before him, effectually roused him from his trance. +Outlet there was none. All around him towered mountains, reaching +to the skies. The path was so winding, that, as he looked round +bewildered, he could not even imagine how he came there. To retrace +his steps, seemed quite as difficult as to proceed. The sun too had +declined, or was effectually concealed by the towering rocks, for +sudden darkness seemed around him. There was but one way, and Stanley +prepared to scale the precipitous crag before him with more eagerness +than he would a beaten path. He threw off his cloak, folded it in +the smallest possible compass, and secured it like a knapsack to his +shoulders, slung his sword over his neck, and, with a vigorous spring, +which conquered several paces of slippery rock at once, commenced the +ascent. Some brushwood, and one or two stunted trees, gave him now +and then a hold for his hands; and occasional ledges in the rock, a +resting for his foot; but still one false step, one failing nerve, and +he must have fallen backwards and been dashed to pieces; but to Arthur +the danger was his safety. Where he was going, indeed he knew not. He +could see no further than the summit of the crag, which appeared like +a line against the sky; but any bewilderment were preferable to the +strange stagnation towards outward objects, which had enwrapped him +ten minutes before. + +Panting, breathless, almost exhausted, he reached the summit, and +before him yawned a chasm, dark, fathomless, as if nature in some wild +convulsion had rent the rock asunder. The level ground on which +he stood was barely four feet square; behind him sloped the most +precipitous side of the crag, devoid of tree or bush, and slippery +from the constant moisture that formed a deep black pool at its base. +Stanley hazarded but one glance behind, then looked steadily forward, +till his eye seemed accustomed to the width of the chasm, which did +not exceed three feet. He fixed his hold firmly on a blasted trunk +growing within the chasm; It shook--gave way--another moment and he +would have been lost; but in that moment he loosed his hold, clasped +both hands above his head, and successfully made the leap--aware only +of the immense effort by the exhaustion which followed compelling him +to sink down on the grass, deprived even of energy to look around him. + +So marvellous was the change of scenery on which his eyes unclosed, +that he started to his feet, bewildered. A gradual hill, partly +covered with rich meadow grass, and partly with corn, diversified +with foliage, sloped downwards, leading by an easy descent to a small +valley, where orange and lime trees, the pine and chestnut, palm and +cedar, grew in beautiful luxuriance. On the left was a small dwelling, +almost hidden in trees. Directly beneath him a natural fountain threw +its sparkling showers on beds of sweet-scented and gayly-colored +flowers. The hand of man had very evidently aided nature in forming +the wild yet chaste beauty of the scene; and Arthur bounded down the +slope, disturbing a few tame sheep and goats on his way, determined on +discovering the genius of the place. + +No living object was visible, however; and with his usual reckless +spirit, he resolved on exploring further, ere he demanded the +hospitality of the dwelling. A narrow path led into a thicker wood, +and in the very heart of its shade stood a small edifice, the nature +of which Arthur vainly endeavored to understand. It was square, and +formed of solid blocks of cedar; neither carving nor imagery of any +kind adorned it; yet it had evidently been built with skill and care. +There was neither tower nor bell, the usual accompaniments of a +chapel, which Stanley had at first imagined it; and he stood gazing +on it more and more bewildered. At that moment, a female voice of +singular and thrilling beauty sounded from within. It was evidently +a hymn she chanted, for the strain was slow and solemn, but though +_words_ were distinctly intelligible, their language was entirely +unknown. The young man listened at first, conscious only of increasing +wonderment, which was quickly succeeded by a thrill of hope, so +strange, so engrossing, that he stood, outwardly indeed as if turned +to stone; inwardly, with every pulse so throbbing that to move or +speak was impossible. The voice ceased; and in another minute a door, +so skilfully constructed as when closed to be invisible in the solid +wall, opened noiselessly; and a female figure stood before him. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + "Farewell! though in that sound be years + Of blighted hopes and fruitless tears-- + Though the soul vibrate to its knell + Of joys departed--yet farewell." + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +To attempt description of either face or form would be useless. The +exquisite proportions of the rounded figure, the very perfection of +each feature, the delicate clearness of the complexion--brunette when +brought in close contact with the Saxon, blonde when compared with the +Spaniard--all attractions in themselves, were literally forgotten, or +at least unheeded, beneath the spell which dwelt in the _expression_ +of her countenance. Truth, purity, holiness, something scarcely of +this nether world, yet blended indescribably with all a woman's +nature, had rested there, attracting the most unobservant, and +riveting all whose own hearts contained a spark of the same lofty +attributes. Her dress, too, was peculiar--a full loose petticoat of +dark blue silk, reaching only to the ankle, and so displaying the +beautifully-shaped foot; a jacket of pale yellow, the texture seeming +of the finest woven wool, reaching to the throat; with sleeves tight +on the shoulders, but falling in wide folds as low as the wrist, and +so with every movement displaying the round soft arm beneath. An +antique brooch of curiously wrought silver confined the jacket at the +throat. The collar, made either to stand up or fall, was this evening +unclosed and thrown black, its silver fringe gleaming through the +clustering tresses that fell in all their native richness and raven +blackness over her shoulders, parted and braided on her brow, so as to +heighten the chaste and classic expression of her features. + +On a stranger that beautiful vision must have burst with bewildering +power: to Arthur Stanley she united _memory_ with _being_, the _past_ +with the _present_, with such an intensity of emotion, that for a few +minutes his very breath was impeded. She turned, without seeing him, +in a contrary direction; and the movement roused him. + +"Marie!" he passionately exclaimed, flinging himself directly in her +path, and startling her so painfully, that though there was a strong +and visible effort at self-control, she must have fallen had he not +caught her in his arms. There was an effort to break from his hold, a +murmured exclamation, in which terror, astonishment, and yet joy, were +painfully mingled, and then the heroine gave place to the woman, for +her head sunk on his shoulder and she burst into tears. + +Time passed. Nearly an hour from that strange meeting, and still they +were together; but no joy, nor even hope was on the countenance of +either. At first, Arthur had alluded to their hours of happy yet +unconfessed affection, when both had felt, intuitively, that they were +all in all to each other, though not a syllable of love had passed +their lips; on the sweet memories of those blissful hours, so brief, +so fleeting, but still Marie wept: the memory seemed anguish more than +joy. And then he spoke of returned affection, as avowed by her, when +his fond words had called it forth; and shuddered at the recollection +that that hour of acknowledged and mutual love, had proved the signal +of their separation. He referred again to her agonized words, that a +union was impossible, that she dared not wed him; it was sin even +to love him; that in the tumultuary, yet delicious emotions she had +experienced, she had forgotten, utterly forgotten in what it must +end--the agony of desolation for herself, and, if he so loved her, for +Stanley also--and again he conjured her to explain their meaning. They +had been separated, after that fearful interview, by a hasty summons +for him to rejoin his camp; and when he returned, she had vanished. +He could not trace either her or the friend with whom she had been +staying. Don Albert had indeed said, his wife had gone to one of the +southern cities, and his young guest returned to her father's home; +but where that home was, Don Albert had so effectually evaded, that +neither direct questionings nor wary caution could obtain reply. But +he had found her now; they had met once more, and oh, why need they +part again? Why might he not seek her father, and beseech his blessing +and consent? + +His words were eloquent, his tone impassioned, and hard indeed the +struggle they occasioned. But Marie wavered not in the repetition +of the same miserable truth, under the impression of which they +had separated before. She conjured him to leave her, to forget the +existence of this hidden valley, for danger threatened her father and +herself if it was discovered. So painful was her evident terror, that +Arthur pledged his honor never to reveal it, declaring that to +retrace the path by which he had discovered it, was even to himself +impossible. But still he urged her, what was this fatal secret? Why +was it sin to love him? Was she the betrothed of another? and the +large drops starting to the young man's brow denoted the agony of the +question. + +"No, Arthur, no," was the instant rejoinder: "I never could love, +never could be another's, this trial is hard enough, but it is all I +have to bear. I am not called upon to give my hand to another, while +my heart is solely thine." + +"Then wherefore join that harsh word 'sin,' with such pure love, my +Marie? Why send me from you wretched and most lonely, when no human +power divides us?" + +"No human power!--alas! alas!--a father's curse--an offended +God--these are too awful to encounter, Arthur. Oh do not try me more; +leave me to my fate, called down by my own weakness, dearest Arthur. +If you indeed love me, tempt me not by such fond words; they do but +render duty harder. Oh, wherefore have you loved me!" + +But such suffering tone, such broken words, were not likely to check +young Stanley's solicitations. Again and again he urged her, at least +to say what fatal secret so divided them; did he but know it, it +might be all removed. Marie listened to him for several minutes, with +averted head and in unbroken silence; and when she did look on him +again, he started at her marble paleness and the convulsive quivering +of her lips, which for above a minute prevented the utterance of a +word. + +"Be it so," she said at length; "you shall know this impassable +barrier. You are too honorable to reveal it. Alas! it is not that fear +which restrained me; my own weakness which shrinks from being to thee +as to other men, were the truth once known, an object of aversion and +of scorn." + +"Aversion! scorn! Marie, thou ravest," impetuously exclaimed Stanley; +"torture me not by these dark words: the worst cannot be more +suffering." + +But when the words were said, when with blanched lips and cheeks, and +yet unfaltering tone, Marie revealed the secret which was to separate +them for ever, Arthur staggered back, relinquishing the hands he had +so fondly clasped, casting on her one look in which love and aversion +were strangely and fearfully blended, and then burying his face in his +hands, his whole frame shook as with some sudden and irrepressible +anguish. + +"Thou knowest all, now," continued Marie, after a pause, and she stood +before him with arms folded on her bosom, and an expression of meek +humility struggling with misery on her beautiful features. "Senor +Stanley, I need not now implore you to leave me; that look was +sufficient, say but you forgive the deception I have been compelled to +practise--and--and forget me. Remember what I am, and you will soon +cease to love." + +"Never, never!" replied Stanley, as with passionate agony he flung +himself before her. "Come with me to my own bright land; who shall +know what thou art there? Marie, my own beloved, be mine. What to me +is race or blood? I see but the Marie I have loved, I shall ever love. +Come with me. Edward has made overtures of peace if I would return to +England. For thy sake I will live beneath his sway; be but mine, and +oh, we shall be happy yet." + +"And my father," gasped the unhappy girl, for the generous nature of +Arthur's love rendered her trial almost too severe. "Wilt thou protect +him too? wilt thou for my sake forget what he is, and be to him a +son?" He turned from her with a stifled groan. "Thou canst not--I knew +it--oh bless thee for thy generous love; but tempt me no more, Arthur; +it cannot be; I dare not be thy bride." + +"And yet thou speakest of love. 'Tis false, thou canst not love me," +and Stanley sprung to his feet disappointed, wounded, till he scarce +knew what he said. "I would give up Spain and her monarch's love for +thee. I would live in slavery beneath a tyrant's rule to give thee a +home of love. I would forget, trample on, annihilate the prejudices +of a life, unite the pure blood of Stanley with the darkened torrent +running through thy veins, forget thy race, descent, all but thine own +sweet self. I would do this, all this for love of thee. And for +me, what wilt thou do?--reject me, bid me leave thee--and yet thou +speakest of love: 'tis false, thou lovest another better!" + +"Ay!" replied Marie, in a tone which startled him, "ay, thou hast +rightly spoken; thy words have recalled what in this deep agony I had +well nigh forgotten. There is a love, a duty stronger than that I bear +to thee. I would resign all else, but not my father's God." + +The words were few and simple; but the tone in which they were spoken +recalled Arthur's better nature, and banished hope at once. A pause +ensued, broken only by the young man's hurried tread, as he traversed +the little platform in the vain struggle for calmness. On him this +blow had fallen wholly unprepared; Marie had faced it from the moment +they had parted fifteen months before, and her only prayer had been (a +fearful one for a young and loving heart), that Stanley would forget +her, and they might never meet again. But this was not to be; and +though she had believed herself prepared, one look on his face, one +sound of his voice had proved how vain had been her dream. + +"I will obey thee, Marie," Stanley said, at length, pausing before +her. "I will leave thee now, but not--not for ever. No, no; if indeed +thou lovest me time will not change thee, if thou hast one sacred tie, +when nature severs that, and thou art alone on earth, thou shalt be +mine, whatever be thy race." + +"Hope it not, ask it not! Oh, Arthur, better thou shouldst hate me, as +thy people do my race: I cannot bear such gentle words," faltered poor +Marie, as her head sunk for a minute on his bosom, and the pent-up +tears burst forth. "But this is folly," she continued, forcing back +the choking sob, and breaking from his passionate embrace. "There is +danger alike for my father and thee, if thou tarriest longer. Not that +way," she added, as his eye glanced inquiringly towards the hill by +which he had descended; "there is another and an easier path; follow +me--thou wilt not betray it?" + +"Never!" was the solemn rejoinder, and not a word more passed between +them. He followed her through what seemed to be an endless maze, and +paused before a towering rock, which, smooth and perpendicular as a +wall built by man, ran round the vale and seemed to reach to heaven. +Pushing aside the thick brushwood, Marie stood beside the rock, and by +some invisible movement, a low door flew open and disclosed a winding +staircase. + +"Thou wilt trust me, Arthur?" + +"Ay, unto death," he answered, springing after her up the rugged +stair. Narrow loopholes, almost concealed without by trees and +brushwood, dimly lighted the staircase, as also a low, narrow passage, +which branched off in zig-zag windings at the top, and terminated, as +their woody path had done, in a solid wall. But again an invisible +door flew open, closing behind them; and after walking about a hundred +yards through prickly shrubs and entangled brushwood that obscured his +sight, Marie paused, and Arthur gazed round bewildered. A seemingly +boundless plain stretched for miles around him, its green level +only diversified by rocks scattered about in huge masses and wild +confusion, as if hurled in fury from some giant's hand. The rock +whence he had issued was completely invisible. He looked around again +and again, but only to bewilder himself yet more. + +"The way looks more dreary than it is. Keep to the left: though it +seems the less trodden path thou wilt find there a shelter for the +night, and to-morrow's sun will soon guide thee to a frontier town; +thy road will be easy then. Night is falling so fast now, thou hadst +best not linger, Arthur." + +But he did linger, till once more he had drawn from her a confession +of her love, that none other could take his place, even while she +conjured him never to seek her again--and so they parted. Five minutes +more, and there was not a vestige of a human form on the wide-extended +plain. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + "Now History unfolds her ample page, + Rich with the spoils of Time." + + +Clearly to comprehend the internal condition of Spain at the period +of our narrative (1479)--a condition which, though apparently purely +national, had influence over every domestic hearth--it is necessary to +glance back a few years. The various petty Sovereignties into which +Spain had been divided never permitted any lengthened period of peace; +but these had at length merged into two great kingdoms, under the +names of Arragon and Castile. The _form_ of both governments was +monarchical; but the _genius_ of the former was purely republican, +and the power of the sovereign so circumscribed by the Junta, the +Justicia, and the Holy Brotherhood, that the vices or follies of the +monarch were of less consequence, in a national point of view, in +Arragon, than in any other kingdom. It was not so with Castile. From +the death of Henry the Third, in 1404, a series of foreign and civil +disasters had plunged the kingdom in a state of anarchy and misery. +John the Second had some virtues as an individual, but none as a king; +and his son Henry, who succeeded him in 1450, had neither the one nor +the other. Governed as his father had been, entirely by favorites, +the discontent of all classes of his subjects rapidly increased; the +people were disgusted and furious at the extravagance of the monarch's +minion; the nobles, fired at his insolence; and an utter contempt of +the king, increased the virulence of the popular ferment. Unmindful of +the disgrace attendant on his divorce from Blanche of Navarre, Henry +sought and obtained the hand of Joanna, Princess of Portugal, whose +ambition and unprincipled intrigues heightened the ill-favor with +which he was already regarded. The court of Castile, once so famous +for chastity and honor, sank to the lowest ebb of infamy, the shadow +of which, seeming to extend over the whole land, affected nobles and +people with its baleful influence. All law was at an end: the people, +even while they murmured against the King, followed his evil example; +and history shrinks from the scenes of debauchery and licentiousness, +robbery and murder, which desecrated the land. But this state of +things could not last long, while there still remained some noble +hearts amongst the Castilians. Five years after their marriage, the +Queen was said to have given birth to a daughter, whom Henry declared +should be his successor, in lieu of his young brother Alfonso (John's +son, by a second wife, Isabella of Portugal). This child the nobles +refused to receive, believing and declaring that she was not Henry's +daughter, and arrogated to themselves the right of trying and passing +sentence on their Sovereign, who, by his weak, flagitious conduct had, +they unanimously declared, forfeited all right even to the present +possession of the crown. + +The confederates, who were the very highest and noblest officers of +the realm, assembled at Avita, and with a solemnity and pomp which +gave the whole ceremony an imposing character of reality, dethroned +King Henry in effigy, and proclaimed the youthful Alfonso sovereign in +his stead. All present swore fealty, but no actual good followed: the +flame of civil discord was re-lighted, and raged with yet greater +fury; continuing even after the sudden and mysterious death of the +young prince, whose extraordinary talent, amiability, and firmness, +though only fourteen, gave rise to the rumor that he had actually been +put to death by his own party, who beheld in his rising genius the +utter destruction of their own turbulence and pride. Be this as +it may, his death occasioned no cessation of hostilities, the +confederates carrying on the war in the name of his sister, the +Infanta Isabella. Her youth and sex had pointed her out as one not +likely to interfere or check the projects of popular ambition, and +therefore the very fittest to bring forward as an excuse for their +revolt. With every appearance of humility and deference, they offered +her the crown; but the proudest and boldest shrank back abashed, +before the flashing eye and proud majesty of demeanor with which she +answered, "The crown is not yours to bestow; it is held by Henry, +according to the laws alike of God and man; and till his death, you +have no right to bestow, nor I to receive it." + +But though firm in this resolution, Isabella did not refuse to +coincide in their plans for securing her succession. To this measure +Henry himself consented, thus appearing tacitly to acknowledge the +truth of the reports that Joanna was a surreptitious child, and for +a brief period Castile was delivered from the horrors of war. Once +declared heiress of Castile and Leon, Isabella's hand was sought by +many noble suitors, and her choice fell on Ferdinand, the young +King of Sicily, and heir-apparent to the crown of Arragon. Love was +Isabella's incentive. Prudence, and a true patriotic ambition, urged +the Archbishop of Toledo not only to ratify the choice, but to smooth +every difficulty in their way; he saw at once the glory which might +accrue to Spain by this peaceful union of two rival thrones. Every +possible and impossible obstacle was privately thrown by Henry to +prevent this union, even while he gave publicly his consent; his +prejudice against Ferdinand being immovable and deadly. But the +manoeuvres of the Archbishop were more skilful than those of the King. +The royal lovers--for such they really were--were secretly united +at Valladolid, to reach which place in safety Ferdinand had been +compelled to travel in disguise, and attended only by four cavaliers; +and at that period so straitened were the circumstances of the Prince +and Princess, who afterwards possessed the boundless treasures of the +new world, that they were actually compelled to borrow money to defray +the expenses of their wedding! + +The moment Henry became aware of this marriage, the civil struggle +recommenced. In vain the firm, yet pacific Archbishop of Toledo +recalled the consent he had given, and proved that the union not only +secured the after-glory of Spain, but Henry's present undisturbed +possession of his throne. Urged on by his wife, and his intriguing +favorite, the Marquis of Villena, who was for ever changing sides, he +published a manifesto, in which he declared on oath that he believed +Joanna to be his daughter, and proclaimed her heiress of Castile. +Ferdinand and Isabella instantly raised an array, regardless of the +forces of Portugal (to whose monarch Joanna had been betrothed), who +were rapidly advancing to the assistance of Henry. Ere, however, war +had regularly commenced, a brief respite was obtained by the death of +Henry, and instantly and unanimously Isabella was proclaimed Queen of +Leon and Castile. Peace, however, was not instantly regained; the King +of Portugal married Joanna, and resolved on defending her rights. Some +skirmishing took place, and at length a long-sustained conflict near +Fero decided the point--Ferdinand and the Castilians were victorious; +the King of Portugal made an honorable retreat to his own frontiers, +and the Marquis of Villena, the head of the malcontents, and by many +supposed to be the real father of Joanna, submitted to Isabella. Peace +thus dawned for Castile; but it was not till three years afterwards, +when Ferdinand had triumphed over the enemies of Arragon, and +succeeded his father as Sovereign of that kingdom, that any vigorous +measures could be taken for the restoration of internal order. + +The petty Sovereignties of the Peninsular, with the sole exception of +the mountainous district of Navarre, and the Moorish territories in +the south, were now all united; and it was the sagacious ambition of +Ferdinand and Isabella to render Spain as important in the scale of +kingdoms as any other European territory; and to do this, they knew, +demanded as firm a control over their own subjects, as the subjection +of still harassing foes. + +Above a century had elapsed since Spain had been exposed to the sway +of weak or evil kings, and all the consequent miseries of misrule and +war. Rapine, outrage, and murder had become so frequent and unchecked, +as frequently to interrupt commerce, by preventing all communication +between one place and another. The people acknowledged no law but +their own passions. The nobles were so engrossed with hatred of each +other, and universal contempt of their late sovereign, with personal +ambition and general discontent, that they had little time or leisure +to attend to any but their own interest. But a very brief interval +convinced both nobles and people that a new era was dawning for them. +In the short period of eighteen months, the wise administration of +Isabella and Ferdinand, had effected a sufficient change to startle +all ranks into the conviction that their best interests lay in prompt +obedience, and in exerting themselves in their several spheres, to +second the sovereign's will. The chivalric qualities of Ferdinand, his +undoubted wisdom and unwavering firmness, excited both love and fear; +while devotion itself is not too strong a term to express the national +feeling entertained toward Isabella. Her sweet, womanly gentleness, +blended as it was with the dignity of the sovereign; her ready +sympathy in all that concerned her people--for the lowest of her +subjects; doing justice, even if it were the proud noble who injured, +and the serf that suffered--all was so strange, yet fraught with such +national repose, that her influence every year increased; while every +emotion of chivalry found exercise, and yet rest in the heart of the +aristocracy for their Queen; her simple word would be obeyed, on the +instant, by men who would have paused, and weighed, and reasoned, +if any other--even Ferdinand himself--had spoken. Isabella knew her +power; and if ever sovereign used it for the good, the happiness of +her people, that proud glory was her own. + +In spite of the miserable condition of the people during the civil +struggles, the wealth of Spain had not decreased. It was protected +and increased by a class of people whose low and despised estate was, +probably, their safeguard--these were the Jews, who for many centuries +had, both publicly and secretly, resided in Spain. There were many +classes of this people in the land, scattered alike over Castile, +Leon, Arragon, Navarre, and also in the Moorish territories; some +there were confined to the mystic learning and profound studies of the +schools, whence they sent many deeply learned men to other countries, +where their worth and wisdom gained them yet greater regard than they +received in Spain: others were low and degraded in outward seeming, +yet literally holding and guiding the financial and commercial +interests of the kingdom;--whose position was of the lowest--scorned +and hated by the very people who yet employed them, and exposed to +insult from every class; the third, and by far the largest body of +Spanish Jews, were those who, Israelites in secret, were so completely +Catholic in seeming, that the court, the camp, the council, even the +monasteries themselves, counted them amongst them. And this had been +the case for years--we should say for centuries--and yet so inviolable +was the faith pledged to each other, so awful the dangers around them, +were even suspicion excited, that the fatal secret never transpired; +offices of state, as well as distinctions of honor, were frequently +conferred on men who, had their faith or race been suspected, would +have been regarded as the scum of the earth, and sentenced to torture +and death, for daring to pass for what they were not. At the period +of which we write, the fatal enemy to the secret Jews of more modern +times, known as the Holy Office, did not exist; but a secret and +terrible tribunal there was, whose power and extent were unknown to +the Sovereigns of the land. + +The Inquisition is generally supposed to have been founded by +Ferdinand and Isabella, about the year 1480 or '82; but a deeper +research informs us that it had been introduced into Spain several +centuries earlier, and obtained great influence in Arragon. Confiding +in the protection of the papal see, the Inquisitors set no bounds to +their ferocity: secret informations, imprisonments, tortures, midnight +assassinations, marked their proceedings; but they overreached +themselves. All Spain, setting aside petty rivalships, rose up against +them. All who should give them encouragement or assistance were +declared traitors to their country; the very lives of the Inquisitors +and their families were, in the first burst of fury, endangered; but +after a time, imagining they had sunk into harmless insignificance, +their oppressors desisted in their efforts against them, and +were guilty of the unpardonable error of not exterminating them +entirely.[A] + +[Footnote A: Stockdale's History of the Inquisition.] + +According to the popular belief, the dreaded tribunal slept, and so +soundly, they feared not, imagined not its awakening. They little +knew that its subterranean halls were established near almost all the +principal cities, and that its engines were often at work, even in the +palaces of kings. Many a family wept the loss of a beloved member, +they knew not, guessed not how--for those who once entered those fatal +walls were never permitted to depart; so secret were their measures, +that even the existence of this fearful mockery of justice and +Religion was not known, or at that time it would have been wholly +eradicated. Superstition had not then gained the ascendency which in +after years so tarnished the glory of Spain, and opened the wide gates +to the ruin and debasement under which she labors now. The fierce +wars and revolutions ravaging the land had given too many, and too +favorable opportunities for the exercise of this secret power; but +still, regard for their own safety prevented the more public display +of their office, as ambition prompted. The vigorous proceedings of +Ferdinand and Isabella rendered them yet more wary; and little did the +Sovereigns suspect that in their very courts this fatal power held +sway. The existence of this tribunal naturally increased the dangers +environing the Israelites who were daring enough to live amongst +the Catholics as one of them; but of this particular danger they +themselves were not generally aware, and their extraordinary skill +in the concealment of their faith (to every item of which they yet +adhered) baffled, except in a very few instances, even these ministers +of darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + "In war did never lion rage more fierce-- + In peace was never gentle lamb more mild, + Than was that young and princely gentleman." + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +The wars ravaging Spain had nursed many a gallant warrior, and given +ample opportunities for the possession and display of those chivalric +qualities without which, in that age, no manly character was +considered perfect. The armies of Ferdinand and Isabella counted some +of the noblest names and most valiant knights of Christendom. The +Spanish chivalry had always been famous, and when once organized under +a leader of such capacity and firmness as Ferdinand; when the notice +and regard of the Queen they idolized could only be obtained by manly +virtue as well as the warrior's ardor, a new spirit seemed to wake +within them; petty rivalships and jealousies were laid aside, all they +sought was to become distinguished; and never had chivalry shone with +so pure and glorious a lustre in the court of Spain as then, when, +invisibly and unconsciously, it verged on its decline. + +It was amongst all this blaze of chivalry that Arthur Stanley had had +ample opportunity to raise, in his own person, the martial glory of +his own still much loved and deeply regretted land. Ferdinand had +honored him with so large a portion of his coveted regard, that +no petty feelings on the part of the Spaniards, because he was a +stranger, could interfere with his advancement; his friends, however, +were mostly among the Arragonese; to Isabella, and the Castilians, he +was only known as a valiant young warrior, and a marked favorite of +the king. There was one person, however, whom the civil contentions of +Spain had so brought forward, that his name was never spoken, either +in council, court, or camp, palace or hut--by monarch or captive, +soldier or citizen--without a burst of such warm and passionate +attachment that it was almost strange how any single individual, and +comparatively speaking, in a private station, could so have won the +hearts of thousands. Yet it had been gradually that this pre-eminence +had been attained--gradually, and entirely by the worth of its +object. At the early age of sixteen, and as page to Gonzalos de +Lara, Ferdinand Morales had witnessed with all the enthusiasm of +a peculiarly ardent, though outwardly quiet nature, the exciting +proceedings at Avila. 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. Her constantly chosen +messenger to Ferdinand, he became known and trusted by both that +prince and his native subjects. His wealth, which, seemed exhaustless, +independent of his preferments, was ever at the service of either +Isabella or her betrothed; he it was from whom the necessary means for +her private nuptials were borrowed. At that scene he was, of course, +present, and, at his own desire, escorted Ferdinand back to his own +domains--an honorable but most dangerous office, performed with his +usual unwavering fidelity and skill. That one so faithful in adversity +should advance from post to post as soon as dawning prosperity +permitted Isabella and Ferdinand to reward merit as well as to evince +gratitude, was not surprising; but no royal favor, no coveted honors, +no extended power, could alter one tittle of his single-hearted +truth--his unrestrained intercourse with and interest in his equals, +were they of the church, court, or camp--his gentle and unassuming +manner to his inferiors. It was these things that made him so +universally beloved. The coldest natures, if thrown in contact with +him, unconsciously to themselves kindled into warmth; vice itself +could not meet the glance of that piercing eye without shrinking, for +the moment, in loathing from itself. + +Until Isabella and Ferdinand were firmly established on the throne, +and Arragon and Castile united, there had been little leisure amongst +their warriors to think of domestic ties, otherwise it might perhaps +have been noticed as somewhat remarkable that Ferdinand Morales +appeared to stand alone; kindred, indeed, he claimed with four or five +of the noblest amongst the Castilians, but he seemed to have no near +relative; and though he mingled courteously, and to some young hearts +far too pleasingly, amongst Isabella's court, it seemed as if he +would never stoop to love. The Queen often jested him on his apparent +insensibility, and entreating him to wed. At first he had smiled away +such words; but two or three months after the commencement of our +tale, he acknowledged that his affections had been for some years +engaged to one living so completely in retirement as to be unknown to +all; he had but waited till peace had dawned for Spain, and he might +offer her not only his love, but a secure and quiet home. He spoke +in confidence, and Isabella, woman-like, had listened with no little +interest, giving her royal approval of his choice, without knowing +more than his own words revealed; but feeling convinced, she said, +that Ferdinand Morales would never wed one whose birth or lineage +would tarnish his pure Castilian blood, or endanger the holy faith +of which he was so true a member. A red flush might have stained the +cheek of the warrior at these words, but the deep obeisance with +which he had departed from the royal presence concealed the unwonted +emotion. Ere a year from that time elapsed, not only the ancient city +of Segovia, where his large estates lay, but all Castile were thrown +into a most unusual state of excitement by the marriage of the popular +idol, Don Ferdinand Morales, with a young and marvellously lovely +girl, whom few, if any, had ever seen before, and whose very name, +Donna Marie Henriquez, though acknowledged as essentially Castilian, +was yet unfamiliar. The mystery, however, as to who she was, and where +he could have found her, was speedily lost in the universal admiration +of her exceeding and remarkable loveliness, and of the new yet +equally attractive character which, as a devoted husband, Morales +thenceforward displayed. Many had imagined that he was too grave, too +wrapt in his many engrossing duties, alike as statesman and general, +ever to play the lover; and he had seemed resolved that this +impression should remain, and shrunk from the exposure of such sacred +feelings; for none, save Isabella, knew he loved until they saw his +bride. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + "And we have won a bower of refuge now + In this fresh waste." + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +The Vale of Cedars, as described in our first chapter, had been +originally the work of a single individual, who had found there a +refuge and concealment from the secret power of the Inquisition, from +whose walls he had almost miraculously escaped: this individual was +Julien Henriquez, the grandfather of Marie. For five years he remained +concealed, working unaided, but successfully, in forming a comfortable +home and concealed retreat, not only for himself but for his family. +Nature herself appeared to have marked the spot as an impenetrable +retreat, and Julien's skill and energy increased and strengthened the +natural barriers. During these five years the secret search for his +person, at first carried on so vigilantly that his enemies supposed +nothing but death could have concealed him, gradually relaxed, and +then subsided altogether. Foes and friends alike believed him dead, +and when he did re-appear in the coarse robe, shrouding cowl, and +hempen belt, of a wandering friar, he traversed the most populous +towns in safety, unrecognized and unsuspected. It was with some +difficulty he found his family, and a matter of no little skill to +convey them, without exciting suspicion by their disappearance, to his +retreat; but all was accomplished at length, and years of domestic +felicity crowned every former effort, and inspired and encouraged +more. + +Besides his own immediate family, consisting of his wife, a son, +and daughter, Henriquez had the charge of two nephews and a niece, +children of his sister, whose husband had perished by the arm of the +same secret power from which Henriquez had escaped; their mother had +died of a broken heart, from the fearful mystery of her husband's +fate, and the orphans were to Julien as his own. + +As years passed, the Vale of Cedars became not only a safe, but a +luxurious home. Every visit to the world Julien turned to profit, by +the purchase first of necessaries, then of luxuries. The little temple +was erected by the active aid of the young men, and the solemn rites +of their peculiar faith adhered to in security. Small as the family +was, deaths, marriages, and births took place, and feelings and +sympathies were excited, and struggles secretly endured, making that +small spot of earth in very truth a world. The cousins intermarried. +Ferdinand and Josephine left the vale for a more stirring life; +Manuel, Henriquez's own son, and Miriam, his niece, preferred the +quiet of the vale. Julien, his nephew, too, had loved; but his +cousin's love was given to his brother, and he departed, unmurmuringly +indeed, but he dared not yet trust himself to associate calmly with +the object of his love: he had ever been a peculiarly sad and silent +boy; the fate of his father never for an instant seemed to leave his +mind, and he had secretly vowed to avenge him. Love, for a while, had +banished these thoughts; but when that returned in all the misery of +isolation to his own breast, former thoughts regained dominion, and he +tried to conquer the one feeling by the encouragement of the other. +His brother and his wife constantly visited the vale; if at no other +time, almost always at those solemn festivals which generally fell +about the period of the Catholic Easter and Michaelmas; often +accompanied by faithful friends, holding the same mysterious bond of +brotherhood, and to whom the secret of that vale was as precious and +secure as to its natural inmates. Its aged founder had frequently the +happiness of gathering around him from twenty to thirty of his secret +race, and of feeling that his work would benefit friends as well as +offspring. Julien alone never returned to the vale, and his family at +length mourned him as one amongst the dead. + +The career of his brother was glorious but brief; he fell fighting +for his country, and his widow and young son returned to the parental +retreat. Though the cousins had married the same day, the son of +Ferdinand was ten years older than his cousin Marie; Manuel and Miriam +having lived twelve years together ere the longed-for treasure was +bestowed. At first, therefore, she had been to the youthful Ferdinand +but as a plaything, to pet and laugh with: he left the vale as page +to his father's companion in arms, Gonzalos de Lara, when Marie was +little more than five years old; but still his love for her and his +home was such that whenever it was possible, he would snatch if it +were but half a day to visit them. Gradually, and to him it seemed +almost strangely, the plaything child changed into the graceful girl, +and then again into the lovely woman; and dearer than ever became his +boyhood's home, though years had snatched away so many of its beloved +inmates, that, at the period of our story, its sole occupants were +Marie and her father. + +Had her mother lived, perchance Marie had never been exposed to the +dangers of an introduction to the world. Betrothed, in the secret +hearts of not only her own parents, but of Ferdinand's mother, to her +cousin, if she lived to attain sufficient age, Miriam would not have +thought it so impossible as Manuel did, that the affections of his +child might be sought for by, and given to another, if she mingled +with the world; she would at least have waited till she was +Ferdinand's wedded wife, and then sent her forth secure. But such +subtle fears and feelings are peculiarly _woman's_; not the tenderest, +most devoted father, could of himself have either thought of, or +understood them. He might perhaps have owned their justice had they +been presented to him by the affectionate warnings of an almost +idolized wife; but that voice was hushed, her sweet counsels buried +in the grave; and the fond, proud father, only thought of his child's +brilliant beauty, and how she would be admired and beloved, could she +be but generally known. And so, for her sake, he actually did violence +to his own love for the quiet retirement of the vale, and bore her to +the care of Donna Emilie de Castro; seeing nothing, feeling nothing, +but the admiration she excited, and that she was indeed the loveliest +there. One wish he had, and that was, that his nephew could have been +there likewise; but being engaged at that time on some important +private business for the Queen, Ferdinand did not even know that his +cousin had ever left the vale. + +That his child's affections could be excited towards any but those of +her own race was a circumstance so impossible, and moreover a sin so +fearful, that it never entered Manuel's mind: he knew not woman's +nature, dreamed not of its quick impulses, its passionate yearnings, +its susceptibility towards all gentle emotions, or he could not have +so trustingly believed in the power of her peculiar faith and creed +to guard her from the danger. Even his dearest desire that she should +become the wife of her cousin she knew not; for the father shrunk from +revealing it to either his child or nephew, unless Ferdinand loved +and sought her himself. What therefore had she to warn her from the +precipice on which she stood, when new, strange, yet most exquisitely +sweet emotions gradually obtained possession of her heart in her daily +intercourse with Arthur Stanley? What they were indeed she knew not; +the word love was never uttered by either; she only knew that his +presence, his voice, the pressure of his hand, brought with it a +thrilling sensation of intense happiness, such as she had never known, +never imagined before. It was indeed but a brief dream, for when +he spoke, when he besought her to be his, then indeed she woke to +consciousness, not only that she loved, but of the dark and fatal +barrier between them, which no human effort could o'erleap. The +sacrifice of race, of faith, of family, indeed might be made; but to +do this never entered the mind and heart of Marie, so utterly was it +impossible. To her peculiar feelings it was sin enough thus to have +loved. + +Manuel Henriquez bore his child back to the vale, little dreaming of +the anguish to which his unguarded love had exposed her. She had ever +been rather a pensive and gentle girl, and therefore that she should +be still serious was no matter of surprise. For fifteen months she +had sought to banish every dream of Arthur, every thought but that in +loving him she had sinned against her God. Time and prayer had in some +measure softened the first acute agony of her feelings; she thought +she was conquering them altogether, when his unexpected appearance +excited every feeling anew. Yet in that harrowing interview still she +had been firm. She had even told him a secret, which it was almost +death to reveal, that he might forget her; for how could he wed with +her? And yet even that barrier he would have passed, and his generous, +his determined love, would linger on her memory spite of every effort +to think of him no more. + +It was a fearful struggle, and often and often she yearned to confess +all to her father, whom she loved with no common love; but she knew +too well, not only the grief such tidings would be to him, but what +his judgment must be, and she shrunk in agony from the condemnation +of her feelings by another, constantly as she was condemning them +herself. + +Henriquez had been absent from the vale during Stanley's unexpected +visit, and he tarried long enough to excite the alarm, not only of his +child but of their domestics; nor was its cause when explained likely +to ease Marie's anxiety. He had been attacked on the day of his +intended return by a strange sensation of giddiness, followed by +insensibility, which appeared to have weakened him more than he had +thought compatible with so brief an illness. He made light of it, but +still he was uneasy, not that he feared death himself, but that it +might take him from his Marie ere his wishes were accomplished, and +her earthly happiness, as he thought, secured. The first attack was +but the forerunner of others, sometimes very slight and brief, at +others longer and more alarming, rendering Marie more and more +determined to keep her fatal secret from him; for it appeared to her +that any stronger emotion than customary would be followed by those +attacks; and as her love for him seemed to increase in intensity with +the anxiety his precarious health occasioned, so did her dread of +occasioning him aught of grief. But how fruitless are our best and +wisest resolutions! One little hour, and every thought was changed. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + "Oh! praise me not-- + Look gently on me, or I sink to earth + Not thus." + + DE CHATILLON. + + +It was the custom of the inmates of the Vale of Cedars, once in every +year, and generally about the season of Michaelmas, to celebrate a +festival, which ordained the erection of a booth or tent of "branches +of thick trees," in which for seven days every meal was taken, and +greater part of the day (except the time passed in the little Temple) +was spent. Large branches of the palm and cedar, the willow, acacia, +and the oak, cut so as to prevent their withering for the seven days, +formed the walls of the tent; their leaves intermingling over head, so +as to form a shelter, and yet permit the beautiful blue of the heavens +to peep within. Flowers of every shade and scent formed a bordering +within; and bouquets, richly and tastefully arranged, placed in vases +filled with scented earth, hung from the branches forming the roof. +Fruit, too, was there--the purple grape, the ripe red orange, the +paler lemon, the lime, the pomegranate, the citron, all of which the +vale afforded, adorned the board (which for those seven days was +always spread within the tent), intermingled with cakes made by Marie. + +This was one of the festivals for which many of the secret race would +visit the vale; but it so happened that, this year, Manuel, his child, +and their retainers, kept it alone--a source of disappointment and +anxiety to the former, whose health was rapidly (but still to his +child almost invisibly) failing. At the close of the solemn fast which +always preceded by five days this festival of rejoicing, he had had +a recurrence of his deathlike fits of insensibility, longer and +more alarming than usual; but he had rallied, and attributed it so +naturally to his long fast, that alarm once more gave place to hope +in the heart of his daughter. Not thus, however, felt her +father--convinced that death could not be long delayed, he but waited +for his nephew's appearance and acknowledged love for his cousin, +at once to give her to him, and prepare her for the worst. Parental +anxiety naturally increased with every hour that passed, and Ferdinand +appeared not. + +It was the eve of the Sabbath; one from which in general all earthly +cares and thoughts were banished, giving place to tranquil and +spiritual joy. The father and daughter were alone within their lovely +tent, but both so wrapt in evidently painful thought, that a strange +silence usurped the usual cheerful converse. So unwonted was the +anxious gloom on Manuel's brow, that his child could bear it no +longer, and flinging her arms round his neck, she besought him in the +tenderest accents to confide in her, as he had ever done, since her +mother's death, to tell her what so pained him--might she not remove +it? Henriquez could not resist that fond yet mournful pleading. He +told her, that he felt health was departing, that death seemed ever +hovering near, but that its pain, its care, would all depart, could he +behold his long-cherished wish fulfilled, and his Marie the wife +of Ferdinand, whose every look and tone during his last visit had +betrayed his devoted love. + +Marie heard; and her cheek and lips blanched to such ashy whiteness, +that her father in alarm folded her to his breast; and sought to +soothe a grief, which he believed was occasioned merely by the sudden +and fearful thought of his approaching death; and sought to soothe, +by a reference to the endearing love, the cherished tenderness which +would still be hers; how Ferdinand would be to her all, aye more +than all that he had been, and how, with love like his, she would be +happier than she had been yet. Much he said, and he might have said +still more, for it was long ere the startled girl could interrupt him. +But when he conjured her to speak to him, not to look upon his death +so fearfully, the beautiful truth of her nature rose up against the +involuntary deceit. It was not his death which thus appalled her; +alas--alas!--and she hated herself for the fearful thought--she had +almost lost sight of that, in the words which followed. Breaking from +his embrace, she sunk down on her knees before him, and buying her +face upon his hand, in broken accents and with choking sobs, revealed +the whole. How could she do her noble kinsman such fearful wrong as +to wed him, when her whole heart, thoughts, nay, life itself, seemed +wrapt in the memory of another? And that other! Oh! who, what was +he? Once she looked up in her father's face, but so fearful were the +emotions written there--wrath struggling with love, grief, pity, +almost terror--that hastily she withdrew her glance, and remained +kneeling, bent even to the dust, long after the confession had been +poured forth, waiting in fear and anguish for his words. + +"Marie, Marie! is it my Marie, my sainted Miriam's, child, who thus +speaks? who hath thus sinned sole representative of a race of ages, in +whose pure thoughts such fearful sin hath never mingled. My child so +to love the stranger as to reject, to scorn her own! Oh God, my God, +why hast thou so forsaken me? Would I had died before!" And the heavy +groan which followed, confirmed the anguish breathed in those broken +words. + +"Father!" implored the unhappy girl, clasping his knees in an agony of +supplication, though she raised not her head--"Oh my father! in mercy +do not speak thus! Words of wrath, of reproach, fearful as they are +from thee, yet I can bear them, but not such woe! Oh, think what I +have borne, what I must still bear. If I have sinned, my sin will +bring, nay, it has already brought its own chastisement. Speak to me +but one word of love--or, if it must be, wrath.--but not, not such +accents of despair!" + +Her father struggled to reply; but the conflux of strong emotion was +too powerful, and Marie sprung up to support him as he fell. She had +often seen him insensible before, when there appeared no cause for +such attacks; but was it strange that at such a moment she should +feel that _she_ had caused it?--that her sin perchance had killed +her father; he might never wake more to say he forgave, he blessed +her,--or that in those agonized moments of suspense she vowed, if +he might but speak again, that his will should be hers, even did it +demand the annihilation of every former treasured thought! And the vow +seemed heard. Gradually and, it appeared, painfully life returned. His +first action was to clasp her convulsively to his heart; his next, to +put her gently yet firmly from him, and bury his face in his hands, +and weep. + +No sight is more terrible, even to an indifferent spectator, than +to behold tears wrung from the eyes of man--and to his child it was +indeed torture. But she controlled the choking anguish--calmly and +firmly she spoke, and gradually the paroxysm subsided. + +"That I have sinned in loving a stranger thus, I have long felt," she +said; "and had I been aware of the nature of these feelings, they +should never have gained ascendency. But I awoke too late--my +very being was enchained. Still I may break from these engrossing +thoughts--I would do so--pain shall be welcome, if it may in time +atone for the involuntary sin of loving the stranger, and the yet +more terrible one of grieving thee. Oh, my father, do what thou wilt, +command me as thou wilt--I am henceforth wholly thine." + +"And thou wilt wed Ferdinand, my child?" + +"Would he still wish it, father, if he knew the whole? And is it +right, is it just, to wed him, and the truth still unrevealed? Oh, if +he do love me, as you say, how can I requite him by deceit?" + +"Tell him not, tell him not," replied Henriquez, again fearfully +agitated; "let none other know what has been. What can it do, save to +grieve him beyond thy power to repair? No, no. Once his, and all these +fearful thoughts will pass away, and their sin be blotted out, in thy +true faithfulness to one who loves thee. His wife, and I know that +thou wilt love him, and be true, as if thou hadst never loved +another--" + +"Ay, could I not be true, I would not wed," murmured Marie, more to +herself than to her father; "and if suffering indeed, atone for sin, +terribly will it be redeemed. But oh, my father, tell me--I have sworn +to be guided by thee, and in all things I will be--tell me, in wedding +him whom thou hast chosen, do I not still do foul wrong, if not to him +(her voice faltered), unto another, whose love is mine as well?" + +"Better for him, as for thee, to wed another, Marie! Would'st thou wed +the stranger, wert thou free?" + +She buried her face in his bosom, and murmured, "Never!" + +"Then in what can this passion end, but in misery for both? In +constant temptation to perjure thy soul, in forsaking all for him. And +if thou didst, would it bring happiness? My child, thou art absolved, +even had aught of promise passed between you. Knowest thou not that +a maiden of herself hath no power to vow? Her father's will alone +absolves it or confirms. Thou doest him no wrong. Be Ferdinand's +bride, and all shall be forgiven, all forgotten--thou art my child, my +Miriam's child once more!" + +He pressed her again fondly to him; but though she made no reply, his +arguments could not convince her. She had indeed told Arthur that she +never could be his, but yet avowed that she loved him; and if he +did meet her as the wife of another, what must he believe her? And +Ferdinand, if he did so love her, that preoccupied heart was indeed a +sad requital. She had, however, that evening but little time to think, +for ere either spoke again, the branches at the entrance of the tent +were hastily pushed aside, and a tall manly form stood upon the +threshold. Marie sprang to her feet with a faint cry--could it be that +the vow of an hour was already called upon to be fulfilled?--but +the intruder attributed her alarm to a different cause, and hastily +flinging off his wrapping mantle and deep plumed morion, he exclaimed, +"What! alarmed by me, my gentle cousin? dearest Marie! am I +forgotten?" And Henriquez, forgetting all of bodily exhaustion, all of +mental suffering, in the deep joy his sudden appearance caused, could +only fold the warrior in his feeble arms, and drooping his head on his +shoulder, sob forth expressively, "My son! my son!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + "And thus how oft do life and death + Twine hand in hand together; + And the funeral shroud, and bridal wreath, + How small a space may sever!" + + MS. + + +One little week did Ferdinand spend within the home of his boyhood; +and in that brief interval the earthly fate of Marie Henriquez was +decided. He had deferred his visit till such peace and prosperity had +dawned for Spain, that he could offer his bride not only a home suited +to his rank, but the comfort of his presence and protection for +an indeterminate time. He had come there purposely to reveal his +long-cherished love; to conjure Marie to bless him with the promise of +her hand; and, if successful, to return, in two short months, for the +celebration of their marriage, according to their own secret rites, +ere the ceremony was performed in the sight of the whole Catholic +world. The intermarriages of first cousins had been so common an +occurrence in his family, that Ferdinand, in spite of some tremblings, +as a lover, had regarded his final union with Marie with almost as +much certainty, and as a thing of course, as his uncle himself. + +The effects of that agitating interview between father and daughter +had been visible to Ferdinand; but he attributed it, very naturally, +to the cause privately assigned for it by his kinsman--Marie's first +conviction that her father's days were numbered. He had been greatly +shocked at the change in Henriquez's appearance, and deeply affected +at the solemn and startling earnestness with which he consigned his +child to his care, beseeching him, under all circumstances, to love +and cherish her. His nephew could scarcely understand, then, such +earnest pleadings. Alas! ere his life closed, their cause was clear +enough. + +Unconscious that her father and cousin were together, or of the nature +of their conversation, Marie had joined them, unexpectedly, ere the +interview was over. From her father's lips, and in a tone of trembling +agitation, she heard that his long-cherished prayer was granted, and +that she was his nephew's plighted, bride. He joined their hands, +blessed them, and left them alone together, ere she had had power +to utter a single word; and when voice was recalled by the tender, +earnest accents of her cousin, beseeching her to ratify her father's +consent--to say she would learn to love him, if she did not then; that +she would not refuse the devotedness he proffered--what could she +answer? She had so long loved him, venerated him, gloried in his +achievements, his honors, as of an elder and much-loved brother, that, +had she followed the impulse of her nature, she would have thrown +herself as a sister on his neck, and poured forth her tale of sorrow. +But she had sworn to be guided by her father, and he had besought her +to reveal nothing; and therefore she promised to be his, even while +with tears she declared herself unworthy. But such words were of +little meaning to her enraptured lover save to bid him passionately +deny them, and excite his ardent affection more than ever--satisfied +that she could be not indifferent, listening as she did, with such +flushed cheek and glistening eye, to the theme of his life since they +had parted--the favor of the sovereigns, and the station he had won. + +During the two months which intervened between Don Ferdinand's +departure and promised return, Marie strained every nerve to face her +destiny, and so meet it with calmness. Had she not loved, it would +have been impossible to feel herself the cherished object of her +cousin's love without returning it, possessing, as he did, alike +inward and outward attraction to win regard. She studiously and +earnestly banished every thought of Arthur as it rose; she prayed only +for strength to be faithful, not only in outward seeming but in inward +thought; that Stanley might never cross her path again, or, if he did, +that his very affections might be estranged from her; that the secret +she had revealed might alone be thought upon, till all of love had +gone. The torture of such prayer, let those who love decide; but it +was the thought of his woe, did he ever know she was another's bride, +that haunted her. Her own suffering it was comparitively easy to bear, +believing as she did, that they were called for by her involuntary +sin: but his--so successfully had she conquered herself; that it was +only when his countenance of reproach would flit before her, that the +groan burst from her heart, and she felt bowed unto the earth. + +Infirmity itself seemed conquered in the rejoicing thankfulness with +which Henriquez regarded this fulfilment of his wishes. He appeared +actually to regain strength and energy; his alarming fainting fits had +not recurred since his nephew's visit, and Marie hoped he would +be spared her longer than he believed. He never recurred to her +confession, but lavished on her, if possible, yet more endearing love, +and constantly alluded to the intense happiness which her consent to +be her cousin's bride had given him. Once he left the vale, despite +his precarious health, taking with him his old retainer, Reuben, and +returned, laden with the richest gems and costliest silks, to adorn +his child, on her bridal day, as befitted the bride of Ferdinand. + +Time passed: the day specified by Ferdinand rapidly approached. He was +there to meet it--and not alone. Thoughtful of his Marie's feeling, he +had resolved that she should not stand beside the altar without +one female friend; and he brought one, the sight of whom awakened +associations with such overpowering strength, that Marie could only +throw herself upon her bosom, almost convulsed with tears. It was +Donna Emelie de Castro, at whose house she had joined the world; but +her emotion, supposed natural to the agitating ceremony impending, +and her father's precarious health, happily for her, passed without +further notice than sympathy and love. + +Henriquez, for once, was indifferent alike to the agitation of Marie, +or the presence of Ferdinand. His glance was fixed on one of a little +group, all of whom, with the exception of this individual, were +familiar to his home and heart. He was clothed as a monk; but his +cowl was thrown back, and his gaze so fixed on Marie that she blushed +beneath it, and turned away. + +"Do not turn from me, my child," he said; and Henriquez started at the +voice, it was so fraught with memories of the departed. "Stranger as +I must be, save in name, to thee--thou art none such to me. I seem +to feel thy mother once again before me--and never was sister more +beloved!--Manuel, hast thou, indeed, forgotten Julien?" + +Almost ere he ceased to speak, the long separated relatives were +clasped in each, other's arms. The five-and-twenty years, which had +changed the prime of manhood into advancing age, and blanched the hair +of each, had had no power to decrease the strong ties of kindred, +so powerful in their secret race. The agitation and excitement of +Henriquez was so excessive, not only then, but during the few days +intervening before the celebration of the bridal, that Marie, in spite +of the near approach of the dreaded day, could only think of him. + +Ferdinand was no exacting lover: his affection for her was so intense, +so true; his confidence in her truth so perfect, that, though he might +at times have fancied that she loved not then with fervor equal to +his own, he was contented to believe that his devotion would in time +create in her as powerful a feeling. He had so watched, so tended her +from infancy: she had so clung to and reverenced him, so opened her +young heart, without one reservation, to his view--so treated him as +her most cherished, most loved friend, that how could he dream she had +aught to conceal, or believe that, did she know there was, she could +have hesitated, one moment, to refuse his hand, preferring even the +misery of so grieving him, to the continued agony of deceit? It was +this perfect confidence, this almost childish trust, so beautiful in +one tried, as he had been, in the ordeal of the world, that wrung +Marie's heart with deepest torture. He believed her other than she +was;--but it was too late--she dared not undeceive him. + +The nuptial morning dawned. The party, not more than twelve or +fourteen in all, assembled within the little edifice, whose nature +had so puzzled Arthur. Its interior was as peculiar as its outward +appearance: its walls, of polished cedar, were unadorned with either +carving, pictures, or imagery. In the centre, facing the east, was a +sort of raised table or desk, surrounded by a railing, and covered +with a cloth of the richest and most elaborately worked brocade. +Exactly opposite, and occupying the centre of the eastern wall, was +a sort of lofty chest, or ark; the upper part of which, arched, and +richly painted, with a blue ground, bore in two columns, strange +hieroglyphics in gold: beneath this were portals of polished cedar, +panelled, and marked out with gold, but bearing no device; their +hinges set in gilded pillars, which supported the arch above. Before +these portals were generally drawn curtains, of material rich and +glittering as that upon the reading-desk. But this day not only were +the curtains drawn aside, but the portals themselves flung open, as +the bridal party neared the steps which led to it, and disclosed six +or seven rolls of parchment, folded on silver pins, and filled with +the same strange letters, each clothed in drapery of variously colored +brocade, or velvet, and surmounted by two sets of silver ornaments, +in which the bell and pomegranate were, though small, distinctly +discernible. A superb lamp, of solid silver, was suspended from the +roof; and one of smaller dimensions, but of equally valuable material, +and always kept lighted, hung just before the ark. + +Julien Morales, at his own particular request, was to read the +ceremony; and three hours after noon he stood within the portals, on +the highest step; a slab of white marble divided him from the bride +and bridegroom, over whom a canopy was raised, supported by four +silver poles. The luxuriant hair of the bride had been gathered +up, and, save two massive braids, shading her brow and cheek, was +concealed under a head-dress, somewhat resembling an eastern turban, +but well suited to her countenance. Her dress, of the fashion before +described, was all of white--the jacket or bodice richly woven with +gold threads; but so thick a veil enveloped face and form, that +her sweet face was concealed, until, at one particular part of the +mysterious rite (for such, to the Spaniards, this ceremony must have +been), the veil was uplifted for her to taste the sacred wine, and not +allowed to fall again. Neither the bridegroom (agitated himself, +for his was not a nature to think lightly of the nuptial rite), nor +Henriquez (whose excitement was extreme) was conscious of the looks +of alarm, blended with admiration, which the raising of the veil +attracted towards Marie. Lovely she was; but it was the loveliness of +a marble statue, not of life--her very lips were blanched, and every +feature still, indeed; but a stillness of so peculiar an expression, +so inexpressibly, so thrillingly sad, that admiration appeared +indefinably and strangely transformed to pain. The wedding ring was +placed upon her hand--a thin crystal goblet broken by Ferdinand, +on the marble at his feet--and the rites were concluded. An almost +convulsive embrace from her father--the unusual wildness of his voice +and manner, as he blessed, and called her his own precious child, who +this day had placed the seal upon his happiness, and confirmed twenty +years of filial devotedness and love--awoke her from that stagnating +trance. She folded her arms round his neck, and burst into passionate +tears; and there were none, not even Ferdinand, to chide or doubt that +emotion--it was but natural to her character, and the solemn service +of the day. + +Gay and joyous was the meal which followed the bridal. No +appurtenances of modern pomp and luxury, indeed, decorated the board: +its only ornaments were the loveliest flowers, arranged in alabaster +vases, and silver baskets filled with blushing fruit. The food was +simple, and the wines not choice; but the guests thought not of mere +sensual enjoyment. In these secret meetings, each felt there was +something holy; richer homes, more gorgeous feasts, were theirs in the +world, whenever they so willed; but such intercourse of brotherhood +seldom occurred, and when it came, was consequently hallowed. + +Some time they sat around the board; and so unrestrained, so full of +varied interest was their eager converse, that sunset came unheeded; +and the silver lamps, fed with sweet incense, were placed upon the +table. Julien then arose, and solemnly pronounced the usual blessing, +or rather thanksgiving, after the bridal feast. Marie did not look up +during its continuance; but as it concluded, she arose, and was about +to retire with Donna Emilie, when her eye caught her father, and a cry +of alarm broke from her. The burning flush had given place to a livid +paleness--the glittering of the eye to a fixed and glassy gaze. The +frame was, for a moment, rigid as stone, then fearfully convulsed; +and Reuben, starting forward, caught his master as he fell. There was +something so startling and unusual in the seizure, that even those +accustomed to his periods of insensibility were alarmed; and vain was +every effort of Ferdinand to awaken hope and comfort in the seemingly +frozen spirit of his bride. + +Henriquez was conveyed to his room, and every restorative applied; but +even the skill of Julien, well versed as he was in the healing art, +was without effect. More than an hour passed, and still he lay like +death; and no sound, no sob, broke from the torn heart of his hapless +child, who knelt beside his couch; her large dark eyes, distended +to even more than their usual size, fixed upon his face; her hands +clasped round one of his; but had she sought thus to give warmth she +would have failed, for the hand of the living was cold and damp as +that of the seeming dead. + +A slight, almost imperceptible flush floated over that livid +cheek--the eyes unclosed, but so quickly closed again that it was more +like the convulsive quivering of the muscle than the effort of the +will; and Marie alone had marked the change. + +"Father!" she almost shrieked in agony, "in mercy speak to me +again--say but you forgive--bless--" + +"Forgive" feebly repeated the dying man; and the strong feeling of +the father, for a brief interval, conquered even death--"Forgive?--my +beautiful--my own!--the word is meaningless, applied to thee. Art thou +not my Ferdinand's bride, and hast thou not so taken the sting, the +trial even from this dread moment? My precious one!--would I could see +that face once more--but it is dark--all dark--kiss me, my child!" + +She threw herself upon his bosom, and covered his cheek with kisses. +He passed his hand feebly over her face, as if the touch could once +more bring her features to his sight; and then extending his left +hand, feebly called--"Ferdinand!" + +His nephew caught the withered hand, and kneeling down, pressed it +reverentially and fondly to his lips. + +Henriquez's lips moved, but there came no word. + +"Doubt me not, my more than father! From boyhood to youth, from youth +to manhood, I have doted on thy child. Shall I love and cherish her +less now, that she has only me? Oh, trust me!--if devotion can give +joy, she will know no grief, that man can avert, again!" + +A strange but a beautiful light for a single minute dispersed the +fearful shadow creeping over Henriquez's features. + +"My son! my son!--I bless thee--and thou, too, my drooping flower. +Julien! my brother--lay me beside my Miriam. Thou didst not come for +this--but it is well. My children--my friends--send up the hymn of +praise--the avowal of our faith; once more awake the voice of our +fathers!" + +He was obeyed; a psalm arose, solemn and sweet, in accents familiar +as their mother tongue, to those who chanted; but had any other been +near, not a syllable would have been intelligible. But the voice which +in general led to such solemn service--so thrilling in its sweetness, +that the most indifferent could not listen to it unmoved--now lay +hushed and mute, powerless even to breathe the sobs that crushed +her heart. And when the psalm ceased, and the prayer for the dying +followed, with one mighty effort Henriquez raised himself, and +clasping his hands, uttered distinctly the last solemn words ever +spoken by his race, and then sunk back--and there was silence. +Minutes, many minutes, rolled by--but Marie moved not. Gently, and +tenderly, Don Ferdinand succeeded in disengaging the convulsive hold +with which she still clasped her parent, and sought to bear her from +that sad and solemn room. Wildly she looked up in his face, and then +on those beloved features, already fixed and gray in death;--with +frantic strength she pushed aside her husband, and sunk down by her +father's side. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + "Slight are the outward signs of evil thought: + Within, within--'twas there the spirit wrought. + Love shows all changes: hate, ambition, guile, + Betray no further than the bitter smile." + + BYRON. + + +Our readers must imagine that nearly a year and a half has elapsed +since the conclusion of our last chapter. During that interval the +outward life of Marie had passed in a calm, even stream; which, could +she have succeeded in entirely banishing thoughts of the past, would +have been unalloyed enjoyment. Her marriage, as we hinted in our +fourth chapter, had been solemnized in public, with all the form and +ceremony of the Catholic Church, and with a splendor incumbent on the +high rank and immense wealth of the bridegroom. In compliance with +Marie's wishes, however, she had not yet been presented to the +Queen; delicate health (which was the fact, for a terrible fever +had succeeded the varied emotions of her wedding day) and her +late bereavement, was her husband's excuse to Isabella for her +non-appearance--an excuse graciously accepted; the rather that the +Queen of Castile was then much engrossed with political changes and +national reforms, than from any failing of interest in Don Ferdinand's +bride. + +Changed as was her estate, from her lovely home in the Vale of Cedars, +where she had dwelt as the sole companion of an ailing parent, to the +mistress of a large establishment in one of the most populous cities +of Castile; the idolized wife of the Governor of the town--and, as +such, the object of popular love and veneration, and called upon, +frequently, to exert influence and authority--still Marie did not fail +performing every new duty with a grace and sweetness binding her more +and more closely to the doting heart of her husband. For her inward +self, Marie was calm--nay, at intervals, almost happy. She had neither +prayed nor struggled in vain, and she felt as if her very prayer was +answered in the fact that Arthur Stanley had been appointed to some +high and honorable post in Sicily, and they were not therefore likely +yet to meet again. The wife of such a character as Morales could not +have continued wretched unless perversely resolved so to be. But his +very virtues, while they inspired the deepest reverence towards him, +engendered some degree of fear. Could she really have loved him as--he +believed she did--this feeling would not have had existence; but its +foundation was the constant thought that she was deceiving him--the +remorse, that his fond confidence was so utterly misplaced--the +consciousness, that there was still something to conceal, which, if +discovered, must blight his happiness for ever, and estrange him from +her, were it only for the past deceit. Had his character been less +lofty--his confidence in her less perfect--his very love less fond +and trusting--she could have borne her trial better; but to one true, +ingenuous, open as herself, what could be more terrible than the +unceasing thought that she was acting a part--and to her husband? +Often and often she longed, with an almost irresistible impulse, to +fling herself at his feet, and beseech him not to pierce her heart +with such fond trust; but the impulse was forcibly controlled. What +would such confession avail her now?--or him, save to wound? + +Amongst the many Spaniards of noble birth who visited Don Ferdinand's, +was one Don Luis Garcia, whose actual rank and office no one seemed to +know; and yet, in affairs of church or state, camp or council, he was +always so associated, that it was impossible to discover to which of +these he was allied; in fact, there was a mystery around him, which no +one could solve. Notwithstanding his easy--nay, it was by some thought +fascinating manners, his presence generally created a restraint, felt +intuitively by all, yet comprehended by none. That there is such, an +emotion as antipathy mercifully placed within us, often as a warning, +we do most strenuously believe; but we seldom trace and recognize it +as such, till circumstances reveal its truth. + +The real character of Don Luis, and the office he held, our future +pages will disclose; suffice it here to state, that there was no +lack of personal attractions or mental graces, to account for the +universal, yet unspoken and unacknowledged dislike which he inspired. +Apparently in the prime of life, he yet seemed to have relinquished +all the pleasures and even the passions of life. Austere, even rigid, +in those acts of piety and personal mortifications enjoined by his +religion--voluntary fasts, privations, nights supposed to be past in +vigil and in penance; occasional rich gifts to patron saints, and +their human followers; an absence of all worldly feeling, even +ambition; some extraordinary deeds of benevolence--all rendered him an +object of actual veneration to the priests and monks with which the +goodly city of Segovia abounded; and even the populace declared him +faultless, as a catholic and a man, even while their inward shuddering +belied the words. + +Don Ferdinand Morales alone was untroubled with these contradictory +emotions. Incapable of hypocrisy himself, he could not imagine it +in others: his nature seemed actually too frank and true for the +admission even of a prejudice. Little did he dream that his name, +his wealth, his very favor with the Queen, his influence with her +subjects, had already stamped him, in the breast of the man to whom +his house and heart alike were open, as an object of suspicion and +espial; and that ere a year had passed over his wedded life, these +feelings were ripened, cherished--changed from the mere thought of +persecution, to palpable resolve, by personal and ungovernable hate. + +Don Luis had never known love; not even the fleeting fancy, much less +the actual passion, of the sensualist, or the spiritual aspirings of +true affection. Of the last, in fact, he was utterly incapable. +No feeling, with him, was of an evanescent nature: under the cold +austerity of the ordinary man, lay coals of living fire. It mattered +not under what guise excited--hate, revenge, ambition, he was capable +of all. At love, alone, he had ever laughed--exulting in his own +security. + +The internal condition of Spain, as we have before said, had been, +until the accession of Isabella and Ferdinand, one of the grossest +license and most fearful immorality. Encouraged in the indulgence of +every passion, by the example of the Court, no dictates of either +religion or morality ever interfered to protect the sanctity of home; +unbridled desires were often the sole cause of murderous assaults; and +these fearful crimes continually passing unpunished, encouraged the +supposition that men's passions were given to be their sole guide, +before which, honor, innocence, and virtue fell powerless. + +The vigorous proceedings of Ferdinand and Isabella had already +remedied these terrible abuses. Over the public safety and reform they +had some power; but over the hearts of individuals they had none; and +there were still some with whom past license was far more influencing +than present restraint and legal severity; still some who paused at +no crime so that the gratification of their passions was ensured; and +foremost amongst these, though by his secret office pledged to the +annihilation of all domestic and social ties, as regarded his own +person, was Don Luis Garcia. + +For rather more than a year, Don Ferdinand Morales had enjoyed the +society of his young wife uninterruptedly, save by occasional visits, +of brief duration, to Valladolid and Leon, where Isabella alternately +held her court. He was now, however, summoned to attend the +sovereigns, on a visit to Ferdinand's paternal dominions, an office +which would cause his absence for a much longer interval. He obeyed +with extreme reluctance--nor did Marie feel the separation less. There +was, in some measure, a feeling of security in his presence, which, +whenever he was absent, gave place to fearful tremblings as to what +might transpire to shake her faith in her, ere he returned. + +Resolved that not the very faintest breath of scandal should touch +_his_ wife, Marie, during the absence of Morales, always kept herself +secluded. This time her retirement was stricter than ever; and great, +then, was her indignation and astonishment, when about a fortnight +before her husband's expected return, and in direct contradiction +to her commands, Don Luis Garcia was admitted to her presence; and +nothing but actual flight, for which she was far too proud and +self-possessed, could have averted the private interview which +followed. The actual words which passed we know not, but, after a very +brief interval of careless converse on the part of Garcia--something +he said earnestly, and in the tones of pitying sympathy, which caused +the cheek and lips of Marie to blanch to marble, and her whole frame +to shiver, and then grow rigid, as if turned to stone. Could it be +that the fatal secret, which she believed was known only to herself +and Arthur, that she had loved another ere she wedded Ferdinand, had +been penetrated by the man towards whom she had ever felt the most +intense abhorrence? and that he dared refer to it as a source of +sympathy--as a proof that he could feel for her more than her +unsuspecting husband? Why was speech so frozen up within her, that she +could not, for the moment, answer, and give him back the lie? But that +silence of deadly terror lasted not long: he had continued to speak; +at first she was unconscious of his change of tone, words, and even +action; but when his actual meaning flashed upon her, voice, strength, +energy returned in such a burst of womanly indignation, womanly +majesty, that Garcia himself, skilled in every art of evil as he was, +quailed beneath it, and felt that he was powerless, save by violence +and revenge. + +While that terrible interview lasted, the wife of Morales had not +failed; but when once more alone, the most deadly terror took +possession of her. She had, indeed, so triumphed as to banish Garcia, +defeated, from her presence; but fearful threats of vengeance were in +that interview divulged--allusions to some secret power, over which +he was the head, armed with authority even greater than that of +the sovereign's--mysteriously spoken, but still almost strangely +intelligible, that in her betrayal or her silence lay the safety or +the danger of her husband--all compelled the conviction that her +terror and her indignation at the daring insult must be buried deep in +her own breast; even while the supposition that Don Luis knew all the +past (though how, her wildest imagination could not discover), and +that therefore she was in his power, urged her yet more to a full +confession to her husband. Better if his heart must be wrung by her, +than by a foe; and yet she shrunk in anguish from the task. + +She was, however, deceived as to the amount of Garcia's knowledge of +her past life. Accustomed to read human nature under all its varied +phases--employing an unusually acute penetration so to know his +fellows as to enable him, when needed, to create the greatest amount +of misery--he had simply perceived that Marie's love for her husband +was of a different nature to his for her, and that she had some secret +to conceal. On this he had based his words: his suspicions were, +unhappily, confirmed by the still, yet expressive agony they had +occasioned. Baffled, as in some measure he had been, his internal rage +that he should have so quailed before a woman, naturally increased the +whirlwind of contending passions: but schooled by his impenetrable +system of hypocrisy to outward quietness and control, he waited, +certain that circumstances would either of themselves occur, or be so +guided by him as to give him ample means of triumph and revenge. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + "You would have thought the very windows spake; + So many greedy looks of young and old + Through casements darted their desiring eyes." + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +In an apartment, whose pale, green hangings, embroidered with +richly-colored flowers, and whose furniture and ornaments, all of +delicate material and refined taste, marked it as a meet boudoir for +gentle blood, sat Marie and her husband. She occupied her favorite +seat--a cushion at his feet, and was listening with interest to his +animated history of the Sovereign's welcome to Saragossa, the popular +ferment at their appearance, the good they had accomplished, and would +still accomplish, as their judicious plans matured. It was clear, he +said, that they had resolved the sovereign power should not be merely +nominal, as it had been. By making himself proclaimed and received +as grand master of the three great orders of knighthood--Saint +Iago, Compostella, and Alcantara--the immense influence of those +associations must succumb to, and be guided by, Ferdinand alone; the +power of the nobles would thus be insensibly diminished, and the mass +of the kingdom--the PEOPLE--as a natural consequence, become of more +importance, their position more open to the eyes of the sovereigns, +and their condition, physically and morally, ameliorated and improved. + +"I feel and acknowledge this, dearest; though one of the class whose +power must be diminished to accomplish it;" he continued, "I am too +anxious for the internal prosperity of my country to quarrel with any +measures which minds so enlightened as its present sovereigns may deem +requisite. But this is but a grave theme for thee, love. Knowest +thou that her Grace reproached me with not bringing thee to join the +Arragonese festivities? When Donna Emilie spoke of thee, and thy +gentle worth and feminine loveliness, as being such as indeed her +Grace would love, my Sovereign banished me her presence as a disloyal +cavalier for so deserting thee; and when I marked how pale and thin +thou art, I feel that she was right; I should have borne thee with +me." + +"Or not have left me. Oh, my husband, leave me not again!" she +replied, with sudden and involuntary emotion, which caused him to +throw his arm round her, and fondly kiss her brow. + +"Not for the court, dearest; but that gentle heart must not forget +thou art a warrior's wife, and as such, for his honor's sake, must +sometimes bear the pang of parting. Nay, thou tremblest, and art still +paler! Ere such summons come, thou wilt have learned to know and love +thy Queen, and in her protecting favor find some solace, should I be +called to war." + +"War! talk they of war again? I thought all was now at peace?" + +"Yes, love, in our sovereign's hereditary dominions; but there can be +no lasting peace while some of the fairest territory of Spain still +dims the supremacy of Castile, and bows down to Moorish masters. It is +towards Grenada King Ferdinand looks, yearning for the day when, all +internal commotions healed, he can head a gallant army to compel +subjection; and sad as it will be to leave thee, sweet, thou wilt +forgive thy soldier if he say, would that the day were come!" + +"And will not their present extent of kingdom suffice the sovereigns? +When they recall their former petty domains, and compare them with the +present, is it not enough?" + +Morales smiled. "Thou speakest as a very woman, gentle one, to whom +the actual word 'ambition' is unknown. Why, the very cause thou namest +urges our sovereigns to the conquest of these Moors. They are the blot +upon a kingdom otherwise as fair and great as any other European land. +They thirst to raise it in the scale of kingdoms--to send down their +names to posterity, as the founders of the Spanish monarchy--the +builders and supporters of a united throne, and so leave their +children an undivided land. Surely this is a glorious project, one +which every Spanish warrior must rejoice to aid. But fear not a speedy +summons, love; much must be accomplished first. Isabella will visit +this ancient city ere then, and thou wilt learn to love and reverence +her as I do." + +"In truth, my husband, thou hast made me loyal as thyself; but say +they not she is severe, determined, stern?" + +"To the guilty, yes; even the weak crafty will not stand before her +repelling glance: but what hast thou to fear, my love? Penetrative as +she is, seeming to read the heart through the countenance, she can +read nought in thee save qualities to love. I remember well the eagle +glance she fixed on King Ferdinand's young English favorite, Senor +Stanley, the first time he was presented to her. But she was +satisfied, for he ranks as deservedly high in her favor as in her +husband's. Thou hast heard me speak of this young Englishman, my +Marie?" + +Her face was at that moment turned from him, or he might have started +at its sudden flush; but she assented by a sign. + +"He was so full of joyousness and mirth, that to us of graver nature +it seemed almost below his dignity as man; and now they tell me he +is changed so mournfully; grave, sad, silent, maturity seems to have +descended upon him ere he has quite passed boyhood; or he has some +secret sorrow, too sacred to be revealed. There is some talk of his +recall from Sicily, he having besought the king for a post of more +active and more dangerous service. Ferdinand loves such daring +spirits, and therefore no doubt will grant his boon. Ha! Alberic, what +is it?" he continued, eagerly, as a page entered, and delivered a +packet secured with floss silk, and sealed with the royal signet, +adding that it had been brought by an officer of the royal guard, +attended by some men at arms. "Give him welcome suited to his rank, +boy: I will but peruse these, and attend him instantly." + +The page withdrew, and Don Ferdinand, hastily cutting the silk, was +speedily so engrossed in his despatches, as to forget for the time +even the presence of his wife; and well it was so; for it enabled her +with a strong effort to conquer the deadly sickness Morale's careless +words had caused--the pang of dread accompanying every thought of +Arthur's return to Spain--to still the throbbing pulse and quivering +lip, and, outwardly unmoved, meet his joyous glance once more. + +"'Tis as I thought and hoped," he said, with animation: "the +sovereigns hold their court for some months in this city; coeval, +in antiquity, associations, and loyalty, with Valladolid and Leon, +Isabella, with her characteristic thought for all her subjects, has +decided on making it occasionally the seat of empire alternately with +them, and commissions me, under her royal seal, to see the castle +fittingly prepared. Listen, love, what her Grace writes further--'Take +heed, my good lord, and hide not in a casket the brightest gem which +we have heard adorns thy home. We would ourselves judge the value of +thy well-hoarded jewel--not that we doubt its worth; for it would be +strange, indeed, if he who hath ever borne off the laurel wreath from +the competitors for glory, should not in like manner seek and win +the prize of beauty. In simple language, let Donna Marie be in +attendance.' And so thou shalt, love; and by thy gentle virtues and +modest loveliness, add increase of honor to thy husband. Ha! what +says Gonzalo de Lara?" he added, as his eye glanced over another +paper--"'Tumults in Sicily--active measures--Senor Stanley--enough on +which to expend his chivalric ardor, and evince his devotedness to +Ferdinand; but Sicily quieted--supposed the king will still grant +his request--assign him some post about his person, be at hand for +military service against the Moors.' Good! then the war is resolved +on. We must bestir ourselves, dearest, to prepare fit reception for +our royal guests; there is but brief time." + +He embraced and left her as he spoke; and for several minutes Marie +remained without the power even to rise from her seat: one pang +conquered, another came. Arthur's recall appeared determined; would +it be so soon that he would join this sovereigns before they reached +Segovia? She dared not think, save to pray, with wild and desperate +fervor, that such might not be. + +Magnificent, indeed, were Don Ferdinand's preparations for the banquet +with which he intended to welcome his sovereigns to Segovia. The +castle was to be the seat of their residence, and the actual _locale_ +of their court; but it was at his own private dwelling he resolved, by +a sumptuous entertainment, to evince how deeply and reverentially +he felt the favor with which he was regarded by both monarchs, more +especially by Isabella, his native Sovereign. + +In the many struggles which were constantly occurring between the +Spaniards and Moors, the former had become acquainted with the light +yet beautiful architecture and varied skill in all the arts peculiar +to the latter, and displayed their improved taste in both public and +private buildings. Morales, in addition to natural taste, possessed +great affluence, which enabled him to evince yet greater splendor in +his establishment than was usual to his countrymen. + +There was one octangular room, the large panels forming the walls of +which were painted, each forming a striking picture of the principal +events in the history of Spain, from the descent of Don Palayo, and +the mountaineers of Asturias, who struck the first blow for Spanish +freedom, to the accession of Ferdinand and Isabella. The paintings +were not detached pictures, but drawn and colored on the wall itself, +which had been previously prepared for the reception of the colors by +a curious process, still in use among the Orientals.[A] The colors, +when dry, were rubbed, till the utmost brilliancy was attained; and +this, combined as it was with a freedom and correctness of drawing, +produced an effect as striking then as it would be novel to modern +eyes. One side, divided into three compartments, contained in one a +touching likeness of the young Alfonso. His figure, rather larger than +life, was clothed in armor, which shone as inlaid with gold. His head +was bare, and his bright locks flowed over his shoulders as he wore +them in life. His brilliant eye, his lofty brow, and peculiarly sweet +expression of mouth, had been caught by the limner, and transferred to +his painting in all their original beauty. Round him were grouped +some of the celebrated cavaliers of his party; and the back-ground, +occupied by troops not in regular battalions, but as impelled by some +whelming feeling of national excitement, impossible to be restrained. +Answering to this was a full length of the infanta Isabella I., in +the act of refusing the crown offered by the confederates. The centre +compartment represented the union of Castile and Arragon by the +nuptials of their respective sovereigns in the cathedral church of +Valladolid. Over these pictures were suspended golden lamps, inlaid +with gems; so that, day or night, the effect should remain the same. +Opposite the dais, huge folding-doors opened on an extensive hall, +where the banquets were generally held, and down which Don Ferdinand +intended to range the tables for his guests of lesser rank, leaving +the octangular apartment for the royal tables, and those of the most +distinguished nobles; the one, however, so communicating with the +other, as to appear one lengthened chamber. On the right hand of the +dais, another large door opened on a withdrawing-room, the floor of +which was of marble, curiously tinted; and the walls hung with Genoa +velvet, ruby-colored, and bordered by a wide fringe of gold. Superb +vases of alternate crystal and frosted silver, on pedestals of +alabaster and of aqua-marine, were ranged along the walls, the +delicate beauty of their material and workmanship coming out well +against the rich coloring of the hangings behind. The roof, a lofty +dome, displayed the light Arabesque workmanship, peculiar to Moorish +architecture, as did the form and ornaments of the windows. This +apartment opened into another, much smaller, each side of which, +apparently formed of silver plate, reflected as mirrors every object; +and the pillars supporting the peculiarly light roof of the same +glittering material. Some parts of the extensive gardens Morales +intended to illuminate; and others, for the effect of contrast, to be +left in deepest shadow. + +[Footnote A: See Art Union Journal, August, 1845.] + +Nothing was omitted which could do honor to the royal guests, or +cast a reproach upon the magnificent hospitality of their hosts. The +preparations were but just completed, when an advance guard arrived at +Segovia with the tidings of the rapid approach of the sovereigns; and +Morales, with a gallant troop of his own retainers, and a procession +of the civil and military officers of Segovia, hastened to meet and +escort them to the town. + +With an uncontrollable impulse, Marie had followed the example of +almost every female in Segovia, and, wrapt in her shrouding veil, had +stationed herself, with some attendants at a casement overlooking the +long line of march. The city itself presented one scene of gladsome +bustle and excitment: flags were suspended from every "turret, dome, +and tower," rich tapestries hung over balconies, which were filled +with females of every rank and grade, vying in the richness and +elegance of their apparel, and their coquettish use of the veil and +fan, so as to half-hide and half-display their features, more or less +beautiful--for beautiful as a nation, the Spanish women undoubtedly +are. Bells were ringing from every church; ever and anon came a burst +of warlike music, as detached troops galloped in the town, welcomed +with shouts as the officer at their head was recognized. Even the +priests themselves, with their sober dresses and solemn countenances, +seemed touched with the universal excitement, relaxing into smiles and +hearty greeting with the laymen they encountered. As the hours waned, +popular excitement increased. It was the first visit of Isabella to +the city; and already had her character been displayed in such actions +as to kindle the warmest love towards the woman, in addition to the +enthusiastic loyalty towards the Queen. + +At length the rumor rose that the main body was approaching--in little +more than a hour the sovereigns would pass the gates, and excitement +waxed wilder and wilder, and impatience was only restrained by the +interest excited towards the gallant bodies of cavalry, which now in +slow and measured march approached, forming the commencement of a +line, which for three hours continued to pour within the city in one +unbroken strain. + +Even Marie herself, pre-occupied as she was in the dread search for +one object, could not glance down on the moving multitude beneath her +without in some degree sharing the enthusiasm of her countrymen. There +were gallant warriors of every age, from the old man to the beardless +youth; chargers, superb in form and rich in decoration; a field of +spears glittering in the broad sunshine, some bearing the light gay +pennoncelle, others absolutely bending beneath the heavy folds of +banners, which the light breeze at times extended so as to display +their curious heraldic bearings, and then sunk heavily around their +staffs. Esquires bearing their masters' shields, whose spotless +fields flung back a hundred-fold the noonday sun--plumes so long and +drooping, as to fall from the gilded crest till they rested on the +shoulder--armor so bright as to dazzle the eyes of the beholders, save +when partly concealed under the magnificent surcoats and mantles, +amongst which the richest velvets, slashed with gold or silver, +distinguished the highest nobles. Pageantry like this mingled with +such stirring sounds as the tramp of the noble horse, curveting, +prancing, rearing, as if disdaining the slow order of march--the +thrilling blast of many trumpets, the long roll, or short, sharp call +of the drum; and the mingled notes of martial instruments, blending +together in wild yet stirring harmony, would be sufficient even +in this prosaic age to bid the heart throb and the cheek burn, +recognizing it, as perhaps we should, merely as the _symbol_, not the +_thing_. What, then, must it have been, when men felt such glittering +pageant and chivalric seeming, the _realities_ of life? + +At length came the principal group; the pressure of the crowds +increased, and human hearts so throbbed, that it seemed as if they +could not breathe, save in the stunning shouts, bidding the very +welkin ring. Surrounded by a guard of honor, composed indiscriminately +of Castilians and Arragonese, mounted on a jet black steed, which +pawed the ground, and shook his graceful head, as conscious of his +princely burden, magnificently attired, but in the robes of peace, +with a circlet of gold and gems enwreathing his black velvet cap, his +countenance breathing this day but the kindly emotions of his more +youthful nature, unshadowed by the wile and intrigue of after-years, +King Ferdinand looked the mighty monarch, whose talents raised his +country from obscurity, and bade her stand forth among the first of +European nations. But tumultuary as were the shouts with which he was +recognized, they were faint in comparison to those which burst forth +at sight of the Princess at his side. Isabella had quitted her litter +on re-entering her own dominions, and now rode a cream-colored +charger, which she managed with the grace and dignity of one well +accustomed to the exercise, alike in processions of peace and scenes +of war. + +The difference of age between the sovereigns was not perceivable,[A] +for the grave and thoughtful character of Ferdinand gave him rather +the appearance of seniority; while the unusual fairness of Isabella's +complexion, her slight and somewhat small stature, produced on her the +contrary effect. The dark gray eye, the rich brown hair and delicate +skin of the Queen of Castile deprived her, somewhat remarkably, of +all the characteristics of a Spaniard, but, from their very novelty +attracted the admiration of her subjects. Beautiful she was not; but +her charm lay in the variable expression of her features. Peculiarly +and sweetly feminine, infused, as Washington Irving observes, with "a +soft, tender melancholy," as was their general expression, they could +yet so kindle into indignant majesty, so flash with reproach or scorn, +that the very color of the eye became indistinguishable, and the +boldest and the strongest quailed beneath the mighty and the holy +spirit, which they could not but feel, that frail woman form +enshrined. + +[Footnote A: Isabella was eight or ten years Ferdinand's senior.] + +Round the sovereigns were grouped, in no regular order of march, but +forming a brilliant _cortege_, many of the celebrated characters of +their reign--men, not only of war, but of literature and wisdom, whom +both monarchs gloried in distinguishing above their fellows, seeking +to exalt the honor of their country, not only in extent of dominion, +but by the shining qualities of her sons. It was to this group the +strained gaze of Marie turned, and became riveted on the Queen, +feeling strangely and indefinably a degree of comfort as she gazed; to +explain wherefore, even to herself, was impossible; but she felt as if +she no longer stood alone in the wide world, whose gaze she dreaded; +a new impulse rose within her, urging her, instead of remaining +indifferent, as she thought she should, to seek and win Isabella's +regard. She gazed and gazed, till she could have fancied her +very destiny was in some way connected with the Queen's visit to +Segovia--that some mysterious influences were connecting her, +insignificant as she was, with Isabella's will. She strove with the +baseless vision; but it would gain ground, folding up her whole mind +in its formless imaginings. The sight of her husband, conversing +eagerly with the sovereign, in some degree startled her back to the +present scene. His cheek was flushed with exercise and excitement; his +large dark eyes glittering, and a sunny smile robbing his mouth of +its wonted expression of sternness. On passing his mansion he looked +eagerly up, and with proud and joyous greeting doffed his velvet cap, +and bowed with as earnest reverence as if he had still to _seek_ and +win her. The chivalry of Don Ferdinand Morales was proved, yet more +_after_ marriage than _before_. + +It was over: the procession had at length passed: she had scanned +every face and form whose gallant bearing proclaimed him noble; but +Arthur Stanley was not amongst them, and inexpressibly relieved, Marie +Morales sunk down on a low seat, and covering her face with her hands, +lifted up her whole soul in one wild--yet how fervent!--burst of +thanksgiving. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + "Yet was I calm. I knew the time + My breast would thrill before thy look; + But now, to tremble were a crime: + We met, and not a nerve was shook." + + BYRON. + + +The excitement of the city did not subside with the close of the +procession. The quiet gravity and impressive appearance of age, which +had always marked Segovia, as a city more of the past than present, +gave place to all the bustling animation peculiar to a provincial +residence of royalty. Its central position gave it advantages over +Valladolid, the usual seat of the monarchs of Castile and Leon, to +sovereigns who were seeking the internal peace and prosperity of their +subjects, and were resolved on reforming abuses in every quarter of +their domains. The deputation from the city was graciously received; +their offering--a golden vase filled with precious stones--accepted, +and the seal put to their loyal excitement by receiving from +Isabella's own lips, the glad information that she had decided on +making Segovia her residence for the ensuing year, and that she +trusted the loyalty which the good citizens of Segovia had so warmly +proffered would be proved, by their endeavors in their own households +to reform the abuses which long years of misrule and misery had +engendered. She depended on them, her people, to aid her with heart +and hand, and bade them remember, no individual was so insignificant +as to remove his shoulder from the wheel on plea of uselessness. She +trusted to her citizen subjects to raise the internal glory of her +kingdom, as she did to her nobles to guard their safety, elevate her +chivalry, and by their untarnished honor and stainless valor, present +an invincible front to foreign foes. Isabella knew human nature well; +the citizens returned to their houses bound for ever to her service. + +Don Luis Garcia had joined the train of Morales when he set forth to +meet the sovereigns. His extraordinary austerity and semblance of +lowly piety, combined as they were with universal talent, had been so +much noised abroad as to reach the ears of Ferdinand and Isabella; and +Morales, ever eager to promote the interests of a countryman, took +the earliest opportunity of presenting him to them. He was graciously +enough received: but, though neither spoke it, an indefinable feeling +of disappointment took possession of their minds, the wherefore they +knew not. Don Luis had conversed well, both as to the matter and +the manner; but neither Ferdinand nor Isabella felt the smallest +inclination to advance him to any post about themselves. In virtue +of his supposed rank, however, he of course mingled with the courtly +crowd, which on the appointed evening thronged the mansion of Don +Ferdinand. + +Tremblingly as Marie looked forward to that evening, she spared no +pains to gratify her husband in the choice of her toilet. Sorrow had +never made her indifferent, and she sought to please him even in the +most trifling occurrences of life. Her beautiful hair still lay in +soft, glossy bands against the delicate cheeks, and was gathered up +behind in a massive plait, forming, as it were, a diadem at the back +of the exquisitely shaped head, from which fell a white veil--rather, +perhaps, a half mantle, as it shaded the shoulders, not the face--of +silver tissue, so delicately woven as to resemble lace, save in its +glittering material. A coronet of diamonds was wreathed in and out +the plait, removing all semblance of heaviness from the headgear, and +completely divesting it of gaudiness. Her robe, of blue brocade, so +closely woven with silver threads as to glisten in the light of a +hundred lamps almost like diamonds, had no ornament save the large +pearls which looped up the loose sleeves above the elbow, buttoned +the bodice or jacket down the front, and richly embroidered the wide +collar, which, thrown back, disclosed the wearer's delicate throat and +beautiful fall of the shoulders, more than her usual attire permitted +to be visible. The tiny white silk slipper, embroidered in pearl, a +collaret and bracelets of the same beautiful ornament, of very large +size, completed her costume. + +Not even the presence of royalty could restrain the burst of +undisguised admiration which greeted Marie, as, led forward by her +eager husband, she was presented to the sovereigns, and knelt to do +them homage. Ferdinand himself gazed on her a moment astonished; then +with animated courtesy hastily raised her, and playfully chid the +movement as unmeet from a hostess to her guests. + +A strange moisture had risen to the eyes of the Queen as she first +beheld Marie. It might have been that marvellous perfection of face +and form which caused the emotion; for if all perfection, even from +man's hand, is affecting even to tears, what must be the work of God? +It might have been that on that young, sweet face, to the Queen's +mental eye, a dim shadow from the formless realms of the future +hovered--that, stealing from that outward form of loveliness, she +beheld its twin sister, sorrow. Whatever it might have been, kind and +gentle as Isabella's manner ever was, especially to her own sex, to +Marie it was kinder and gentler still. + +How false is the charge breathed from man's lips, that woman never +admires woman!--that we are incapable of the lofty feeling of +admiration of our own sex either for beautiful qualities or beauteous +form! There is no object in creation more lovely, more fraught with +intensest interest (if, indeed, we are not so wholly wrapt in the +petty world of self as to have none for such lofty sympathies) than a +young girl standing on the threshold of a new existence; beautiful, +innocent, and true; offspring as yet of joy and hope alone, but +before whom stretches the dim vista of graver years, and the yearning +thoughts, unspoken griefs, and buried feelings, which even in the +happiest career must still be woman's lot. There may be many who can +see no charm and feel no interest in girlhood's beauty: but not in +such is woman's best and holiest nature; and therefore not by such +should she be judged. + +"We will not chide thee, Senor, for thy jealous care of this most +precious gem," said Isabella, addressing Don Ferdinand, while her eye +followed Marie, who, re-assured by the Queen's manner, had conquered +her painful timidity, and was receiving and returning with easy grace +and natural dignity the greetings and gallantries of her guests: "she +is too pure, too precious to meet the common eye, or breathe a courtly +atmosphere." + +Don Ferdinand's eye glistened. "And yet I fear her not," he rejoined: +"she is as true, as loving, as she is loved and lovely." + +"I doubt it not: nay, 'tis the spotless purity of soul breathing in +that sweet face, which I would not behold tainted, by association with +those less pure. No: let her rest within the sanctuary of thy heart +and hearth, Don Ferdinand. We do not command her constant attendance +on our person, as we had intended." + +Conscious of the inexpressible relief which this assurance would be to +his wife, Morales eagerly and gratefully expressed his thanks; and the +Queen passed on, rejoicing in the power of so easily conferring joy. + +We may not linger on the splendor of this scene, or attempt +description of the varied and picturesque groups filling the gorgeous +suite of rooms, pausing at times to admire the decorations of the +domed chamber, or passing to and fro in the hall of mirrors, gayly +reflected from the walls and pillars. The brilliant appearance of the +extensive gardens; their sudden and dazzling illuminations as night +advanced; their curious temples, and sparkling fountains sending up +sheets of silver in the still air and darkening night, and falling in +myriads of diamonds on innumerable flowers, whose brilliant coloring, +illuminated by small lamps, concealed beneath their foliage, shone +forth like gems; the groups of Moorish slaves, still as statues in +their various attitudes; the wild, barbaric music, startling, yet +delighting all who listened, and causing many an eager warrior to +grasp his sword, longing even at such a moment to exchange that +splendid scene for the clash and stir of war--we must leave all to +the imagination of our readers, and bid them follow us to the banquet +hall, where, summoned by the sound of the gong, the numerous guests +sat down to tables, groaning beneath the profuse hospitality of their +host, and the refined magnificence of the display. + +All the warrior stirred the soul of the King, as, on taking his seat +at the dais, he glanced round and beheld the glorious triumphs of his +country so strikingly portrayed. But Isabella saw but one picture, +felt but one thought; and Marie never forgot the look she fixed on the +breathing portrait of Alfonso, nor the tone with which she inquired-- + +"Hadst thou ever a brother, Marie?" + +"Never, royal Madam." + +"Then thou canst not enter into the deep love I bore yon princely boy, +nor the feeling that picture brings. Marie, I would cast aside my +crown, descend my throne without one regretful murmur, could I but +hold him to my heart once more, as I did the night he bade me his glad +farewell. It was for ever! Thy husband speaks of him sometimes?" + +"Often, often, my gracious liege, till his lip has quivered and his +eye has glistened!" + +Isabella pressed her hand, and with even more than her wonted +graciousness, turned to receive from the hand of her host the gemmed +goblet of wine, which, in accordance with established custom, Don +Ferdinand knelt down to present, having first drunk of it himself. + +Inspiringly sounded the martial music during the continuance of the +banquet. Brightly sparkled the brimming goblets of the far-famed +Spanish wine. Lightly round the table ran the gay laugh and gayer +jest. Soft and sweet were the whispers of many a gallant cavalier +to his fair companion; for, in compliment to Isabella, the national +reserve of the daughters of Spain was in some degree laid aside and a +free intercourse with their male companions permitted. Each, indeed, +wore the veil, which could be thrown off, forming a mantle behind, or +drawn close to conceal every feature, as coquettish fancy willed; nor +were the large fans wanting, with which the Spanish woman is said to +hold as long and desperate a flirtation as the coquette of other lands +can do with the assistance of voice and eye. Isabella's example had, +however, already created reformation in her female train, and +the national levity and love of intrigue, had in a great degree +diminished. + +The animation of the scene was at its height when suddenly the music +ceased, a single gong was heard to sound, and Alberic, the senior +page, brought tidings of the arrival of new guests; and his master, +with native courtesy, hastened down the hall to give them welcome. + +Marie had not heard, or, perhaps, had not heeded the interruption +in the music; for, fascinated by the manner and conversation of the +Queen, she had given herself up for the time wholly to its influence, +to the forgetfulness even of her inward self. The sound of many +footsteps and a rejoicing exclamation from the King, excited the +attention at once of Isabella and her hostess. Marie glanced down the +splendid hall; and well was it for her that she was standing behind +the Queen's seat, and somewhat deep in shadow. Momentary as was all +_visible_ emotion, its effect was such as must have caused remark and +wonder had it been perceived: on herself, that casual glance, was as +if she had received some invisibly dealt, yet fearful blow. Her brain +reeled, her eyes swam, a fearful, stunning sound awoke within her +ears, and such failing of bodily power as compelled her, spite of +herself, to grasp the Queen's chair for support. But how mighty--how +marvellous is the power of _will_ and _mind_! In less than a minute +every failing sense was recalled, every slackened nerve restrung, and, +save in the deadly paleness of lip, as well as cheek, not a trace of +that terrible conflict remained. + +Aware that it was at a gay banquet he was to meet the King, Arthur +Stanley had arranged his dress with some care. We need only +particularize his sword, which was remarkable for its extreme +simplicity, the hilt being of the basket shape, and instead of being +inlaid with precious stones, as was the general custom of this day, +was composed merely of highly burnished steel. He had received it from +his dying father: and it was his pride to preserve it unsullied, as +it had descended to him. He heeded neither laughter at its uncouth +plainness, nor even the malicious sneer as to the poor Englishman's +incapacity to purchase a handsomer one; rejecting every offer of a +real Toledo, and declaring that he would prove both the strength and +brightness of English steel, so that none should gainsay it. + +"Welcome, Don Arthur! welcome, Senor Stanley! By St. Francis, I shall +never learn thy native title, youth!" exclaimed the monarch, frankly, +as he extended his hand, which Stanley knelt to salute. "Returned with +fresher laurels, Stanley? Why, man, thou wilt make us thy debtor in +good earnest!" + +"Nay, my gracious liege: that can never be!" replied Stanley, +earnestly. "Grateful I am, indeed, when there is opportunity to evince +fidelity and valor in your Grace's service; but believe me, where so +much has been and is received, not a life's devotion on my part can +remove the impression, that I am the debtor still." + +"I believe thee, boy! I do believe thee! I would mistrust myself ere I +mistrusted thee. We will hear of thy doings to-morrow. Enough now to +know we are well satisfied with thy government in Sicily, and trust +our native subject who succeeds thee will do his part as well. Away to +thy seat, and rejoice that thou hast arrived ere this gay scene has +closed. Yet stay: our lovely hostess hath not yet given thee welcome. +Where is the Senora? Isabella, hast thou spirited her hence? She was +here but now." + +"Nay, good my Lord: she has vanished unwittingly," replied Isabella, +as she turned towards the spot where Marie had been standing. "Don +Ferdinand, we must entreat thee to recall her!" + +"It needs not, royal Madam: I am here:" and Marie stepped forward from +the deep shade of the falling drapery behind the royal seats which +had concealed her, and stood calmly, almost proudly erect beside the +Queen, the full light falling on her face and form. But there was +little need for light to recognize her: the voice was sufficient; and +even the vivid consciousness of where he stood, the hundred curious +eyes upon him, could not restrain the sudden start--the bewildered +look. Could that be Marie? Could that be the wife of Ferdinand +Morales? If she were the one, how could she be the other, when +scarcely eighteen months previous, she had told him that which, if +it were true, must equally prevent her union with Morales as with +himself? In what were they different save in the vast superiority of +wealth and rank? And in the chaos of bewildering emotions, so trustful +was he in the truth of her he loved, that, against the very evidence +of his own senses, he for the moment disbelieved in the identity +of the wife of Morales with the Marie Henriquez of the Cedar Vale. +Perhaps it was well he did so, for it enabled him to still the +tumultuous throbbing of his every pulse as her voice again sounded in +his ear, saying he was welcome, most welcome as her husband's friend, +and to retire without any apparent emotion to his seat. + +He had merely bowed reverentially in reply. In any other person the +silence itself would have caused remark: but for the last three years +Stanley's reserve and silence in the company of women had been such, +that a departure from his general rule even in the present case would +have been more noticed than his silence. Thoughts of painful, almost +chaotic bewilderment indeed, so chased each other across his mind as +to render the scene around him indistinct, the many faces and eager +voices like the phantasma of a dream. But the pride of manhood roused +him from the sickening trance, and urged him to enter into the +details, called for by his companions in arms, of the revolt of the +Sicilians, with even more than usual animation. + +One timid glance Marie had hazarded towards her husband, and it was +met by such a look and smile of love and pride that she was re-assured +to perform the duties of the evening unfalteringly to the end. Alas! +she little knew that her momentary emotion and that of Arthur had +alike been seen, commented upon, and welcomed with fiend-like glee, +as the connecting link of an until then impalpable plot, by one +individual in that courtly crowd, whose presence, hateful as it was, +she had forgotten in the new and happier thoughts which Isabella's +presence and notice had occasioned. + +And who was there, the mere spectator of this glittering pageant, +but would have pronounced that there, at least, all was joy, and +good-will, and trust, and love? Who, even did they acknowledge the +theory that one human heart, unveiled, would disperse this vain dream +of seeming unalloyed enjoyment, would yet have selected the right +individual for the proof, or would not have shrunk back awed and +saddened had the truth been told? Surely it is well for the young, +the hopeful, and the joyous, that in such scenes they see but life's +surface--not its depths. + +The festive scene lasted some time longer, nor did it conclude with +the departure of the King and Queen: many still lingered, wandering at +their own will about the rooms and gardens, and dispersing gradually, +as was then the custom, without any set farewell. + +Her attendance no longer required by the Queen, and aware that her +presence was not needed by her guests, Marie sought the gardens; her +fevered spirit and aching head yearning to exchange the dazzling +lights and close rooms for the darkness and refreshing breeze of +night. Almost unconsciously she had reached some distance from the +house, and now stood beside a beautiful statue of a-water-nymph, +overlooking a deep still pool, so clear and limpid, that when the moon +cast her light upon it, it shone like a sheet of silver, reflecting +every surrounding object. There were many paths that led to it, +concealed one from the other by gigantic trees and overhanging shrubs. +It was a favorite spot with. Marie, and she now stood leaning against +the statue, quite unconscious that tears were falling faster and +faster from her eyes, and mingling with the waters at her feet. + +"Marie!" exclaimed the voice of Stanley at that moment: "Canst thou be +Marie? so false, so--" but his words were checked, for the terror, the +tumult of feeling, while it impelled her to start from him, deprived +her of all power; and a rapid movement on his part alone prevented her +from falling in the deep pool beneath their feet. It was but a moment: +she withdrew herself from his supporting arms, and stood erect before +him, though words she had none. + +"Speak to me!" reiterated Arthur, his voice sounding hollow and +changed; "I ask but one word. My very senses seem to play me false, +and mock me with thy outward semblance to one I have so loved. Her +name, too, was Marie; her voice soft and thrilling as thine own: +and yet, yet, I feel that 'tis but semblance--'tis but mockery--the +phantasy of a disordered brain. Speak, in mercy! Say that it is but +semblance--that thou art not the Marie I have so loved." + +"It is true--I am that Marie. I have wronged thee most cruelly, most +falsely," she answered, in a tone low and collected indeed, but +expressive of intense suffering. "It is too late now, either to atone +or to explain. Leave me, Senor Stanley: I am another's!" + +"Too late to explain? By heaven but thou shalt!" burst fiercely and +wrathfully from Stanley. "Is it not enough, that thou hast changed my +whole nature into gall, made truth itself a lie, purity a meaningless +word, but thou wilt shroud thyself under the specious hood of duty to +another, when, before heaven, thou wast mine alone. Speak!" + +"Ay, I will speak--implore thee by the love thou didst once bear me, +Arthur, leave me now! I can hear no more to-night." + +"On condition thou wilt see me in private once again. Marie, thou +darest not refuse me this! Thou canst not have so fallen as to give no +reason for this most foul wrong--fancied weak, futile as it may be. We +part now, but we meet again!" And with a strong effort at control he +strode hastily from her. + +The moon at that moment breaking from thick clouds, darted her full +light upon the pool, till it shone like an illuminated mirror amidst +the surrounding darkness; and though Arthur had disappeared, its clear +surface distinctly reflected the outline of another closely shrouded +figure. Marie turned in terror, and beheld, gleaming with the triumph +of a fiend, the hated countenance of Don Luis Garcia. One look told +her that he Lad seen all, heard all; but she had no power to speak or +move. Keeping his basilisk gaze fixed on her, he withdrew backwards +into the deep shade till he had entirely disappeared. + +Summoning all her energy, Marie fled back towards the house, and at +the moment she reached it, Don Ferdinand crossed the deserted hall. + +"Marie, dearest, here and alone? Pale, too, and trembling! In heaven's +name, what hath chanced?" + +A moment more, and she would have flung herself at his feet and told +him all--all, and beseeching his forgiveness, conjure him to shield +her from Arthur, from herself; but as she looked up in his face, +and met its beaming animation, its manly reflection of the pure +gratification that evening had bestowed, how could she, how dared she +be the one to dash it with woe? And, overpowered with this fearful +contention of feeling, she threw her arms around him as he bent +tenderly over her, and burying her head in his bosom, burst into +tears. + +"Thou art exhausted, mine own love! It has been too exciting, too +wearying a scene for thee. Why, what a poor, weak girl thou art! How +fortunate for thee that thy Queen demands not thy constant attendance, +and that thy husband is not ambitious to behold thee shining in the +court, as thy grace and beauty might! I am too glad to feel thee all, +all my own. Smile on me, love, and then to thy couch. A few hours' +quiet rest, and thou wilt be thyself again." And he bore her himself +with caressing gentleness to her apartment. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + "Then Roderick from the Douglas broke, + As flashes flame through sable smoke, + Kindling its wreaths long, dark, and low. + To one broad blaze of ruddy glow; + So the deep anguish of despair + Burst in fierce jealousy to air." + + SIR WALTER SCOTT. + + +"Sure, now, Pedro, the poor young Senor cannot be entirely in his +right mind; he does nothing but tramp, tramp, tramp, the whole night +long, and mutters so fiercely to himself, and such dark words, it +would make one tremble were they not belied by His sweet face and sad +smile," was the observation of old Juana Lopez to her husband some ten +days after Arthur Stanley had been domiciled in their dwelling. The +old man muttered something about his being a foreigner from the Wild +Island, where they had all been busy cutting one another's throats, +and what could she expect otherwise?" + +"Expect? why that he must have become Spanish born and bred since he +has been in King Ferdinand's service so long, and was such a boy when +he left England." + +"Stuff, woman; there's no taking the foreign blood out of him, try as +you will," growled the old man, who in common with many of his class, +was exceedingly annoyed that a foreigner should possess so much of +the King's confidence, and not a little displeased that his dwelling +should have been fixed on for the young officer's quarters. "It would +not have been Isabella, God bless her! to have chosen such a minion; +she tolerates him for Ferdinand's sake; but they will find him out one +day. Saint Iago forbid the evil don't fall first." + +"Now that is all prejudice, Viego Pedro, and you know it. Bless his +beautiful face! there is no thought of evil there, I'd stake my +existence. He is tormented in his mind about something, poor youth; +but his eyes are too bright and his smile too sad for any thing evil." + +"Hold your foolish tongue: you women think if a man is better looking +than his fellows, he is better in every respect--poor fools as ye are; +but as for this Englisher, with such a white skin and glossy +curls, and blue eyes--why I'd be ashamed to show myself amongst +men--pshaw--the woman's blind." + +"Nay, Viego Pedro, prejudice has folded her kerchief round your eyes, +not mine," retorted the old dame; and their war of words concerning +the merits and demerits of their unconscious lodger continued, till +old Pedro grumbled himself off, and his more light-hearted helpmate +busied herself in preparing a tempting meal for her guest, which, to +her great disappointment, shared the fate of many others, and left his +table almost untouched. + +To attempt description of Stanley's feelings would be as impossible as +tedious; yet some few words must be said. His peculiarly enthusiastic, +perhaps romantic disposition, had caused him to cling tenaciously to +the memory of Marie, even after the revelation of a secret which to +other men would have seemed to place an impassable barrier between +them. To Arthur, difficulties in pursuit of an object only rendered +its attainment the more intensely desired. Perhaps his hope rested +on the conviction not so much of his own faithful love as on the +unchangeable nature of hers. He might have doubted himself, but to +doubt her was impossible. Conscious himself that, wrong as it might +be, he could sacrifice every thing for her--country, rank, faith +itself, even the prejudice of centuries, every thing but honor--an +ideal stronger in the warrior's mind than even creed--he could not and +would not believe that her secret was to her sacred as his honor to +him, and that she could no more turn renegade from the fidelity which +that secret comprised, than he could from his honor. She had spoken +of but one relation, an aged father; and he felt in his strong +hopefulness, that it was only for that father's sake she had striven +to conquer her love, and had told him they might never wed, and that +when that link was broken he might win her yet. + +Loving and believing thus, his anguish in beholding her the wife of +another may be imagined. The more he tried to think, the more confused +and mystifying his thoughts became. Every interview which he had with +her, and more especially that in the Vale of Cedars, was written in +indelible characters on his heart and brain; and while beholding her +as the wife of Morales contradicted their every word, still it could +not blot them from his memory; and he would think, and think, in the +vain search for but one imaginary reason, however faint, however +unsatisfactory, for her conduct, till his brain turned, and his senses +reeled. It was not the mere suffering of unrequited love; it was the +misery of having been deceived; and then, when racked and tortured +by the impossibility of discovering some cause for this deceit, her +secret would flash across him, and the wild thought arise that both he +and Don Ferdinand were victims to the magic and the sorcery, by means +of which alone her hated race could ever make themselves beloved. + +Compelled as he was to mingle with the Court as usual, these powerful +emotions were of course always under strong restraint, except when in +the solitude of his own quarters. That when there he should give them +vent, neither conscious of, nor caring for the remarks they excited +from his host and hostess, was not very remarkable; perhaps he was +scarcely aware how powerfully dislike towards Don Ferdinand shared his +thoughts with his vain suggestions as to the cause of Marie's falsity. +The reason for this suddenly aroused dislike he could not indeed +have defined, except that Morales had obtained without difficulty a +treasure, to obtain which he had offered to sacrifice so much. So +fourteen days passed, and though firmly resolved to have one more +interview with Marie, no opportunity had presented itself, nor in fact +could he feel that he had as yet obtained the self-command necessary +for the cold, calm tone which he intended to assume. It happened that +once or twice the King had made Arthur his messenger to Don Ferdinand; +but since the night of the entertainment he had never penetrated +farther than the audience chamber, there performed his mission +briefly, and departed. Traversing the principal street of Segovia one +morning, he was accosted somewhat too courteously, he thought, for +their slight acquaintance, by Don Luis Garcia. + +"And whither so early, Senor Stanley?" he inquired so courteously that +it could not give offence, particularly as it followed other queries +of a graceful greeting, and was not put forth abruptly. + +"To the mansion of Don Ferdinand Morales," replied the young +Englishman, frankly. + +"Indeed! from the King?" + +Stanley answered in the affirmative, too deeply engrossed with his own +thoughts, to attend much to his companion, whose interrogations he +would undoubtedly in a more natural mood have felt inclined to resent. + +"Don Ferdinand Morales ranks as high in the favor of the people as +of the King--a marvellous conjunction of qualities, is it not, Senor +Stanley?" continued Garcia, after walking by his side some minutes in +silence. "A Monarch's favorite is seldom that of his subjects; but +Morales is unusually deserving. I wonder not at the love he wins." + +"Neither Ferdinand nor Isabella bestows favors on the undeserving," +briefly, almost sternly answered Stanley, with an unconscious change +of tone and manner, which did not escape his companion. + +"And he is so singularly fortunate, every thing he touches seems to +turn to gold--an universal idol, possessed too of such wealth and +splendor, and, above all, with such a being to share them with him. +Fortune has marked him favored in all things. Didst ever behold a +creature equal in loveliness to Donna Marie, Senor Stanley?" + +A momentary, and to any other but Don Luis, incomprehensible emotion, +passed over the countenance of Stanley at these words; but though +it was instantly recalled, and indifference both in expression of +countenance and voice resumed, it passed not unobserved; and Don Luis, +rejoicing in the pain he saw he was inflicting, continued an eloquent +panegyric on the wife of Morales, the intense love she bore her +husband, and the beautiful unity and harmony of their wedded life, +until they parted within a short distance of the public entrance to +Don Ferdinand's mansion, towards which Stanley turned. + +Don Luis looked after his retreating form, and folding his arms in his +mantle, bent down his head, assuming an attitude which to passers-by +expressed the meek humility of his supposed character. There was a +wild gleam of triumph, in his eyes which he knew, and therefore they +were thus bent down, and there were thoughts in his heart which might +thus be worded:--"I have it all, all. Waiting has done better for me +than acting; but now the watch is over, and the coil is laid. There +have been those who, standing on the loftiest pinnacle, have fallen +by a touch to earth; none knew the how or wherefore." And shrouding +himself closer in his wrapping mantle, he walked rapidly on till he +reached a side entrance into the gardens, which stretched for many +acres around Don Ferdinand's mansion. Here again he paused, looked +cautiously around him, then swiftly entered, and softly closed the +door behind him. + +Already agitated by the effort to retain calmness during Garcia's +artful words, it was no light matter for Stanley to compose himself +for his interview with Morales. Vain was the gentle courtesy of the +latter, vain his kindly words, vain his confidential reception of the +young Englishman, to remove from Arthur's heart the wild torrent of +passion called forth by Garcia's allusion to Marie's intense love +for her husband. To any one but Morales, his abrupt and unconnected +replies, his strange and uncourteous manners, must have excited +irritation; but Don Ferdinand only saw that the young man was +disturbed and pained, and for this very reason exerted his utmost +kindliness of words and manner to draw him from, himself. They parted +after an interval of about half an hour, Morales to go to the castle +as requested; Arthur to proceed, as he thought, to the environs of the +city. But in vain did he strive with himself. The window of the room +in which he had met Don Ferdinand looked into the garden, and there, +slowly pacing a shaded path, he had recognized the figure of Marie. +The intense desire to speak with her once more, and so have the fatal +mystery solved, became too powerful for control. Every feeling of +honor and delicacy perished before it, and hardly knowing what he did, +he retraced his steps, entered unquestioned, passed through the hall +to the gardens beyond, and in less than ten minutes after he had +parted from her husband, stood in the presence of Marie. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + "If she be false, oh, then Heaven mock itself! + I'll not believe it." + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +Don Ferdinand had scarcely quitted his mansion ere fleet steps +resounded behind him, and turning, he beheld Don Luis Garcia, who +greeted him with such a marked expression, both in voice and face, +of sadness, that Morales involuntarily paused, and with much +commiseration inquired what had chanced. + +"Nothing of personal misfortune, my friend; but there are times when +the spirit is tortured by a doubtful duty. To preserve silence is +undoubtedly wrong, and may lead to wrong, yet greater; and yet, to +speak, is so painfully distressing to my peace-loving disposition, +that I am tossed for ever on conflicting impulses, and would gladly be +guided by another." + +"If you would be guided by my counsel, my good friend, I must entreat +a clearer statement," replied Morales, half smiling. "You have spoken +so mysteriously, that I cannot even guess your meaning. I cannot +imagine one so straightforward and strong-minded as yourself +hesitating and doubtful as to duty, of whatever nature." + +"Not if it concerned myself: but in this case I must either continue +to see wrong done, with the constant dread of its coming to light, +without my interference; or inflict anguish where I would gladly give +but joy; and very probably, in addition, have my tale disbelieved, +and myself condemned, though for that matter, personal pain is of no +consequence, could I but pursue the right." + +"But how stands this important case, my good friend?" + +"Thus: I have been so unfortunate as to discover that one is false, +whom her doting husband believes most true--that the lover of her +youth has returned, and still holds her imagination chained--that she +meets him in secret, and has appointed another clandestine interview, +from which who may tell the evil that may ensue? I would prevent this +interview--would recall her to her better nature, or put her husband +on his guard: but how dare I do this--how interfere thus closely +between man and wife? Counsel me, my friend, in pity!" + +"If you have good foundation for this charge, Don Luis, it is your +duty to speak out," replied Morales, gravely. + +"And to whom?" + +"To the lawful guardian of this misguided one--her husband." + +"But how can I excite his anguish--how turn his present heaven of joy +to a very hell of woe, distrust, suspicion?" + +"Does the leech heed his patient's anguish when probing a painful +wound, or cutting away the mortified flesh? His office is not +enviable, but it is necessary, and; if feelingly performed, we love +him not the less. Speak out. Don Luis, openly, frankly, yet gently, to +the apparently injured husband. Do more: counsel him to act as openly, +as gently with his seemingly guilty wife; and that which now appears +so dark, may be proved clear, and joy dawn again for both, by a few +words of mutual explanation. But there must be no mystery on your +part--no either heightening or smoothing what you may have learnt. +Speak out the simple truth; insinuate nought, for that love is +worthless, that husband false to his sacred charge, if he believes in +guilt ere he questions the accused." + +Don Luis looked on the open countenance before him for a few minutes +without reply, thinking, not if he should spare him, but if his plans +might not be foiled, did Morales himself act as he had said. But the +pause was not long: never had he read human countenance aright, if +Arthur Stanley were not at that moment with Marie. He laid his hand +on Don Ferdinand's arm, and so peculiar was the expression on his +countenance, so low and plaintively musical the tone in which be +said, "God give you strength, my poor friend," that the rich color +unconsciously forsook the cheek of the hardy warrior, leaving him +pallid as death; and so sharp a thrill passed through his heart, that +it was with difficulty he retained his feet; but Morales was not +merely physically, he was mentally brave. With a powerful, a mighty +effort of will, he called life, energy, courage back, and said, +sternly and unfalteringly, "Don Luis Garcia, again I say, speak out! I +understand you; it is I who am the apparently injured husband. Marie! +Great God of heaven! that man should dare couple her pure name with +ignominy! Marie! my Marie! the seemingly guilty wife! Well, put forth +your tale: I am not the man to shrink from my own words. Speak truth, +and I will hear you; and--and, if I can, not spurn you from me as a +liar! Speak out!" + +Don Luis needed not a second bidding: he had remarked, seen, and +heard quite enough the evening of Don Ferdinand's banquet, to require +nothing more than the simple truth, to harrow the heart of his hearer, +even while Morales disbelieved his every word. Speciously, indeed, +he turned his own mere suspicions as to Marie's unhappiness, and her +early love for Arthur, into realities, founded on certain information, +but with this sole exception--he told but the truth. Without moving +a muscle, without change of countenance, or uttering a syllable of +rejoinder, Don Ferdinand listened to Garcia's recital, fixing his +large piercing eye on his face, with a gaze that none but one so +hardened in hypocrisy could have withstood. Once only Morales's +features contracted for a single instant, as convulsed by some spasm. +It was the recollection of Marie's passionate tears, the night of the +festival; and yet she had shed them on _his_ bosom. How could she be +guilty? And the spasm passed. + +"I have heard you, Don Luis," he said, so calmly, as Garcia ceased, +that the latter started. "If there be truth in this strange tale, I +thank you for imparting it: if it be false--if you have dared pollute +my ears with one word that has no foundation, cross not my path +again, lest I be tempted to turn and crush you as I would a loathsome +reptile, who in very wantonness has stung me." + +He turned from him rapidly, traversed the brief space, and disappeared +within his house. Don Luis looked after him with a low, fiendish +laugh, and plunged once more into the gardens. + +"Is the Senora within?" Inquired Don Ferdinand, encountering his +wife's favorite attendant at the entrance of Marie's private suit of +rooms; and though his cheek was somewhat pale, his voice was firm as +usual. The reply was in the negative; the Senora was in the gardens. +"Alone? Why are you not with her as usual, Manuella?" + +"I was with her, my Lord; she only dismissed me ten minutes ago." + +Without rejoinder, Don Ferdinand turned in the direction she had +pointed out. It was a lovely walk, in the most shaded parts of the +extensive grounds, walled by alternate orange and lemon trees; some +with the blossom, germ, and fruit all on one tree; others full of +the paly fruit; and others, again, as wreathed with snow, from the +profusion of odoriferous flowers. An abrupt curve led to a grassy +plot, from which a sparkling fountain sent up its glistening showers, +before a luxurious bower, which Morales's tender care had formed of +large and healthy slips, cut from the trees of the Vale of Cedars, and +flowery shrubs and variegated moss from the same spot; and there he +had introduced his Marie, calling it by the fond name of "Home!" As he +neared the curve, voices struck on his ear--Marie's and another's. She +was not alone! and that other!--could it be?--nay, it was--there was +neither doubt nor hesitation--it was his--his--against whom Don Luis +had warned him. Was it for this Marie had dismissed her attendant? +It could not be; it was mere accident, and Don Ferdinand tried to go +forward to address them as usual; but the effort even for him was too +much, and he sunk down on a rustic bench near him, and burying his +head in his hands, tried to shut out sight and sound till power and +calmness would return. But though he could close his eyes on all +outward things, he could not deaden hearing; and words reached him +which, while he strove not to hear, seemed to be traced by a dagger's +point upon his heart, and from very physical agony deprived him of +strength to move. + +"And thou wilt give me no reason--idle, weak as it must be--thou wilt +refuse me even an excuse for thy perjury?" rung on the still air, in +the excited tones of Arthur Stanley. "Wealth, beauty, power--ay, they +are said to be omnipotent with thy false sex; but little did I dream +that it could be so with thee; and in six short months--nay, less +time, thou couldst conquer love, forget past vows, leap over the +obstacle thou saidst must part us, and wed another! 'Twas short space +to do so much!" And he laughed a bitter, jibing laugh. + +"It was short, indeed!" faintly articulated Marie; "but long enough to +bear." + +"To bear!" he answered; "nay, what hadst thou to bear? The petted +minion of two mighty sovereigns, the idol of a nation--came, and +sought, and won--how couldst thou resist him? What were my claims to +his--an exile and a foreigner, with nought but my good sword, and a +love so deep, so faithful (his voice softened), that it formed my very +being? But what was love to thee before ambition? Oh, fool, fool that +I was, to believe a woman's tongue--to dream that truth could dwell in +those sweet-sounding words--those tears, that seemed to tell of grief +in parting, bitter as my own--fool, to believe thy specious tale! +There could be no cause to part us, else wherefore art thou Morales's +wife? Thou didst never love me! From the first deceived, thou calledst +forth affection, to triumph in thy power, and wreck the slender joys +left to an exile! And yet I love thee--oh, God, how deeply!" + +"Arthur!" answered Marie, and her bloodless lips so quivered, they +could scarcely frame the word--"wrong I have done thee, grievous +wrong; but oh! blast not my memory with injuries I have not inflicted. +Look back; recall our every interview. Had I intended to deceive, to +call forth the holiest feelings of the human heart, to make them a +mock and scorn, to triumph in a power, of whose very existence till +thou breathed love I was unconscious--should I have said our love +was vain--was so utterly hopeless, we could never be other than +strangers--should I have conjured thee to leave--aye, and to forget +me, had I not felt that I loved too well, and trembled for myself yet +more than for thee? Oh, Arthur, Arthur, do not add to the bitterness +of this moment by unjust reproaches! I have injured thee enough by my +ill-fated beauty, and too readily acknowledged love: but more I have +not done. From the first I said that there was a fate around us--thine +I might never be!" + +"Then wherefore wed Morales? Is he not as I am, and therefore equally +unmeet mate for thee--if, indeed, thy tale be true? Didst thou not +tell me, when I implored thee to say if thy hand was pledged unto +another, that such misery was spared thee--thou wert free, and free +wouldst remain while thy heart was mine?" + +"Ay," faltered Marie, "thou rememberest all too well." + +"Then didst thou not deceive? Art thou not as perjured now as I once +believed thee true--as false as thou art lovely? How couldst thou +love, if so soon it was as nought?" + +"Then believe me all thou sayest," replied Marie, more +firmly--"believe me thus false and perjured, and forget me, Senor +Stanley; crush even my memory from thy heart, and give not a thought +to one so worthless! Mystery as there was around me when we first met, +there is a double veil around me now, which I may not lift even to +clear myself with thee. Turn thy love into the scorn which my perjury +deserves, and leave me." + +"I will not!" burst impetuously from Arthur, as he suddenly flung +himself at her feet. "Marie, I will not leave thee thus; say but that +some unforeseen circumstances, not thine own will, made thee the +wife of this proud Spaniard; say but that neither thy will nor thy +affections were consulted, that no word of thine could give him hope +he was beloved--that thou lovest me still; say but this, and I will +bless thee!" + +"Ask it not, Senor Stanley. The duty of a wife would be of itself +sufficient to forbid such words; with me gratitude and reverence +render that duty more sacred still. Wouldst thou indeed sink me so low +as, even as a wife, to cease to respect me? Rise, Senor Stanley! such +posture is unsuited to thee or me; rise, and leave me; we must never +meet alone again." + +Almost overpowered with contending emotions, as he was, there was +a dignity, the dignity of truth in that brief appeal, which Arthur +vainly struggled to resist. She had not attempted a single word of +exoneration, and yet his reproaches rushed back into his own heart as +cruel and unjust, and answer he had none. He rose mechanically, and +as he turned aside to conceal the weakness, a deep and fearful +imprecation suddenly broke from him; and raising her head, Marie +beheld her husband. + +Every softened feeling fled from Stanley's breast; the passionate +anger which Marie's words had calmed towards herself, now burst fourth +unrestrained towards Morales. His sudden appearance bringing the +conviction that he had played the spy upon their interview, roused +his native irritation almost into madness. His sword flew from its +scabbard, and in fearful passion he exclaimed--"Tyrant and coward! How +durst thou play the spy? Is it not enough that thou hast robbed me of +a treasure whose value thou canst never know? for her love was mine +alone ere thou earnest between us, and by base arts and cruel force +compelled her to be thine. Ha! wouldst thou avoid me? refuse to cross +my sword! Draw, or I will proclaim thee coward in the face of the +whole world!" + +With a faint cry, Marie had thrown herself between them; but strength +failed with the effort, and she would have fallen had not Morales +upheld her with his left arm. But she had not fainted; every sense +felt wrung into unnatural acuteness Except to support her, Morales had +made no movement; his tall figure was raised to its fullest height, +and his right arm calmly uplifted as his sole protection against +Arthur. "Put up your sword," he said firmly, and fixing his large dark +eyes upon his irritated adversary, with a gaze far more of sorrow than +of anger, "I will not fight thee. Proclaim me what thou wilt. I fear +neither thy sword nor thee. Go hence, unhappy boy; when this chafed +mood is past, thou wilt repent this rashness, and perchance find it +harder to forgive thyself than I shall to forgive thee. Go; thou art +overwrought. We are not equals now." + +Stanley involuntarily dropped the point of his sword. "I obey thee," +he said, in that deep concentrated tone, which, betrays strong passion +yet more than violent words; "obey thee, because I would not strike an +undefended foe; but we shall meet again in a more fitting place and +season. Till then, hear me, Don Ferdinand! We have hitherto been as +companions in arms, and as friends, absent or together; from this +moment the tie is broken, and for ever. I am thy foe! one who hath +sworn to take thy life, or lose his own. I will compel thee to meet +me! Ay, shouldst thou shun me, to the confines of the world I will +track and find thee. Coward and spy! And yet men think thee noble!" + +A bitter laugh of scorn concluded these fatal words. He returned his +sword violently to its sheath; the tread of his armed heel was heard +for a few seconds, and then all was silent. + +Morales neither moved nor spoke, and Marie lifted her head to look on +his face in terror. The angry words of Arthur had evidently fallen +either wholly unheeded, or perhaps unheard. There was but one feeling +expressed on those chiseled features, but one thought, but one +conviction; a low, convulsive sob broke from her, and she fainted in +his arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + "Why, when my life on that one hope, cast, + Why didst thou chain my future to her past? + Why not a breath to say she loved before?" + + BULWER. + + "Oh leave me not! or know + Before thou goest, the heart that wronged thee so + But wrongs no more." + + BULWER. + + +In the first painful moments of awakening sense, Marie was only +conscious of an undefined yet heavy weight on heart and brain; but as +strength returned she started up with a faint cry, and looked wildly +round her. The absence of Morales, the conviction that he had left her +to the care of others, that for the first time he had deserted her +couch of pain, lighted up as by an electric flash the marvellous links +of memory, and the whole of that morning's anguish, every word spoken, +every feeling endured, rushed back upon her with such overwhelming +force as for the moment to deprive her of the little strength she +had regained. Why could she not die? was the despairing thought that +followed. What had she to live for, when it was her ill fate to wreck +the happiness of all who loved her? and yet in that moment of agony +she never seemed to have loved her husband more. It was of him she +thought far more than of Arthur, whose angry words and fatal threat +rung again and again in her ears. + +"My Lord had only just left when you recovered consciousness, Senora," +gently remarked her principal attendant, whose penetration had +discovered the meaning of Marie's imploring look and passive silence, +so far at least that it was Don Ferdinand she sought, and that his +absence pained her. "He tarried till life seemed returning, and then +reluctantly departed for the castle, where he had been summoned, he +said, above an hour before." + +"To the castle!" repeated Marie internally. "Ay, he will do his duty, +though his heart be breaking. He will take his place and act his part, +and men will report him calm, wise, collected, active as his wont, and +little dream his wife, his treasured wife, has bowed his lofty spirit +to the dust, and laid low his light of home. Tell me when he returns," +she said aloud, "and bid all leave me but yourself." + +Two hours passed, and Marie lay outwardly still and calm, neither +speaking nor employed. But at the end of that time she started up +hastily, resumed the robe which had been cast aside, and remained +standing, as intently listening to some distant sound. Several minutes +elapsed, and though she had sunk almost unconsciously on the seat +Manuella proffered, it was not till full half an hour that she spoke. + +"The Senor has returned," she said calmly; "bid Alberic hither." + +The page came, and she quietly inquired if any strangers had entered +with his master. + +"No, Senora, he is alone." + +"Has he long returned?" + +"Almost half an hour, Senora. He went directly to his closet, desiring +that he might not be disturbed." + +Ten minutes more, and Marie was standing in her husband's presence, +but unobserved. For the first time in his whole life had her light +step approached him unheard. For two hours he had borne a degree of +mental suffering which would either have crushed or roused any other +man into wildest fury--borne it with such an unflinching spirit, that +in neither look nor manner, nor even tone, had he departed from his +usual self, or given the slightest occasion for remark. But the +privacy of his closet obtained, the mighty will gave way, and the +stormy waves rolled over him, deadening every sense and thought and +feeling, save the one absorbing truth, that he had never been beloved. +Father and child had deceived him; for now every little word, every +trifling occurrence before his marriage in the Vale of Cedars +rushed back on his mind, and Henriquez imploring entreaty under all +circumstances to love and cherish her was explained. + +"Ferdinand!" exclaimed a voice almost inarticulate from sobs; and +starting, he beheld his wife kneeling by his side. "Oh! my husband, do +not turn from me, do not hate me. I have none but thee." + +He tried to withdraw his hand, but the words, the tone, unmanned him, +and throwing his arm round her, he clasped her convulsively to his +heart, and she felt his slow scalding tears fall one by one, as wrung +from the heart's innermost depths, upon her cheek. + +For several minutes there was silence. The strong man's emotion is as +terrible to witness as terrible to feel. Marie was the first to regain +voice; and in low beseeching accents she implored him to listen to +her--to hear ere he condemned. + +"Not thus," was his sole reply, as he tried to raise her from her +kneeling posture to the cushion by his side. + +"Yes, thus my husband. I will not rise till thou say'st thou canst +forgive; wilt take the loving and the weak back to thy heart, if not +to love as thou hast loved, to strengthen and forgive. I have not +wronged thee. Were I false in word or thought I would not kneel to ask +forgiveness, but crawl to thy feet and die! If thou couldst but know +the many, many times I have longed to confess all; the agony to +receive thy fond caress, thy trusting confidence, and know myself +deceiving; the terror lest thou shouldst discover aught from other +than myself; oh! were it not for thy deep woe, I could bless this +moment, bidding me speak Truth once more!" + +"And say thou hast never loved me? Wert true from duty, not from love? +Marie, can I bear this?" + +"Yes--for I do love thee. Oh! my husband, I turn to thee alone, under +my God, for rest and peace. If I might not give thee the wild passions +of my youth, when my heart was sought, and won ere I was myself +conscious of the precipice I neared, I cling to thee now alone--I +would be thine alone. Oh, take me to thy heart, and let me lie there. +Ferdinand, Ferdinand! forgive me!--love--save me from myself!" + +"Ay, now and ever! Come to my heart, beloved one!" answered her +husband, rousing himself from all of personal suffering to comfort +her; and he drew her to him till her head rested on his bosom. "Now +tell me thy sorrowing tale, to me so wrapt in mystery. Fear not +from me. It is enough thou clingest to me in such sweet guileless +confidence still." + +She obeyed him; and the heavy weight of suffering years seemed +lightening as she spoke. From her first meeting Arthur, to that +morning's harrowing interview, every feeling, every incident, every +throb of reproach and dread were revealed with such touching and +childlike truth, that even in his suffering, Morales unconsciously +clasped his wife closer and closer to him, as if her very confidence +and truth, rendered her yet dearer than before, and inexpressibly +soothed at the very moment that they pained. Their interview was long, +but fraught with mutual comfort. Morales had believed, when he entered +his closet that day, that a dense cloud was folded round him, sapping +the very elements of life; but though he still felt as if he had +received some heavy physical blow, the darkness had fled from his +spirit, and light dawned anew for both, beneath the heavenly rays of +openness and Truth. + +"And Arthur?" Marie said, as that long commune came to a close; and +she looked up with the fearless gaze of integrity in her husband's +face. "Thou wilt forgive him, Ferdinand? he knew not what he said." + +"Trust me, beloved one. I pity and forgive him. He shall learn to love +me, despite himself." + +Great was the astonishment and terrible the disappointment of Don Luis +Garcia at the visible failure of one portion of his nefarious schemes. +Though seldom in Don Ferdinand's actual presence, he was perfectly +aware that instead of diminishing, Morales' confidence in and love +for his wife had both increased, and that Marie was happier and more +quietly at rest than she had been since her marriage. But though +baffled, Garcia was not foiled. The calm, haughty dignity which, +whenever they did chance to meet, now characterized Don Ferdinand's +manner towards him; the brief, stern reply, if words were actually +needed; or complete silence, betraying as it did tire utter contempt +and scorn with which his crafty design was regarded, heightened his +every revengeful feeling, and hastened on his plans. + +Two or three weeks passed: a calm security and peaceful happiness had +taken the place of storm and dread in Marie's heart. She felt that +it had been a secret consciousness of wrong towards her husband, the +dread of discovery occasioning estrangement, the constant fear of +encountering Stanley, which had weighed on her heart far more than +former feelings; and now that the ordeal was past, that all was known, +and she could meet her husband's eye without one thought concealed; +now that despite of all he could love and cherish, aye, trust her +still, she clung to him with love as pure and fond and true as ever +wife might feel; and her only thought of Stanley was prayer that peace +might also dawn for him. It was pain indeed to feel that the real +reason of her wedding Ferdinand must for ever remain concealed. Could +that have been spoken, one little sentence said, all would have been +explained, and Stanley's bitter feelings soothed. + +It was the custom of Ferdinand and Isabella to gather around +them, about once a month, the wisest and the ablest of their +realm--sometimes to hold council on public matters, at others merely +in friendly discussion on various subjects connected with, politics, +the church, or war. In these meetings merit constituted rank, and mind +nobility. They commenced late, and continued several hours through the +night. To one of these meetings Don Ferdinand Morales had received a +summons as usual. As the day neared, he became conscious of a strange, +indefinable sensation taking possession of heart and mind, as +impossible to be explained as to be dismissed. It was as if some +impassable and invisible, but closely-hovering evil were connected +with the day, blinding him--as by a heavy pall--to all beyond. He +succeeded in subduing the ascendency of the sensation, in some +measure, till the day itself; when, as the hours waned, it became more +and more overpowering. As he entered his wife's apartment, to bid her +farewell ere he departed for the castle, it rose almost to suffocation +in his throat, and he put his arm round her as she stood by the +widely-opened casement, and remained by her side several minutes +without speaking. + +"Thou art not going to the castle yet, dearest?" she inquired. "Is it +not much earlier than usual?" + +"Yes, love; but I shall not ride to-night. I feel so strangely +oppressed, that I think a quiet walk in the night air will recover me +far more effectually than riding." + +Marie looked up anxiously in his face. He was very pale, and his hair +was damp with the moisture on his forehead. "Thou art unwell," she +exclaimed; "do not go to-night, dearest Ferdinand,--stay with me. Thy +presence is not so imperatively needed." + +He shook his head with a faint smile. "I must go, love, for I have no +excuse to stay away. I wish it were any other night, indeed, for I +would so gladly remain with thee; but the very wish is folly. I never +shrunk from the call of duty before, and cannot imagine what has come +over me to-night; but I would sacrifice much for permission to stay +within. Do not look so alarmed, love, the fresh air will remove this +vague oppression, and give me back myself." + +"Fresh air there is none," replied his young wife, "the stillness is +actually awful--not a leaf moves, nor a breeze stirs. It seems too, +more than twilight darkness; as if a heavy storm were brooding." + +"It may be; oppression in the air is often the sole cause of +oppression in the mind. I should be almost glad if it came, to explain +this sensation." + +"But if thou must go, thou wilt not loiter, Ferdinand." + +"Why--fearest thou the storm will harm me, love? Nay, I have +frightened thee into foreboding. Banish it, or I shall be still more +loth to say farewell!" + +He kissed her, as if to depart, but still he lingered though neither +spoke; and then, as with an irresistible and passionate impulse, he +clasped her convulsively to his heart, and murmuring hoarsely, "God +for ever and ever bless thee, my own beloved!" released her, and was +gone. + +On quitting his mansion and entering the street, the dense weight +of the atmosphere became more and more apparent. The heat was so +oppressive that the streets were actually deserted--even the artisans +had closed their stores; darkness had fallen suddenly, shrouding +the beautiful twilight peculiar to Spain as with a pall. Morales +unconsciously glanced towards the west, where, scarcely half-an-hour +before, the sun had sunk gloriously to rest; and there all was not +black. Resting on the edge of the hill, was a far-spreading crimson +cloud, not the rosy glow of sunset, but the color of blood. So +remarkable was its appearance, that Don Ferdinand paused in +involuntary awe. The blackness closed gradually round it; but +much decreased, and still decreasing in size, it floated +onwards--preserving its blood-red hue, in appalling contrast with +the murky sky. Slowly Morales turned in the direction of the castle, +glancing up at times, and unable to suppress a thrill of supernatural +horror, as he observed this remarkable appearance floating just before +him wherever he turned. Denser and denser became the atmosphere, and +blacker the sky, till he could not see a single yard before him; +thunder growled in the distance, and a few vivid flashes of lightning +momentarily illumined the gloom, but still the cloud remained. Its +course became swifter; but it decreased in size, floating onwards, +till, to Morales' strained gaze, it appeared to remain stationary over +one particularly lonely part of the road, known by the name of the +Calle Soledad, which he was compelled to pass; becoming smaller and +smaller, till, as he reached the spot, it faded into utter darkness, +and all around was black. + +That same evening, about an hour before sunset, Arthur Stanley, +overpowered by the heat, and exhausted with some fatiguing military +duties, hastily unbuckled his sword, flung it carelessly from him, +and, drinking off a large goblet of wine, which, as usual, stood ready +for him on his table, threw himself on his couch, and sunk into a +slumber so profound that he scarcely seemed to breathe. How he had +passed the interval which had elapsed since his interview with Marie +and her husband, he scarcely knew himself. His military duties were +performed mechanically, a mission for the king to Toledo successfully +accomplished; but he himself was conscious only of one engrossing +thought, which no cooling and gentler temper had yet come to subdue. +It was a relief to acquit Marie of intentional falsehood--a relief to +have some imaginary object on which to vent bitterness and anger; and +headstrong and violent without control or guide, when his passions +were concerned, he encouraged every angry feeling against Morales, +caring neither to define nor subdue them, till the longing to meet him +in deadly combat, and the how to do so, became the sole and dangerous +occupation of heart and mind. + +Stanley's heavy and unnatural sleep had lasted some hours, when he was +suddenly and painfully awakened by so loud and long a peal of thunder +that the very house seemed to rock and shake with the vibration. He +started up on his couch; but darkness was around him so dense that +he could not distinguish a single object. This sleep had been +unrefreshing, and so heavy an oppression rested on his chest, that he +felt as if confined in a close cage of iron. He waved his arms to feel +if he were indeed at liberty. He moved in free air, but the darkness +seemed to suffocate him; and springing up, he groped his way to the +window, and flung it open. Feverish and restless, the very excitement +of the night seemed to urge him forth, thus to disperse the oppressive +weight within. A flash of lightning playing on the polished sheath of +his sword, he secured it to his side, and threw his mantle over his +shoulders. As he did so his hand came in contact with the upper part +of the sheath, from which the hilt should have projected; but, to his +astonishment and alarm, no hilt was there--the sheath was empty. + +In vain he racked his memory to ascertain whether he had left his +sword in its scabbard, or had laid the naked blade, as was his custom, +by him while he slept. The more he tried to think the more confused +his thoughts became. His forehead felt circled with burning iron, +his lips were dry and parched, his step faltering as if under the +influence of some potent spell. He called for a light, but his voice +sounded in his own ears thick and unnatural, and no one answered. His +aged hosts had retired to rest an hour before, and though they had +noticed and drew their own conclusions from his agitated movements, +his call was unregarded. In five minutes more they heard him rush from +the house; and anxious as she was to justify all the ways and doings +of her handsome lodger, old Juanna was this night compelled to lean +to her husband's ominously expressed belief, that no one would +voluntarily go forth on such an awful night, save for deeds of evil. + +His rapid pace and open path were illumined every alternate minute +with, the vivid lightning, and the very excitement of the storm +partially removed the incomprehensible sensations under which Stanley +labored. He turned in the direction of the castle, perhaps with the +unconfessed hope of meeting some of his companions in arms returning +from the royal meeting, and in their society to shake off the spell +which chained him. As he neared the Calle Soledad the ground suddenly +became slippery, as with some thick fluid, of what nature the dense +darkness prevented his discovering, his foot came in contact with some +heavy substance lying right across his path. He stumbled and fell, and +his dress and hands became literrally dyed with the same hue as the +ground. He started up in terror; a long vivid flash lingering more +than a minute in the air, disclosed the object against which he had +fallen; and paralyzed with horror, pale, ghastly, as if suddenly +turned to stone, he remained. He uttered no word nor cry; but flash +after flash played around him, and still beheld him gazing in +stupefied and motionless horror on the appalling sight before him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + 1st MONK.--The storm increases; hark! how dismally + It sounds along the cloisters! + + BERNARD.--As on I hastened, bearing thus my light, + Across my path, not fifty paces off, + I saw a murdered corse, stretched on its back, + Smeared with new blood, as though but freshly slain. + + JOANNA BAILLIE. + + +The apartment adjoining the council-room of the castle, and selected +this night as the scene of King Ferdinand's banquet, was at the +commencement of the storm filled with the expected guests. From forty +to fifty were there assembled, chosen indiscriminately from the +Castilians and Arragonese, the first statesmen and bravest warriors +of the age. But the usual animated discussion, the easy converse, and +eager council, had strangely, and almost unconsciously, sunk into a +gloomy depression, so universal and profound, that every effort +to break from it, and resume the general topics of interest, was +fruitless. The King himself was grave almost to melancholy, though +more than once he endeavored to shake it off, and speak as usual. Men +found themselves whispering to each other as if they feared to speak +aloud--as if some impalpable and invisible horror were hovering round +them. It might have been that the raging storm without affected all +within, with a species of awe, to which even the wisest and the +bravest are liable when the Almighty utters His voice in the tempest, +and the utter nothingness of men comes home to the proudest heart. +But there was another cause. One was missing from the council and the +board; the seat of Don Ferdinand Morales was vacant, and unuttered but +absorbing anxiety occupied every mind. It was full two hours, rather +more, from the given hour of meeting; the council itself had been +delayed, and was at length held without him, but so unsatisfactory did +it prove, that many subjects were postponed. They adjourned to the +banquet-room; but the wine circled but slowly, and the King leant back +on his chair, disinclined apparently for either food or drink. + +"The storm increases fearfully," observed the aged Duke of Murcia, +a kinsman of the King, as a flash of lightning blazed through the +casements, of such extraordinary length and brilliance, that even the +numerous lustres, with which the room was lighted, looked dark when +it disappeared. It was followed by a peal of thunder, loud as if a +hundred cannons had been discharged above their heads, and causing +several glasses to be shivered on the board. "Unhappy those compelled +to brave it." + +"Nay, better out than in," observed another. "There is excitement in +witnessing its fury, and gloom most depressing in listening to it +thus." + +"Perchance 'tis the shadow of the coming evil," rejoined Don Felix +d'Estaban. "Old legends say, there is never a storm like this, without +bringing some national evil on its wings." + +"Ha! say they so?" demanded the King, suddenly, that his guests +started. "And is there truth in it?" + +"The lovers of such marvels would bring your Grace many proofs that, +some calamity always followed such a tempest," replied Don Felix. "It +may or may not be. For my own part, I credit not such things. We are +ourselves the workers of evil--no fatality lurking in storms." + +"Fated or casual, if evil has occurred to Don Ferdinand Morales, +monarch and subject will alike have cause to associate this tempest +with national calamity," answered the King, betraying at once the +unspoken, but engrossing subject of his thoughts. "Who saw him last?" + +Don Felix d'Estaban replied that he had seen him that day two hours +before sunset. + +"And where, my Lord--at home or abroad?" + +"In his own mansion, which he said he had not quitted that day," was +the rejoinder. + +"And how seemed he? In health as usual?" + +"Ay, my liege, save that he complained of a strange oppressiveness, +disinclining him for all exertion." + +"Did he allude to the council of to-night?" + +"He did, my Lord, rejoicing that he should be compelled to rouse +himself from his most unwonted mood of idleness." + +"Then some evil has befallen him," rejoined the King; and the +contraction of his brow denied the calmness, implied by his unmoved +tone. "We have done wrong in losing all this time, Don Alonzo," he +added, turning to the Senor of Aguilar, "give orders that a band of +picked men scour every path leading hence to Morales' mansion: head +them thyself, an thou wilt, we shall the more speedily receive +tidings. Thine eyes have been more fixed on Don Ferdinand's vacant +seat, than on the board this last hour; so hence, and speed thee, man. +It may be he is ill: we have seen men stricken unto death from one +hour to the other. If there be no trace of him in either path, hie +thee to his mansion; but return not without news. Impalpable evil is +ever worse than the tangible and real." + +Don Alonzo scarcely waited the conclusion of the King's speech, so +eager was he to depart; and the longing looks cast after him betrayed +how many would have willingly joined him in his search. + +"His wife?" repeated the King, in answer to some suggestions of his +kinsman's. "Nay, man; hast thou yet to learn, that Morales' heart +would break ere he would neglect his duty? No: physical incapacity +would alone have sufficient power to keep him from us--no mental ill." + +If the effort to continue indifferent conversation had been difficult +before, it now became impossible. The very silence felt ominous. What +evil could have befallen? was asked internally by each individual; but +the vague dread, the undefined horror of something terrible impending, +prevented all reply; and so nearly an hour passed, when, far removed +as was the council-room from the main body of the castle, a confusion +as of the entrance of many feet, and the tumultuary sound of eager +voices, was distinguished, seeming to proceed from the great hall. + +"It cannot be Don Alonzo so soon returned," remarked the Duke of +Murcia; but even as he spoke, and before the King had time to make an +impatient sign for silence, so intently was he listening, the Lord of +Aguilar himself re-entered the apartment. + +"Saints of heaven!" ejaculated the King, and his exclamation was +echoed involuntarily by all around. The cheek of the warrior, never +known to blanch before, was white as death; his eye haggard and wild; +his step so faltering, that his whole frame reeled. He sunk on the +nearest seat, and, with a shuddering groan, pressed both hands before +his eyes. + +"Wine! wine! give him wine!" cried Ferdinand impetuously, pushing a +brimming goblet towards him. "Drink, man, and speak, in Heaven's name. +What frightful object hast thou seen, to bid thee quail, who never +quailed before? Where is Morales? Hast thou found him?" + +"Ay," muttered Don Alonzo, evidently struggling to recall his +energies, while the peculiar tone of the single monosyllable caused +every heart to shudder. + +"And where is he? Why came he not hither? Why neglect our royal +summons?" continued the King, hurrying question after question with +such an utter disregard of his usual calm, imperturbable cautiousness, +that it betrayed far more than words how much he dreaded the Senor's +reply. "Speak, man; what has detained him?" + +"_Death_!" answered the warrior, his suppressed grief and horror +breathing in his hollow voice; and rising, he approached the King's +seat, and kneeling down, said in that low, concentrated tone, which +reaches every ear, though scarce louder than a whisper, "Sire, he is +murdered!" + +"Murdered!" reiterated the King, as the word was echoed in all the +various intonations of horror, grief, and indignation from all around; +and he laid his hand heavily on Aguilar's shoulder--"Man, man, how can +this be? Who would dare lift up the assassin's hand against him--him, +the favorite of our subjects as of ourselves? Who had cause of +enmity--of even rivalship with him? Thou art mistaken, man; it +_cannot_ be! Thou art scared with the sight of murder, and no marvel; +but it cannot be Morales thou hast seen." + +"Alas! my liege, I too believed it not; but the murdered corpse now +lying in the hall will be too bloody witness of my truth." + +The King released his hold, and without a word of rejoinder, strode +from the apartment, and hastily traversing the long galleries, and +many stairs, neither paused nor spoke, till, followed by all his +nobles, he reached the hall. It was filled with soldiers, who, with +loud and furious voices, mingled execrations deep and fearful on +the murderer, with bitter lamentations on the victim. A sudden +and respectful hush acknowledged the presence of the Sovereign; +Ferdinand's brows were darkly knit, his lip compressed, his eyes +flashing sternly over the dense crowd; but he asked no question, nor +relaxed his hasty stride till he stood beside the litter on which, +covered with a mantle, the murdered One was lying. For a single minute +he evidently paused, and his countenance, usually so controlled as +never to betray emotion, visibly worked with some strong feeling, +which seemed to prevent the confirmation of his fears, by the trifling +movement of lifting up the mantle. But at length, and with a hurried +movement, it was cast aside; and there lay that noble form, cold, +rigid in death! The King pushed the long, jetty hair, now clotted with +gore, from the cheek on which it had fallen; and he recognized, too +well, the high, thoughtful brow, now white, cold as marble; the large, +dark eye, whose fixed and glassy stare had so horribly replaced the +bright intelligence, the sparkling lustre so lately there. The +clayey, sluggish white of death was already on his cheek; his lip, +convulsively compressed, and the left hand tightly clenched, as if the +soul had not been thus violently reft from the body, without a strong: +pang of mortal agony. His right hand had stiffened round the hilt +of his unsheathed sword, for the murderous blow had been dealt from +behind, and with such fatal aim, that death must have been almost +instantaneous, and the tight grasp of his sword the mere instinctive +movement of expiring nature. Awe-struck, chilled to the heart, did the +noble friends of the departed gather round him. On the first removal +of the mantle, an irresistible yell of curses on the murderer burst +forth from the soldiery, wrought into fury at thus beholding their +almost idolized commander; but the stern woe on the Sovereign's face +hushed them into silence; and the groan of grief and horror which +escaped involuntarily from Ferdinand's lips, was heard throughout the +hall. + +"The murderer?" at length demanded many of the nobles at the same +moment. "Who has dared do this awful deed? Don Alonzo, is there no +clue to his person--no trace of his path?" + +"There is trace and clue enough," was the brief and stern reply. "The +murderer is secured!" + +"Ha!" exclaimed the King, roused at once; "secured, sayest thou? In +our bitter grief we had well-nigh forgotten justice. Bring forth the +dastardly craven; we would demand the reason of this cowardly blow ere +we condemn him to the death of torture which his crime demands. Let +him confront his victim. Why do you pause, my Lord? Produce the +murderer." + +Still Don Alonzo stood irresolute, and a full minute passed ere he +signed to the men who had accompanied him. A figure was instantly led +forward, his arms strongly secured in his own mantle, and his hat so +slouched over his face, that not a feature could be distinguished. +Still there was something in his appearance that struck a cold chill +of doubt to the heart of the King, and in a voice strangely expressive +of emotion, he commanded--"Remove his hat and mantle: we should know +that form." + +He was obeyed, for there was no resistance on the part of the +prisoner, whose inner dress was also stained with blood, as were his +hands. His cheek was ashy pale; his eye bloodshot and pale; and his +whole appearance denoting such excessive agitation, that it would have +gone far to condemn him, even had there been no other proof. + +"Stanley!" burst from the astonished King, as a wild cry ran round +the hall, and "Death to the ungrateful foreigner!"--"Death to the +base-born Englishman!"--"Tortures and death!" escaped, in every +variety of intonation, from the fierce soldiery, who, regardless even +of their Sovereign's presence, drew closer and closer round, clashing +their weapons, and with difficulty restrained from tearing him to +pieces where he stood. + +"He was my foe," muttered the prisoner, almost unconscious of the +import of his words, or how far they would confirm the suspicions +against him. "He robbed me of happiness--he destined me to misery. I +hated him; but I did not murder him. I swore to take his life or lose +my own; but not thus--not thus. Great God! to see him lying there, and +feel it might have been my hand. Men, men! would ye quench hatred, +behold its object stricken before you by a dastard blow like this, and +ye will feel its enormity and horror. I did not slay him; I would +give my life to the murderer's dagger to call him back, and ask his +forgiveness for the thoughts of blood I entertained against him; but I +touched him not--my sword is stainless." + +"Thou liest, false traitor!" exclaimed Don Felix, fiercely, and he +held up the hilt and about four inches of a sword, the remainder of +which was still in the body. "Behold the evidence to thy black lie! +My liege, this fragment was found beside the body deluged in gore. +We know the hilt too well to doubt, one moment, the name of its +possessor; there is not another like it throughout Spain. It snapt in +the blow, as if more honorable than its master, it could not survive +so foul a stain. What arm should wield it save his own?" + +A universal murmur of execration, acknowledged this convincing +evidence; doubly confirmed, as it seemed to be by the fearful start +and muttered exclamation, on the part of the prisoner the moment it +was produced. The nobles thronged round the King, some entreating him +to sentence the midnight assassin to instant execution; others, to +retain him in severest imprisonment till the proofs of his guilt could +be legally examined, and the whole European World hear of the crime, +and its chastisement; lest they should say that as a foreigner, +justice was refused to him. To this opinion the King leaned. + +"Ye counsel well and wisely, my lords," he said. "It shall not be +said, because the murdered was our subject, and the murderer an alien, +that he was condemned without examination of proofs against him, or +being heard in his own defence. Seven suns hence we will ourselves +examine every evidence for or against him, which, your penetration, my +lords, can collect. Till then, Don Felix, the prisoner is your +charge, to be produced when summoned; and now away with the midnight +assassin--he has polluted our presence too long. Away with the base +ingrate, who has thus requited our trust and love; we would look on +him no more." + +With, a rapid movement the unfortunate young man broke from the guard, +which, at Don Felix's sign, closed round and sought to drag him from +the hall, and flung himself impetuously at Ferdinand's feet. + +"I am no murderer!" he exclaimed, in a tone of such passionate agony, +that to any less prejudiced than those around, it must at least have +raised doubt as to his guilt. "I am not the base ingrate you would +deem me. Condemn me to death an thou wilt, I kneel not to sue for +life; for, dishonored and suspected, I would not accept it were it +offered. Let them bring forward what they will, I am innocent. Here, +before ye all, in presence of the murdered victim, by all held sacred +in Heaven or on Earth, I swear I slew him not! If I am guilty I call +upon the dead himself to rise, and blast me with his gaze!" + +Involuntarily every eye turned towards the corpse; for, vague as such +an appeal might seem now, the age was then but barely past, when the +assistance of the murdered was often required in the discovery of the +murderer. Many a brave heart grew chill, and brown cheeks blanched, in +anticipation of the unearthly sign, so fully were they convinced of +Stanley's guilt, but none came. The stagnated blood did not flow forth +again--the eye did not glare with more consciousness than before--the +cold hand did not move to point its finger at the prisoner; and Don +Felix, fearing the effect of Stanley's appeal upon the King, signed to +the guards, who rudely raised and bore him from the hall. + +The tumults of these events had naturally spread far and wide over the +castle, reaching the apartments of the Queen who, perceiving the awe +and terror which the raging tempest had excited in her attendants, +though incapable of aught like fear herself, had refrained from +dismissing them as usual. The confusion below seeming to increase with +every moment, naturally excited her surprise; and she commanded one +of her attendants to learn its cause. Already terrified, none seemed +inclined to obey, till a young girl, high spirited, and dauntless +almost as Isabella herself, departed of her own free will, and in a +few minutes returned, pale and trembling, with the dread intelligence, +that Don Ferdinand Morales lay murdered in the hall, and that Arthur +Stanley was his murderer. + +Isabella paused not a moment, though the shock was so terrible that +for the minute she became faint and sick, and hastily quitting her +apartments, she entered the great hall at the moment the prisoner was +being borne from it. Stupefied with contending feelings. Ferdinand did +not perceive her entrance. The nobles, drawn together in little knots, +were conversing in low eager tones, or endeavoring to reduce the +tumultuary soldiery to more order; and the Queen moved on unperceived, +till she stood beside the corpse. She neither shrunk from it, nor +paled; but bending over him, murmured in a tone, that from its +startling indication of her unexpected presence, readied the ear of +all--"His poor, _poor_ Marie!" + +The effect was electric. Until that moment horror and indignation had +been the predominant feeling; but with those words came the thought +of his young, his beautiful, his treasured wife--the utter, utter +desolation which that fearful death would bring to her; the contrast +between her present position, and that in which they had so lately +beheld her; and there was scarcely a manly spirit there, that did not +feel unwonted moisture gather in his eyes, or his heart swell with an +emotion never felt before. + +"Now blessings on thy true woman's heart, my Isabel!" exclaimed the +King, tenderly drawing her from the couch of the dead. "I dare vouch +not one of us, mourning the noble dead, has, till now, cast a thought +upon the living. And who shall breathe these fearful tidings? Who +prepare the unfortunate Marie for the loss awaiting her, and yet tarry +to behold and soothe her anguish?" + +"That will I do," replied the Queen, instantly. "None else will +prepare her so gently, so kindly; for none knew her husband's worth so +well, or can mourn his loss more deeply. She shall come hither. And +the murderer," she continued after a brief pause, and the change +was almost startling from the tender sympathy of the Woman to the +indignant majesty of the Queen--"Ferdinand, have they told me true as +to his person--is he secured?" + +"Ay," answered the King, briefly and bitterly: and from respect to his +feelings, Isabella asked no more. Orders were issued for the body to +be laid in one of the state apartments; a guard to be stationed at the +entrance of the chamber, and measures taken to keep the events of that +fatal night profoundly secret, lest confusion should be aroused in the +easily excited populace, or her terrible loss too rudely reach the +ears of the most painfully bereaved. These orders were punctually +obeyed. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + "Yet again methinks + Some unknown sorrow, ripe in Future's womb, + Is coming towards me; and my inward soul + With nothing trembles. At something it grieves + More than the parting with my lord." + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +Long did Marie Morales linger where her husband had left her after his +strangely passionate farewell. His tone, his look, his embrace haunted +her almost to pain--all were so unlike his wonted calmness: her full +heart so yearned towards him that she would have given worlds, if she +had had them, to call him to her side once more--to conjure him again +to forgive and assure her of his continued trust--to tell him she was +happy, and asked no other love than his. Why had he left her so early? +when she felt as if she had so much to say--so much to confide. And +then her eye caught the same ominous cloud which had so strangely +riveted Don Ferdinand's gaze, and a sensation of awe stole over her, +retaining her by the casement as by some spell which she vainly strove +to resist; until the forked lightnings began to illumine the murky +gloom, and the thunder rolled awfully along. Determined not to give +way to the heavy depression creeping over her, Marie summoned her +attendants, and strenuously sought to keep up an animated conversation +as they worked. Not expecting to see her husband till the ensuing +morning, she retired to rest at the first partial lull of the storm, +and slept calmly for many hours. A morning of transcendent loveliness +followed the awful horrors of the night. The sun seemed higher in the +heavens than usual, when Marie started from a profound sleep, with a +vague sensation that something terrible had occurred; every pulse +was throbbing, though, her heart felt stagnant within her. For some +minutes she could not frame a distinct thought, and then her husband's +fond farewell flashed back; but what had that to do with gloom? +Ringing a little silver bell beside her, Manuella answered the +summons, and Marie anxiously inquired for Don Ferdinand. Had he +not yet returned? A sensation of sickness--the deadly sickness of +indefinable dread--seemed to stupefy every faculty, as Manuella +answered in the negative, adding, it was much beyond his usual hour. + +"Send to the castle, and inquire if aught has detained him," she +exclaimed; hastily rising as she spoke, and commencing a rapid toilet. +She was scarcely attired before Alberic, with a pale cheek and voice +of alarm, brought information that a messenger and litter from the +palace were in the court, bringing the Queen's mandate for the instant +attendance of Donna Marie. + +"Oh! lady, dearest lady, let me go with thee," continued the boy, +suddenly clasping her robe and bursting into tears. "My master--my +good, noble master--something horrible has occurred, and they will not +tell me what. Every face I see is full of horror--every voice seems +suppressed--every--" + +"Hush!" angrily interposed Manuella, as she beheld Marie's very lips +lose their glowing tint, and her eyes gaze on vacancy. "For God's +sake, still thine impudent tongue; thou'lt kill her with thy +rashness." + +"Kill! who is killed?" gasped Marie. "What did he say? Where is my +husband?" + +"Detained at the palace, dearest lady," readily answered Manuella. +"This foolish boy is terrified at shadows. My lord is detained, and +her Grace has sent a litter requiring thine attendance. We must haste, +for she wills no delay. Carlotta, my lady's mantilla; quick, girl! +Alberic, go if thou wilt: my Lord may be glad of thee! Ay, go," she +continued some little time afterwards, as her rapid movements speedily +placed her passive, almost senseless mistress, in the litter; and she +caught hold of the page's hand with a sudden change of tone, "go; and +return speedily, in mercy, Alberic. Some horror is impending; better +know it than this terrible suspense." + +How long an interval elapsed ere she stood in Isabella's presence, +Marie knew not. The most incongruous thoughts floated, one after +another, through her bewildered brain--most vivid amongst them all, +hers and her husband's fatal secret: had it transpired? Was he +sentenced, and she thus summoned to share his fate? And then, when +partially relieved by the thought, that such a discovery had +never taken place in Spanish annals--why should she dread an +impossibility?--flashed back, clear, ringing, as if that moment +spoken, Stanley's fatal threat; and the cold shuddering of every limb +betrayed the aggravated agony of the thought. With her husband she +could speak of Arthur calmly; to herself she would not even think his +name: not merely lest he should unwittingly deceive again, but that +the recollection of _his_ suffering--and caused by her--ever created +anew, thoughts and feelings which she had vowed unto herself to bury, +and for ever. + +Gloom was on every face she encountered in the castle. The very +soldiers, as they saluted her as the wife of their general, appeared +to gaze upon her with rude, yet earnest commiseration; but neither +word nor rumor reached her ear. Several times she essayed to ask of +her husband, but the words died in a soundless quiver on her lip. Yet +if it were what she dreaded, that Stanley had fulfilled his threat, +and they had fought, and one had fallen--why was she thus summoned? +And had not Morales resolved to avoid him; for her sake not to avenge +Arthur's insulting words? And again the thought of their fatal secret +obtained ascendency. Five minutes more, and she stood alone in the +presence of her Sovereign. + + * * * * * + +It was told; and with such deep sympathy, so gently, so cautiously, +that all of rude and stunning shock was averted; but, alas! who could +breathe of consolation at such a moment? Isabella did not attempt it; +but permitted the burst of agony full vent. She had so completely +merged all of dignity, all of the Sovereign into the woman and the +friend, that Marie neither felt nor exercised restraint; and words +mingled with her broken sobs and wild lament, utterly incomprehensible +to the noble heart that heard. The awful nature of Don Ferdinand's +death, Isabella had still in some measure concealed; but it seemed as +if Marie had strangely connected it with violence and blood, and, in +fearful and disjointed words, accused herself as its miserable cause. + +"Why did not death come to me?" she reiterated; "why take him, my +husband--my noble husband? Oh, Ferdinand, Ferdinand! to go now, when I +have so learnt to love thee! now, when I looked to years of faithful +devotion to prove how wholly the past was banished--how wholly I was +thine alone! to atone for hours of suffering by years of love! Oh, how +couldst thou leave me friendless--desolate?" + +"Not friendless, not desolate, whilst Isabella lives," replied the +Queen, painfully affected, and drawing Marie closer to her, till her +throbbing brow rested on her bosom. "Weep, my poor girl, tears must +flow for a loss like this; and long, long weeks must pass ere we may +hope for resignation; but harrow not thyself by thoughts of more +fearful ill than the reality, my child. Do not look on what might be, +but what has been; on the comfort, the treasure, thou wert to the +beloved one we have lost. How devotedly he loved thee, and thou--" + +"And I so treasured, so loved. Oh, gracious Sovereign!" And Marie sunk +down at her feet, clasping her robe in supplication. "Say but I may +see him in life once more; that life still lingers, if it be but to +tell me once more he forgives me. Oh, let me but hear his voice; but +once, only once, and I will be calm--quite calm; I will try to bear +this bitter agony. Only let me see him, hear him speak again. Thou +knowest not, thou canst not know, how my heart yearns for this." + +"See him thou shalt, my poor girl, if it will give thee aught of +comfort; but hear him, alas! alas! my child, would that it might be! +Would for Spain and her Sovereign's sake, then how much more for +thine, that voice could be recalled; and life, if but for the briefest +space, return! Alas! the blow was but too well aimed." + +"The blow! what blow? How did he die? Who slew him?" gasped Marie; her +look of wild and tearless agony terrifying Isabella, whose last words +had escaped unintentionally. "Speak, speak, in mercy; let me know the +truth?" + +"Hast thou not thyself alluded to violence, and wrath, and hatred, +Marie? Answer me, my child; didst thou know any one, regarding the +generous Morales with such feelings? Could there be one to regard him +as his foe?" + +Crouching lower and lower at Isabella's feet, her face half burled in +her robe, Marie's reply was scarcely audible; but the Queen's brow +contracted. + +"None?" she repeated almost sternly; "wouldst thou deceive at such a +moment? contradict thyself? And yet I am wrong to be thus harsh. Poor +sufferer!" she added, tenderly, as she vainly tried to raise Marie +from the ground; "thou hast all enough to bear; and if, indeed, the +base wretch who has dared thus to trample on the laws alike of God +and man, and stain his own soul with the foul blot of midnight +assassination, be him whom we have secured, thou couldst not know him +as thy husband's foe. It is all mystery--thine own words not least; +but his murder shall be avenged. Ay, had my own kinsman's been the +hand to do the dastard deed." + +"Murder! who was his murderer?" repeated Marie, the horror of such a +fate apparently lost in other and more terrible emotion; "who could +have raised his sword against my husband? Said I he had no foe? Had he +not one, and I, oh, God! did not I create that enmity? But he would +not have murdered him; oh, no--no: my liege, my gracious liege, tell +me in mercy--my brain feels reeling--who was the murderer?" + +"One thou hast known but little space, poor sufferer," replied the +Queen, soothingly; "one whom of all others we could not suspect of +such a deed. And even now, though appearances are strong against him, +we can scarce believe it; that young foreign favorite of my royal +husband, Arthur Stanley." + +"STANLEY!" repeated Marie, in a tone so shrill, so piercing, that the +wild shriek which it formed rung for many and many a day in the ears +of the Queen. And as the word passed her lips she started to her feet, +stood for a second erect, gazing madly on her royal mistress, and +then, without one groan or struggle, dropped perfectly lifeless at her +feet. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + List! hear ye, through the still and lonely night, + The distant hymn of mournful voices roll + Solemn and low? It is the burial rite; + How deep its sadness sinks into the soul, + As slow the passing bell wakes its far ling'ring knoll. + + CHARLES SWAIN. + + +Spain has often been regarded as an absolute monarchy; an opinion, +no doubt, founded on the absolute measures of her later sovereigns. +Ferdinand and Isabella certainly laid the foundation of the royal +prerogative by the firmness and ability with which they decreased the +power of the nobles, who, until their reign, had been like so many +petty sovereigns, each with his independent state, and preserving his +authority by the sword alone. When Ferdinand and Isabella, however, +united their separate kingdoms under one denomination, neither Castile +nor Arragon could be considered as an absolute monarchy. In Castile, +the people, as representatives of the cities, had, from, early ages, +obtained seats in the Cortes, and so in some measure balanced the +power of the aristocracy. The Cortes, similar to our houses of +parliament, could enact laws, impose taxes, and redress grievances, +often making the condition of granting pecuniary aid to the Sovereign, +his consent to the regulations they had laid down, and refusing the +grant if he demurred. In addition to these privileges of the Cortes +of Castile, the Junta of Arragon could coin money, declare war, and +conclude peace; and what was still more remarkable, they could be +neither prorogued nor dissolved by their Sovereign without their own +consent. Alluding to the Castilians, a few years after the period of +our tale, Robertson says-- + + "The principles of liberty seem to have been better understood, + by the Castilians than by any other people in Europe. They had + acquired more liberal notions with respect to their own rights + and privileges. They had formed more bold and generous sentiments + concerning government, and discovered an extent of political + knowledge to which the English themselves did not attain till + nearly a century afterwards." + +When we compare this state of things with the misery and anarchy +pervading Castile before the accession of Isabella, we may have +some idea of the influence of her vigorous measures, and personal +character, on the happiness and freedom of her subjects. The laws +indeed existed before, but they wanted the wisdom and moderation of an +enlightened Sovereign, to give them force and power to act. + +In the kingdom of Arragon, besides the Junta, or National Assemblage, +there was always a Justizia, or supreme judge, whose power, in some +respects, was even greater than the King's; his person was sacred; he +could remove any of the royal ministers whom he deemed unworthy of the +trust, and was himself responsible to none but the Cortes or Junta by +whom he had been elected. The personal as well as the national rights +of the Arragonese, were also more accurately defined than was usual +in that age: no native of Arragon could be convicted, imprisoned, or +tortured, without fair and legal evidence.[A] + +[Footnote A: See History of Spain, by John Bigland.] + +Such being the customs of the kingdom of Arragon, the power of the +crown was more limited than Ferdinand's capacious mind and desire +of dominion chose to endure: the Cortes, or nobles, there were +pre-eminent; the people, as the Sovereign, ciphers, save that the +rights of the former were more cared for than the authority of the +latter. But Ferdinand was not merely ambitious; he had ability and +energy, and so gradually were his plans achieved that he encountered +neither rebellion nor dislike. The Cortes found that he frequently and +boldly transacted business of importance without their interference; +intrusted offices of state to men of inferior rank, but whose +abilities were the proof of his discernment; took upon himself the +office of Justizia, and, in conjunction with Isabella, re-established +an institution which had fallen into disuse through the civil wars, +but which was admirably suited for the internal security of their +kingdom by the protection of the peasantry and lower classes: it was +an association of all the cities of Castile and Arragon, known as the +Sainta Hermandad, or Holy Brotherhood, to maintain a strong body of +troops for the protection of travellers, and the seizure of criminals, +who were brought before judges nominated by the confederated cities, +and condemned according to their crime, without any regard to feudal +laws. Against this institution the nobles of both kingdoms were most +violently opposed, regarding it as the complete destroyer, which in +reality it was, of all their feudal privileges, and taking from +them the long possessed right of trying their own fiefs, and the +mischievous facility of concealing their own criminals. + +Thus much of history--a digression absolutely necessary for the clear +elucidation of Ferdinand and Isabella's conduct with regard to the +events just narrated. The trial of Arthur Stanley they had resolved +should be conducted with all the formula of justice, the more +especially that the fact of his being a foreigner had prejudiced many +minds against him. Ferdinand himself intended to preside at the trial, +with a select number of peers, to assist in the examination, and +pronounce sentence, or confirm the royal mandate, as he should think +fit. Nor was this an extraordinary resolution. Neither the victim, +nor the supposed criminal, was of a rank which allowed a jury of +an inferior grade. Morales had been fief to Isabella alone; and on +Ferdinand, as Isabella's representative, fell the duty of his avenger. +Arthur Stanley owned no feudal lord in Spain, save, as a matter of +courtesy, the King, whose arms he bore. He was accountable, then, +according to the feudal system, which was not yet entirely extinct, +to Ferdinand alone for his actions, and before him must plead his +innocence, or receive sentence for his crime. As his feudal lord, or +suzerain, Ferdinand might at once have condemned him to death; but +this summary proceeding was effectually prevented by the laws of +Arragon and the office of the Holy Brotherhood; and therefore, in +compliance with their mandates, royal orders were issued that every +evidence for or against the prisoner should be carefully collected +preparatory to the trial. More effectually to do this, the trial was +postponed from seven to fourteen days after the discovery of the +murder. + +The excitement which this foul assassination excited in Segovia was so +extreme, that the nobles were compelled to solicit Isabella's personal +interference, in quieting the populace, and permitting the even course +of justice: they had thronged in tumultuary masses round the prison +where Stanley was confined, with wild shouts and imprecations, +demanding his instant surrender to their rage, mingling groans and +lamentations with yells and curses, in the most fearful medley. Old +Pedro, who had been Arthur's host, unwittingly added fuel to the +flame, by exulting in his prophecy that evil would come of Ferdinand's +partiality for the white-faced foreigner; that he had seen it long, +but guessed not how terribly his mutterings would end. By the Queen's +permission, the chamber of state in which the body lay was thrown open +to the eager citizens, who thronged in such crowds to behold the sole +remains of one they had well nigh idolized, that the guards were +compelled to permit the entrance of only a certain number every +day. Here was neither state nor pomp to arrest the attention of the +sight-loving populace: nought of royalty or gorgeous symbols. No; men +came to pay the last tribute of admiring love and sorrow to one who +had ever, noble as he was by birth, made himself one with them, +cheering their sorrows, sharing their joys; treating age, however poor +or lowly, with the reverence springing from the heart, inspiring +youth to deeds of worth and honor, and by his own example, far more +eloquently than by his words, teaching all and every age the duties +demanded by their country and their homes, to their families and +themselves. And this man was snatched from them, not alone by the +ruthless hand of death, but by midnight murder. Was it marvel, the +very grief his loss occasioned should rouse to wildest fury men's +passions against his murderer? + +It was the evening of the fifth day after the murder, that with a +degree of splendor and of universal mourning, unrivalled before in the +interment of any subject, the body of Ferdinand Morales was committed +to the tomb. The King himself, divested of all insignia of royalty, +bareheaded, and in a long mourning cloak, headed the train of chief +mourners, which, though they counted no immediate kindred, numbered +twenty or thirty of the highest nobles, both of Arragon and Castile. +The gentlemen, squires, and pages of Morales' own household followed: +and then came on horse and on foot, with arms reversed, and lowered +heads, the gallant troops who had so often followed Morales to +victory, and under him had so ably aided in placing Isabella on her +throne; an immense body of citizens, all in mourning, closed the +procession. Every shop had been closed, every flag half-masted; +and every balcony, by which the body passed, hung with black. The +cathedral church was thronged, and holy and thrilling the service +which consigned dust to dust, and hid for ever from the eyes of his +fellow men, the last decaying remains of one so universally beloved. +The coffin of ebony and silver, partly open, so as to disclose the +face of the corpse, as was customary with Catholic burials of those of +high or priestly rank, and the lower part covered with a superb velvet +pall, rested before the high altar during the chanted service; at the +conclusion of which the coffin was closed, the lid screwed down, and +lowered with slow solemnity into the vault beneath. A requiem, chanted +by above a hundred of the sweetest and richest voices, sounding in +thrilling unison with the deep bass and swelling notes of the organ, +had concluded the solemn rites, and the procession departed as +it came; but for some days the gloom in the city continued; the +realization of the public loss seemed only beginning to be fully felt, +as excitement subsided. + +Masses for the soul of the Catholic warrior, were of course sung for +many succeeding days. It was at midnight, a very short time after +this public interment, that a strange group were assembled within the +cathedral vaults, at the very hour that mass for the departed was +being chanted in the church above their heads; it consisted of monks +and travelling friars, accompanied by five or six of the highest +nobility; their persons concealed in coarse mantles and shrouding +hoods; they had borne with them, through the subterranean passages +of the crypt, leading to the vaults, a coffin so exactly similar in +workmanship and inscription to that which contained the remains of +their late companion, that to distinguish the one from the other was +impossible. The real one, moved with awe and solemnity, was conveyed +to a secret recess close to the entrance of the crypt, and replaced +in the vault by the one they had brought with them. As silently, as +voicelessly as they had entered and done their work, so they departed. +The following night, at the same hour, the coffin of Morales, over +which had been nailed a thick black pall, so that neither name, +inscription, nor ornament could be perceived, was conveyed from +Segovia in a covered cart, belonging, it appeared, to the monastery of +St. Francis, situated some leagues southward, and attended by one or +two monks and friars of the same order. The party proceeded leisurely, +travelling more by night than by day, diminishing gradually in number +till, at the entrance of a broad and desolate plain, only four +remained with the cart. Over this plain they hastened, then wound +through a circuitous path concealed in prickly brushwood, and paused +before a huge, misshapen crag, seemingly half buried in the earth: in +this a door, formed of one solid stone, flew back at their touch; +the coffin, taken with reverence from the cart, was borne on their +shoulders through the dark and narrow passage, and down the winding +stair, till they stood in safety in the vale; in the secret entrance +by which they entered, the lock closed as they passed, and was +apparently lost in the solid wall. Three or four awaited them--nobles, +who had craved leave of absence for a brief interval from the court, +and who had come by different paths to the secret retreat (no doubt +already recognized by our readers as the Vale of Cedars), to lay +Morales with his fathers, with the simple form, yet solemn service +peculiar to the burials of their darkly hidden race. The grave was +already dug beside that of Manuel Henriquez; the coffin, resting +during the continuance of a brief prayer and psalm in the little +temple, was then borne to the ground marked out, which, concealed by +a thick hedge of cypress and cedar, lay some little distance from the +temple; for, in their secret race, it was not permitted for the house +destined to the worship of the Most High, to be surrounded by the +homes of the dead. A slow and solemn hymn accompanied the lowering of +the coffin; a prayer in the same unknown language; a brief address, +and the grave was filled up; the noble dead left with his kindred, +kindred alike in blood as faith; and ere the morning rose, the living +had all departed, save the few retainers of the house of Henriquez and +Morales, to whose faithful charge the retreat had been intrusted. No +proud effigy marked those simple graves; the monuments of the dead +were in the hearts of the living. But in the cathedral of Segovia a +lordly monument arose to the memory of Ferdinand Morales, erected, +not indeed for idle pomp, but as a tribute from the gratitude of a +Sovereign--and a nation's love. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + ANGELO. We must not make a scarecrow of the law, + Setting it up to fear the birds of prey; + And let it keep one shape, till custom make it + Their perch, and not their terror. + + ESCALUS. Ay, but yet + Let us be keen, and rather cut a little, + Than fall and bruise to death. + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +On the evening preceding the day appointed for the trial, Isabella, +unattended and unannounced, sought her husband's private closet; she +found him poring so intently over maps and plans, which strewed the +tables before him, that she spoke before he perceived her. + +"Just come when most wished for, dear wife, and royal liege," was his +courteous address, as he rose and gracefully led her to a seat beside +his own. "See how my plans for the reduction of these heathen Moors +are quietly working; they are divided within themselves, quarrelling +more and more fiercely. Pedro Pas brings me information that the road +to Alhama is well nigh defenceless, and therefore the war should +commence in that quarter. But how is this, love?" he added, after +speaking of his intended measures at some length, and perceiving that +they failed to elicit Isabella's interest as usual. "Thy thoughts are +not with me this evening." + +"With thee, my husband, but not with the Moors," replied the Queen, +faintly smiling. "I confess to a pre-occupied mind; but just now my +heart is so filled with sorrowing sympathy, that I can think but +of individuals, not of nations. In the last council, in which the +question of this Moorish war was agitated, our faithful Morales was +the most eloquent. His impassioned oratory so haunted me, as your +Grace spoke, that I can scarcely now believe it hushed for ever, save +for the too painful witness of its truth." + +"His lovely wife thou meanest, Isabel? Poor girl! How fares she?" + +"As she has been since that long faint, which even I believed was +death; pale, tearless, silent. Even the seeing of her husband's body, +which I permitted, hoping the sight would break that marble calm, +has had no effect, save to increase, if possible, the rigidity of +suffering. It is for her my present errand." + +"For her!" replied the King, surprised. "What can I do for her, apart +from thee?" + +"I will answer the question by another, Ferdinand. Is it true that she +must appear as evidence against the murderer in to-morrow's trial?" + +"Isabella, this must be," answered the King, earnestly. "There seems +to me no alternative; and yet surely this cannot be so repugnant to +her feelings. Would it not be more injustice, both to her, and to the +dead, to withhold any evidence likely to assist in the discovery of +the murderer?" + +"But why lay so much stress on her appearance? Is there not sufficient +evidence without her?" + +"Not to satisfy me as to Stanley's guilt," replied the King. "I +have heard indeed from Don Luis Garcia quite enough, _if it be true +evidence_, to condemn him. But I like not this Garcia; it is useless +now to examine wherefore. I doubt him so much, that I would not, if +possible, lay any stress upon his words. He has declared on oath that +he saw Stanley draw his sword upon Morales, proclaim aloud his undying +hatred, and swear that he would take his life or lose his own; but +that, if I were not satisfied with this assurance, Donna Marie herself +had been present, had seen and heard all, and could no doubt give a +very efficient reason, in her own beautiful person, for Stanley's +hatred to her husband, as such matters were but too common in Spain. +I checked him with a stern rebuke; for if ever there were a +double-meaning hypocrite, this Don Luis is one. Besides, I cannot +penetrate how he came to be present at this stormy interview. He has +evaded, he thinks successfully, my questions on this head; but if, as +I believe, it was dishonorably obtained, I am the less inclined to +trust either him or his intelligence. If Marie were indeed present, +which he insists she was, her testimony is the most important of any. +If she confirm Don Luis's statement, give the same account of the +interview between her husband and Stanley, and a reason for this +suddenly proclaimed enmity; if she swear that he did utter such +threatening words, I will neither hope nor try to save him; he is +guilty, and must die. But if she deny that he thus spoke; if she +declares on oath that she knew of no cause for, nor of the existence +of any enmity, I care not for other proofs, glaring though they be. +Accident or some atrocious design against him, as an envied foreigner, +may have thrown them together. Let Marie swear that this Garcia has +spoken falsely, and Stanley shall live, were my whole kingdom to +implore his death. In Donna Marie's evidence there can be no deceit; +she can have no wish that Stanley should be saved; as her husband's +supposed murderer, he must be an object of horror and loathing. Still +silent Isabel? Is not her evidence required?" + +"It is indeed. And yet I feel that, to demand it, will but increase +the trial already hers." + +"As how?" inquired the King, somewhat astonished. "Surely thou canst +not mean--" + +"I mean nothing; I know nothing," interrupted Isabella hastily. "I can +give your Grace no reason, save my own feelings. Is there no way to +prevent this public exposure, and yet serve the purpose equally?" + +Ferdinand mused. "I can think of none," he said. "Does Marie know of +this summons? and has her anguish sent thee hither? Or is it merely +the pleadings of thine own heart, my Isabel?" + +"She does not know it. The summons appeared to me so strange and +needless, I would not let her be informed till I had sought thee." + +"But thou seest it is not needless!" answered the King anxiously, for +in the most trifling matter he ever sought her acquiescence. + +"Needless it is not, my liege. The life of the young foreigner, who +has thrown himself so confidingly on our protection and friendship, +must not be sacrificed without most convincing proofs of his guilt. +Marie's evidence is indeed important; but would not your Grace's +purpose be equally attained, if that evidence be given to me, her +native Sovereign, in private, without the dread formula which, if +summoned before a court of justice, may have fatal effects on a +mind and frame already so severely tried? In my presence alone the +necessary evidence may be given with equal solemnity, and with less +pain to the poor sufferer herself." + +King Ferdinand again paused in thought. "But her words must be on +oath, Isabel. Who will administer that oath?" + +"Father Francis, if required. But it will surely be enough if she +swear the truth to me. She cannot deceive me, even if she were so +inclined. I can mark a quivering lip or changing color, which others +might pass unnoticed." + +"But how will this secret examination satisfy the friends of the +murdered?" again urged the cautious King. "How will they be satisfied, +if I acquit Stanley from Donna Marie's evidence, and that evidence be +kept from them?" + +"Is not the word of their Sovereign enough? If Isabella say so it is, +what noble of Castile would disgrace himself or her by a doubt as to +its truth?" replied the Queen proudly. "Let me clearly understand all +your Grace requires, and leave the rest to me. If Marie corroborates +Garcia's words, why, on his evidence sentence may be pronounced +without her appearance in it at all; but if she deny in the smallest +tittle his report, in my presence they shall confront each other, and +fear not the truth shall be elicited, and, if possible, Stanley saved. +I may be deceived, and Marie not refuse to appear as witness against +him; if so, there needs not my interference. I would but spare her +increase of pain, and bid her desolate heart cling to me as her mother +and her friend. When my subjects look upon me thus, my husband, then, +and then only is Isabella what she would be." + +"And do they not already thus regard thee, my own Isabel?" replied the +King, gazing with actual reverence upon her; "and as such, will future +ages reverence thy name. Be it as thou wilt. Let Marie's own feelings +decide the question. She _must_ take part in this trial, either in +public or private; she _must_ speak on oath, for life and death hang +on her words, and her decision must be speedy. It is sunset now, and +ere to-morrow's noon she must have spoken, or be prepared to appear." + +Ere Queen Isabella reached her own apartments her plan was formed. Don +Luis's tale had confirmed her suspicions as to the double cause of +Marie's wretchedness; she had herself administered to her while in +that dead faint--herself bent over her, lest the first words of +returning consciousness should betray aught which the sufferer might +wish concealed; but her care had been needless: no word passed those +parched and ashy lips. The frame, indeed, for some days was powerless, +and she acceded eagerly to Isabella's earnest proffer (for it was not +command) to send for her attendants, and occupy a suite of rooms in +the castle, close to her royal mistress, in preference to returning to +her own home; from which, in its desolate grandeur, she shrunk almost +in loathing. + +For seven days after her loss she had not quitted her apartment, seen +only by the Queen and her own woman; but after that interval, at +Isabella's gently expressed wish, she joined her, in her private +hours, amongst her most favored attendants; called upon indeed for +nothing save her presence! And little did her pre-occupied mind +imagine how tenderly she was watched, and with what kindly sympathy +her unexpressed thoughts were read. + +On the evening in question, Isabella was seated, as was her frequent +custom, in a spacious chamber, surrounded by her female attendants, +with whom she was familiarly conversing, making them friends as well +as subjects, yet so uniting dignity with kindness, that her favor was +far more valued and eagerly sought than had there been no superiority; +yet, still it was more for her perfect womanhood than her rank that +she was so reverenced, so loved. At the farther end of the spacious +chamber were several young girls, daughters of the nobles of Castile +and Arragon, whom Isabella's maternal care for her subjects had +collected around her, that their education might be carried on under +her own eye, and so create for the future nobles of her country, wives +and mothers after her own exalted stamp. They were always encouraged +to converse freely and gayly amongst each other; for thus she learned +their several characters, and guided them accordingly. There was +neither restraint nor heaviness in her presence; for by a word, a +smile, she could prove her interest in their simple pleasures, her +sympathy in their eager youth. + +Apart from all, but nearest Isabella, silent and pale, shrouded in the +sable robes of widowhood--that painful garb which, in its voiceless +eloquence of desolation, ever calls for tears, more especially when +it shrouds the young; her beautiful hair, save two thick braids, +concealed under the linen coif--sat Marie, lovely indeed still, but +looking like one + + "Whose heart was born to break-- + A face on which to gaze, made every feeling ache." + +An embroidery frame was before her, "but the flowers grew but slowly +beneath her hand. About an hour after Isabella had joined her +attendants, a light signal was heard at the tapestried door of the +apartment. The Queen was then sitting in a posture of deep meditation; +but she looked up, as a young girl answered the summons, and then +turned towards her Sovereign. + +"Well, Catherine?" + +"Royal madam, a page, from his Grace the King, craves speech of Donna +Marie." + +"Admit him then." + +The boy entered, and with a low reverence advanced towards Marie. +She looked up in his face bewildered--a bewilderment which Isabella +perceived changed to a strong expression of mental torture, ere he +ceased to speak. + +"Ferdinand, King of Arragon and Castile," he said, "sends, with all +courtesy, his royal greeting to Donna Marie Henriquez Morales, and +forthwith commands her attendance at the solemn trial which is held +to-morrow's noon; by her evidence to confirm or refute the charge +brought against the person of Arthur Stanley, as being and having been +the acknowledged enemy of the deceased Don Ferdinand Morales (God +assoilize his soul!) and as having uttered words of murderous import +in her hearing. Resolved, to the utmost of his power, to do justice to +the living as to avenge the dead, his royal highness is compelled thus +to demand the testimony of Donna Marie, as she alone can confirm or +refute this heavy and most solemn charge." + +There was no answer; but it seemed as if the messenger required +none--imagining the royal command all sufficient for obedience--for he +bowed respectfully as he concluded, and withdrew. Marie gazed after +him, and her lip quivered as if she would have spoken--would have +recalled him; but no word came, and she drooped her head on her hands, +pressing her slender fingers strongly on her brow, as thus to bring +back connected thought once more. What had he said? She must appear +against Stanley--she must speak his doom? Why did those fatal words +which must condemn him, ring in her ears, as only that moment spoken? +Her embroidery fell from her lap, and there was no movement to replace +it. How long she thus sat she knew not; but, roused by the Queen's +voice uttering her name, she started, and looked round her. She +was alone with Isabella; who was gazing on her with such unfeigned +commiseration, that, unable to resist the impulse, she darted +forwards, and sinking at her feet, implored-- + +"Oh, madam--gracious madam! in mercy spare me this!" + +The Queen drew her tenderly to her, and said, with evident emotion-- + +"What am I to spare thee, my poor child? Surely thou wouldst not +withhold aught that can convict thy husband's murderer? Thou wouldst +not in mistaken mercy elude for him the justice of the law?" + +"No--no," murmured Marie; "let the murderer die; but not Stanley! Oh, +no--no; he would not lift his hand against my husband. Who says he +slew him? Why do they attach so foul a crime to his unshadowed name? +Let the murderer die; but it is not Arthur: I know it is not. Oh, do +not slay him too!" + +Marie knew not the wild entreaty breathing in her words: but the +almost severely penetrating gaze which Isabella had fixed upon her, +recalled her to herself; a crimson flush mounted to cheek and brow, +and, burying her face in the Queen's robe, she continued less wildly-- + +"Oh, madam, bear with me; I know not what I say. Think I am mad; +but oh, in mercy, ask me no question. Am I not mad, to ask thee to +spare--spare--him they call my husband's murderer? Let him die," and +the wild tone returned, "if he indeed could strike the blow; but oh, +let not my lips pronounce his death-doom! Gracious Sovereign, do not +look upon me thus--I cannot bear that gaze." + +"Fear me not, poor sufferer," replied Isabella, mildly; "I will ask no +question--demand nought that will give thee pain to answer--save that +which justice compels me to require. That there is a double cause for +all this wretchedness, I cannot but perceive, and that I suspect its +cause I may not deny; but guilty I will not believe thee, till +thine own words or deeds proclaim it. Look up then, my poor child, +unshrinkingly; I am no dread Sovereign to thee, painful as is the +trial to which I fear I must subject thee. There are charges brought +against young Stanley so startling in their nature, that, much as we +distrust his accuser, justice forbids our passing them unnoticed. On +thy true testimony his Grace the King relies to confirm or refute +them. Thy evidence must convict or save him." + +"My evidence!" repeated Marie. "What can they ask of me of such +weight? Save him." she added, a sudden gleam of hope irradiating her +pallid face, like a sunbeam upon snow? "Did your Grace say _I_ could +save him? Oh, speak, in mercy!" + +"Calm this emotion then, Marie, and thou shalt know all. It was for +this I called thee hither. Sit thee on the settle at my feet, and +listen to me patiently, if thou canst. 'Tis a harsh word to use to +grief such as thine, my child," she added, caressingly, as she laid +her hand on Marie's drooping head; "and I fear will only nerve thee +for a still harsher trial. Believe me, I would have spared thee if I +could; but all I can do is to bid thee choose the lesser of the two +evils. Mark me well: for the Sovereign of the murdered, the judge of +the murderer, alike speak through me." And clearly and forcibly she +narrated all, with which our readers are already acquainted, through +her interview with the King. She spoke very slowly, as if to give +Marie time to weigh well each sentence. She could not see her +countenance; nay, she purposely refrained from looking at her, lest +she should increase the suffering she was so unwillingly inflicting. +For some minutes she paused as she concluded; then, as neither word +nor sound escaped from Marie, she said, with emphatic earnestness--"If +it will be a lesser trial to give thine evidence on oath to thy +Queen alone, we are here to receive it. Our royal husband--our loyal +subjects--will be satisfied with Isabella's report. Thy words will be +as sacred--thy oath as valid--as if thy testimony were received in +public, thy oath administered by one of the holy fathers, with all the +dread formula of the church. We have repeated all to which thy answers +will be demanded; it remains for thee to decide whether thou wilt +speak before his Grace the King and his assembled junta, or here and +now before thy native Sovereign. Pause ere thou dost answer--there is +time enough." + +For a brief interval there was silence. The kind heart of the Queen +throbbed painfully, so completely had her sympathy identified her with +the beautiful being, who had so irresistibly claimed her cherishing +love. But ere she had had time to satisfy herself as to the issue of +the struggle so silently, yet so fearfully at work in her companion, +Marie had arisen, and with dignity and fearlessness, strangely at +variance with the wild agony of her words and manner before, stood +erect before her Sovereign; and when she spoke, her voice was calm and +firm. + +"Queen of Spain!" she said. "My kind, gracious Sovereign! Would that +words could speak one-half the love, the devotion, all thy goodness +has inspired; but they seem frozen, all frozen now, and it may be that +I may never even prove them--that it will be my desolate fate, to seem +less and less worthy of an affection I value more than life. Royal +madam! I will appear at to-morrow's trial! Your Grace is startled; +deeming it a resolve as strange as contradictory. Ask not the +wherefore, gracious Sovereign: it is fixed unalterably. I will obey +his Grace's summons. Its unexpected suddenness startled me at first; +but it is over. Oh, madam," she continued--tone, look, and manner +becoming again those of the agitated suppliant, and she sunk once more +at Isabella's feet: "In my wild agony I have forgotten the respect and +deference due from a subject to her Sovereign; I have poured forth my +misery, seemingly as regardless of kindness, as insensible to the wide +distance between us. Oh, forgive me, my gracious Sovereign; and in +token of thy pardon, grant me but one boon!" + +"Nought have I to forgive, my suffering child," replied the Queen, +powerfully affected, and passing her arm caressingly round her +kneeling favorite; "what is rank--sovereignty itself--in hours of +sorrow? If I were so tenacious of dignity as thou fearest, I should +have shrunk from that awful presence--affliction from a Father's +hand--in which his children are all equals, Marie. And as for thy +boon: be it what it may, I grant it." + +"Thou sayest so now, my liege; but when the hour to grant it comes, +every feeling will revolt against it; even thine, my Sovereign, kind, +generous, as thou art. Oh, Madam, thou wilt hear a strange tale +to-morrow--one so fraught with mystery and marvel, thou wilt refuse to +believe; but when the trial of to-morrow is past, then think on what +I say now: what thou nearest will be TRUE--true as there is a heaven +above us; I swear it! Do not look upon me thus, my Sovereign; I am not +mad--oh, would that I were! Dark, meaningless as my words seem now, +to-morrow they will be distinct and clear enough. And then--then, +if thou hast ever loved me, oh, grant the boon I implore thee now: +whatever thou mayest hear, do not condemn me--do not cast me wholly +from thee. More than ever shall I need thy protecting care. Oh, my +Sovereign--thou who hast taught me so to love thee, in pity love me +still!" + +"Strange wayward being," said Isabella, gazing doubtingly on the +imploring face upturned to hers; "towards other than thyself such +mystery would banish love for ever; but I will not doubt thee. Darkly +as thou speakest, still I grant the boon. What can I hear of thee, to +cast thee from me?" + +"Thou wilt hear of deceit, my liege," replied Marie, very slowly, and +her eyes fell beneath the Queen's gaze; "thou wilt hear of long years +of deceit and fraud, and many--many tongues will speak their scorn and +condemnation. Then wilt thou grant it--then?" + +"Even then," replied Isabella fearlessly; "an thou speakest truth +at last, deceit itself I will forgive. But thou art overwrought and +anxious, and so layest more stress on some trivial fault than even I +would demand. Go to thy own chamber now, and in prayer and meditation +gain strength for to-morrow's trial. Whatever I may hear, so it be not +meditated and unrepented guilt, (which I know it cannot be,) I will +forgive, and love thee still. The holy saints bless and keep thee, my +fair child!" + +And as Marie bent to salute the kind hand extended to her, Isabella +drew her towards her, and fondly kissed her cheek. The unexpected +caress, or some other secret feeling, subdued the overwrought energy +at once; and for the first time since her husband's death, Marie burst +into natural tears. But her purpose changed not; though Isabella's +gentle and affectionate soothing rendered it tenfold more painful to +accomplish. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + LEONTES.--These sessions, to our great grief, we pronounce + Even pushes 'gainst our heart. + Let us be cleared + Of being tyrannous, since we openly + Proceed in justice--which shall have due course, + Even to the guilt, or the purgation. + Produce the prisoner!--SHAKSPEARE. + + +The day of trial dawned, bright, sunny, cloudless, as was usual +in beautiful Spain--a joyous elasticity was in the atmosphere, a +brilliance in the heavens, which thence reflected on the earth, so +painfully contrasted with misery and death, that the bright sky +seemed to strike a double chill on the hearts of those most deeply +interested. + +Never had the solemn proceedings of justice created so great an +excitement; not only in Segovia itself, but the towns and villages, +many miles round, sent eager citizens and rustic countrymen to learn +the issue, and report it speedily to those compelled to stay at home. +The universal mourning for Morales was one cause of the popular +excitement; and the supposition of the young foreigner being his +murderer another. + +The hall of the castle was crowded at a very early hour, Isabella +having signified not only permission, but her wish that as many of her +citizen subjects as space would admit should be present, to witness +the faithful course of justice. Nearest to the seat destined for the +King, at the upper end of the hall, were ranged several fathers from +an adjoining convent of Franciscans, by whom a special service had +been impressively performed that morning in the cathedral, in which +all who had been summoned to preside at the trial had solemnly joined. + +The Monks of St. Francis were celebrated alike for their sterling +piety, great learning, and general benevolence. Their fault, if such +it could be termed in a holy Catholic community, was their rigid +exclusiveness regarding religion; their uncompromising and strict love +for, and adherence to, their own creed; and stern abhorrence towards, +and violent persecution of, all who in the slightest degree departed +from it, or failed to pay it the respect and obedience which they +believed it demanded. At their head was their Sub-Prior, a character +whose influence on the after position of Spain was so great, that we +may not pass it by, without more notice than our tale itself perhaps +would demand. To the world, as to his brethren and superiors, in the +monastery, a stern unbending spirit, a rigid austerity, and unchanging +severity of mental and physical discipline, characterized his whole +bearing and daily conduct. Yet, his severity proceeded not from the +superstition and bigotry of a weak mind or misanthropic feeling. +Though his whole time and thoughts appeared devoted to the interest +of his monastery, and thence to relieving and guiding the poor, and +curbing and decreasing the intemperate follies and licentious conduct +of the laymen, in its immediate neighborhood; yet his extraordinary +knowledge, not merely of human nature, but of the world at large--his +profound and extensive genius, which, in after years was displayed, +in the prosecution of such vast schemes for Spain's advancement, that +they riveted the attention of all Europe upon him--naturally won him +the respect and consideration of Ferdinand and Isabella, whose acute +penetration easily traced the natural man, even through the thick veil +of monkish austerity. They cherished and honored him, little thinking +that, had it not been for him, Spain would have sunk at their death, +into the same abyss of anarchy and misery, from which their vigorous +measures had so lately roused, and, as they hoped, So effectually +guarded her. + +When Torquemada, Isabella's confessor, was absent from court, which +not unfrequently happened, for his capacious mind was never at peace +unless actively employed--Father Francis, though but the Sub-Prior of +a Franciscan monastery, always took his place, and frequently were +both sovereigns guided by his privately asked and frankly given +opinions, not only on secular affairs, but on matters of state, and +even of war. With such a character for his Sub-Prior, the lordly Abbot +of the Franciscans was indeed but a nominal dignitary, quite contented +to enjoy all the indulgences and corporeal luxuries, permitted, or +perhaps winked at, from his superior rank, and leaving to Father +Francis every active duty; gladly, therefore, he deputed on him +the office of heading the Monks that day summoned to attend King +Ferdinand. + +Not any sign of the benevolence and goodness--in reality the +characteristics of this extraordinary man--was visible on his +countenance as he sat. The very boldest and haughtiest of the +aristocracy, involuntarily perhaps, yet irresistibly, acknowledged his +superiority. Reverence and awe were the emotions first excited towards +his person: but already was that reverence largely mingled with +the love which some three years afterwards gave him such powerful +influence over the whole sovereignty of Spain. Next to the holy +fathers, and ranged according to rank and seniority, were the nobles +who had been selected to attend, the greater number of whom, were +Castilians, as countrymen of the deceased. Next to them were the +Santa Hermandad, or Brethren of the Associated Cities, without whose +presence and aid, no forms of justice, even though ruled and guided by +royalty itself, were considered valid or complete. A semicircle was +thus formed, the centre of which was the King's seat; and opposite to +him, in the hollow, as it were of the crescent, a space left for the +prisoner, accusers, and witnesses. Soldiers lined the hall; a treble +guard being drawn up at the base of the semicircle, and extending in a +wide line right and left, behind the spot destined for the prisoner. +There was still a large space left, and this was so thronged with +citizens, that it presented the appearance of a dense mass of human +heads, every face turned in one direction, and expressive in various +ways of but one excitement, one emotion. + +There was not a smile on either of the stern countenances within the +hall. As the shock and horror of Don Ferdinand's fate in some measure +subsided, not only the nobles, but the soldiers themselves, began to +recall the supposed murderer in the many fields of honorable warfare, +the many positions of mighty and chivalric bearing in which they had +hitherto seen the young Englishman play so distinguished a part; and +doubts began to arise as to the possibility of so great a change, and +in so short a time. To meet even a supposed enemy in fair field, +and with an equality of weapons, was the custom of the day; such, +therefore, between Stanley and Morales, might have excited marvel as +to the _cause_, but not as to the _act_. But murder! it was so wholly +incompatible with even the very lowest principles of chivalry (except +when the unfortunate victim was of too low a rank to be removed by any +other means), that when they recalled the gallantry, the frankness of +speech and deed, the careless buoyancy, the quickly subdued passion, +and easily accorded forgiveness of injury, which had ever before +characterized young Stanley, they could not believe his guilt: but +then came the recollection of the startling proofs against him, and +such belief was almost involuntarily suspended. There was not a +movement in that immense concourse of human beings, not a word spoken +one to the other, not a murmur even of impatience for the appearance +of the King. All was so still, so mute, that, had it not been for the +varied play of countenances, any stranger suddenly placed within the +circle might have imagined himself in an assemblage of statues. + +Precisely at noon, the folding-doors at the upper end of the hall were +thrown widely but noiselessly back, and King Ferdinand, attended by a +few pages and gentlemen, slowly entered, and taking his seat, gazed +a full minute, inquiringly and penetratingly around him, and then +resting his head on his hand, remained plunged in earnest meditation +some moments before he spoke. + +It was a strange sight--the noiseless, yet universal rising of the +assemblage in honor to their Sovereign, changing their position as by +one simultaneous movement. Many an eye turned towards him to read +on his countenance the prisoner's doom; but its calm, almost stern +expression, baffled the most penetrating gaze. Some minutes passed ere +Ferdinand, rousing himself from his abstraction, waved his hand, +and every seat was instantaneously resumed, and so profound was the +silence, that every syllable the Monarch spoke, though his voice was +not raised one note above his usual pitch, was heard by every member +of those immense crowds, as individually addressing each. + +"My Lords and holy Fathers, and ye Associated Brethren," he said, "the +cause of your present assemblage needs no repetition. Had the murdered +and the supposed murderer been other than they are, we should have +left the course of justice in the hands of those appointed to +administer it, and interfered not ourselves save to confirm or annul +the sentence they should pronounce. As the case stands, we are deputed +by our illustrious Consort and sister Sovereign, Isabella of Castile, +to represent her as Suzerain of the deceased (whom the saints +assoilize), and so ourselves guide the proceedings of justice on his +murderer. Our prerogative as Suzerain and Liege would permit us to +condemn to death at once; but in this instance, my Lords and holy +Fathers, we confess ourselves unwilling and incapable of pronouncing +judgment solely on our own responsibility. The accused is a friendless +foreigner, to whom we have been enabled to show some kindness, and +therefore one towards whom we cannot feel indifference: he has, +moreover, done us such good service both in Spain and Sicily, that +even the grave charge brought against him now, cannot blot out the +memories of the past. We find it difficult to believe that a young, +high-spirited, honorable warrior, in whose heart every chivalric +feeling appeared to beat, could become, under any temptation, under +any impulse, that base and loathsome coward--a midnight murderer! On +your counsels, then, we implicitly depend: examine, impartially and +deliberately, the proofs for and against, which will be laid before +you. But let one truth be ever present, lest justice herself be but a +cover for prejudice and hate. Let not Europe have cause to say, that +he who, flying from the enemies and tyrants of his own land, took +refuge on the hearths of our people, secure there of kindness and +protection, has found them not. Were it a countryman we were about to +judge, this charge were needless; justice and mercy would, if it were +possible, go hand in hand. The foreigner, who has voluntarily assumed +the name and service of a son of Spain, demands yet more at our hands. +My Lords and holy Fathers, and ye Associated Brethren, remember +this important truth, and act accordingly: but if, on a strict, +unprejudiced examination of the evidence against the prisoner, ye +pronounce him guilty, be it so: the scripture saith, 'blood must flow +for blood!'" + +A universal murmur of assent filled the hall as the King ceased: his +words had thrilled reprovingly on many there present, particularly +amongst the populace, who felt, even as the Monarch spoke, the real +cause of their violent wrath against the murderer. Ere, however, they +had time to analyze why the violent abhorrence of Stanley should be +so calmed merely at the King's words, the command, "Bring forth the +prisoner!" occasioned an intensity of interest and eager movement +of the numerous heads towards the base of the hall, banishing every +calmer thought. The treble line of soldiers, forming the base of the +crescent, divided in the centre, and wheeling backwards, formed two +files of dense thickness, leaving a lane between them through which +the prisoner and his guards were discerned advancing to the place +assigned. He was still heavily fettered, and his dress, which he had +not been permitted to change, covered with dark, lurid stains, hung so +loosely upon him, that his attenuated form bore witness, even as the +white cheek and haggard eye, to the intense mental torture of the last +fortnight. His fair hair lay damp and matted on his pale forehead; but +still there was that in his whole bearing which, while it breathed of +suffering, contradicted every thought of guilt. He looked round him +steadily and calmly, lowered his head a moment in respectful deference +to the King, and instantly resumed the lofty carriage which suffering +itself seemed inadequate to bend. King Ferdinand fixed his eyes upon +him with an expression before which the hardiest guilt must for the +moment have quailed; but not a muscle of the prisoner's countenance +moved, and Ferdinand proceeded to address him gravely, yet feelingly. + +"Arthur Stanley," he said, "we have heard from Don Felix d'Estaban +that you have refused our proffered privilege of seeking and +employing some friends, subtle in judgment, and learned in all the +technicalities of such proceedings, as to-day will witness, to +undertake your cause. Why is this? Is your honor of such small amount, +that you refuse even to accept the privilege of defence? Are you so +well prepared yourself to refute the evidence which has been collected +against you, that you need no more? Or have we indeed heard aright, +that you have resolved to let the course of justice proceed, without +one effort on your part to avert an inevitable doom? This would seem a +tacit avowal of guilt; else, wherefore call your doom inevitable? If +conscious of innocence, have you no hope, no belief in the Divine +Justice, which can as easily make manifest innocence as punish +crime? Ere we depute to others the solemn task of examination, and +pronouncing sentence, we bid you speak, and answer as to the wherefore +of this rash and contradictory determination--persisting in words that +you are guiltless, yet refusing the privilege of defence. Is life so +valueless, that you cast it degraded from you? As Sovereign and Judge, +we command you answer, lest by your own rash act the course of justice +be impeded, and the sentence of the guilty awarded to the innocent. +As man to man, I charge thee speak; bring forward some proof of +innocence. Let me not condemn to death as a coward and a murderer, +one whom I have loved and trusted as a friend! Answer--wherefore this +strange callousness to life--this utter disregard of thine honor and +thy name?" + +For a moment, while the King addressed him as man to man, the pallid +cheek and brow of the prisoner flushed with painful emotion, and there +was a scarcely audible tremulousness in his voice as he replied: + +"And how will defence avail me? How may mere assertion deny proof, and +so preserve life and redeem honor? My liege, I had resolved to attempt +no defence, because I would not unnecessarily prolong the torture of +degradation. Had I one proof, the slightest proof to produce, which +might in the faintest degree avail me, I would not withhold it; +justice to my father's name would be of itself sufficient to command +defence. But I have none! I cannot so perjure myself as to deny one +word of the charges brought against me, save that of murder! Of +thoughts of hate and wrath, ay, and blood, but such blood as honorable +men would shed, I am guilty, I now feel, unredeemably guilty, but not +of murder! I am not silent because conscious of enacted guilt. I will +not go down to the dishonored grave, now yawning for me, permitting, +by silence, your Highness, and these your subjects, to believe me +the monster of ingratitude, the treacherous coward which appearances +pronounce me. No!" he continued, raising his right hand as high as +his fetters would permit, and speaking in a tone which fell with +the eloquence of truth, on every heart--"No: here, as on the +scaffold--now, as with my dying breath, I will proclaim aloud my +innocence; I call on the Almighty Judge himself, as on every Saint +in heaven, to attest it--ay, and I believe it WILL be attested, when +nought but my memory is left to be cleared from shame--I am not the +murderer of Don Ferdinand Morales! Had he been in every deed my +foe--had he given me cause for the indulgence of those ungovernable +passions which I now feel were roused against him so causelessly and +sinfully, I might have sought their gratification by honorable combat, +but not by midnight murder! I speak not, I repeat, to save my life: it +is justly forfeited for thoughts of crime! I speak that, when in after +years my innocence will be made evident by the discovery of the real +assassin, you will all remember what I now say--that I have not so +basely requited the King and Country who so generously and trustingly +befriended me--that I am no murderer!" + +"Then, if so convinced of innocence, young man, wherefore not attempt +defence?" demanded the Sub-Prior of St. Francis. "Knowest thou not +that wilfully to throw away the life intrusted to you, for some +wise purpose, is amenable before the throne of the Most High as +self-committed murder? Proofs of this strongly asserted innocence, +thou must have." + +"I have none," calmly answered the prisoner, "I have but words, and +who will believe them? Who, here present, will credit the strange +tale, that, tortured and restless from mental suffering, I courted the +fury of the elements, and rushed from my quarters on the night of the +murder _without_ my sword?--that, in securing the belt, I missed the +weapon, but still sought not for it as I ought?--who will believe that +it was accident, not design, which took me to the Calle Soledad? and +that it was a fall over the murdered body of Don Ferdinand which +deluged my hands and dress with the blood that dyed the ground? Who +will credit that it was seeing him thus which chained me, paralyzed, +horror-stricken, to the spot? In the wild fury of my passions I had +believed him my enemy, and sworn his death; then was it marvel that +thus beholding him turned me well-nigh to stone, and that, in my +horror, I had no power to call for aid, or raise the shout after the +murderer, for my own thoughts arose as fiends, to whisper, such might +have been nay work--that I had wished his death? Great God! the awful +wakening from the delusion of weeks--the dread recognition in that +murdered corse of my own thoughts of sin!" He paused involuntarily, +for his strong agitation completely choked his voice, and shook his +whole frame. After a brief silence, which none in the hall had heart +to break, he continued calmly, "Let the trial proceed, gracious +Sovereign. Your Highness's generous interest in one accused of a +crime so awful, comprising the death, not of a subject only, but of a +friend, does but add to the heavy weight of obligation already mine, +and would of itself excite the wish to live, to prove that I am not +so utterly unworthy; but I feel that not to such as I, may the Divine +mercy be so shown, as to bring forward the real murderer. The misery +of the last fortnight has shown me how deeply I have sinned in +thought, though not in deed; and how dare I, then, indulge the wild +dream that my innocence will be proved, until too late, save for +mine honor? My liege, I have trespassed too long on the time of this +assemblage; let the trial proceed." + +So powerful was the effect of his tone and words, that the impulse was +strong in every heart to strike off his fetters, and give him life +and freedom. The countenance of the Sub-Prior of St. Francis alone +retained its unmoved calmness, and its tone, its imperturbable +gravity, as he commanded Don Felix d'Estaban to produce the witnesses; +and on their appearance, desired one of the fathers to administer the +oath. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + "His unaltering-cheek + Still vividly doth hold its natural hue, + And his eye quails not. Is this innocence?" + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +During the examination of Don Alonzo of Aguilar, and of old Pedro and +Juana, the prisoner remained with his arms calmly folded and head +erect, without the smallest variation of feature or position denoting +either anxiety or agitation. Don Alonzo's statement was very simple. +He described the exact spot where he had found the body, and the +position in which it lay; the intense agitation of Stanley, the bloody +appearance of his clothes, hands, and face, urging them to secure his +person even before they discovered the broken fragment of his sword +lying beside the corse. His account was corroborated, in the very +minutest points, by the men who had accompanied him, even though +cross-questioned with unusual particularity by Father Francis. Old +Pedro's statement, though less circumstantial, was, to the soldiers +and citizens especially, quite as convincing. He gave a wordy +narrative of Senor Stanley's unnatural state of excitement from the +very evening he had become his lodger--that he had frequently heard +him muttering to himself such words as "blood" and "vengeance." He +constantly appeared longing for something; never eat half the meals +provided for him--a sure proof, in old Pedro's imagination, of a +disordered mind, and that the night of the murder he had heard him +leave the house, with every symptom of agitation. Old Juana, with very +evident reluctance, confirmed this account; but Father Francis was +evidently not satisfied. "Amongst these incoherent ravings of the +prisoner, did you ever distinguish the word 'murder?'" he demanded--a +question which would be strange, indeed, in the court of justice of +the present day, but of importance in an age when such words as blood +and vengeance, amongst warriors, simply signified a determination to +fight out their quarrel in (so-called) honorable combat. The answer, +after some hesitation, was in the negative. "Did you ever distinguish +any name, as the object of Senor Stanley's desired vengeance?" + +Pedro immediately answered "No;" but there was a simper of hesitation +in old Juana, that caused the Sub-Prior to appeal to her. "Please your +Reverence, I only chanced to hear the poor young man say, 'Oh, Marie! +Marie!' one day when I brought him his dinner, which he put away +untouched, though I put my best cooking in it." + +A slight, scarcely perceptible flush passed over the prisoner's cheek +and brow. The King muttered an exclamation; Father Francis's brow +contracted, and several of the nobles looked uneasily from one to the +other. + +"At what time did the prisoner leave his apartments the night of the +murder?" continued the Sub-Prior. + +"Exactly as the great bell of the cathedral chimed eleven," was the +ready reply from Pedro and Juana at the same moment. + +"Did you hear nothing but his hasty movements, as you describe? Did he +not call for attendance, or a light? Remember, you are on oath," he +continued sternly, as he observed the hesitation with which old Pedro +muttered "No;" and that Juana was silent. "The church punishes false +swearers. Did he speak or not?" + +"He called for a light, please your Reverence, but--" + +"But you did not choose to obey at an hour so late!" sternly responded +Father Francis; "and by such neglect may be guilty of accelerating the +death of the innocent, and concealing the real murderer! You allege +that Senor Stanley returned from some military duty at sunset, and +slept from then till just before eleven, so soundly that you could not +rouse him even for his evening meal. This was strange for a man with +murder in his thoughts! Again, that he called for a light, which, +you neglected to bring; and Senor Stanley asserts that he missed his +sword, but rushed from the house without it. Your culpable neglect, +then, prevents our discovering the truth of this assertion; yet you +acknowledge he called loudly for light; this appears too unlikely +to have been the case, had the prisoner quitted the house with the +intention to do murder." + +"Intention at that moment he might not have had, Reverend Father," +interposed the head of the Associated Brethren, who had taken an +active part in the examination. "Were there no evidence as to +premeditated desire of vengeance, premeditated insult, and +long-entertained enmity, these conclusions might have foundation. As +the case stands, they weigh but little. Where evil passions have +been excited, opportunity for their indulgence is not likely to pass +unused." + +"But evidence of that long-entertained enmity and premeditated +vengeance we have not yet examined," replied the Sub-Prior. "If it +only rest on the suppositions of this old couple, in one of whom it +is pretty evident, prejudice is stronger than clearly defined truth, +methinks that, despite this circumstantial evidence, there is still +hope of the prisoner's innocence, more especially as we have one other +important fact to bring forward. You are certain," he continued, +addressing old Pedro, "that the bell chimed eleven when Senor Stanley +quitted your dwelling?" The man answered firmly in the affirmative. +"And you will swear that the Senor slept from sunset till that hour?" + +"I dare not swear to it, your Reverence, for Juana and I were at a +neighbor's for part of that time; but on our return, Juana took up his +supper again, and found him so exactly in the same position as we had +left him, that we could not believe he had even moved." + +"Was he alone in the house during this interval?" + +"No; the maid Beta was at her work in the room below Senor Stanley's." + +"Let her be brought here." + +The order was so rapidly obeyed, that it was very evident she was +close at hand; but so terribly alarmed at the presence in which she +stood, as to compel the Sub-Prior to adopt the gentlest possible tone, +to get any answer at all. He merely inquired if, during the absence of +her master and mistress, she had heard any movement in the prisoner's +room. She said that she thought she had--a quiet, stealthy step, and +also a sound as if a door in the back of the house closed; but the +sounds were so very indistinct, she had felt them at the time more +like a dream than reality; and the commencement of the storm had so +terrified her, that she did not dare move from her seat. + +"And what hour was this?" + +It might have been about nine; but she could not say exactly. And from +the assertion that she did hear a slight sound, though puzzlingly +cross-questioned, she never wavered. The King and the Sub-Prior both +looked disappointed. The chief of the Santa Hermandad expressed +himself confirmed in his previous supposition. + +The prisoner retained his calmness; but a gleam of intelligence seemed +to flit across his features. + +"You would speak, Senor Stanley," interposed the King, as the girl was +dismissed. "We would gladly hear you." + +"I would simply say, your Highness," replied Stanley, gratefully, +"that it is not unlikely Beta may have heard such sounds. I am +convinced my evening draught was drugged; and the same secret enemy +who did this, to give him opportunity undiscovered to purloin my +sword--may, nay, _must_ have entered my chamber during that deathlike +sleep, and committed the theft which was to burden an innocent man +with his deed of guilt. The deep stillness in the house might have +permitted her ear to catch the step, though my sleep was too profound. +I could hardly have had time to waken, rise, commit the deed of death, +and return to such a completely deceiving semblance of sleep, in the +short hour of Pedro and Juana's absence; and if I had, what madness +would have led me there again, and so appalled me, as to prevent all +effort of escape?" + +"Conscience," replied the chief of the Santa Hermandad, sternly. "The +impelling of the Divine Spirit, whom you had profaned, and who +in justice so distracted you, as to lead you blindly to your own +destruction--no marvel the darkness oppressed, and the storm appalled +you; or that heaven in its wrath should ordain the events you yourself +have described--the fall over your own victim, and the horror thence +proceeding. We have heard that your early years have been honorable, +Senor Stanley, and to such, guilt is appalling even in its +accomplishment. Methinks, Father Francis, we need now but the evidence +of the premeditation." + +"Your pardon, brother; but such, conclusions are somewhat over-hasty. +It is scarcely probable, had Senor Stanley returned after the +committal of such a deed, that his reentrance should not have been +heard as well as his departure; whereas the witness expressly +declares, that though her attention was awakened by the previous faint +sound, and she listened frequently, she never heard another movement, +till her master and mistress's return; and as they went into the +Senor's room directly, and found him without the very least appearance +of having moved, justice compels us to incline to the belief in Senor +Stanley's suggestion--that he could scarcely have had sufficient time +to rouse, depart, do murder, and feign sleep during Pedro Benito's +brief interval of absence." + +"We will grant that so it may be, Reverend Father, but what proof have +we that the murder had not been just committed when the body and the +assassin were discovered?" + +Father Francis replied, by commanding the appearance of Don +Ferdinand's steward, and after the customary formula, inquired what +hour his late lamented master had quitted his mansion the night of the +murder. The man replied, without hesitation, "Exactly as the chimes +played the quarter before nine." + +"But was not that unusually early? The hour of meeting at the castle +was ten, and the distance from Don Ferdinand's mansion not twenty +minutes' ride, and scarce forty minutes' walk. Are you perfectly +certain as to the hour?" + +"I can take my oath upon it, your Reverence, and Lopez will say the +same. Our sainted master (Jesu rest his soul!) called to him a few +minutes before he entered my lady's room, and told him not to get his +horse ready, as he should walk to the castle. Lopez asked as to who +should attend him, and his reply was he would go alone. He had done so +before, and so we were not surprised; but we were grieved at his look, +for it seemed of suffering, unlike himself, and were noticing it to +each other as he passed us, after quitting my lady, and so quickly and +so absorbed, that he did not return our salutation, which he never in +all his life neglected to do before. My poor, poor master! little did +we think we should never see him again!" And the man's unconstrained +burst of grief excited anew the indignation of the spectators against +the crime, till then almost forgotten, in the intense interest as +to the fate of the accused. Lopez was called, and corroborated the +steward's account exactly. + +"If he left his house at a quarter before nine, at what hour, think +you, he would reach the Calle Soledad?" + +From ten to fifteen minutes past the hour, your Reverence, unless +detained by calling elsewhere on his way." + +"Did he mention any intention of so doing?" The answer was in the +negative. "According to this account, then, the murder must have taken +place between nine and ten; and Senor Stanley was not heard to quit +his apartment till eleven. This would corroborate his own assertion, +that the deed was committed ere he reached the spot." + +"But what proof have we that Don Ferdinand was not detained on his +way?" replied the chief of the Santa Hermandad. "His domestics assert +no more than the hour of his quitting the house." + +"The hour of the royal meeting was ten," rejoined the Sub-Prior; "he +was noted for regularity, and was not likely to have voluntarily +lingered so long, as not even to reach the Calle till one hour +afterwards." + +"Not voluntarily; but we have heard that he appeared more suffering +than he was ever seen to do. His illness might have increased, and so +cause detention; and yet, on even partial recovery, we know him +well enough to believe he would still have endeavored to join his +Highness." + +"He would; but there is evidence that when brought to the castle, he +had been dead at the very least three hours. Let Curador Benedicto +come forward." + +A respectable man, dressed in black, and recognized at once as the +leech or doctor of the royal household, obeyed the summons, and on +being questioned, stated that he had examined the body the very moment +it had been conveyed to the castle, in the hope of discovering some +signs of animation, however faint. But life was totally extinct, and, +according to his judgment, had been so at the very least three hours." + +"And what hour was this?" + +"Just half-an-hour after midnight." + +A brief silence followed the leech's dismissal; Ferdinand still seemed +perplexed and uneasy, and not one countenance, either of the nobles or +Associated Brethren, evinced satisfaction. + +"Our task, instead of decreasing in difficulty, becomes more and more +complicated, my lords and brethren," observed the Sub-Prior, after +waiting for the chief of the Santa Hermandad to speak. "Had we any +positive proof, that Senor Stanley really slept from the hour of sunset +till eleven the same evening, and never quitted his quarters until then, +we might hope that the sentence of Curador Benedicto, as to the length +of time life had been extinct in his supposed victim, might weigh +strongly against the circumstantial chain of evidence brought against +him. Believing that the prisoner having slept from the hour of sunset to +eleven was a proven and witnessed fact, I undertook the defensive and +argued in his favor. The sounds heard by the girl Beta may or may not +have proceeded from the stealthy movements of the accused, and yet +justice forbids our passing them by unnoticed. The time of this movement +being heard, and that of the murder, according to the leech's evidence, +tally so exactly that we cannot doubt but the one had to do with the +other; but whether it were indeed the prisoner's step, or that of the +base purloiner of his sword, your united judgment must decide. +Individual supposition, in a matter of life or death, can be of no +avail. My belief, as you may have discovered, inclines to the prisoner's +innocence. My brother, the chief Hermano, as strongly believes in his +guilt. And it would appear as if the evidence itself, supports the one +judgment equally with the other; contradictory and complicated, it has +yet been truthfully brought forward and strictly examined. Your united +judgment, Senors and Hermanos, must therefore decide the prisoner's +fate." + +"But under your favor, Reverend Father, all the evidence has not been +brought forward," rejoined the chief Hermano. "And methinks that which +is still to come is the most important of the whole. That the business +is complicated, and judgment most difficult, I acknowledge, and +therefore gladly avail myself of any remaining point on which the +scale may turn. Sworn as I am to administer impartial justice, +prejudice against the prisoner I can have none; but the point we have +until now overlooked, appears sufficient to decide not only individual +but general opinion. I mean the _premeditated vengeance_ sworn by the +prisoner against the deceased--long indulged and proclaimed enmity, +and premeditated determination to take his life or lose his own. +Don Ferdinand Morales--be his soul assoilized!--was so universally +beloved, so truly the friend of all ranks and conditions of men, that +to believe in the existence of any other enmity towards his person is +almost impossible. We have evidence that the prisoner was at feud with +him--was harboring some design against him for weeks. It may be he was +even refused by Don Ferdinand the meeting he desired, and so sought +vengeance by the midnight dagger. Let the evidence of this enmity be +examined, and according or not as premeditated malice is elicited, so +let your judgment be pronounced." + +"Ay, so let it be," muttered the King as a loud murmur of assent ran +through the hall. "We have two witnesses for this; and, by heaven, if +the one differ from the other in the smallest point, the prisoner may +still be reprieved!" + +Whether the royal observation was heard or not, there was no +rejoinder, for at the summoning of the chief Hermano, Don Luis Garcia +stood before the assemblage. His appearance excited surprise in many +present, and in none more than the prisoner himself. He raised his +head, which had been resting on his hand during the address of the +Sub-Prior, and the reply of the Hermano, and looked at the new witness +with bewildered astonishment. As Don Luis continued his relation of +the stormy interview between the deceased and the accused, and the +words of threatening used by the latter, astonishment itself, changed +into an indignation and loathing impossible to be restrained. + +"Thou base dishonored villain!" he exclaimed, so suddenly and +wrathfully that it startled more by its strange contrast with his +former calmness than by its irreverent interruption to the formula of +the examination; "where wert thou during this interview? Hearing so +well, and so invisibly concealed, none but the voluntary spy could +have heard all this; so skilfully detailed that thou wouldst seem in +very truth _witness_ as well as hearer. What _accident_ could have led +thee to the most retired part of Don Ferdinand's garden, and, +being there, detained thee? Thou treacherous villain! and on thy +evidence--evidence so honorably, so truthfully obtained, my life or +death depends! Well, be it so." + +"But so it shall not be," interposed the King himself, ere either +Sub-Prior or the Hermano could reply; "even as the prisoner, we +ourselves hold evidence dishonestly obtained of little moment--nay, +of no weight whatever. Be pleased, Don Luis Garcia, to explain +the casualty which led you, at such an important moment, to Don +Ferdinand's grounds; or name some other witness. The voluntary +listener is, in our mind, dishonorable as the liar, and demanding no +more account." + +With a mien and voice of the deepest humility, Don Luis replied; +grieving that his earnest love of justice should expose him to the +royal displeasure; submitting meekly to unjust suspicion as concerned +himself, but still upholding the truth and correctness of his +statement. The other witness to the same, he added mysteriously, he +had already named to his Royal Highness. + +"And she waits our pleasure," replied the King; "Don Felix d'Estaban, +be pleased to conduct the last witness to our presence." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + But love is strong. There came + Strength upon Woman's fragile heart and frame; + There came swift courage. + + MRS. HEMANS. + + Death has no pang + More keen than this. Oh, wherefore art thou here? + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +A profound silence followed Don Felix's departure. Don Luis had so +evidently evaded the King's demand, as to how he had witnessed this +important interview, that even those most prejudiced in his favor, on +account of his extreme sanctity, found themselves doubting his honor; +and those who had involuntarily been prejudiced against him, by the +indefinable something pervading his countenance and voice, doubly +rejoiced that their unspoken antipathy had some foundation. In modern +courts of justice, to refuse the validity of evidence merely because +the manner of obtaining it was supposed dishonorable, would be +pronounced the acme of folly and romance. In the age of which we +write, and in Spain especially, the sense of honor was so exquisitely +refined, that the King's rebuke, and determination not to allow the +validity of Don Luis's evidence, unless confirmed by an honorable +witness, excited no surprise whatever; every noble, nay, every one of +the Associated Brethren, there present, would have said the same; and +the eager wonder, as to the person of the witness on whom so much +stress was laid, became absolutely intense. The prisoner was very +evidently agitated; his cheek flushed and paled in rapid alternation, +and a suppressed but painful exclamation escaped from him as Don Felix +re-entered, leading with him a female form; but the faint sound was +unheard, save by the King and the Sub-Prior, who had been conversing +apart during d'Estaban's absence--lost in the irrepressible burst of +wonder and sympathy, which broke from all within the hall, as in the +new witness, despite the change of garb, and look, from the dazzling +beauty of health and peace, to the attenuated form of anxiety and +sorrow, they recognized at once the widow of the murdered, Donna +Marie. Nor was this universal sympathy lessened, when, on partially +removing her veil, to permit a clear view of the scene around her, her +sweet face was disclosed to all--profoundly, almost unnaturally, calm, +indeed--but the cheek and lips were perfectly colorless; the ashy +whiteness of the former rendered them more striking from the long +black lash resting upon it, unwetted by a single tear: and from the +peculiarly dark eye appearing the larger, from the attenuation of the +other features. One steady and inquiring glance she was seen to fix +upon the prisoner, and then she bent in homage to the Sovereign; and +emotion, if there were any, passed unseen. + +"Sit, lady," said the King, with ready courtesy, touched more than he +could have imagined possible, by the change fourteen short days had +wrought. "We would feign render this compelled summons as brief and +little fatiguing as may be: none can grieve more than ourselves at +this harsh intrusion on thy hours of sorrow; but in a great measure +the doom of life or death rests with thee, and justice forbids our +neglecting evidence so important. Yet sit, lady; we command it." + +"It needs not, gracious Sovereign; my strength will not fail me," +replied Marie, her sweet voice falling distinctly on every ear, while +Stanley started at its calmness; and she gracefully refused the seat +Don Felix proffered. "Give no more thought to me than to any other +witness; it is not a subject's place to sit in presence of her +Sovereign." + +But Ferdinand's kindliest feelings were excited, and instead of +permitting the Sub-Prior to give the necessary details, he himself, +with characteristic brevity, but clearly and kindly, narrated the +progress of the evidence for and against the prisoner, and how great +the weight laid on the proofs, if there were any, of acknowledged +enmity, and premeditated injury, on the part of the accused towards +the deceased. The questions to which he was compelled to request her +reply were simply, "Was she aware of any cause of hatred existing +between the accused and the deceased?" "Had she ever heard opprobrious +and insulting epithets used by the former or the latter?" "or any +threat, implying that the death of Don Ferdinand Morales was desired +by the prisoner?" "Had she ever seen the prisoner draw his sword upon +the deceased?--and had she any reason to believe that Don Ferdinand +had ever refused, or intended to refuse to meet the prisoner in +honorable combat, and so urged the gratification of vengeance by a +deed of murder? Reverend Father," continued the King, "be pleased +yourself to administer the customary oath." + +Father Francis instantly rose from his seat, and taking the large and +richly embossed silver crucifix from the Monk, who had administered +the oath to all the other witnesses, himself approached Marie. "Marie +Henriquez Morales," he said, as he reverentially held the solemn +symbol of his religion before her, "art thou well advised of the +solemnity of the words thou art called upon to speak? If so, swear to +speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Swear by +the Holy Symbol which I support; by the unpronounceable name of the +Father, by the flesh and blood, the resurrection and the life of our +Lord and Saviour Christ Jesu; by the Holy Spirit; by the saving and +glorious Trinity; by the goodly army of Saints and Martyrs; daughter, +swear, and the blessing or the curse be with you as you swear true or +falsely." + +The fine countenance of the Sub-Prior glowed with the holy enthusiasm +of his appeal; his form, as he stood, one hand clasping the crucifix, +the other emphatically raised, seemed dilated to unusual height and +majesty, and the deep solemnity of his accents so enhanced the awful +responsibility of the oath, that it thrilled throughout the multitude +as it had never done before. So deep was the stillness which followed, +that not one of those vast crowds seemed to breathe. To the prisoner +it was a moment of intense emotion: for if, indeed, Marie had once +told him truth, that oath, to her, even in its solemnity, was as +nought; but ere he could even think as to the wording of her answer, +that answer came, and so distinct, so unfalteringly spoken, that there +was not one person present who even strained his ear to catch the +words. + +"Reverend Father," she said, "I am grateful for thy counsel; and, +believe me, am well advised of the truth and solemnity of the words I +speak. But I cannot aid his Grace, and these his subjects, in their +decision as to the prisoner's sentence. My evidence is valueless. +I belong to that race whose word is never taken as witness, for or +against, in a court of justice. I cannot take the oath required, for I +deny the faith in which it is administered. I am a JEWESS!" + +A wild cry, in every variety of intonation--astonishment, horror, +wrath, and perhaps terror, ran through the hall--from Sovereign, +Noble, Monk, and Citizen, simultaneously. Father Francis staggered +back several paces, as if there were contamination in remaining by her +side, and then stood as rooted to the ground, his hand convulsively +grasping the crucifix which had nearly fallen from his hold; his lips +apart, his nostrils slightly distended, and his eyes almost starting +from their sockets, in the horrified and astonished gaze he fixed upon +the pale and fragile being who had dared speak such impious words. The +attendant fathers rose simultaneously, and formed a semicircle round +their superior, ready, at his slightest signal, to hurl down on +her the anathema of the church; reverence to the Sub-Prior alone +preventing the curse from instantly bursting forth. The nobles, the +Associated Brethren, Ferdinand himself, started almost unconsciously +to their feet, and an eager rush brought many of the citizens still +nearer to the scene of action. The prisoner, with an irresistible +impulse, darted forwards, and ere any one had recovered from his +trance of bewilderment, had flung himself at Marie's feet. + +"Marie! Marie!" he exclaimed, in a voice so hoarse and choked, its +words were heard by her alone. "Oh! why hast thou done this? Why not +take the required oath, and condemn me at once? Marie, I am unworthy +of such self-sacrifice!" + +"Ha! didst thou slay him then? Have I judged thee too kindly, Arthur," +she answered; and the hand she laid heavily on his shoulder trembled +so violently, it was evident she had thus placed it only to save her +from sinking to the ground, for the unnatural strength had gone. + +"No!" he exclaimed, in a tone and with a look that satisfied her at +once, and there was no time for more. The King had perceived that the +Sub-Prior was recovering composure, and with it energy of action; +though himself a zealous Catholic, he felt compelled to save Marie. +"Hold! hold!" he said hastily, as Father Francis was about to speak. +"Reverend Father, we pray thee, be not over hasty in this matter; +these are strange and terrible words; but they are meaningless; they +must be. Her misery has turned her brain; she is mad; heed her not; be +silent all of ye! See how she glares upon the prisoner! Is that the +look of sanity? By St. Francis, we have done wrong to call her hither! +Stand back, good fathers. Remove the prisoner; and let Donna Marie be +conducted from the hall. Our Consort should have warned us of this!" + +"Forbear, my liege!" replied the Sub-Prior sternly. "The blaspheming +words were all too calmly and collectively spoken for the ravings of +madness. Let not the false unbeliever pass hence till at least she +has done reverence to the sacred symbol, she has, by daring denial, +insulted. As thou wouldst save thine own soul from hell-fire, my +liege, interfere not in this!" + +As he spoke, several soldiers had endeavored rudely to drag Arthur +from Marie: he strove fiercely for freedom, for but one hour's power +to protect her, but in vain. And the look she fixed upon him, as he +was torn from her, from its contrast with her previous profound calm, +did indeed seem almost of madness. The excitement which had enabled +her to make this dread avowal--an avowal comprising such variety, and +terrible danger, that the magnitude of the sacrifice comprised in the +confession can now scarcely be understood; danger, not merely from the +vengeance of the church for long years of fraud, nor from the secret +and awful tribunal of whose existence she was conscious (though not of +its close vicinity); not merely these, but danger from the wrath, and +terrors of the secret members of her own faith, who might naturally +imagine their own safety endangered in the suspicion, engendered by +her rash confession. Of all this she had thought; had believed herself +strengthened to brave and bear every possible suffering, rather than +breathe those words which must seal Stanley's fate; but now that she +had spoken, though she would not have recalled them if she could--such +an overpowering, crushing sense of all she had drawn upon herself, +such fearful, spectral shapes of indefinable horror came upon her, +that, as the Sub-Prior stood again before her with the uplifted cross, +bidding her kneel and acknowledge him whose fate it imaged--she burst +into a wild hysteric laugh, and fell prone upon the floor. + +"Said I not she was mad? And what need was there for this unmanly +violence?" angrily exclaimed the Monarch; and, starting from his seat, +he authoritatively waved back the denouncing monks, and himself bent +over Marie. The Duke of Murcia, Don Felix d'Estaban, the Lord of +Aguilar, and several other nobles following the Sovereign's example, +hastened to her assistance. But to restore animation was not in their +power, and on the King's whispered commands, Don Felix gently, even +tenderly raised her, and bore her in his arms from the hall. Even in +that moment of excitement Ferdinand could not forbear glancing at the +prisoner, whose passionate struggles to escape from the guard, when +Marie fell, had been noticed by all, and unhappily, combined with, his +previous irritation, but confirmed the unspoken suspicions of many as +to the real cause of his enmity against Don Ferdinand. The expression +of his countenance was of such contending, terrible suffering, that +the King hastily withdrew his gaze, vainly endeavoring to disbelieve, +as he had done, the truth of Garcia's charge. + +Order was at length universally restored, and after a brief silence, +the chief of the Santa Hermandad demanded of the prisoner if he had +aught to say in his defence, or reply himself to Don Luis Garcia's +charge. The reply was a stern, determined negative; and, deputed so to +do by the Sub-Prior, who seemed so absorbed in the horror of Marie's +daring avowal, as to be incapable of further interference, the Hermano +proceeded to sum up the evidence. As the widow of the deceased had so +strangely, yet effectually deprived them of her evidence, he said, +he thought some slight regard ought to be paid to Don Luis Garcia's +words; but even without doing so, the circumstantial evidence, though +contradictory and complicated, was enough in his opinion to convict +the prisoner; but he referred to his associates and to the peers +then present, to pronounce sentence. His task was but to sum up the +evidence, which he trusted he had done distinctly; his opinion was +that of but one individual; there were at least fifty or sixty voices, +to confirm or to oppose it. + +Deep and sustained as had been the interest throughout the trial, it +was never more intense than during the awful pause which heralded the +prisoner's doom. It was spoken at length; the majority alike of the +nobles and of the Santa Hermandad, believed and pronounced him guilty, +and sentence of death was accordingly passed; but the Duke of Murcia +then stepped forward, and urged the following, not only in the name of +his brother peers, but in the name of his native sovereign, Isabella; +that in consideration of the complicated and contradictory evidence, +of the prisoner's previous high character, and of his strongly +protested innocence, a respite of one month should be granted between +sentence and execution, to permit prayers to be offered up throughout +Spain for the discovery of the real murderer, or at least allow time +for some proof of innocence to appear; during which time the prisoner +should be removed from the hateful dungeon he had till that morning +occupied, and confined under strict ward, in one of the turrets of the +castle; and that, if at the end of the granted month affairs remained +as they were then, that no proof of innocence appeared, a scaffold was +to be erected in the Calle Soledad, on the exact spot where the murder +was committed; there the prisoner, publicly degraded from the honors +and privileges of chivalry, his sword broken before him, his spurs +ignominiously struck from his heels, would then receive the award +of the law, death from hanging, the usual fate of the vilest and +commonest malefactors. + +Ferdinand and the Sub-Prior regarded him attentively while this +sentence was pronounced, but not a muscle in his countenance moved; +what it expressed it would have been difficult to define; but it +seemed as if his thoughts were on other than himself. The King +courteously thanked the assemblage for their aid in a matter so +momentous, and at once ratified their suggestion. The Associated +Brethren were satisfied that it was Isabella's will; confident also in +their own power to prevent the evasion, and bring about the execution +of the sentence, if still required, at the termination of the given +time; and with a brief but impressive address from the Sub-Prior to +the prisoner, the assemblage dispersed. + +But the excitement of the city ceased not with the conclusion of the +trial: not alone the populace, but the nobles themselves, even the +Holy Fathers and Associated Brethren were seen, forming in various +groups, conversing eagerly and mysteriously. The interest in the +prisoner had in some measure given way to a new excitement. Question +followed question, conjecture followed conjecture, but nothing could +solve the mystery of Donna Marie's terrible avowal, or decrease the +bewilderment and perplexity which, from various causes, it created in +every mind. One alone, amongst the vast crowds which had thronged the +trial, shunned his fellows. Not a change in the calm, cold, sneering +expression of Don Luis Garcia's countenance had betrayed either +surprise at, or sympathy with, any one of the various emotions +stirring that vast multitude of human hearts; he had scarcely even +moved his position during the continuance of the trial, casting indeed +many a glance on the immediate scene of action, from beneath his +thick and shadowy eyebrows, which concealed the sinister gaze from +observation. He shunned the face of day; but in his own dark haunts, +and with his hellish colleagues, plans were formed and acted on, with +a rapidity which, to minds less matured in iniquity, would have seemed +incredible. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + The quality of mercy is not strain'd, + It droppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven + Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed, + It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes; + 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes + The throned monarch better than his crown. + + SHAKSPEARE. + +The interest attending a trial, in which royalty had evinced such +powerful sympathy, naturally extended to every member of Isabella's +female train: her anxiety as to the issue had been very visible, +notwithstanding her calm and quiet demeanor. The Infanta Isabella and +the Infant Don Juan were with her during the morning as usual; but +even their infantile caresses, dearer to her true woman's heart than +all her vast possessions, had failed to disperse the anxiety of +thought. Few can peruse the interesting life of Isabella of Castile +without being struck by the fact, that even as her public career was +one of unmixed prosperity for her country and herself, her private +sorrows and domestic trials vied, in their bitterness, with those of +the poorest and humblest of her subjects. Her first-born, the Infanta +Isabella, who united all the brilliant and endearing qualities of her +mother, with great beauty, both of face and form, became a loving +bride only to become a widow--a mother, only to gaze upon her babe, +and die; and her orphan quickly followed. Don Juan, the delight +and pride and hope of his parents, as of the enthusiasm and almost +idolatry of their subjects, died in his twentieth year. The hapless +Catherine of Arragon, with whose life of sorrow and neglect every +reader of English history is acquainted, though they sometimes forget +her illustrious parentage; her sorrows indeed Isabella was spared, as +she died before Henry the Eighth ascended the English throne. But +it was Juana, the wife of Philip, and mother of Charles V., whose +intellects, always feeble, and destroyed by the neglect and unkindness +of the husband she idolized, struck the last and fatal blow. And she, +whom all Europe regarded with unfeigned veneration--she whom her own +subjects so idolized, they would gladly have laid down a thousand +lives for hers--she fell a victim to a mother's heart-consuming +grief.[A] Who then, after perusing her life, and that of how many +other sovereigns, will refuse them, the meed of sympathy, because, +raised so far above us in _outward_ things, we deem the griefs and +feelings of common humanity unknown and uncared for? To our mind, +the destiny of the Sovereign, the awful responsibility, the utter +loneliness of station, the general want of sympathy, the proneness to +be condemned for faults or omissions of which they are, individually, +as innocent as their contemners, present a subject for consideration +and sympathy, and ought to check the unkind thoughts and hasty +condemnation, excited merely because they are placed in rank and +circumstances above us. A King of kings has placed them there, and a +Universal Father calls them His children, even as ourselves. + +[Footnote A: Isabella had been previously attacked by dangerous +indisposition, from which, however, the natural strength of her +constitution would have enabled her in some degree to rally; but the +springs of life had been injured by previous bereavement. Her lungs +became affected, and the symptoms of decline rapidly and fatally +increased from continual affliction of mind.--_History of Spain_.] + +Isabella had not seen Marie that morning; her trusty attendant, Donna +Inez de Leon, had alone been with her, and had reported that she was +calm and composed, and more like herself than she had been since her +bereavement. Time passed but slowly, and Catherine Pas, the same +high-spirited maiden mentioned in a former chapter, perceiving that +the Queen's anxiety evidently increased as the hours waned, quietly +left the chamber, unbidden, and even unseen. A brief interval saw +her return, and with a countenance so expressive of horrified +bewilderment, as to excite the astonishment of all. + +"Oh, madam!" she exclaimed, as she flew to the Queen's seat, +regardless of either decorum or rebuke; "Oh, madam, it has killed her; +she is dying!" + +"Dying!" repeated Isabella, and the whole strength of her character +was put forth, to prevent her starting from her seat. "Dying!--who is +dying? Speak out, in Santa Maria's name!" + +"Donna Marie--the poor, unhappy Marie; she has been borne from the +hall! Don Felix had her in his arms; I saw her; I followed them, and +she looked dead, quite dead; they would not let me go to her at first, +till I called them hard-hearted wretches! And I have tried to rouse +her, but I could not. Oh, save her, gracious madam! Do not let her +die!" + +"And have they none with her?" demanded the Queen. "But whom can they +have, save her own terrified women? Inez--Leonor--go to her at once! +Your skill and tenderness will soon revive her; this silly child +is terrified at shadows. 'Tis but a faint, such as followed the +announcement of her husband's death. If any one dare refuse you +entrance, tell them you go in your Queen's name. Foolish trembler," +she added, in a tone of relief, as her commands were instantly obeyed, +"why this excessive agitation, when thou hast seen a faint like this +before?" + +"Nay, but by your leave, gracious madam, I have not," replied +Catherine, with emotion. "There is far more of horror in this; she is +cold--cold, like stone; and they have planted a guard at the entrance +of her apartments, and they tell a tale so wild and strange, I cannot +give it credence!" + +"Ha! what say they?" demanded the Queen hastily, her eyes flashing +with light, as they always did when she was excited. "What can it be, +too wild and strange for thy hair-brained fancy to believe? Marvellous +it must be indeed!" + +Isabella spoke jestingly, but her heart was not with her words: and +Catherine replied with tears starting to her eyes, "Oh, do not speak +thus, my liege. It is indeed no theme for jest." And she continued so +rapidly, that to any but the quickened mind of Isabella, her words +must have seemed unintelligible. "They say she is a heretic, royal +madam! Nay, worse--a blaspheming unbeliever; that she has refused to +take the oath, on plea of not believing in the Holy Catholic Church; +that she has insulted, has trampled on the sacred cross! Nor is +this all--worse, yet worse; they say she has proclaimed herself a +JEWESS!--an abhorred, an unbelieving Jewess!" + +A general start and loud exclamation of horror was the natural +rejoinder to this unlooked-for intelligence; but not from Isabella, +whose flashing eyes were still fixed on the young girl's face, as to +read in her soul the confirmation of these strange words. "What dost +thou say?" she said at length, and so slowly, a second might have +intervened between each word. "Speak! let me hear again! A Jewess! +Santa Maria! But no; it _cannot_ be. They must have told thee false!" + +So the Queen spoke; but ere Catherine had concluded a calmer +repetition of the tale, Marie's words of the preceding evening rushed +back on her mind, confirming it but too surely. "To-morrow all will be +distinct and clear enough!" she had said; ay, distinct it was; and +so engrossingly intense became the thoughts thronging in her mind, +bewildering succession, that Isabella sat motionless, her brow leaning +on her hand, wholly unconscious of the lapse of time. + +A confusion in the gallery, and the words, "The King! the King!" +roused her at length; and never was the appearance of Ferdinand more +welcome, not only to Isabella, but to her attendants, as giving them +the longed-for opportunity to retire, and so satisfy curiosity, and +give vent to the wonderment which, from their compelled silence in +Isabella's presence, had actually become intolerable. + +Ferdinand speedily narrated the affairs of the morning, and concluded +by inquiring if any thing had occurred in her interview with Marie to +excite suspicion of her mad design. The Queen replied by relating, in +her turn, all that had passed between them. The idea of madness could +no longer exist; there was not the faintest hope that in a moment of +frenzy she had spoken falsely. + +"And yet, was it not madness," the King urged, "thus publicly to avow +a determined heresy, and expose herself to all the horrors of the +church's vengeance! 'Years of deception and fraud!' she told thee, +'would be disclosed.' By St. Francis! fraud enough. Who could have +suspected the wife of Don Ferdinand Morales a Jewess? It was on this +account he kept her so retired. How could he reconcile his conscience +to a union with one of a race so abhorred, beautiful as she is? And +where could he have found her? But this matters not: it is all wild +conjecture, save the madness of the avowal. What cause could there +have been for such self-sacrifice?" + +"There was a cause," replied the Queen earnestly; "cause enough to +render life to her of little moment. Do not ask me my meaning, dearest +Ferdinand; I would not do her such wrong as to breathe the suspicion +that, spite of myself, spite of incomprehensible mystery, will come, +even to thee. Do not let us regret her secret is discovered. Let her +but recover from the agony of these repeated trials, and with the help +of our holy fathers, we may yet turn her from her abhorred faith, and +so render her happy in this world, and secure her salvation in the +next." + +"The help of the holy fathers!" repeated the King. "Nay, Isabel, +their sole help will be to torture and burn! They will accuse her +of insulting, by years of deceit, the holy faith, of which she has +appeared a member. Nay, perchance of using foul magic on Morales (whom +the saints preserve), and then thou knowest what will follow!" + +The Queen shuddered. "Never with my consent, my husband! From the +first moment I beheld this unfortunate, something attracted me towards +her; her misery deepened the feeling; and even now, knowing what she +is, affection lingers. The Holy Virgin give me pardon, if 'tis sin!" + +"For such sin I will give thee absolution, dearest," replied the King, +half jestingly, half earnestly. "Do not look so grave. No one knows, +or values thy sterling piety half so tenderly and reverentially as +I do. But this is no common case. Were Marie one of those base and +grovelling wretches, those accursed unbelievers, who taint our fair +realm with their abhorred rites--think of nothing but gold and usury, +and how best to cheat their fellows; hating us almost as intensely as +we hate them--why, she should abide by the fate she has drawn upon +herself. But the wife of my noble Morales, one who has associated so +long with zealous Catholics, that she is already most probably one of +us, and only avowed her descent from some mysterious cause--by St. +Francis, she shall be saved!" + +"But how?" inquired Isabella anxiously. "Wouldst thou deny her faith +to Father Francis, and persuade him she has spoken falsely?" + +The King shook his head. "That will never do, Isabel. I have had the +holy man closeted with me already, insisting on the sanity of her +words, and urging me to resign the unbeliever at once to the tender +mercy of the church. All must depend on thee." + +"On me?" repeated Isabella, in a tone of surprised yet anxious +inquiry. + +"On thee, love. Thy perfect humility is ignorant of the fact--yet it +is nevertheless perfectly true--that thou art reverenced, well nigh +canonized, by the holy church; and thy words will have weight when +mine would be light as air. Refuse the holy fathers all access to her; +say she is unfitted to encounter them; that she is ill; nay, mad, if +thou wilt. Bring forward the state in which she was borne from the +hall; her very laugh (by St. Francis, it rings in my ear still) to +confirm it, and they will believe thee. The present excitement will +gradually subside, and her very existence be forgotten. Let none but +thy steadiest, most pious matrons have access to her; forbid thy young +maidens to approach or hold converse with her; and her being under +thy protection can do harm to none. Let her be prisoner in her own +apartments, an thou wilt; she deserves punishment for the deception +practised towards thee. Treat her as thou deemest best, only give her +not up to the mercy of the church!" + +"Talk not of it," replied the Queen earnestly. "Unbeliever though +she be, offspring of a race which every true Catholic must hold in +abhorrence, she is yet a _woman_, Ferdinand, and, as such, demands and +shall receive the protection of her Queen. Yet, would there were some +means of saving her from the eternal perdition to which, as a Jewess, +she is destined; some method, without increase of suffering, to allure +her, as a penitent and believing child, to the bosom of our holy +mother church." + +"And to do this, who so fitted as thyself, dearest Isabel?" answered +the King with earnest affection. "Thou hast able assistants in some +of thy older matrons, and may after a while call in the aid of Father +Denis, whose kindly nature is better fitted for gentle conversion +than either Francis, or thy still sterner chaplain, Torquemada. Thy +kindness has gained thee the love of this misguided one; and if any +one have sufficient influence to convert, by other than sharp means, +it can only be thyself." + +Isabella was not long undecided. Her heart felt that to turn Marie +from blindness and perdition by kindness and affection would be indeed +far more acceptable to the virgin (her own peculiar saint) than the +heretic's blood, and she answered with animation, "Then so it shall +be, Ferdinand; I fear me, alas! that there will be little reason to +prevaricate, to deny all spiritual access to her. Thy report, combined +with my terrified Catherine's, gives me but little hope for health or +reason. But should she indeed recover, trust me she shall be happy +yet." + +Great was the astonishment of the guards as they beheld their +Sovereign fearlessly enter the chamber of a proclaimed Jewess--a word +in their minds synonymous with the lowest, most degraded rank of +being; and yet more, to hear and perceive that she herself was +administering relief. The attendants of Isabella--whose curiosity was +now more than satisfied, for the tale had been repeated with the usual +exaggerations, even to a belief that she had used the arts of sorcery +on Morales--huddled together in groups, heaping every opprobrious +epithet upon her, and accusing her of exposing them all to the horrors +of purgatory by contaminating them with her presence. And as the +Sovereign re-appeared in her saloon with the leech Benedicto, whose +aid she had summoned, there were many who ventured to conjure her not +to expose herself to such pollution as the tending of a Jewess--to +leave her to the fate her fraud so merited. Even Catherine, finding to +disbelieve the tale any longer was impossible, and awed and terrified +at the mysterious words of her companions, which told of danger to her +beloved mistress, flung herself on her knees before her, clasping her +robe to detain her from again seeking the chamber of Marie. Then +was the moment for a painter to have seized on the face and form of +Isabella! Her eye flashed till its very color was undistinguishable, +her lip curled, every feature--usually so mild and feminine--was so +transformed by indignation into majesty and unutterable scorn as +scarcely to have been recognized. Her slight and graceful form dilated +till the very boldest cowered before her, even before she spoke; for +never had they so encountered her reproof:-- + +"Are ye women?" she said at length, in the quiet, concentrated tone of +strong emotion; "or are we deceived as to the meaning of your words? +Pollution! Are we to see a young, unhappy being perish for want of +sympathy and succor, because--forsooth--she is a Jewess? Danger to our +soul! We should indeed fear it; did we leave her to die, without one +effort to restore health to the frame, and the peace of Christ to the +mind! Has every spark of woman's nature faded from your hearts, that +ye can speak thus? If for yourselves you fear, tend her not, approach +her not--we will ourselves give her the aid she needs. And as for +thee," she continued severely, as she forced the now trembling +Catherine to stand upright before her, "whose energy to serve Marie +we loved and applauded; child as thou art, must thou too speak of +pollution? but example may have done this. Follow me, minion; and then +talk of pollution if thou canst!" And with a swift step Isabella led +the way to the chamber of Marie. + +"Behold!" she said emphatically, as she pointed to the unhappy +sufferer, who, though restored to life, was still utterly unconscious +where she was or who surrounded her; her cheek and brow, white and +damp; her large eye lustreless and wandering; her lip and eyelid +quivering convulsively; her whole appearance proving too painfully +that reason had indeed, for the time, fled. The soul had been strong +till the dread words were said; but the re-action had been too much +for either frame or mind. "Catherine! thou hast seen her in her +beauty, the cherished, the beloved of all who knew her--seen her when +no loveliness could mate with hers. Thou seest now the wreck that +misery has made, though she has numbered but few more years than thou +hast! Detest, abhor, avoid her _faith_--for that we command thee; but +her sex, her sorrow, have a claim to sympathy and aid, which not even +her race can remove. Jewess though she be, if thou can look on her +thus, and still speak of pollution and danger, thou art not what we +deemed thee!" + +Struck to the heart, alike by the marked display of a mistress she +idolized and the sympathy her better nature really felt for Marie, +Catherine sunk on her knees by the couch, and burst into tears. +Isabella watched her till her unusual indignation subsided, and then +said more kindly, "It is enough; go, Catherine. If we judge thee +rightly thou wilt not easily forget this lesson! Again I bid thee +abhor her faith; but seek to win her to the right path, by gentleness +and love, not prejudice and hate." + +"Oh! let me tarry here and tend her, my gracious Sovereign," implored +Catherine, again clasping Isabella's robe and looking beseechingly in +her face--but from a very different feeling to the prompter of the +same action a few minutes before--"Oh, madam, do not send me from her! +I will be so gentle, so active--watch, tend, serve; only say your +Grace's bidding, and I will do it, if I stood by her alone!" + +"My bidding would be but the promptings of thine own heart, my girl," +replied the Queen, fondly, for she saw the desired impression had been +made. "If I need thee--which I may do--I will call upon thee; but +now, thou canst do nothing, but think kindly, and judge +mercifully--important work indeed, if thou wouldst serve an erring and +unhappy fellow-creature, with heart as well as hand. But now go: nay, +not so sorrowfully; thy momentary fault is forgiven," she added, +kindly, as she extended her hand towards the evidently pained and +penitent maiden, who raised it gratefully and reverentially to her +lips, and thoughtfully withdrew. + +It was not, however, with her attendants only, this generous and +high-minded princess had to contend--with them her example was enough; +but the task was much more difficult, when the following day, as King +Ferdinand had anticipated, brought the stern Sub-Prior of St. Francis +to demand, in the church's name, the immediate surrender of Marie. But +Isabella's decision once formed never wavered. Marie was under her +protection, she said--an erring indeed, but an unhappy young creature, +who, by her very confession, had thrown herself on the mercy of her +Sovereign--and she would not deliver up the charge. In vain the Prior +urged the abomination of a Jewess residing under her very roof--the +danger to her soul should she be tempted to associate with her, and +that granting protection to an avowed and blaspheming unbeliever must +expose her to the suspicions, or, at least the censure of the church. +Isabella was inexorable. To his first and second clause she quietly +answered as she had done to her own attendants; his third only +produced a calm and fearless smile. She knew too well, as did the +Prior also, though for the time he chose to forget it, that her +character for munificent and heartfelt piety was too well established, +not only in Spain but throughout Europe, to be shaken even by the +protection of a Jewess. Father Francis then solicited to see her; but +even this point he could not gain. Isabella had, alas! no need to +equivocate as to the reason of his non-admission to Marie. Reason had +indeed returned, and with it the full sense of the dangers she had +drawn upon herself; but neither frame nor mind was in a state to +encounter such an interview as the Prior demanded. + +The severity of Father Francis originated, as we have before remarked, +neither in weak intellect nor selfish superstition. Towards himself +indeed he never relented either in severity or discipline; towards +others benevolence and humanity very often gained ascendency; and +something very like a tear glistened in his eye as Isabella forcibly +portrayed the state in which Marie still remained. And when she +concluded, by frankly imparting her intention, if health were indeed +restored, to leave no means untried--even to pursue some degree of +severity if nothing else would do--to wean her from her mistaken +faith, he not only abandoned his previous intentions, but commended +and blessed the nobler purpose of his Sovereign. To his request that +Marie might be restrained from all intercourse with the younger +members of Isabella's female court--in fact, associate with none but +strict and uncompromising Catholics--the Queen readily acceded; and +moreover, granted him full permission to examine the mansion of +Don Ferdinand Morales, that any books or articles of dangerous or +heretical import might be discovered and destroyed. + +With these concessions Father Francis left his Sovereign, affected +at her goodness and astonished at her influence on himself. He had +entered her presence believing nothing could change the severity of +his intentions or the harshness of his feelings; he left her with the +one entirely renounced, and the other utterly subdued. + +Such was the triumph of prejudice achieved by the lofty-minded and +generous woman, who swayed the sceptre of Castile.[A] And yet, though +every history of the time unites in so portraying her; though her +individual character was the noblest, the most magnanimous, the most +complete union of masculine intellect with perfect womanhood, +ever traced on the pages of the past; though under her public +administration her kingdom stood forth the noblest, the most refined, +most generous, ay, and the freest, alike in national position, as in +individual sentiment, amongst all the nations of Europe, Isabella's +was the fated hand to sign two edicts[B] whose consequences +extinguished the lustre, diminished the virtues, enslaved the +sentiments, checked the commerce, and in a word deteriorated the whole +character of Spain. + +[Footnote A: We are authorized to give this character to Isabella of +Castile, and annex the lustre of such action to her memory; as we know +that even when, by the persuasions and representations of Torquemada, +the Inquisition was publicly established, Isabella constantly +interfered her authority to prevent _zeal_ from becoming _inhumanity_. +Rendered unusually penetrating by her peculiarly feeling and gentle +nature, she discovered, what was concealed from others, "That many +enormities may be committed under the veil of religion--many innocent +persons falsely accused; their riches being their only crime. Her +exertions brought such things to light, and the suborners were +punished according to their guilt."--WASHINGTON IRVING'S _Siege of +Granada_.--Of Ferdinand too we are told, "_Respeto la jurisdiction +ecclesiastica, y conservo la real_;" he respected the ecclesiastical +jurisdiction, but _guarded_ or was _jealous_, for that of the crown. +His determination, therefore, to refuse the church's interference in +the case of Marie, though unusual to his _age_, is warranted by his +larger mind and freer policy.] + +[Footnote B: The establishment of the Inquisition, and expulsion of +the Jews.] + +For fourteen days affairs remained the same. At the end of that period +the castle and city of Segovia were thrown anew into a state of +the wildest excitement by a most mysterious occurrence--Marie had +disappeared. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + "Meekly had he bowed and prayed, + As not disdaining priestly aid; + And while before the Prior kneeling, + His heart was weaned from earthly feeling: + No more reproach, no more despair-- + No thought but heaven, no word but prayer." + + BYRON. + + +Time passed slowly on, and no proof appeared to clear Arthur Stanley's +fame. All that man's judgment could counsel, was adopted--secret +measures were taken throughout Spain, for the apprehension of any +individual suspected of murder, or even of criminal deeds; constant +prayers offered up, that if Arthur Stanley were not the real murderer, +proofs of his innocence might be made so evident that not even his +greatest enemy could doubt any longer; but all seemed of no avail. +Week after week passed, and with the exception of one most mysterious +occurrence, affairs remained the same. So strong was the belief of the +nobles in his innocence, that the most strenuous exertions were made +in his favor; but, strong as Ferdinand's own wish was to save him, his +love of justice was still stronger; though the testimony of Don Luis +might be set aside, calm deliberation on all the evidence against +him marked it as sufficiently strong to have sentenced any other so +accused at once. The resolute determination to purge their kingdom +from the black crimes of former years, which both sovereigns felt and +unitedly acted upon, urged them to conquer every private wish and +feeling, rather than depart from the line laid down. The usual +dispensers of justice, the Santa Hermandad--men chosen by their +brother citizens for their lucid judgment, clearness of perception, +and utter absence of all overplus of chivalrous feeling, in matters of +cool dispassionate reasoning--were unanimous in their belief in the +prisoner's guilt, and only acquiesced in the month's reprieve, because +it was Isabella's wish. Against their verdict what could be brought +forward? In reality nothing but the prisoner's own strongly-attested +innocence--an attestation most forcible in the minds of the Sovereign +and the nobles, but of no weight whatever to men accustomed to weigh, +and examine, and cross-examine, and decide on proof, or at least from +analogy, and never from an attestation, which the greatest criminals +might as forcibly make. The power and election of these men Ferdinand +and Isabella had confirmed. How could they, then, interfere in the +present case, and shackle the judgment which they had endowed with +authority, dispute and deny the sentence they had previously given +permission to pronounce? Pardon they might, and restore to life and +liberty; but the very act of pronouncing pardon supposed belief in and +proclamation of guilt. There was but one thing which could save him +and satisfy justice, and that was the sentence of "not guilty." For +this reason Ferdinand refused every petition for Stanley's reprieve, +hoping indeed, spite of all reason, that even at the eleventh hour +evidence of his innocence would and must appear. + +Stanley himself had no such hope. All his better and higher nature had +been called forth by the awful and mysterious death of Morales, dealt +too by his own sword--that sword which, in his wild passions, he had +actually prayed might shed his blood. The film of passion had dropped +alike from mental and bodily vision. He beheld his irritated feelings +in their true light, and knew himself in thought a murderer. He would +have sacrificed life itself, could he but have recalled the words of +insult offered to one so noble; not for the danger to himself from +their threatening nature, but for the injurious injustice done to the +man from whom he had received a hundred acts of little unobtrusive +kindnesses, and whom he had once revered as the model of every thing +virtuous and noble--services which Morales had rendered him, felt +gratefully perhaps at the time, but forgotten in the absorption of +thought or press of occupation during his sojourn in Sicily, now +rushed back upon him, marking him ingrate as well as dishonored. All +that had happened he regarded as Divine judgment on an unspoken, +unacted, but not the less encouraged sin. The fact that his sword had +done the deed, convinced him that his destruction had been connived +at, as well as that of Morales. A suspicion as to the designer, if not +the actual doer of the deed, had indeed taken possession of him; but +it was an idea so wild, so unfounded, that he dared not give it words. + +From the idea of death, and such a death, his whole soul indeed +revolted; but to avert it seemed so utterly impossible, that he +bent his proud spirit unceasingly to its anticipation; and with the +spiritual aid of the good and feeling Father Francis, in some degree +succeeded. It was not the horror of his personal fate alone which bade +him so shrink from death. Marie was free once more; nay, had from +the moment of her dread avowal--made, he intuitively felt, to save +him--become, if possible, dearer, more passionately loved than before. +And, oh! how terrible is the anticipation of early death to those that +love!--the only trial which bids even the most truly spiritual, yet +while on earth still _human_ heart, forget that if earth is loved and +lovely, heaven _must_ be lovelier still. + +From Don Felix d'Estaban, his friendly warder, he heard of Isabella's +humane intentions toward her; that her senses had been restored, and +she was, to all appearance, the same in health as she had been since +her husband's death; only evidently suffering more, which might be +easily accounted for from the changed position in which the knowledge +of her unbelief had placed her with all the members of Isabella's +court; that the only agitation she had evinced was, when threatened +with a visit from Father Francis--who, finding nothing in the mansion +of Don Ferdinand Morales to confirm the truth of her confession, +had declared his conviction that there must be some secret chamber +destined for her especial use. As if shrinking from the interview he +demanded, Marie had said to the Senora, to whose care she had been +intrusted--"He need not seek me to obtain this information. For my +husband's sake alone I concealed the faith in which I glory. Let +Father Francis remove a sliding panel beneath the tapestry behind +the couch in my sleeping apartment, and he will find not only all he +seeks, but the surest proof of my husband's care and tenderness for +me, unbeliever though he might deem me." + +The discovery of this secret closet, Don Felix continued, had caused +much marvel throughout the court. Where Morales had found her, or how +he could have reconciled his conscience not only to make her his wife, +but permit her the free exercise of a religion accursed in the sight +both of God and man, under his own roof, were questions impossible to +solve, or reconcile with the character of orthodox Catholicism he had +so long borne. The examination had been conducted with the church's +usual secrecy; the volumes of heresy and unbelief (it did not signify +that the word of God was amongst them) burnt; the silver lamps and +other ornaments melted down, to enrich, by an image of the virgin, the +church of St. Francis; the recess itself purified with incense and +sprinkled with holy water; the sign of the cross deeply burnt in the +walls; and the panel which formed the secret entrance firmly fastened +up, that its very existence should be forgotten. The matter, however, +Don Felix added, was not publicly spoken of, as both the King and +Queen, in conjunction with the Sub-Prior, seemed to wish all that +had passed, in which Donna Marie was concerned, should be gradually +forgotten. Don Ferdinand's vast possessions had, in consequence of +his widow's being an unbeliever, and so having no power to inherit, +reverted to the crown; but in case of Marie's conversion, of which Don +Felix appeared to entertain little doubt, the greater part would be +restored to her. Till then, Marie was kept in strict confinement in +the palace; but all harsher measures Isabella had resolved to avoid. + +This intelligence relieved Stanley's mind of one painful dread, while +it unconsciously increased his wish to live. Marie free! a Catholic! +what could come between them then? Must she not love him, else why +seek to save him? And then again the mystery darkened round her. A +wild suspicion as to the _real reason_ of her having wedded Ferdinand, +had flitted across his mind; but the words of Estaban so minutely +repeated, seemed to banish it entirely; they alluded but to her +husband's forbearing tenderness, felt the more intensely from its +being extended by a zealous Catholic to one of a race usually so +contemned and hated. In vain he tried to reconcile the seeming +inconsistency of her conduct; his thoughts only became the more +confused and painful, till even the remembrance of her self-devotion +lost its power to soothe or to allay them. + +When Don Felix again visited his prisoner, his countenance was so +expressive of consternation, that Stanley had scarcely power to ask +what had occurred. Marie had disappeared from the castle so strangely +and mysteriously, that not a trace or clue could be discovered of her +path. Consternation reigned within the palace; the King was full of +wrath at the insult offered to his power; the Queen even more grieved +than angry. The guards stationed without the chamber had declared on +oath that no one had passed them; the Senoras Leon and Pas, who slept +in the room adjoining, could tell nothing wherewith to explain the +mystery. In the first paroxsym of alarm they had declared the night +had passed as usual; but on cooler reflection they remembered starting +from their sleep with the impression of a smothered cry, which having +mingled with their dreams, and not being repeated, they had believed +mere fancy. And this faint sound was the only sign, the only trace +that her departure was not a voluntary act. + +"Father Francis! the arm of the church!" gasped Stanley, as Don Felix +paused in his recital, astonished at the effect of his words on the +prisoner, whose very respiration seemed impeded. + +"Father Francis has solemnly sworn," he replied, "that neither he nor +any of his brethren had connived at an act of such especial disrespect +to the sovereign power, and of injustice towards the Queen. Torquemada +is still absent, or suspicion night rest on him--he is stern enough +even for such a deed; but how could even he have withdrawn her from +the castle without discovery?" + +"Can she not have departed voluntarily?" inquired Stanley, with sudden +hope. "The cry you mention may indeed have been but fancy. Is it not +likely that fear as to her fate may have prompted her to seek safety +in flight?" + +"Her Grace thinks not, else some clue as to her path must, ere this, +have been discovered. Besides, escape was literally impossible without +the aid of magic, which however her accursed race know well how to +use. The guards must have seen her, had she passed her own threshold +in any human form. The casement was untouched, remaining exactly as +the Senora Leon secured it with her own hand the preceding evening; +and, even had she thence descended to the ground, she could have gone +no further from the high and guarded walls. It may be magic: if so, +and the devil hides himself in so fair a form, the saints preserve +us! for we know not in whom next he will be hid." So spoke, gravely, +seriously, undoubtingly, a wise and thoughtful Spanish noble, of the +fifteenth century; and so then thought the whole European world. +Stanley scarcely heard the last words; for in his mind, however +sorcery might be synonymous with _Judaism_ it certainly was not with +_Marie_; and he could only realize the fact of the utter impossibility +of a voluntary flight. + +"Had the Queen seen her since her trial?" he inquired. + +"She had not; a fact which deepens her distress; for she fancies had +Marie been nearer her person, and aware of the full extent of her +merciful intentions, this might have been averted. She believes that +the smothered cry alluded to was really Donna Marie's; but, if +so, what the dark power is, which has so trampled on the royal +prerogative, is plunged in as impenetrable mystery as every thing +else, in which Donna Marie has been concerned." + +"Even the same dark power which seeks my destruction, and laid Morales +low," replied Stanley, more as if thinking aloud than addressing his +companion; "and when the clue to one mystery is found, the rest will +follow. Some fiend from hell is at work around us. Morales is gone. +Marie has followed, and I shall be the next; and then, perhaps, the +demon's reign will end, and the saints of heaven triumph." + +"Would to heaven a Jewess had never come amongst us," was the +rejoinder; "there is always evil in their train." And the blood rushed +to Arthur's cheek, his hand involuntarily clenched, and his eye +glanced defiance towards Don Felix, as if, even at such a moment, +insult even in thought towards Marie should not pass unquestioned; but +he restrained himself, and the emotion was unnoticed. + +From that day so engrossed were the thoughts of the prisoner with +vain speculations as to the fate of Marie, that the fact of his own +position remaining the same, and his hours of life waning fast, seemed +actually unheeded. From Don Felix, in various visits, he heard that +Marie was no longer publicly spoken of; the excitement occasioned +alike by her avowal and disappearance was fast fading from the +imagination of the populace. The public jousts and festivals, intended +to celebrate the visit of the sovereigns, but which Morales's death +and the events ensuing had so painfully suspended, were recommencing, +and men flocked to them, as glad to escape from the mourning and +mystery which had held sway so long. + +And now only three days intervened ere the expiration of the given +month; and each day did the Sub-Prior of St. Francis pass with the +prisoner, exhorting, comforting, and strengthening him for the dread +passage through which it was now too evident his soul must pass to +eternity. It was with difficulty and pain, that Stanley could even +then so cease to think of Marie, as to prepare himself with fitting +sobriety and humility for the fate impending; but the warm sympathy of +Father Francis, whose fine feelings had never been blunted by a life +of rigid seclusion, won him to listen and to join in his prayers, and, +gradually weaning his thoughts from their earthly resting, raised them +to that heaven which, if he truly repented of sin, the good father +assured him, was fast opening for him. Under the inviolable seal of +confession, Arthur acknowledged his deep and long-cherished love +for Marie, his dislike to her husband, which naturally followed the +discovery of her marriage, and the evil passions thence arising; but +he never wavered in the reiteration of his innocence; adding, that he +reproached no man with his death. The sentence was just according to +the appearances against him. Had he himself been amongst his judges, +his own sentence would have been the same. Yet still he was innocent; +and Father Francis so believed him that, after pronouncing absolution +and blessing, he hastened from the prisoner to the King to implore a +yet longer reprieve. But Ferdinand, though more moved by the Prior's +recital than he chose to display, remained firm; he had pledged his +kingly word to the chief of the Santa Hermandad that the award of +justice should not be waived without proof of innocence, and he could +not draw back. One chance only he granted, urged to do so by an +irresistible impulse, which how often comes we know not wherefore, +till the event marks it as the whisper of some guardian angel, who has +looked into the futurity concealed from us. The hour of the execution +had been originally fixed for the sixth hour of the morning; it was +postponed till noon. + +The morning dawned, and with its first beams came Father Francis to +the prisoner. He found him calm and resigned: his last thought of +earth was to commend Marie, if ever found, to the holy father's care, +conjuring him to deal gently and mercifully with a spirit so broken, +and lead her to the sole fountain of peace by kindness, not by wrath; +and to tell her how faithfully he had loved her to the last. Much +affected, Father Francis promised--aye, even to protect, if possible, +an unbeliever. And Stanley once mere knelt in prayer, every earthly +thought at rest. The last quarter-bell had chimed; and ere it ceased, +the step of Don Felix was heard in the passage, followed by the +heavy tramp of the guard. The Prior looked eagerly in the noble's +countenance as he entered, hoping even then to read reprieve; but the +stern yet sad solemnity on Don Felix's face betrayed the hope was +vain. The hour had indeed come, and Arthur Stanley was led forth to +death! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + "Oh! blissful days, + When all men worship God as conscience wills! + Far other times our fathers' grandsires knew. + What tho' the skeptic's scorn hath dared to soil + The record of their fame! What tho' the men + Of worldly minds have dared to stigmatize + The sister-cause Religion and the Law + With Superstition's name! Yet, yet their deeds, + Their constancy in torture and in death-- + These on Tradition's tongue shall live; these shall + On History's honest page be pictur'd bright + To latest time." + + GRAHAME. + + +Retrospection is not pleasant in a narrative; but, if Marie has indeed +excited any interest in our readers, they will forgive the necessity, +and look back a few weeks ere they again arrive at the eventful day +with which our last chapter closed. All that Don Felix had reported +concerning the widow of Morales was correct. The first stunning +effects of her dread avowal were recovered, sense was entirely +restored, but the short-lived energy had gone. The trial to passively +endure is far more terrible than that which is called upon to _act_ +and _do_. She soon discovered that, though nursed and treated with +kindness, she was a prisoner in her own apartments. Wish to leave them +she had none, and scarcely the physical strength; but to sit idly down +under the pressure of a double dread--the prisoner's fate and her own +sentence--to have no call for energy, not a being for whom to rouse +herself and live, not one for whose sake she might forget herself +and win future happiness by present exertion; the Past, one yearning +memory for the husband, who had so soothed and cherished her, when any +other would have cast her from his heart as a worthless thing; the +Present, fraught with thoughts she dared not think, and words she +might not breathe; the very prayer for Stanley's safety checked--for +what could he be to her?--the Future shrouded in a pall so dense, she +could not read a line of its dark page, for the torch of Hope was +extinguished, and it is only by her light we can look forward; +Isabella's affection apparently lost for ever; was it marvel energy +and hope had so departed, or that a deadening despondency seemed to +crush her heart and sap the very springs of life? + +But in the midst of that dense gloom one ray there was, feeble indeed +at first as if human suffering had deadened even that, but brightening +and strengthening with every passing day. It was the sincerity of her +faith--the dearer, more precious to its followers, from the scorn and +condemnation, in which it was held by man. + +The fact that the most Catholic kingdom, of Spain, was literally +peopled with secret Jews, brands this unhappy people, with a degree +of hypocrisy, in addition to the various other evil propensities +with which they have been so plentifully charged. Nay, even amongst +themselves in modern times, this charge has gained ascendency; and +the romance-writer who would make use of this extraordinary truth, +to vividly picture the condition of the Spanish Jews, is accused of +vilifying the nation, by reporting practices, opposed to the upright +dictates of the religion of the Lord. It is well to pronounce such +judgment _now_, that the liberal position which we occupy in most +lands, would render it the height of dissimulation, and hypocrisy, to +conceal our faith; but to judge correctly of the secret adherence to +Judaism and public profession of Catholicism which characterized +our ancestors in Spain, we must transport ourselves not only to +the _country_ but to the _time_, and recall the awfully degraded, +crushing, and stagnating position which _acknowledged Judaism_ +occupied over the whole known world. As early as 600--as soon, in +fact, as the disputes and prosecutions of Arian against Catholic, and +Catholic against Arian, had been checked by the whole of Spain being +subdued and governed by Catholic kings--intolerance began to work +against the Jews, who had been settled in vast numbers in Spain +since the reign of the Emperor Adrian; some authorities assert still +earlier.[A] They were, therefore, nearly the original colonists of the +country, and regarded it with almost as much attachment as they had +felt towards Judea. When persecution began to work, "90,000 Jews were +compelled to receive the sacrament of baptism," the bodies of the +more obstinate tortured, and their fortunes confiscated; and yet--a +remarkable instance of inconsistency--_they were not permitted to +leave Spain_; and this species of persecution continued from 600 +downwards. Once or twice edicts of expulsion were issued, but speedily +recalled; the tyrants being unwilling to dismiss victims whom they +delighted to torture, or deprive themselves of industrious slaves over +whom they might exercise a lucrative oppression; and a statute was +enacted, "that the Jews who had been baptized should be _constrained_, +for the honor of the church, to persevere in the _external practice_ +of a religion which they _inwardly_ disbelieved and detested."[B] + +[Footnote A: Basnage asserts that the Jews were introduced into Spain +by the fleet of Soloman, and the arms of Nebuchadnezzar, and that +Hadrian transported _forty thousand_ families of the tribe of Judah, +and ten thousand of the tribe of Benjamin, etc.] + +[Footnote B: "Gibbon's Decline and Fall," vol. 6, chap. xxxvii, +from which all the previous sentences in inverted commas have been +extracted.] + +How, then, can compelled obedience to this statute be termed +hypocrisy? Persecution, privation, tyranny, may torture and destroy +the body, but they cannot force the mind to the adoption of, and +belief in tenets, from which the very treatment they commanded must +urge it to revolt. Of the 90,000 Jews forcibly baptized by order of +Sisebut, and constrained to the external profession of Catholicism, +not ten, in all probability, became actually Christians. And yet how +would it have availed them to relapse into the public profession of +the faith they so obeyed and loved in secret? To leave the country was +utterly impossible. It is easy to talk now of such proceedings being +their right course of acting, when every land is open to the departure +and entrance of every creed; but it was widely different then, and, +even if they could have quitted Spain, there was not a spot of ground, +in the whole European and Asiatic world, where persecution, extortion, +and banishment would not equally have been their doom. Constant +relapses into external as well as internal Judaism, there were, but +they were but the signal for increased misery to the whole nation; and +by degrees they ceased. It was from the forcible baptism of the 90,000 +Hebrews, by Sisebut, that we may trace the origin of the secret +Jews. From father to son, from mother to daughter, the solemn secret +descended, and gradually spread, still in its inviolable nature, +through every rank and every profession, from the highest priest to +the lowest friar, the general to the common soldier, the noble to the +peasant, over the whole land. There were indeed some few in Spain, +before the final edict of expulsion in 1492, who were Hebrews in +external profession as well as internal observance; but their +condition was so degraded, so scorned, so exposed to constant +suffering, that it was not in human nature voluntarily to sink down +to them, when, by the mere continuance of external Catholicism--which +from its universality, its long existence, and being in fact a rigidly +enforced statute of the state, _could_ not be regarded either as +hypocrisy or sin--they could take their station amongst the very +highest and noblest of the land, and rise to eminence and power in any +profession, civil, military, or religious, which they might prefer. +The subject is so full of philosophical inquiry, that in the limits of +a romance we cannot possibly do it justice; but to accuse the secret +Jews of Spain of hypocrisy, of departing from the pure odinances of +their religion, because _compelled_ to simulate Catholicism, is taking +indeed but a one-handed, short-sighted view of an extensive and +intensely interesting topic. We may often hope for the _present_ by +considering the changes of the _past_; but to attempt to pronounce +judgment on the sentiments of the _past_ by reasoning of the +_present_, when the mind is always advancing, is one of the weakest +and idlest fallacies that ever entered the human breast. + +Digression as this is, it is necessary clearly to comprehend the +situation in which Marie's avowal of her religion had placed her, +and her reason for so carefully wording her information as to the +existence of the secret closet, that no suspicion might attach itself +to the religion of her husband. Her confession sent a shock, which +vibrated not only through Isabella's immediate court, but through +every part of Spain. Suspicion once aroused, none knew where it might +end, or on whom fall. In her first impulse to save Arthur, she +had only thought of what such confession might bring to herself +individually, and that was, comparatively, easy to endure; but as the +excitement ceased, as the dread truth dawned upon her, that, if he +must die at the expiration of the given month, her avowal had been +utterly useless, the dread of its consequences, to the numerous secret +members of her faith appalled her, and caused the firm, resolve under +no circumstances to betray the religion of her husband. Him indeed it +could not harm; but that one so high in rank, in influence, in favor +with sovereigns and people, was only outwardly a Catholic, might have +most fatal consequences on all his brethren. That he should have +wedded a Jewess might excite surprise, but nothing more; and in the +midst of her varied sufferings she could rejoice that all suspicion +as to his race and faith had been averted. She felt thankful also at +being kept so close a prisoner, for she dreaded the wrath of those +whom her avowal might have unwittingly injured. Such an instance +had never been known before, and she might justly tremble at the +chastisement it might bring upon her even from her own people. As long +as she was under Isabella's care she was safe from this; all might +feel the vibration, but none dared evince that they did, by the +adoption of any measures against her, further than would be taken by +the Catholics themselves. + +Knowing this, her sole prayer, her sole effort was to obtain mental +strength sufficient under every temptation, either from severity or +kindness, to adhere unshrinkingly to the faith of her fathers--to +cling yet closer to the love of her Father in heaven, and endeavor, +with all the lowly trust and fervid feelings of her nature, to fill +the yearning void within her woman's heart with his image, and so +subdue every human love. It seemed to her vivid fancy as if all the +misfortunes she had encountered sprung from her first sin--that +of loving a Nazarene. Hers was not the age to make allowances for +circumstances in contradistinction to actual deeds. Then, as +unhappily but too often now, all were sufferings from a misplaced +affection--sprung, not from her fault, but from the mistaken kindness +which it exposed her to without due warning of her danger. Educated +with the strong belief, that to love or wed, beyond the pale of her +own people was the greatest sin she could commit, short of actual +apostacy, that impression, though not strong enough, so to conquer +human nature, as to arm against love, returned with double force, as +sorrow after sorrow gathered round her, and there were none beside her +to whisper and strengthen, with the blessed truth that God afflicts +yet more in mercy than in wrath; and that his decrees, however fraught +with human anguish, are but blessings in disguise--blessings, sown +indeed with tears on earth, to reap their deathless fruit in heaven. + +But though firmly believing all her suffering was deserved, aware that +when she first loved Arthur, the rebel-thought--"Why am I of a race so +apart and hated?" had very frequently entered her heart, tempting her +at times with fearful violence to give up all for love of man; yet +Marie knew that the God of her fathers was a God of love, calling even +upon the greatest sinner to return to him repentant and amending, and +that even as a little child such should be forgiven. He had indeed +proclaimed himself a jealous God, and would have no idol-worship, were +it by wood or stone, or, far more dangerous, of human love; and she +prayed unceasingly for strength to return to Him with an undivided +heart, even if to do so demanded not only separation from Stanley--but +a trial in her desolate position almost as severe--the loss of +Isabella's confidence and love. + +Few words passed between Marie and her guardians; their manner was +kind and gentle, but intercourse between rigid Catholics and a +proclaimed Jewess, could not be other wise than restrained. From the +time that reason returned, the Queen had not visited her, doing actual +violence to her own inclinations from tire mistaken--but in that age +and to her character natural--dread that the affection and interest +she felt towards Marie personally, would lessen the sentiments of +loathing and abhorrence with which it was her duty to regard her +faith. Isabella had within herself all the qualifications of a martyr. +Once impressed that it was a religious duty, she would do violence to +her most cherished wishes, sacrifice her dearest desires, her best +affections, resign her most eagerly pursued plans--not without +suffering indeed, but, according to the mistaken tenets of her +religion, the greater personal suffering, the more meritorious was the +deed believed to be. This spirit would, had she lived in an age when +the Catholic faith was the persecuted, not the persecutor, have led +her a willing martyr to the stake; as it was, this same spirit led to +the establishment of the Inquisition, and expulsion of the Jews--deeds +so awful in their consequences, that the actual motive of the +woman-heart which prompted them, is utterly forgotten, and herself +condemned. We must indeed deplore the mistaken tenets that could +obtain such influence--deplore that man could so pervert the service +of a God of love, as to believe and inculcate that such things could +be acceptable to Him; but we should pause, and ask, if we ourselves +had been influenced by such teaching, could we break from it? ere we +condemn. + +Isabella's own devoted spirit could so enter into the real reason of +Marie's self abnegation for Arthur's sake, that it impelled her to +love her more; while at the very same time the knowledge of her +being a Jewess, whom she had always been taught and believed must be +accursed in the sight of God, and lost eternally unless brought to +believe in Jesus, urged her entirely to conquer that affection, lest +its indulgence should interfere with her resolution, if kindness +failed, by severity to accomplish her own version. She was too weak in +health, and Isabella intuitively felt too terribly anxious as to young +Stanley's fate, to attempt any thing till after the expiration of the +month; and she passed that interval in endeavoring to calm down her +own feelings towards her. + +So fifteen days elapsed. On the evening of the fifteenth, Marie, +feeling unusually exhausted, had sunk down, without disrobing, on her +couch, and at length fell into a slumber so deep and calm, that her +guardians, fearing to disturb it, and aware that her dress was so +loose and light, it could not annoy her, retired softly to their own +chamber without arousing her. How many hours this lethargic sleep +lasted, Marie knew not, but was at length broken by a dream of terror, +and so unusually vivid, that its impression lasted even through the +terrible reality which it heralded. She beheld Arthur Stanley on the +scaffold about to receive the sentence of the law--the block, the axe, +the executioner with his arm raised, and apparently already deluged +in blood--the gaping crowds--all the fearful appurtenances of an +execution were distinctly traced, and she thought she sprung towards +Stanley, who clasped her in his arms, and the executioner, instead of +endeavoring to part them, smiled grimly as rejoicing in having two +victims instead of one; and as he smiled, the countenance seemed to +change from being entirely unknown to the sneering features of the +hated Don Luis Garcia. She seemed to cling yet closer to Stanley, +and knelt with, him to receive the blow; when, at that moment, the +scaffold shook violently, as by the shock of an earthquake, a dark +chashm yawned beneath their feet, in the centre of which stood the +spectral figure of her husband, his countenance ghastly and stern, and +his arm upraised as beckoning her to join him. And then he spoke; but +his voice sounded unlike his own:-- + +"Marie Henriquez Morales! awake, arise, and follow!" + +And with such extraordinary clearness did the words fall, that she +started up in terror, believing they must have been spoken by her +side--and they were! they might have mingled with, perhaps even +created her dream. She still lay on her couch; but it seemed to have +sunk down through the very floor of the apartment[A] she had occupied, +and at its foot stood a figure, who, with upraised arm held before her +a wooden cross. His cowl was closely drawn, and a black robe, of the +coarsest serge, was secured round his waist by a hempen cord. Whether +he had indeed spoken the words she had heard in her dream Marie could +not tell, for they were not repeated. She saw him approach her, and +she felt his strong grasp lift her from the couch, which sprung up, by +the touch of some secret spring, to the place whence it had descended; +and she heard no more. + +[Footnote A: I may be accused in this scene, of too closely imitating +a somewhat similar occurrence in Anne of Geirstein. Such seeming +plagiarism was scarcely possible to be avoided, when the superstitious +proceedings of the _vehmic_ tribunal of Germany and the _secret_ +Inquisition of Spain are represented by history as so very similar.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + "Isabel.--Ha! little honor to be much believed, + And most pernicious purpose--seeming, seeming. + I will proclaim thee, Angelo! look for't; + Sign me a present pardon-- + Or, with an outstretch'd throat, I'll tell the world + Aloud what man thou art. + + "Angelo.--Who will believe thee? + My unsoil'd name, th' austereness of my life, + My vouch against you, and my place i' the State, + Will so your accusation overweigh + That you will stifle in your own report + The smile of Calumny." + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +When Marie recovered consciousness, she found herself in a scene so +strange, so terrific, that it appeared as if she must have been borne +many miles from Segovia, so utterly impossible did it seem, that +such awful orgies could be enacted within any short distance of the +sovereigns' palace, or their subjects' homes. She stood in the centre +of a large vaulted subterranean hall, which, from the numerous arched +entrances to divers passages and smaller chambers that opened on every +side, appeared to extend far and wide beneath the very bowels of the +earth. It was lighted with torches, but so dimly, that the gloom +exaggerated the horrors, which the partial light disclosed. +Instruments of torture of any and every kind--the rack, the wheel, the +screw, the cord, and fire--groups of unearthly-looking figures, all +clad in the coarse black serge and hempen belt; some with their faces +concealed by hideous masks, and others enveloped in the cowls, through +which only the eyes could be distinguished, the figure of the cross +upon the breast, and under that emblem, of divine peace, inflicting +such horrible tortures on their fellow-men that the pen shrinks from +their delineation. Nor was it the mere instruments of torture Marie +beheld: she saw them in actual use; she heard the shrieks and groans +of the hapless victims, at times mingled with the brutal leers and +jests of their fiendish tormentors; she seemed to take in at one view, +every species of torture that could be inflicted, every pain that +could be endured; and yet, comparatively, but a few of the actual +sufferers were visible. The shrillest sounds of agony came from the +gloomy arches, in which no object could be distinguished. + +Whatever suffering meets the sight, it does not so exquisitely affect +the brain as that which reaches it through the ear. At the former the +heart may bleed and turn sick; but at the latter the brain seems, +for the moment, wrought into frenzy; and, even though personally in +safety, it is scarcely possible to restrain the same sounds from +bursting forth. How then must those shrill sounds of human agony have +fallen on the hapless Marie, recognizing as she did with the rapidity +of thought, in the awful scene around her, the main hall of that +mysterious and terrible tribunal, whose existence from her earliest +infancy had been impressed upon her mind, as a double incentive to +guard the secret of her faith; that very Inquisition, from which her +own grandfather, Julien Heuriquez, had fled, and in which the less +fortunate grandfather of her slaughtered husband, had been tortured +and burnt. + +For a second she stood mute and motionless, as turned to stone; then, +pressing both hands tightly on her temples, she sunk down at the feet +of her conductor, and sought in words to beseech his mercy; but her +white lips gave vent to no sound save a shriek, so wild that it +seemed, for the moment, to drown all other sorrows, and startle even +the human fiends around her. Her conductor himself started back; but +quickly recovering-- + +"Fool!" he muttered, as he rudely raised her. "I have no power to aid +thee; come before the Superior--we must all obey--ask him, implore +him, for mercy, not me." + +He bore her roughly to a recess, divided off at the upper end of the +hall, by a thick black drapery, in which sat the Grand Inquisitor +and his two colleagues. One or two familiars were behind them, and a +secretary sat near a table covered with black cloth, and on which were +several writing implements. All wore masks of black crape, so thick +that not a feature could be discerned with sufficient clearness for +recognition elsewhere; yet, one glance on the stern, motionless +figure, designated as the Grand Inquisitor, sufficed to bid every drop +of blood recede from the prisoner's heart with human terror, at the +very same moment that it endowed the _woman_ with such supernatural +fortitude that her very form seemed to dilate, and her large eye and +lovely mouth expressed--if it could be, in such a scene and such +an hour--unutterable scorn. Antipathy, even as love, will pierce +disguise; and that one glance, lit up with almost bewildering light, +in the prisoner's mind, link after link of what had before been +impenetrable mystery. Her husband's discovery of her former love for +Arthur; his murder; the suspicion thrown on Stanley; her own summons +as witness against him; her present danger; all, all were traced to +one individual, one still working and most guilty passion, which she, +in her gentle purity and holy strength, had scorned. She could not +be deceived--the mystery that surrounded him was solved--antipathy +explained; and Marie's earthly fate lay in Don Luis Garcia's hands! +The Grand Inquisitor read in that glance that he was known; and for +a brief minute a strange, an incomprehensible sensation, thrilled +through him. It could scarcely have been fear, when one gesture of +his hand would destine that frail being to torture, imprisonment, and +death; and yet never before in his whole life of wickedness, had he +experienced such a feeling as he did at that moment beneath a woman's +holy gaze. Anger at himself for the sensation, momentary as it was, +increased the virulence of other passions; but then was not the hour +for their betrayal. In low, deep tones, he commenced the mockery of a +trial. That her avowal of her faith would elude torture, by at once +condemning her to the flames, was disregarded. She was formally +accused of blasphemy and heresy, and threatened with the severest +vengeance of the church which she had reviled; but that this case of +personal guilt would be mercifully laid aside for the present, for +still more important considerations. Was her late husband, they +demanded, of the same blaspheming creed as herself? And a list of +names, comprising some of the highest families of Spain, was read out +and laid before her, with the stern command to affix a mark against +all who, like herself, had relapsed into the foul heresy of their +ancestors--to do this, or the torture should wring it from her. + +But the weakness of humanity had passed; and so calm, so collected, so +firm, was the prisoner's resolute refusal to answer either question, +that the familiar to whom she had clung for mercy looked at her with +wonder. Again and again she was questioned; instruments of torture +were brought before her--one of the first and slightest used--more +to terrify than actually to torture, for that was not yet the Grand +Inquisitor's design; and still she was firm, calm, unalterable in her +resolution to refuse reply. And then Don Luis spoke of mercy, which +was to consist of imprisonment in solitude and darkness, to allow time +for reflection on her final answer--a concession, he said, in a tone +far more terrifying to Marie than even the horrors around her, +only granted in consideration of her age and sex. None opposed the +sentence; and she was conducted to a close and narrow cell, in which +no light could penetrate save through a narrow chink in the roof. + +How many days and nights thus passed the hapless prisoner could not +have told, for there was nothing to mark the hours. Her food was +delivered to her by means of a turn-screw in the wall, so that not +even the sight of a fellow-creature could disturb her solitude, or +give her the faintest hope of exciting human pity. Her sole hope, her +sole refuge was in prayer; and, oh! how blessed was the calm, the +confidence it gave. + +So scanty was her allowance of food, that more than once the thought, +crossed her, whether or not, death by famine would be her allotted +doom; and human nature shuddered, but the spirit did not quail! Hour +after hour passed, she knew not whether it was night or day, when the +gloom of her dungeon was suddenly illumined; she knew not at first +how or whence, so noiseless was the entrance of the intruder, but +gradually she traced the light to a small lamp held in the hand of +a shrouded individual, whom she recognized at once. There was one +fearful thrill of mortal dread, one voiceless cry for strength from +Heaven, and Marie Morales stood before Don Luis erect and calm, and +firm as in her hour of pride. + +Garcia now attempted no concealment. His mask had been cast aside, and +his features gleamed without any effort at hypocritical restraint, in +all the unholy passions of his soul. We will not pollute our pages +with transcribing the fearful words of passions contending in their +nature, yet united in their object, with which the pure ear of his +prisoner was first assailed--still lingering desire, yet hate, wrath, +fury, that she should dare still oppose, and scorn, and loathe him; +rage with himself, that, strive as he might, even he was baffled by +the angel purity around her; longing to wreak upon her every torture +that his hellish office gave him unchecked power to inflict, yet +fearing that, if he did so, death would release her ere his object was +attained; all strove and raged within him, making his bosom a very +hell, from which there was no retracting, yet whose very flames +incited deeper fury towards the being whom he believed their cause. + +"And solitude, darkness, privation--have they so little availed that +thou wilt tempt far fiercer sufferings?" he at length demanded, +struggling to veil his fury in a quiet, concentrated tone. "Thou hast +but neared the threshold of the tortures which one look, one gesture +of my hand, can gather around thee; tortures which the strongest +sinew, the firmest mind, have been unable to sustain--how will that +weakened frame endure?" + +"It can but die," replied the prisoner, "as nobler and better ones +have done before me!" + +"Die!" repeated Garcia, and he laughed mockingly. "Thinkest thou we +know our trade so little that such release can baffle us? I tell thee, +pain of itself has never yet had power to kill; and we have learned +the measure of endurance in the human form so well, that we have never +yet been checked by death, ere our ends were gained. And so will it be +with thee, boldly as now thou speakest. Thou hast but tasted pain!" + +"Better the sharpest torture than thy hated presence," calmly rejoined +Marie. "My soul thou canst not touch." + +"Soul! Has a Jewess a soul? Nay, by my faith, thou talkest bravely! An +thou hast, thou hadst best be mine, and so share my salvation; there's +none for such as thee." + +"Man!" burst indignantly from the prisoner. "Share thy salvation! +Great God of Israel! that men like these have power to persecute thy +children for their faith, and do it in thy name! And speak of +mercy! Thou hast but given me another incentive for endurance," she +continued, more calmly addressing her tormentor. "If salvation be +denied to us, and granted thee, I would refuse it with my dying +breath; such faith is not of God!" + +"I came not hither to enter on such idle quibbles," was the rejoinder. +"It matters not to me what thou art after death, but before it mine +thou shalt be. What hinders me, at this very moment, from working my +will upon thee? Who will hear thy cry? or, hearing, will approach +thee? These walls have heard too many sounds of human agony to bear +thy voice to those who could have mercy. Tempt me not by thy scorn too +far. What holds me from thee now?" + +"What holds thee from me? GOD!" replied the prisoner, in a tone of +such, thrilling, such supernatural energy, that Garcia actually +started as if some other voice than hers had spoken, and she saw +him glance fearfully round. "Thou darest not touch me! Ay, +villain--blackest and basest as thou art--thou darest not do it. The +God thine acts, yet more than thy words blaspheme, withholds thee--and +thou knowest it!" + +"I defy him!" were the awful words that answered her; and Don Luis +sprang forwards. + +"Back!" exclaimed the heroic girl. "Advance one step nearer, and thy +vengeance, even as thy passion, will alike be foiled--and may God +forgive the deed I do." + +She shook down the beautiful tresses of her long luxuriant hair, and, +parting them with both hands around her delicate throat, stood calmly +waiting in Don Luis's movements the signal for her own destruction. + +"Fool!" he muttered, as involuntarily he fell back, awed--in spite of +his every effort to the contrary--at a firmness as unexpected as it +was unwavering. "Fool! Thou knowest not the power it is thy idle +pleasure to defy; thou wilt learn it all too soon, and then in vain +regret thy scorn of my proffer now. Thou hast added tenfold to my wild +yearning for revenge on thy former scorn--tenfold! ay, twice tenfold, +to thy own tortures. Yet, once more, I bid thee pause and choose. +Fools there are, who dare all personal physical torment, and yet +shrink and quail before the thought of death for a beloved one. +Idiots, who for others, sacrifice themselves; perchance thou wilt be +one of them. Listen, and tremble; or, sacrifice, and save! When in +thy haughty pride, and zenith of thy power, thou didst scorn me, and +bidding me, with galling contempt, go from thy presence as if I were a +loathsome reptile, unworthy even of thy tread, I bade thee beware, and +to myself swore vengeance. And knowest thou how that was accomplished? +Who led thy doting husband where he might hear thine own lips proclaim +thy falsity? Who poisoned the chalice of life, which had been so +sweet, ere it was dashed from his lips by death? Who commanded the +murderer's blow, and the weapon with which it was accomplished? Who +laid the charge of his murder on the foreign minion, and brought thee +in evidence against him? Who but I--even I! And if I have done all +this, thinkest thou to elude my further vengeance? I tell thee, if +thou refuse the grace I proffer, Arthur Stanley dies; accept it, and +he lives!" + +"And not at such a price would Arthur Stanley wish, to live," replied +Marie calmly. "He would spurn existence purchased thus." + +"Ay, perchance, if he knew it; but be it as thou wilt, he shall know +thou couldst have saved him and refused." + +"And thinkest thou he will believe thee? As little as I believed him +my husband's murderer. How little knowest thou the trust of love! He +will not die," she continued emphatically; "his innocence shall save +him--thy crime be known." + +"Ay!" replied Garcia, with a sneering laugh. "Give thyself wings as a +bird, and still stone walls will encircle thee; dwindle into thin air, +and gain the outer world, and tell thy tale, and charge Don Luis Garcia +with the deed, and who will believe thee? Thinkest thou I would have +boasted of my triumphant vengeance to aught who could betray me? Why my +very tool, the willing minister of my vengeance--who slew Morales merely +because I bade him--might not live, lest he should be tempted to betray +me; I slew him with my own hand. What sayest thou now--shall Stanley +live, if I say Let him die?" + +There was no reply, but he looked in vain for any diminution in the +undaunted resolution which still sustained her. + +"I go," he continued, after a pause. "Yet, once more, I charge thee +choose; accept the terms I proffer--be mine--and thou art saved from +all further torture thyself, and Stanley lives. Refuse, and the +English minion dies; and when thou and I next meet, it will be where +torture and executioners wait but my nod to inflict such suffering +that thou wilt die a thousand deaths in every pang. And, +Jewess--unbeliever as thou art--who will dare believe it more than +public justice, or accuse me of other than the zeal, which the service +of Christ demands? Choose, and quickly--wilt thou accept my proffers, +and be mine? Thou must, at last. What avails this idle folly of +tempting torture first?" + +"Thou mayest kill my body, but thou canst not pollute my soul," was +the instant reply, and its tones were unchanged. "And as for Stanley, +his life or death is not in thine hands; but if it were, I could +not--nay, thus I _would_ not--save him. I reject thy proffers, as I +scorn thyself. Now leave me--I have chosen!" + +Don Luis did not reply, but Marie beheld his cheek grow livid, and the +foam actually gather on his lip; but the calm and holy gaze she had +fixed upon him, as he spoke, quailed not, nor changed. The invisible +door of her cell closed with a deep, sullen sound, as if her tormentor +had thus, in some measure, given vent to the unutterable fury shaking +his soul to its centre; and Marie was alone. She stood for many, many +minutes, in the fearful dread of his return; and then she raised her +hand to her brow, and her lip blanched and quivered, and, with a long, +gasping breath, she sunk down upon the cold floor--all the heroine +lost in an agonized burst of tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + "Hovers the steel above his head, + Suspended by a spider thread: + On, on! a life hangs on thy speed; + With lightning wing the gallant steed! + Buoy the full heart up! It will sink + If it but pause to feel and think. + There is no time to dread his fate: + No thought but one--too late, too late!" + + MS. + + +Too soon did Marie realize the power of Don Luis to exercise his +threatened vengeance! Two days after that terrible interview, she +was again dragged to the hall of judgment: the same questions were +proposed as before, whether or not she would denounce the secret +followers of her own creed, and confess her late husband's real +belief; and the same firm answers given. We shrink in loathing from +the delineation of horrible tortures applied to that frail and gentle +being--shrink, for we know that such things actually have been; and +women--young, lovely, inoffensive as Marie Morales--have endured the +same exquisite agony for the same iniquitous purpose! In public, +charged to denounce innocent fellow-beings, or suffer; in private--in +those dark and fearful cells--exposed to all the horror and terror of +such persecution as we have faintly endeavored to describe. It is no +picture of the imagination, delighting to dwell on horrors. Would that +it were! Its parallel will be found, again and again repeated, in the +annals--not of the Inquisition alone--but of every European state +where the Romanists held sway. + +But Marie's prayer for superhuman strength had been heard. No cry, +scarcely a groan, escaped her. She saw Don Luis at her side; she +heard his hissing whisper that there was yet time to retract and +be released; but she deigned him no reply whatever. It was not his +purpose to try her endurance to the utmost in the first, second, or +third trial; though, so enraged at her calmness, as scarcely to be +able to restrain it even before his colleagues, and with difficulty +controlling his fiendish desire to increase the torture to its utmost +at once, he remanded her to her dungeon till his further pleasure +should be known. She had fainted under the intolerable pain, and lay +for many successive hours, too exhausted even to raise to her parched +lips the pitcher of water lying near her. And even the gradual +cessation of suffering, the sensation of returning power, brought with +them the agonized thought, that they did but herald increased and +increasing torture. + +One night--she knew not how long after she had been remanded to her +cell, but, counting by suffering, it felt many weary nights and +days--she sunk into a sleep or trance, which transported her to her +early home in the Vale of Cedars. Her mother seemed again to stand +before her; and she thought, as she heard her caressing voice, and met +the glance of her dove-like eyes, she laid her head on her bosom, as +she was wont to do in her happy childhood; and peace seemed to sink +into her heart so blessedly, so deeply, that the very fever of her +frame departed. A voice aroused her with a start; it was so like her +mother's, that the dream seemed lingering still. + +"Marie, my beloved one," murmured the voice, and a breath fanned +her cheek, as if some one were leaning over her. She unclosed her +eyes--the words, the voice, still so kept up the illusion, though +the tones were deeper than a woman's, that even the hated dress of +a familiar of the Inquisition could not create alarm. "Hast thou +forgotten me, my child? But it matters not now. Say only thou wilt +trust me, and safety lies before us. The fiends hold not their hellish +court to-night; and the arch-fiend himself is far distant, on a sudden +summons from the King, which, though the grand Inquisitor might scorn, +Don Luis will obey. Wilt come with me, my child?" + +"Ay, any where! That voice could not deceive: but 'tis all vain," she +continued, the first accents of awakened hope lost in despondency--"I +cannot rise." + +"It needs not. Do thou hold the lantern, Marie; utter not a +word--check even thy breath--and the God of thy fathers shall save +thee yet." + +He raised her gently in his arms; and the hope of liberty, of rescue +from Don Luis, gave her strength to grasp the light to guide them. She +could not trace their way, but she felt they left the dungeon, and +traversed many long, damp, and narrow passages, seemingly excavated in +the solid earth. All was silent, and dark as the tomb; now and then +her guide paused, as if to listen; but there was no sound. He knew +well the secret paths he trod. + +The rapid motion, even the sudden change, almost deprived Marie of +consciousness. She was only sensible, by a sudden change from the +close, damp, passages to the free breezes of night, that she was in +the open air, and apparently a much freer path; that still her guide +pressed swiftly onwards, apparently scarcely feeling her light weight; +that, after a lengthened interval, she was laid tenderly on a soft, +luxurious couch--at least, so it seemed, compared with the cold floor +of her cell; that the blessed words of thanksgiving that she was +safe broke from that strangely familiar voice; and she asked no +more--seemed even to wish no more--so completely was all physical +power prostrated. She lay calm and still, conscious only that she was +saved. Her guide himself for some time disturbed her not; but after +changing his dress, and preparing a draught of cooling herbs, he knelt +down, raised her head on his knee with almost woman's tenderness, and, +holding the draught to her lips, said, gently-- + +"Drink, beloved child of my sainted sister; there is life and health +in the draught." + +Hastily swallowing it, Marie gazed wildly in his face.--The +habiliments of the familiar had been changed for those of a +Benedictine monk; his cowl thrown back, and the now well remembered +countenance of her uncle Julien was beaming over her. In an instant, +the arm she could still use was thrown round him, and her head buried +in his bosom; every pulse throbbing with the inexpressible joy of +finding, when most desolate, one relative to love and save her still. +Julien left not his work of healing and of security incomplete; +gradually he decreased, by the constant application of linen bathed +in some cooling fluid, the scorching fire which still seemed to burn +within the maimed and shrivelled limb; parted the thick masses of +dishevelled hair from her burning temples, and bathed them with some +cooling and reviving essence; gently removed the sable robes, and +replaced them, with the dress of a young novice which he had +provided; concealed her hair beneath the white linen hood, and then, +administering a potion which he knew would produce deep and refreshing +sleep, and so effectually calm the fevered nerves, she sunk down on +the soft moss and heath which formed her couch, and slept calmly and +sweetly as an infant for many hours. + +Julien Morales had entered Segovia in his monkish garb, as was +frequently his custom, on the evening of the trial.--The excitement of +the whole city naturally called forth his queries as to its cause; +and the information imparted--the murder of Don Ferdinand, and +incomprehensible avowal of Judaism on the part of his niece--demanded +a powerful exercise of self-control to prevent, by a betrayal of +unusual grief and horror, his near relationship to both parties. +Hovering about the palace, he heard of Isabella's merciful intentions +towards Marie; and feeling that his presence might only agitate, +and could in nothing avail her, he had resolved on leaving the city +without seeing her, when her mysterious disappearance excited all +Segovia anew. + +Julien Morales alone, perhaps, amidst hundreds, in his own mind solved +the mystery at once. Well did he know tire existence of the secret +Inquisition. As we narrated in one of our early chapters, the fate +of his father had so fixed itself upon his mind, that he had bound +himself by a secret, though solemn oath, as his avenger. To accomplish +this fully, he had actually spent ten years of his life as familiar in +the Inquisition. The fate of Don Luis's predecessor had been plunged +in the deepest mystery. Some whispered his death was by a subtle +poison; others, that his murderer had sought him in the dead of night, +and, instead of treacherously dealing the blow, had awakened him, and +bade him confess his crimes--one especially; and acknowledge that if +the mandate of the Eternal, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall +his blood be shed," were still to govern man, his death was but an act +of justice which might not be eluded. Whether these whispered rumors +had to do with Julien Morales or not, we leave to the judgment of our +readers.--Suffice it, that not only was his vow accomplished, but, +during his ten years' residence in these subterranean halls, he +naturally became familiarized with all their secret passages and +invisible means of egress and ingress--not only to the apparently +private homes of unoffensive citizens, but into the wild tracts of +country scattered round. By one of these he had, in fact, effected his +own escape; and in the mild and benevolent Benedictine monk--known +alike to the cities and solitudes of Spain--none would have recognized +the former familiar of the Inquisition, and still less have imagined +him the being which in reality he was--a faithful and believing Jew. + +To him, then, it was easy to connect the disappearance of Marie with +the existence of the Holy Office, even though he was entirely ignorant +of Garcia's ulterior designs. In an agony of apprehension, he resolved +on saving her if possible, even while he trembled at the delay which +must necessarily ensue ere he could arrange and execute his plans, +more especially as it was dangerous to associate a second person in +their accomplishment. With all his haste and skill he was not in time +to save her from the barbarity of her misnamed judges. His very soul +was wrung, as he stood amongst the familiars a silent witness of her +sufferings; but to interfere was impossible. One thing, however, was +favorable. He knew she would not be again disturbed till a sufficient +time had elapsed for the recovery of such strength as would enable her +to endure further torture; and he had, therefore, some time before him +for their flight. + +Her voluntary avowal of her faith--aware too, as she was, of the +existence of the Inquisition--had, indeed, perplexed the good uncle +greatly; but she was in no state, even when partially recovered from +physical weakness, to enter into explanation then. He saw she was +unhappy, and the loss of her husband might well account for it. To the +rumors which had reached him in Segovia, as to the suppositions of the +real cause of Stanley's enmity to Morales, and Marie's self-sacrifice, +he would not even listen, so completely without foundation did they +seem to him. + +The second evening after their escape, they left the cave to pursue +their journey. Father Ambrose--for so, now he has resumed his monkish +garb, we must term Julien--had provided a mule for the novice's use; +and thus they leisurely traversed the desolate and mountainous tract +forming the boundaries of the provinces now termed old and new +Castile. Neither uncle nor niece spoke of their destined goal; Marie +intuitively felt she was proceeding to the Vale of Cedars, the only +place of safety now for her; but, so engrossed was her mind with the +vain thought how to save Arthur, that for herself she could not frame +a wish. + +The second evening of their journey they entered a small, straggling +village, so completely buried in mountains that its existence was +unknown save to its own rustic inhabitants. The appearance of a monk +evidently caused an unusual excitement, which was speedily explained. +The chief of the villagers approached Father Ambrose, and, addressing +him with the greatest respect, entreated him to follow him to his +house, where, he said, lay a man at the point of death, who had, from +the time he became aware of his dangerous position, incessantly called +for a priest to shrive him from some deadly sin. He had been found, +the villager continued. In a deep pit sunk in a solitary glen half way +to Segovia, with every appearance of attempted murder, which, being +supposed complete, the assassins had thrown him into the pit to +conceal their deed; but chancing to hear his groans as he passed, he +had rescued him, and hoped to have cured his wounds. For three weeks +they seemed to progress favorably, but then fever--occurring, he +thought, from great restlessness of mind--had rapidly increased, +and, after ten days of fearful struggle between life and death +mortification had ensued, and hope could exist no longer At first, +Perez added, he seemed to shrink from the idea of priestly aid, only +harping on one theme--to get strength enough to reach Segovia, and +speak to the King. They had thought him mad, but humored him; but now +he was almost furious in his wild cries for a priest, not only to +shrive him, but to bear his message to the King. They had tried +to gratify him, but their distance from any town or monastery had +prevented it; and they now, therefore, hailed Father Ambrose almost as +sent from heaven to save a sinner by absolution ere he died. + +This tale was told as the monk and novice hastened with. Perez to his +house. The poor inhabitants thronged his path to crave a blessing, +and proffer every attention their simple means afforded. Fearing for +Marie, Julien's only care was for the supposed novice; and therefore +Perez, at his request, eagerly led her to a large comfortable chamber, +far removed from the bustle of the house, and left her to repose. +But repose was not at that moment possible, even though her slightly +returning strength was exhausted, from the fatigue of a long day's +travel. Fruit and cakes were before her; but, though her mouth was +parched and dry, she turned from them in loathing; and interminable +seemed the space till Father Ambrose returned. Ere he spoke, he +carefully closed and secured the door, and exclaimed, in a low, +cautious tone, "My child, this is indeed the finger of a righteous +God--blessed be His name! The unhappy man to whose dying bed they +brought me--" + +"Is the murderer of my husband!" interposed Marie in a tone of almost +unnatural calmness. "I knew it from the first moment Perez spoke. We +have but to think of one thing now--Stanley is innocent, and must be +saved!" + +"And shall be, if possible, my child; but there are fearful +difficulties in the way. The unhappy man conjures me not to leave him, +and is in such a horrible state of mental and bodily agony that I fear +if I do, he will commit some act of violence on himself, and so render +his evidence of no avail. We are not much above sixty miles from +Segovia, but the roads are cross and rugged; so that it will need +steadiness and speed, and instant audience with the King." + +"But time--have we time?" reiterated Marie. "Say but there is time, +and every other difficulty shall be smoothed." + +"There is full time: the execution is not till the second day after +to-morrow. Nay, my child," he added, observing her look of doubting +bewilderment, "suffering makes the hours seem longer than they are. +Fear not for time, but counsel me whom to send. Who amongst these poor +ignorant rustics will ever reach the King--or, failing him, the Chief +Hermano--and make his tale so sufficiently clear as to release the +prisoner, and send messengers here with the necessary speed to take +down this man's confession? He cannot linger two days more. Would that +I could go myself; but I can leave neither him nor thee." + +"And it needs not," was the firm reply. "Father, I myself will do +thy errand. There must be no delay, no chance of hesitation in its +accomplishment. Ah! do not look upon me as if my words were wild and +vain; were there other means I would not speak them--but he must be +saved!" + +"And again at the sacrifice of thy safety--perchance thy life! Marie, +Marie! what hold has this young stranger upon thee that thou shouldest +twice so peril thyself? Thy life is dearer to me than his--I cannot +grant thy boon." + +"Nay, but thou must. Listen to me, my second father! If Stanley dies, +his blood is on my head!" And struggling with strong emotion, she +poured forth her whole tale. + +"And thou lovest him still--him, a Nazarene--thou, child, wife, of an +unstained race! And is it for this, thy zeal to save him?" ejaculated +Julien, retreating several paces from her--"Can it be?" + +"I would save him because he is innocent--because he has borne more +than enough for me; for aught else, thou wrongest me, father. He will +never be to me more than he is now." + +It was impossible to resist the tone of mournful reproach in which +those simple words were said. Julien pressed her to his bosom, bade +God bless her, and promised, if indeed there were no other means, her +plan should be adopted; objection after objection, indeed, he brought +forward, but all were overruled. She pledged herself to retain her +disguise, and to return with Perez, without hesitation, and accompany +her uncle to the vale, as intended. But that she should start at once, +he positively refused. How could she hope to accomplish her journey +without, at least, two hours' repose? It was then late in the evening. +At six the next morning all should be ready for her journey, and there +would be still more than twenty-four hours before her; Marie tried to +be content, but the horrible dread of being too late did not leave her +for a moment, even in sleep, and inexpressibly thankful was she when +the morning dawned. Julien's provident care had been active while +she slept. Perez, flattered at the trust reposed in him, had offered +himself to accompany the young novice to Segovia: and at the appointed +hour he was ready, mounted himself, and leading a strong, docile +palfrey for brother Ernest's use. He knew an hostellerie, he said, +about twenty miles from the city, where their steeds could be changed; +and promised by two hours after noon, the very latest, the novice +should be with the King. It could be done in less time, he said; but +his reverence had told him the poor boy was unusually delicate, and +had, moreover, lost the use of his left arm; and he thought, as there +was so much time before them, it was needless to exhaust his strength +before his errand was done. Julien expressed his entire satisfaction, +gave them his blessing, and they were rapidly out of sight. + +Once or twice they halted to give their horses rest and refresh +themselves; but so absorbed were the senses of Marie, that she was +unconscious of fatigue. Every mile they traversed seemed bearing a +heavy load from her chest, and enabling her to breathe more freely; +while the fresh breeze and exciting exercise seemed actually to revive +her. It wanted rather more than an hour for noon when they reached the +hostellerie mentioned by Perez. Two fleet and beautiful horses were +speedily provided for them, bread and fruit partaken, and Perez, ready +mounted, was tasting the stirrup cup, when his friend demanded-- + +"Is it to Segovia ye are bound?" + +"Yes, man, on an important errand, charged by his reverence Father +Ambrose himself." + +"His reverence should have sent you two hours earlier, and you +would have been in time for one of the finest sights seen since +Isabella--God bless her!--begun to reign. They were common enough a +few years back." + +"What sight? and why am I not in time?" + +"Now, art thou not the veriest rustic to be so entirely ignorant of +the world's doings? Why, to-day is the solemn execution of the +young foreigner whom they believe we have murdered Don Ferdinand +Morales--the saints preserve him! He is so brave a fellow, they say, +that had it not been for this confounded hostellerie I would have made +an effort to be present: I love to see how a brave man meets death. It +was to have been two hours after day-break this morning, but Juan here +tells me it was postponed till noon. The King--" + +He was proceeding, when he was startled by a sharp cry, and Perez, +hastily turning, caught the novice as he was in the act of falling +from his horse. In an instant, however, he recovered, and exclaiming, +in a thrilling tone of excitement-- + +"Father Ambrose said life or death hung upon our speed and promptness; +he knew not the short interval allowed us. This young foreigner is +innocent--the real murderer is discovered. On--, on, for mercy, or we +shall be too late!"--gave his horse the rein, and the animal started +off at full speed. Perez was at his side in an instant, leaving his +friend open-mouthed with astonishment, and retailing the marvellous +news into twenty different quarters in as many seconds. + +Not a word was spoken; not a moment did the fiery chargers halt in +their headlong way. On, on they went; on, over wide moors and craggy +steeps; on, through the rushing torrent and the precipitous glen; +on, through the forest and the plain, with the same unwavering pace. +Repeatedly did Marie's brain reel, and her heart grow sick, and her +limbs lose all power either to guide or feel; but she neither spoke +nor flagged--convulsively she grasped the reins, and closed her eyes, +as the voice and hand of her companion urged their steeds swifter and +yet swifter on. + +An exclamation from Perez roused her. The turrets of Segovia were +visible in the distance, glittering in the brilliant sun; but her +blood-shot eye turned with sickening earnestness more towards the +latter object than the former. It had not yet attained its full +meridian--a quarter of an hour, perhaps twenty minutes, was still +before them. But the strength of their horses was flagging, foam +covered their glossy hides, their nostrils were distended, they +breathed hard, and frequently snorted--the short, quick, sound of +coming powerlessness. Their steady pace wavered, their heads drooped; +but, still urged on by Perez's encouraging voice, they exerted +themselves to the utmost--at times darting several paces suddenly +forward, then stumbling heavily on. The cold dew stood on Marie's +brow, and every pulse seemed stilled. They passed the outer +gates--they stood on the brow of a hill commanding a view of the whole +city. The castle seemed but a stone's throw from, them; but the sound +of muffled drums and other martial instruments were borne towards them +on the air. Multitudes were thronging in one direction; the Calle +Soledad seemed one mass of human heads, save where the scaffold raised +its frightful sign above them. Soldiers were advancing, forming a +thin, glittering line through the crowds. In their centre stood the +prisoner. On, again, dashed the chargers--scarcely a hundred yards +separated them from the palace-gate. Wildly Marie glanced back once +more--there were figures on the scaffold. And at that moment--borne in +the stillness more loudly, more heavily than usual, or, at least, so +it seemed to her tortured senses--the huge bell of the castle chimed +the hour of noon! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + "The outmost crowd have heard a sound, + Like horse's hoof on harden'd ground; + Nearer it came, and yet more near-- + The very deathsmen pause to hear!" + + SIR WALTER SCOTT. + + +In his private closet, far removed from the excitement stirring +without, King Ferdinand was sitting, on the morning appointed for +Stanley's execution: several maps and plans were before him, over +which he appeared intently engaged; but every now and then his brow +rested on his hand, and his eyes wandered from their object; Isabella +was at work in a recess of the window near him, conversing on his +warlike plans, and entering warmly into all his measures, as he roused +himself to speak of them, or silent when she saw him sunk in thought. +The history of the period dwells with admiration on the domestic +happiness of Ferdinand and Isabella, and most refreshingly do such +annals stand forth amid the rude and stormy scenes, both in public and +private life, most usual to that age. Isabella's real influence on +the far less lofty and more crafty Ferdinand was so silent, so +unobtrusive, that its extent was never known, either to himself or +to her people, till after her death, when in Ferdinand's rapid +deterioration from the nobler qualities of earlier years, it was +traced too clearly, and occasioned her loss to be mourned, yet more +than at the moment of her death. + +The hour of noon chimed, and Ferdinand, with unusual emotion, pushed +the papers from him. + +"There goes the knell of as brave and true a heart as ever beat," he +said. "If he be innocent--as I believe him--may Heaven forgive his +murderer! Hark! what is that?" he continued hurriedly, as the last +chime ceased to vibrate; and, striding to the door of his cabinet he +flung it open and listened intently. + +"Some one seeks the King! follow me, Isabel. By St. Francis, we may +save him yet!" he exclaimed, and rapidly threading the numerous +passages, in less than a minute he stood within the hall. + +"Who wills speech of Ferdinand?" he demanded. "Let him step forth at +once and do his errand." + +"I seek thee, King of Spain!" was the instant answer, and a young lad +in the white garb of a Benedictine novice, staggered forwards. "Arthur +Stanley is innocent! The real murderer is discovered; he lies at the +point of death sixty miles hence. Send--take his confession; but +do not wait for that. Fly, or it is too late. I see it--the axe is +raised--is flashing in the sun; oh, stop it ere it falls!" And with +the wild effort to loose the grasp of an old soldier, who more +supported than detained him, his exhausted strength gave way, and they +laid him, white, stiff, and speechless, on a settle near. + +With his first word, however, Ferdinand had turned to a trusty +soldier, and bade him "fly to stop the work of death;" and the man +needed not a second bidding: he darted from the hall, flew through the +castle-yard, repeated the words to the first individual he met, by +whom it was repeated to another, and by him again on and on till it +reached the crowds around the scaffold; where it spread like wildfire +from mouth to mouth, reaching the ear of Don Felix, even before his +eye caught the rapidly advancing soldier, whom he recognized at once +as one of his Sovereign's private guards; impelling him, with an +almost instinctive movement, to catch the upraised arm of the +executioner at the very instant he was about to strike. + +"Wherefore this delay, Don Felix? it is but a cruel mercy," sternly +inquired the Chief Hermano, whose office had led him also to the +scaffold. + +"Behold, and listen: praised be the holy saints, he is saved!" was +the rapid reply, as the voice of the soldier close by the foot of +the scaffold, was distinguished bidding them "Hold! hold! the King +commands it. He is innocent; the real murderer is discovered!" and +then followed a shout, so loud, so exulting, that it seemed to have +burst from those assembled hundreds at the same instant. The prisoner +heard it, indeed; but to his bewildered senses--taking the place as +it did of the expected blow--it was so utterly meaningless that he +neither moved nor spoke; and even Don Felix's friendly voice charging +him--"Up, Stanley! up, man! thou art saved--thine innocence made +known!" failed to convince him of the truth. He rose from his knees; +but his limbs shook, and his face--which had changed neither hue nor +expression when he had knelt for the fatal blow--was colorless as +marble. He laid his trembling hand on Father Francis's arm, and tried +to speak, but he could not utter a sound. + +"'Tis true, my beloved son: thy sinful thoughts have been sufficiently +chastised; and the mercy of Heaven publicly revealed. Our prayers +have not been said in vain; thine innocence is known--the guilty one +discovered!" + +To doubt these solemn accents was impossible, and though the effort +was mighty to prevent it, Nature would have sway, and Stanley laid his +head on the Prior's arm, and burst into tears. And the wild shout that +again awoke, seemed to clarion forth a thrilling denial to the charge +of weakness, which on such openly demonstrated emotion, some hearts +dead to the voice of Nature might have pronounced. + +King Ferdinand had not been idle while this exciting scene was +enacting; questioning briefly but distinctly the villager who had +accompanied the novice; the latter still remaining in a state of +exhaustion precluding all inquiries from him. Perez, however, could +only repeat the lad's words when informed that the execution of Senor +Stanley was to take place that day. Father Ambrose had merely told him +that he (Perez) had rendered a most important service to more than one +individual by his compassionate care of the dying man, whose desire to +communicate with the King was no idle raving. He had also charged +him to take particular care of the young novice, who was ailing and +weakly; that the emergency of the present case alone had compelled him +to send the lad to Segovia, as his dress and ability, might gain him a +quicker admission to the King or Queen, than the rude appearance and +uncouth dialect of his companion. The father had also requested him to +urge the officers, whom the King might send to take the dying man's +confession, to travel at their utmost speed, for he thought death was +approaching fast. + +With his usual rapidity of thought and decision, Ferdinand's orders +were given and so quickly obeyed, that even before the arrival of the +Sub-Prior and Don Felix with the released prisoner, a band of men, +headed by Don Alonzo and two of the chief officers of the Santa +Hermandad, had already started for the village. The King still +retained Perez, not only to reward him liberally, but that his tale +might be repeated to the proper authorities, and compared with that of +the novice, as soon as he had sufficiently recovered to give it. The +entrance of Stanley effectually prevented his giving more than a +pitying glance towards the poor boy, who had been raised on one of the +benches, surrounded by the soldiers, who were doing all their rude +kindness suggested to revive him. + +Isabella had followed her husband to the hall, and been a quiet but +penetrative observer of all that followed. She had started as the +voice of the novice met her ear, and made a few hasty steps forward; +but then checked herself, and quietly watched the proceedings of the +soldiers. Perceiving how wholly ineffectual their efforts appeared, +she advanced towards them. With the most reverential affection the +men made way for her. They had been so accustomed to see her on the +battle-field, tending the wounded and the dying, soothing their +anguish and removing their cares, ay, and more than once doing the +same kindly office in their rude and lowly homes, that her appearance +and gentle tending of the boy, excited no surprise whatever. She +motioned them all back, apparently to allow a free current of air--in +reality, to prevent them from adopting her own suspicions; she did not +remove the somewhat unusually tightly-secured hood; but for her, one +glance on that white and chiselled face was sufficient. Her skill +was at length successful, and with the first symptom of returning +animation, she left him to the soldiers, and joined the throng around +the King; but her eye, which from long use, appeared literally endowed +with power to take in every desired object, however separated, at one +glance, still watched him as he painfully endeavored to rise, and +threw one searching glance towards the principal group. His eyes +rested a full minute on the prisoner, with an expression which +Isabella alone, perhaps, of all in that hall, could read. A momentary +crimson flushed his cheek, and then his face was bowed in his +spread hands, and his slight frame shook, with the fervor of the +thanksgiving, which his whole soul outpoured. + +Perceiving that the lad had recovered his senses, Perez referred all +the eager questioners to him, feeling so bewildered at the marvellous +transformation of himself, in his own opinion, from, an ignorant +rustic, who had never seen the interior of a town, to the permitted +companion of his sovereign and his nobles, and even of Isabella, and +he received from her lips a few words of kindly commendation, that +it was almost an effort to speak; and he longed to rush back to his +village and astound them all, and still more, triumph over his friend, +the hostellerie-keeper, who, lord it as he might, had never been so +honored. + +"Come hither, boy," said Ferdinand kindly; and the novice slowly and +with evident reluctance obeyed. "We could almost wish thy tastes had +pointed elsewhere than the church, that our acknowledgments of thy +exertions in our service might be more substantial than mere thanks; +however, thy patron saint shall not want a grateful offering. Nay, our +presence is surely not so terrible that thou shouldst tremble thus, +poor child! Hast thou aught more to communicate?--aught for our +private ear, or that of her Highness our consort? If not, we will not +exhaust thy little strength by useless questions." + +In a tone so low and faltering, that Ferdinand was obliged to bend +down his head to hear, the novice replied, that if messengers had been +despatched to the village, his errand was sufficiently accomplished. +Father Ambrose had merely charged him to say that the real murderer +had himself confessed his crime, and that the sin had been incited, +by such a horrible train of secret guilt, that all particulars were +deferred till they could be imparted to the authorities of justice, +and by them to the sovereigns themselves. For himself he only asked +permission to return to the village with Perez, and rejoin his +guardian, Father Ambrose, as soon as his Grace would please to dismiss +him. + +"Thou must not--shalt not--return without my poor thanks, my young +preserver," exclaimed Stanley, with emotion. "Had it not been for +exertions which have well nigh exhausted thee, exertions as gratuitous +as noble--for what am I to thee?--my honor might have been saved +indeed, but my life would have paid a felon's forfeit. Would that I +could serve thee--thou shouldst not find me ungrateful! Give me thine +hand, at least, as pledge that shouldst thou ever need me--if not for +thyself, for others--thou wilt seek me without scruple." + +The boy laid his hand on Stanley's without hesitation, but without +speaking; he merely raised his heavy eyes a moment to his face, and +vainly did Stanley endeavor to account for the thrill which shot +through his heart so suddenly as almost to take away his breath, as he +felt the soft touch of that little hand and met that momentary glance. + +Who has not felt the extraordinary power of a tone--a look--a touch? +which, + + "Touching th' electric chain, wherewith we are darkly bound," + +fills the heart and mind with irresistible impulses, engrossing +thoughts, and startling memories, all defined and united, and yet +lasting for so brief a moment that we are scarcely able to realize +their existence ere they are gone--and so completely, that we perplex +ourselves again and again with the vain effort to recall their subject +or their meaning. And so it was with Stanley. The thrill passed and +he could not even trace its origin or flitting thought; he only saw a +Benedictine novice before him; he only felt regret that there was no +apparent means with which he could evince his gratitude. + +On Father Francis offering to take charge of the boy, till his +strength was sufficiently renovated to permit his safe return to the +village, Isabella spoke, for the first time:-- + +"Reverend Father! We will ourselves take charge of this poor child. +There are some questions we would fain inquire, ere we can permit his +return to his guardian: if satisfactorily answered, a munificent +gift to his patron saint shall demonstrate, how deeply we feel the +exertions he has made; and if we can serve him better than merely +allowing his return to his monastery, trust me we shall not fail. +Follow me, youth!" she continued, as the Sub-Prior and the King, +though surprised at her words, acquiesced. The novice shrunk back +and clung to the side of Perez, as if most unwilling to comply; but +neither the command, nor the look, with which it was enforced could be +disobeyed, and slowly and falteringly he followed Isabella from the +hall. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + 'Tis done! and so she droops. Oh, woman-heart! + How bold and brave to do thy destined part! + Thro' sorrow's waves press firmly, calmly on, + And pause not, sink not, till the goal is won! + + MS. + + +Not a word passed between them, until they had reached Isabella's +private cabinet; and even then the Queen--though she seated herself +and signed to the boy to stand before her, as desirous of addressing +him--asked not a question, but fixed her penetrating eyes on his +pallid features, with a look in which severity was very evidently +struggling, with commiseration and regard. To attempt to retain +disguise was useless; Marie flung aside the shrouding hood, and +sinking down at the Queen's feet, buried her face in her robe, and +murmured in strong emotion-- + +"Gracious Sovereign--mercy!" + +"Again wouldst thou deceive, again impose upon me, Marie? What am I +to think of conduct mysterious as thine? Wherefore fly from my +protection--reject with ingratitude the kindness I would have +proffered--mistrust the interest which thou hadst already proved, +and then return as now? I promised forgiveness, and continuation of +regard, if the truth were revealed and mystery banished, and darker +than ever has thy conduct drawn the veil around thee. What urged thy +flight, and wherefore this disguise? Speak out, and truthfully; we +will be tampered with no longer!" + +But Marie vainly tried to obey; her brain was burning; the rapid ride, +the sudden transition, from the sickening horror of being too late, +to the assurance of Stanley's safety, the thought that she had indeed +parted from him for ever, and now Isabella's evident anger, when her +woman-heart turned to her as a child's to its mother's, yearning +for that gentle sympathy which, at such a moment, could alone have +soothed. Words seemed choked within her, and the effort to speak +produced only sobs. Isabella's eyes filled with tears. + +"Speak," she said, more gently; "Marie--say only why thou didst fly +me, when I had given no evidence, that the boon thou didst implore me +to grant, had become, by thy strange confession, null and void. What +urged thy flight?" + +"Not my own will. Oh, no--no, gracious Sovereign; I would have +remained a contented prisoner with thee, but they bore me away to such +scenes and sounds of horror that their very memory burns my brain. Oh, +madam! do with me what thou wilt, but condemn me not to return to that +fearful place again. Death, death itself--ay, even such a death as +Arthur has escaped--were mercy in its stead!" + +"Of what speakest thou, Marie? Who could have dared bear thee from our +protection without thine own free will? Thy mind has been overwrought +and is bewildered still; we have been harsh, perchance, to urge thee +to speak now: repose may--". + +"Repose! Oh, no--no; let me remain with thee!" she sobbed, as +forgetful of either state or form, her head sunk on Isabella's knee. +"He has borne me from your highness' power once; he can, he may, I +know he will again. Oh, save me from him! It was not because of my +faith he bore me there, and tempted and tortured and laughed at my +agony; he taunted me with his power to wreak the vengeance of a +baffled passion upon me--for, as a Jewess, who would protect me? Oh, +mighty Sovereign! send me not from thy presence. Don Luis will take me +from thy very roof again." + +"Don Luis!" repeated Isabella, more and more convinced that Marie's +sufferings had injured her brain. "What power can he have, so secret +and so terrible? Marie, thou ravest!" + +"Do I rave?" replied the unhappy girl, raising her right hand to her +throbbing brow. "It may be so; perhaps it has all been a dream--a wild +and fearful dream!--and I am awakened from it now; and yet--yet how +can it be; how came my arm thus if it had not been reality--horrible, +agonizing reality!" And as she spoke she removed the covering from +her left arm. Painfully Isabella started: the beautiful limb hung +powerless from wrist to shoulder, a dry and scorched and shrievelled +bone. + +"And couldst thou think thy Sovereign would ordain, or even permit, +such suffering?" she exclaimed, after a moment's pause, passing her +arm fondly round Marie, whom she had raised from the ground to a +cushion by her side. "My poor unhappy child, what is this dark +mystery? Who can have dared to injure thee, and call it justice, +zeal--religion, perchance! Mother of Mercy! pardon the profanation of +the word! Try and collect thy thoughts, and tell me all. Who has dared +thus insult our power?" + +"Don Luis!--Don Luis!" repeated Marie, clinging like an infant to the +Queen, and shuddering with terror at the very recollection of a power +which she had faced so calmly. "Oh, save me from him! torture itself I +could bear, but not his words." + +"Don Luis!" reiterated the astonished Queen. "What has he to do with +torture? Who is he--what is he, my poor child, that his very name +should thus appal thee? He may indeed have dared speak insulting +words, but what power has he thus fearfully to wreak his vengeance?" + +"Who is he--what is he?" repeated Marie, looking with surprise in +the Queen's pitying face. "Does not your highness know--and yet how +shouldst thou?--his very office is as secret as his own black nature? +Has your highness never heard men whisper of a secret Inquisition, +hiding itself even in thy domains? Oh, my Sovereign, it was there they +dragged me! [her voice sunk to a low shuddering whisper] and he was +grand master there; he--even Don Luis! And he will bear me there +again. Oh, save me from those fearful sounds--those horrid sights: +they glare before me now!" + +"And I will save thee, my child! ay, and root out these midnight +horrors from my kingdom," exclaimed Isabella, indignation flashing in +her eye, and flushing on her cheek. "Once we have been insulted--once +deceived; but never to us can such occur a second time. Fearfully +shall this deed of infamy recoil upon its perpetrators! Tremble not +thus, my poor girl, no one shall injure thee; no one can touch thee, +for we are warned, and this fearful tale shall be sifted to the +bottom! Child of a reprobate faith, and outcast race as thou art, +thinkest thou that even to thee Isabella would permit injury and +injustice? If we love thee too well, may we be forgiven, but cared for +thou shalt be; ay, so cared for, that there shall be joy on earth, and +in heaven for thee yet!" + +At another moment, those words would have been understood in their +real meaning; but Marie could then only feel the consoling conviction +of security and love. It was not merely personal kindness which had +so bound her to her Sovereign; it was the unacknowledged but felt +conviction, that Isabella had penetrated her secret feelings, with +regard to Arthur Stanley; and yet not a syllable of this had ever +passed the Queen's lips. Oh, true sympathy seldom needs expression, +for its full consolation to be given and received! The heart +recognizes intuitively a kindred heart, and turns to it in its sorrow +or its joy, conscious of finding in it, repose from itself. But only +a woman can give to woman this perfect sympathy; for the deepest +recesses, the hidden sources of anguish in the female heart no man can +read. + +Engrossed as Isabella was by the mysterious information imparted by +Marie, indefinitely yet forcibly confirmed by her, then unusual, +knowledge of the past history of Spain, she was more easily satisfied +with Marie's hurried and hesitating account of her escape, than she +might otherwise have been. To proclaim her relationship with Father +Ambrose was ruin to him at once. He had been one, she said with truth, +who had received great obligations from her family, and had vowed +to return them whenever it should be in his power so to do; he had, +therefore, made the exertion to save her, and was about taking her to +her childhood's home on the frontiers of Castile, the only place, it +appeared to him, sufficiently secret to conceal her from Don Luis's +thousand spies; but that on the providential discovery of the real +murderer, and the seeming impossibility of ever seeing the King +himself in time--she paused. + +"Could he send thee on such a rapid errand, my child, and suffering +thus?" gently inquired Isabella. + +"No, gracious madam," was the unhesitating rejoinder, though a burning +blush mounted to her very temples; "it was my own voluntary choice. It +was my unhappy fate to have been the actual cause of his arraignment; +it was but my duty to save him if I could." + +"And thou wouldst have returned with Perez had we not penetrated thy +disguise?" + +"Yes, gracious Sovereign." And the flush faded into paleness, ashy as +before; but the tone was calm and firm. + +The Queen looked at her intently, but made no further observation; and +speedily summoning her before trusted attendants, placed the widow of +Morales once more in their charge; imparted to them as much of Marie's +tale as she deemed requisite, and the consequent necessity for her +return to the Queen's care; nay, her very existence was to be kept +secret from all save those to whom she herself should choose to impart +it. Gratified by her confidence, they were eager to obey; and so +skilfully did they enter into her wishes, that their very companions +suspected not the identity of the prisoner, in whom, they were told, +their Sovereign was so much interested. Curiosity might have been busy +with very many, but their vague conjectures fell far short of the +truth; Catharine Pas was the only one of Isabella's younger maidens to +whom the real fact was imparted. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + 'Twas a dark tale of crime, and awed and chilled + E'en indignation seeming horror still'd, + Men stood beside a murd'rer's couch of death, + Watching-the glazing-eye and flickering-breath-- + Speaking with look and hurried sign alone, + Their thoughts, too terror-fraught for word or tone.--MS. + + +The indignation excited in the Queen's mind against Don Louis was +destined, very speedily, to be increased. Ferdinand had had time to +become half angry, and quite impatient, ere his messengers dispatched +to the village returned. Stanley had been released--was regarded by +all as innocent; but this was literally only from a peasant's word and +the half broken intelligence of an exhausted boy: he wanted proof, +and a vague dread would take possession of him that his fate was but +temporarily suspended. At an early hour the next day, however, Don +Alonzo returned; and Ferdinand's impatient anger was averted, when he +found the delay had been occasioned by their determination, to +convey the dying man to Segovia, and the caution necessary for its +accomplishment. The Hermanos had already noted down his confession; +but it was so fraught with extended and dangerous consequences, that +they felt, they dared not act on their responsibility: all suppressing +measures must proceed from the sovereigns themselves. Perez was again +summoned, and at once swore to the identity of the dying man as the +individual he had rescued from a deep pit, in a lonely mountain-pass, +about twenty miles from his village; and the man, whose eagerness to +speak was evident, though his voice was so faint, as scarcely to be +intelligible, commenced his dark and terrible tale. + +The indignation of the Sovereign, and of those whom he had chosen to +be present, was excited to the utmost, mingled with horror as the +mysterious fates of many a loved companion were thus so fearfully +solved; but none felt the recital with the same intensity of emotion +as the Sub-Prior, who, with, head bowed down upon his breast, and +hands tightly clenched, knelt beside the penitent. It was not +indignation, it was not horror; but agony of spirit that a religion +which he loved better than himself, whose purity and honor he would +have so jealously guarded, that he would have sacrificed life itself +for its service, should have been made the cover for such unutterable +villany. Few imagined the deeds of painful mortification and bodily +penance which, in his solitude, the Sub-Prior afterwards inflicted on +himself; as if his individual sufferings should atone for the guilt of +his brethren, and turn from them the wrath of an avenging God. + +Horrible as were the details imparted, incomprehensible as it seemed +that so extended and well-organized a power, should exist so secretly +throughout Spain, as to hide itself even from the sovereigns and +ministers of justice themselves, yet none doubted what they heard. +Sovereigns and nobles well knew that the Inquisition had been +established both in Castile and Arragon centuries before, and that +the annals of those kingdoms, though mentioning the resistance of the +people against this awful power, had been silent as to its entire +extirpation. + +In the first part of his narrative the man had spoken shrinkingly and +fearfully, as if still in dread of vengeance on his betrayal; but +his voice became bolder when he confessed his own share in the late +atrocious crime. Accustomed by the strictest and most rigid training, +to obey as familiars, the will of their superiors without question--to +be mere mindless and feelingless tools, to whom death itself was +awarded, if by word or hint, or even sign, they dared evince +themselves to be as other men--he had, at the command of the Grand +Inquisitor, deeply drugged Senor Stanley's evening draught, and, while +under its potent influence, had purloined his sword; waylaid Don +Ferdinand in the Calle Soledad, effectually done the deed, and--aware +that it would be many hours ere the English Senor could arouse himself +from the stupifying effects of the draught--had intended returning to +his chamber still more effectually to throw on him the suspicion of +the murder. It happened, however, that it was the first time he had +ever been chosen by his superiors as their tool for actual murder, and +the magnitude of the crime, from the greatness of, and universal love +borne towards the victim, had so appalled him, that, combined with the +raging storm and pitchy darkness, he had felt utterly bewildered. Not +well acquainted with Segovia, he had found himself, after more than an +hour's wandering--instead of, as he expected, again near the Senor's +lodgings--in the self-same spot whence he had started, and close by +the body of his victim. The sight horrified and bewildered him yet +more, and he crept behind a low wall, resolved on remaining there +till the tempest had at least partially subsided, and then fulfil the +remainder of his instructions; knowing that to fail in any one point, +would be the signal of his own destruction. Fortune, however, so far +favored him, as to send the young English Senor to the very spot, +and there was therefore no occasion for his further interference. He +tarried till he had seen Stanley's arrest, and had heard the loud +execrations of all proclaiming him the murderer--and then returned to +his employers. + +The education of the familiars had so far failed with him, that, +though aware of its danger, thoughts would enter his mind, as to how +Don Ferdinand Morales could have offended the dread power which he +served, and why the foreign Senor should be thus implicated in the +deed. He hoped to have concealed these doubts; but from the issue, he +imagined that some unguarded word spoken to a companion, must have +betrayed him. He was chosen by the Grand Inquisitor as his companion, +on some secret expedition two days after the trial, unsuspicious +of the danger awaiting him, till the desolate scene on which they +unexpectedly entered flashed terror on his mind. His superior had +there paused, told him that from the witness of Beta, the servant +girl, it was quite evident he had disobeyed part of the instructions +given, or his _return_ to Arthur's lodgings would have been heard by +her as well as his _departure_ and thus at once have implicated the +Englishman as the real murderer; that though chance had thrown equal +suspicion upon him, it did net remove his disobedience, and so he +was doomed to death; and the blow, instantaneously given, felled him +insensible to the ground. When he recovered his senses, he found +himself lying in a deep pit, where he had evidently been thrown as +dead. The wounds and contusions received in the fall, as far as he +could recollect, by producing a most excruciating sense of pain, +roused him from temporary insensibility, and he was convinced he heard +his murderer's voice--though he could not see him--exclaim distinctly, +as if he were leaning over the mouth of the pit, "There goes my last +doubt: other men might call it their last fear, but I know not the +word! Three victims for the possession of one--and who will now +dare to brand me? I had slain that faltering craven without his +disobedience, he dared to _think_ upon his deed." + +Almost insensible from agony as he was, these words had impressed +themselves indelibly; causing the burning desire to live and be +revenged. And the opportune succors of the villager, Perez, with a +party of woodmen; the completely hidden site of the village to which, +he had been conveyed; and the, at first, favorable healing of his +wounds, appeared to give him every hope of its accomplishment. He had +resolved on communicating his tale to none save to Ferdinand himself, +or to the Chief Hermano, under strict promise to reveal it to the +Sovereign: but his intense anxiety had evidently prevented the +attainment of his desire, by producing fever; and thence arose his +wild and almost maniac cravings to make confession, and bind some holy +monk, by a solemn vow, to convey it to the King. + +It was not till the conclusion of this momentous narration, that the +King permitted any questions to be asked; and those he then demanded +were so concise and clear, that but few words were needed in which to +couch the reply. + +"And the designer of this hellish plot, the real murderer--through thy +hand, of one brave friend, and almost another--is the same who has +murdered thee!" he inquired, after learning the exact sites of these +mysterious halls; information which caused some of the bravest hearts +to shudder, from their close vicinity. + +The man answered at once in the affirmative. + +"And he dares assume, in this illegal tribunal, the rank of Grand +Inquisitor?" + +"Ay, gracious liege." + +"And his name?--that by which he is known to man? Speak! And as thy +true confession may be the means of bringing a very fiend to justice, +so may thy share in his deeds be pardoned." + +An indescribable expression passed over the fast stiffening features +of the dying. He half raised himself, and, laying his clammy hand on +Ferdinand's robe, whispered, in clear and thrilling tones-- + +"Bend low, my liege; even at this moment I dare not speak it loud; +but, oh! beware of those who affect superior sanctity to their +fellows: there is one who in the sunshine stands forth wisest, and +purest, and strictest; and at midnight rules arch-fiend--men call him +DON LUIS GARCIA. _He_ is Don Ferdinand's murderer! _He_ sought Senor +Stanley's death and mine; but instead of a victim, he has found an +accuser! His web has coiled round himself--flee him! avoid him as ye +would a walking pestilence, or visible demon! Minister as he may be of +our holy father, the Pope, he is a villain--his death alone can bring +safety to Spain. Ha! what is this? Mother of mercy! save me! The +cross! the cross! Absolution! The flames of hell! Father, bid them +avaunt! I--a true confession." The words were lost in a fearful +gurgling sound, and the convulsion which ensued was so terrible, that +some of the very bravest involuntarily turned away; but Stanley, who +had listened to the tale with emotions too varied and intense for +speech, now sprung forward, wildly exclaiming-- + +"Three victims for one! Where is that one? Speak--speak in mercy! Oh, +God! he dies and says no word!" + +The eyes of the dying man glared on him, but there was no meaning +in their gaze; they rolled in their sockets, glazed, and in another +minute all was stiff in death. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + "Doth Heaven + Woo the free spirit for dishonored breath + To sell its birthright? Doth Heaven set a price + On the clear jewel of unsullied faith + And the bright calm of conscience?" + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +A private council immediately followed the confession received; but +though it continued many hours, no active measures could at once be +decided upon. Secret and illegal, according to Spanish laws, as this +tribunal was, it was yet an instrument of the Pope, acknowledging his +supremacy alone, and, in consequence, always receiving his protection. +Civil justice, it appeared, could not reach those who were protected +by; the head of the church; but Ferdinand's mind was far too capacious +to admit this plea. Rooted out of his dominions--in its present +form, at least--he resolved it should be, and Isabella confirmed the +resolve. Not only was its secret existence fraught with the most awful +crimes and injustice, regarded generally, but it was derogatory and +insulting to that sovereign power, which Ferdinand and Isabella had +both determined on rendering supreme. Father Francis, whose usual +energy of thought and counsel appeared completely annihilated from the +fearful tale he had heard, strenuously urged the sovereigns to wait +the arrival of Torquemada, the Queen's confessor, who was now every +hour expected, and whose sterner and more experienced mind would give +them better counsel. To this both sovereigns agreed, but one measure +they adopted at once. As Grand Inquisitor, the principal actor in this +atrocious drama might be servant of and solely answerable to the Pope; +as Don Luis Garcia, he was subject to Ferdinand and Isabella, and as +such amenable to the laws of Spain. A schedule was therefore drawn up, +stating that whereas the man commonly known as Don Luis Garcia, had +been convicted of many atrocious and capital crimes, and, amongst +the gravest, of having instigated and commanded the murder of Don +Ferdinand Morales, and done to death his own tool, the real committer +of the deed, that Arthur Stanley might be charged with, and executed +for, the same; the sovereigns of Spain called upon their loving +subjects--of every rank and every degree, in all and every part of the +realm--to unite in endeavoring to discover, and deliver up the said +Don Luis Garcia, to the rigor of the law. An enormous reward was +offered for delivering him alive into the hands of justice, and half +the sum, should he have resisted to the death. The proclamation was +made by sound of trumpet in various parts of Segovia, and copies sent, +with all possible speed, to every city, town, and even village, over +Spain. A correct description of his person accompanied the schedule, +and every possible measure was adopted that could tend to his +apprehension. So strong was the popular feeling against him that every +class, almost every individual, felt it a personal duty to assist, in +this case, the course of justice. He had deceived all men, and all men +in consequence leagued themselves against him. So secretly, and yet +so judiciously, were the plans for his seizure carried on, and so +universal the popular ferment, that it appeared marvellous how he +could have escaped; and yet weeks merged into months, and, though the +measures of the Santa Hermandad in no way relaxed, Don Luis was still +at large, and effectually concealed. We may here state at once--though +it carries us much in advance of our present scene--that Father +Francis resolved at all costs to purge the church of Spain from +this most unholy member; and, authorized by the sovereigns, made a +voluntary pilgrimage to the court of St. Peter's, obtained an audience +with the Pope, laid the case before him, and besought the penalty of +excommunication to be fulminated against the hypocrite who had dared +to use, as cover for most atrocious villany, the pure and sacred +ordinances of the church. Alexander the Sixth, himself a worker of +such awful crimes that he was little capable of entering into the pure +and elevated character of the Sub-Prior, heard him calmly, smiled +sneeringly, and then informed him, he was too late. The worthy and +zealous servant of Rome, known to men as Don Luis Garcia, had been +before him, made confession of certain passions as exciting erring +deeds, to which all men were liable, had done penance, received +absolution, and was in a fair way of rising to the highest eminence in +the church. + +Father Francis remonstrated, urged, dared to speak bolder truths than +had ever before reached the papal ear but all without effect: and +this truly good and spiritual man returned to Spain stricken to the +dust. He reported the failure of his mission; heard, with bowed +head and aching soul, the natural indignation of Ferdinand, and the +quieter, but to him, still more expressive sorrow, at this fearful +abuse of her holy religion from Isabella; and then, with an +earnestness impossible to be resisted, conjured the royal permission +to retire entirely from all interference in public life. He could not, +he said, support the weight of shame, which, falling on his church, +had affected him individually. Vain were the royal solicitations, vain +the love of the people, vain the entreaties of the abbot and brethren +of his convent; he resigned the office of Sub-Prior, relinquished +every religious and secular honor, and buried himself in the most +impenetrable solitude, fraught with austerity and mortification, +personal penance, and yet devoted to such extraordinary acquirements, +that, though for long years his very existence was well nigh +forgotten, when next he burst upon the astonished eyes of the world, +it was no longer as Father Francis, the Sub-Prior of a Franciscan +monastery, a good and benevolent monk, but as the learned priest, the +sagacious statesman, the skilful general, ay, and gallant warrior--the +great and good CARDINAL XIMENES! + +To wait the arrival of Torquemada, the sovereigns and their council +unanimously resolved. It was but a very brief delay, and would permit +a more effectual extermination of the secret office than could be +decided upon by the laity alone. Ere the day closed, and in presence +of the sovereigns, of all the nobles, officers of state, the Santa +Hermandad and principal citizens, Arthur Stanley was formally +pronounced INNOCENT of the crime with which he had been charged. The +golden spurs, which had been ignominiously hacked from his heels, were +replaced by the aged Duke of Murcia; knighthood again bestowed by the +King; and Isabella's own hand, with winning courtesy, presented him +a sword, whose real Toledo blade, and richly jewelled hilt, should +replace the valued weapon, the loss of which had caused him such +unmerited suffering, and shame. + +"May it be used for us, as faithfully and nobly as its predecessor," +were Isabella's concluding words; "and its associations, Senor +Stanley, be nought but those of joy." + +The young man's cheek burned, but there was a deep shadow on his +countenance, which neither the honors he received, nor his own urgent +efforts had power to remove. He looked wistfully after the sovereigns +as they quitted the church, then with an irresistible impulse, broke +from the throng with whom he had been endeavoing to join in animated +converse, and, suddenly kneeling before Isabella, exclaimed in low, +agitated tones-- + +"_She_--she may still be in the villain's power. Oh, my liege, wait +not for Torquemada's arrival and leave her to die! He will wreak his +full vengeance upon her." + +"Trust me for her safety, my young friend; measures have been already +taken to secure it," was Isabella's instant reply, in a tone so full +of sympathy, that Arthur caught her robe, and pressed it to his lips. + +She smiled kindly and passed on, still accompanied by Ferdinand, not a +little astonished at her words, and still more so when Marie's whole +tale was imparted to him. + +On retiring to rest that night, his thoughts still engrossed with +vain speculations as to the destined fate of Marie,--Arthur, half +unconsciously, unsheathed Isabella's magnificent gift, to judge of +the temper of the blade; and, as he did so, a scroll, which had been +twisted round the steel, fell to the ground. He raised it with hasty +curiosity, but his heart throbbed as he recognized the handwriting of +the Queen, and deciphered the following words:-- + +"To Senor Stanley, in secrecy and confidence, these: The eye of love +is said to pierce through all disguises. In this instance it has +proved less discriminative than woman's sympathy, and woman's +penetration. She in whom we believe Senor Stanley interested, and to +whose exertions he owes the publication of his innocence in time to +save life as well as honor, is safe, and under the protection of her +Queen. Let this suffice for present peace, and speak of it to none. +ISABELLA R." + +Arthur's first impulse was to press the precious letter to his lips, +and gaze upon it till every letter seemed transferred from the paper +to his heart; his next was to sit down on the nearest seat, and bury +his face in his hands, actually bewildered by the flash of light, +which with those brief words came. Disguise--exertion--could it be +possible? Nay, it must be! The soft touch of that little hand, the +speaking look of those lovely eyes, again thrilled through his very +soul, and he knew their meaning now. Mysterious, bewildering as it +was, the novice, the poor, exhausted, seeming boy--was Marie! Again he +owed his life to her, and the wild yearning to gaze on her again, to +clasp her to his bosom, to pour forth his gratitude, to soothe and +shield, became so painfully intense, as almost to banish the joy, +which her rescue from danger ought to have occasioned. Had it not been +for her refusal to bear witness against him, not even the month's +grace would have been allowed him; he would have been executed at +once. She had saved him then--she had saved him now! And his heart so +swelled he knew not how to contain its fulness, how to calm it down, +to wait till the Queen's further pleasure should be known. But hope +sprung up to give him comfort; Isabella would accomplish her intention +of conversion; Marie could never resist her, and then--then, oh! she +would be all, all his own, and life shine, for both the brighter, for +its former tempest clouds. Meanwhile, he had such sweet thoughts, such +lovely images, to rest on. He owed his life, his honor, to her; and he +thought that it was his devoted gratitude which so deepened love. How +sweet is such illusion! how refreshingly soothing to be grateful, when +the object of that gratitude has been, and is still, the dear object +of our love! How often we deceive ourselves, and imagine we are +experiencing the strongest emotions of gratitude, when, had an +indifferent person conferred the same benefit, we might feel it +indeed, but it would more pain than pleasure; and be an obligation, so +heavy that we should never rest, till in some measure, at least, it +was returned. How contrary the impression of benefits from those we +love! + +Never before had the appearance of the Queen's confessor, the stern, +and some said cruel, Torquemada, been hailed with such excitement. He +was speedily informed of the late transactions, and his counsel most +earnestly demanded by both sovereigns. He required some days to +deliberate, he said, so momentous and important was the affair; and +when he did reply, his counsel was entirely opposed to what many +hoped, and Ferdinand expected. Indignant as he declared himself to +be, at the abuses in religion, he yet put a strong and most decided +negative on the royal proposition, of utterly exterminating this +unlawful tribunal. With all his natural eloquence, and in most +forcible language, he declared that, if kept within proper bounds, +restrained by due authority, and its proceedings open to the +inspection of the Sovereign, and under him, the archbishops and other +dignitaries of the church, the Inquisition would be a most valuable +auxiliary to the well-doing and purifying of the most Catholic +kingdom. He produced argument after argument of most subtle reasoning, +to prove that every effort to abolish the office in Spain had been +entirely useless: it would exist, and if not publicly acknowledged, +would always be liable to abuse and desecration; that the only means +of exterminating its secret, and too arrogant power, was to permit its +public establishment, and so control it, that its measures should be +open to the present, and to every successive sovereign. He allowed the +necessity, the imperious necessity of rooting out the _secret_ office; +but he was convinced this could not be done, nor in fact would the +church allow it, unless it should be recognized in the face of all +Europe, as based on alike the civil and religious laws of Spain. + +On Ferdinand the wily churchman worked, by proving that his royal +prerogative would be insured rather than injured by this proceeding; +that by publicly establishing the Inquisition, he proved his +resolution to control even this power, and render it a mere instrument +in his sovereign hand; that his contemplated conquest of the Moors +could not be better begun than by the recognition of a holy office, +whose glory it would be to bring all heathens to the purifying and +saving doctrines of the church of Rome. Ferdinand, though wary and +politic himself, was no match for Torquemada's Jesuitical eloquence; +he was won over to adopt the churchman's views with scarcely an effort +to resist them. With Isabella the task was much more difficult. He +appealed guardedly and gently to her tender regard for the spiritual +welfare of her people, sympathized with her in her indignant horror +of the crimes committed under religion's name, but persisted that the +evil of a secret Inquisition would never be remedied, save by the +measure he proposed. He pledged himself never to rest, till the +present halls and ministers of darkness were exterminated from every +part of Spain; but it could only be on condition of her assent to his +counsel. He used all his eloquence; he appealed to her as a zealous +Catholic, whose first duty was to further and purify her faith; but +for four days he worked in vain; and when she did give her consent, it +was with such a burst of tears, that it seemed as if her foreboding +eye had indeed read the shrouded annals of the future, and beheld +there, not the sufferings of individuals alone, but of the decline and +dishonor of that fair and lovely land, which she had so labored to +exalt. Ere another year from that day had passed, the Inquisition was +publicly established throughout the kingdom; and Torquemada, as first +Grand Inquisitor, reaped the reward of his persevering counsel, and +sealed, with blood, the destiny of Spain. + +To her confessor, Isabella revealed the story of Marie, and her own +intentions. Torquemada heard the tale with a stern severity, little +encouraging to the Queen's ideas of mercy; he insisted that her +conversion _must_ be effected; if by kindness and forbearance, well +and good; but if she were obstinate, harshness must be resorted +to; and only on that condition would he grant Isabella the desired +blessing on her task. He did not fail to bring forward the fact of +a zealous Catholic, such as Don Ferdinand Morales, wedding and +cherishing one of the accursed race, and conniving at her secret +adherence to her religion, as a further and very strong incentive for +the public establishment of the Inquisition, whose zealous care would +effectually guard the sons of Spain from such unholy alliances in +future. He urged the supposition of Marie's having become the mother +of children by Ferdinand; was it not most probable, nay, certain, that +she would infuse her own unbelief in them; and then how mixed and +defiled a race would take the place of the present pure Castilians. +Isabella could reply nothing satisfactory to this eloquent reasoning. +The prejudices of education are strong in every really earnest heart; +and though her true woman's nature revolted at every thought of +severity, and towards one so suffering as Marie, she acknowledged its +necessity, in case of kindness failing. Under the seal of confession, +she imparted her full plan to Torquemada, entering more into minute +particulars than she had done even to her husband, or in words to +herself. It was so fraught with mercy and gentleness that Torquemada +gave his consent, believing it utterly impossible, if Marie really +loved, as Isabella fancied, that she could resist. + +On the departure of her confessor, the Queen communed, as was her +frequent custom, long and severely with her own heart. What was the +cause of her extreme dislike to using harshness? With any other member +of that detested race, she felt Torquemada's counsel would have been +all-powerful; she would have left it all to him. It was then mere +personal regard, fear of the suffering which, did she cause Marie +increase of pain, she should inflict upon herself, and this must not +be. She was failing in the duty she owed her religion, if she could +not summon resolution to sacrifice even affection at its shrine. And +so she nerved herself, to adopt Torquemada's stern alternative, if +indeed it were required. How strange is self-delusion! how difficult, +even to the noblest, most unselfish natures, to read another spirit by +their own! Isabella felt it might be a duty to sacrifice affection for +religion, and nerved herself to its performance at any cost. And +yet that Marie should do so, she could not believe; and if she did, +harshness and suffering were to be her sole reward! Oh, that in +religion, as in every thing else, man would judge his brother man by +his own heart; and as dear, as precious, as his peculiar creed may be +to him, believe so it is with the faith of his brother! How much of +misery, how much of contention, of cruelty and oppression, would pass +away from this lovely earth, and give place for Heaven's own unity and +peace, and harmony and love. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + "Oh, bear me up + Against the unutterable tenderness + Of earthly love, my God! In the sick hour + Of dying human hope, forsake me not!" + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +For some months all was gayety and rejoicing in Segovia, not a little +heightened by the exciting preparations for the much desired war. The +time had now come when Ferdinand could, with safety to the internal +state of his kingdom, commence the struggle for which he had so +impatiently waited, since the very first hour of the union of Arragon +and Castile. Troops were marshalling secretly all over Spain; the +armorers and smiths were in constant requisition. The nobles were +constantly flitting from their hereditary domains to the court, eager +and active to combine all the pomp and valor of a splendid chivalry +with the more regular force; standing armies, which in almost every +European land were now beginning to take the place of the feudal +soldiery, so long their sole resource. It was necessary for Ferdinand, +ere he commenced operations, to visit his own dominions; a measure he +did not regret, as it effectually concealed his ulterior plans from +the Moors, who were also at that time too much disturbed by internal +dissensions, to give more than a cursory glance on the movements and +appearances of their Christian foes. + +In the festivals of the palace the young Englishman was naturally the +hero of the day; the best feelings of the Spanish character had +been called into play towards him: he had been unjustly accused and +seriously injured; been subject to dishonor and shame; and many might +say it had all sprung from prejudice against him as a foreigner. The +very failing of the Spaniards in this case also operated in his favor; +their national jealousy called upon them to make publicly manifest the +falsity of such a supposition, and he was courted and feted by all, +brought forward on every occasion, and raised and promoted both to +civil and military distinction, by those very men who, before the late +events, would have been the first to keep him back, yielding him but +the bare and formal courtesy, which, however prejudiced, no true-born +Spaniard could refuse. + +Amongst Isabella's female train, Arthur Stanley was ever gladly +welcomed, and his presence might have proved dangerous to more than +one of Isabella's younger attendants, had not his manner been such as +to preclude even the boldest and most presuming from any thought of +love. One alone he certainly singled out to talk with, and treat with +more attention than any other; and that one was the maiden we have +more than once had occasion to mention, Catherine Pas. Rallied as she +was by her companions, the young girl herself imagined there could be +no danger to her peace in associating thus with the handsome young +Englishman; for _she_ knew, though her companions did not, the real +reason of his preference for her society. Isabella had once slightly +hinted from which of her attendants Stanley might hear of Marie, and +giving them permission to answer his queries. It was a dangerous +ordeal for Catherine, but she laughed at the idea of permitting her +heart to pass into the possession of one who cared nothing for her, +save as she could speak of Marie. + +Great was the surprise and many the conjectures of the Queen's +female court, when rather more than six months after her strange +disappearance, the widow of Morales re-appeared amongst them; not +publicly indeed, for at the various fetes and amusements of the +palace, and elsewhere, Marie was never seen. Her existence, however, +and safety, under Isabella's especial protection, were no longer kept +secret; and her recent loss was in itself quite sufficient reason for +her strict retirement. Her identity with brother Ernest, the supposed +novice, never transpired; he was supposed to have returned with Perez +to his guardian, Father Ambrose, who, though seen and questioned by +Don Alonzo at the village, did not accompany his dying penitent to +Segovia, nor, in fact, was ever seen in that city again. + +The tender care and good nursing which had been lavished on Marie, had +restored her sufficiently to health as to permit returning elasticity +of mind. All morbid agony had passed, all too passionate emotions were +gradually relaxing their fire-bands round her heart; and strength, the +martyr strength, for which she unceasingly prayed, to give up all if +called upon for her God, seemed dawning for her. That she was still +under some restraint, a sort of prisoner in the palace, Marie herself +was not aware; she had neither wish nor energy to leave the castle, +and therefore knew not that her egress, save under watchful +guardianship, would have been denied. She had no spirits to mingle +with the light-hearted, happy girls, in her Sovereign's train, and +therefore was unconscious that, with the sole exception of Catherine +whose passionate entreaties had obtained her this privilege, all +intimacy with them would have been effectually prevented. It was +enough, more than enough (for the foreboding dread was ever present, +that such a blissful calm, such mental and bodily repose, were far, +far too sweet for any long continuance) to be employed in little +services for and about the person of the Queen, and to know that +Arthur Stanley was restored to even more than former favor, and fast +rising to eminence and honor. + +Before the sovereigns quitted Segovia, Stanley left the court to march +southward with Pedro Pas, to occupy a strong fortification on the +barrier line, dividing the Spanish from the Moorish territories, and +commanding a very important post, which Ferdinand was anxious to +secure, and where he intended to commence his warlike operations, +as speedily as he could settle affairs at Saragossa. Twice before +Stanley's departure did Isabella contrive an apparently accidental +meeting between him and Marie, permitting them, though in her +presence, ample opportunity for mutual explanation; but not with much +evident success. Stanley, indeed, was painfully and visibly agitated, +finding it difficult, almost impossible to speak the feelings which +had so long filled heart and mind, and been in fancy so often thrown +into eloquent words, that he could not understand why in her presence +words were frozen up, and he could only _feel_. Marie's cheek and lip +had indeed blanched as she beheld him, but the deep and quiet calm she +had so earnestly sought, even then did not forsake her; once only her +voice faltered, when she conjured him to allude no longer to the past, +that the exertions she had made for him demanded no such gratitude +as he expressed. He would have answered with his usual passionate +impetuosity, but there was something in her manner which restrained +him; it was no longer the timid, yielding girl, who, even while she +told him of the barrier between them, had yet betrayed the deep love +she felt: it was the woman whose martyr spirit was her strength. And +yet, spite of himself, he hoped. Isabella, in parting with him, had +spoken such words as sent a thrill of delight over his whole being, +and he quitted Segovia buoyant and glad-hearted, to wait weeks, +months, he thought even years: so certain did he feel of success at +last. + +Isabella accompanied Ferdinand to Arragon, and determined on remaining +at Saragossa during the commencement of his Moorish campaign; but +she did not part from him without demanding and receiving his solemn +promise to send for her as soon as the residence of females in the +camp was practicable. She well knew the inspiring power of her +presence in similar scenes, and the joy and increased ardor which the +vicinity of near and dear relations, composing her court, would excite +in the warrior camp of Ferdinand. The promise was given, and the +annals of the Moorish war tell us how faithfully it was kept, and how +admirably Isabella performed the part she had assigned herself. + +Months glided slowly and peacefully on; as each passed, the trembling +heart of Marie foreboded change and sorrow; but it was not till she +had been eight months a widow that aught transpired which could +account for such strange fears. Then, indeed, the trial came: she +thought she was prepared, but the aching heart and failing strength +with which she listened to the Queen's commands, betrayed how little +our best endeavors can pave the way for sorrow. Isabella spoke gently +and kindly indeed, but so decisively, there was no mistaking the +meaning of her words: she had waited, she said, till time had restored +not only health and strength, but some degree of tranquillity to the +heart, and elasticity to the mind. That, as a Jewess, Marie must have +long known, the Queen could not continue favor; that she was, in fact, +acting without a precedent in thus permitting the attendance of an +unbeliever on her person, or appearance in her court; but that she had +so acted, believing that when perfectly restored to sense and energy, +Marie would herself feel the necessity, and gladly embrace the only +return she required--a calm deliberation of the Catholic faith, and, +as a necessary consequence, its acceptance. She therefore desired that +Marie would devote herself to the instructions of a venerable monk +(Father Denis by name), whom she had selected for the task. That +from that day Marie would not be called upon for either service or +attendance on the Queen, but to devote her whole mind and energies to +the task proposed; and that when Father Denis brought her information +that Marie accepted the cross, that very hour she should resume +her place in Isabella's court, and be the dearest, most cherished +there!--be publicly acknowledged as the inheritrix of her husband's +vast possessions, and a future of love and joy would shine before her, +so bright as to banish even the memories of the stormy past. + +Marie would have replied, but Isabella, with gentle firmness, refused +to hear her. "I demand nothing now," she said, "but obedience. A +willing heart, and open mind, are all you need bring with you to your +task: the father's holy lessons, blessed with God's grace, will do +the rest. I cannot believe that all the kindness and affection I have +shown have been so utterly without effect, that thou too wilt evince +the ungrateful obstinacy, so unhappily the characteristic of thy +blinded people. If banishment from our presence be a source of sorrow, +which I do believe it is, the term of that banishment rests entirely +with thyself. The sooner we can hail the child of the Virgin, even as +thou art now of our affections, the greater share of happiness wilt +thou bestow upon us and upon thyself. We have heard that nought but +harshness and severity can have effect on thy hardened race. It may +be, but with thee, at least, we will not use it, unless--" and her +voice and her look grew sufficiently stern for Marie to feel her words +were no idle threat--"unless obduracy and ingratitude so conquer +affection that we can see no more in the Marie Morales we have loved +than a hardened member of her own stiff-necked race; then--, but we +will not pain ourself or thee, by imagining what thine own will may +avert. Go, and the holy Virgin bless thee. Not a word; I know what +will be thine answer now; but a month hence thou wilt thank me for +this seeming severity." + +And Isabella turned somewhat hastily away; for her lip quivered and +her eye swelled. Marie did not see these indications of emotion, and +silently withdrew. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + "I have lost for that Faith more than thou canst bestow, + As the God who permits thee to prosper doth know. + In His hand is my heart, and my hope; and in thine + The land, and the life, which for Him I resign." + + BYRON. + + +Marie Morales had had many trials. Her life had been one of those +painful mysteries, as to why such a being should have been thus +exposed to scorn, which while on earth we vainly try to solve. Yet it +is no imaginary picture: hundreds, aye thousands, of Israel's devoted +race have thus endured; in every age, in every clime, have been +exposed to martyrdom--not of the frame alone, but of the heart; doomed +but to suffer, and to die. And how may we reconcile these things with +the government of a loving father, save by the firm belief, which, +blessed--thrice blessed--are those who feel; that, for such sufferers +on earth, a future of blessedness is laid up in another and lovelier +world--where there is no more sorrow, no more tears! + +Her former trials had been sharp agony and strong excitement. Her +present had neither the one nor the other; yet it was fraught with as +heavy suffering, as any that had gone before it; even though she knew +not, guessed not, _all_ that depended upon her conversion. It would +have been comparatively easy to have endured, for her faith's sake, +harshness and contempt; in such a case, self-respect rises to sustain +us, and we value our own tenets the more, from their startling +contrast with those which could command the cruelty we endure; but +Father Denis used harshness neither of manner nor of words. Firmly +impressed in his own mind, that it was utterly vain for a soul to hope +for salvation unless it believed in Jesus, the Virgin, the saints and +holy martyrs; he brought heart and soul to his task; and the more he +saw of Marie, the more painfully did he deplore her blind infatuation, +and the more ardently desire, to save her from the eternal +perdition which, as a Jewess, must await her. He poured forth such +soul-breathing petitions, for saving grace to be vouchsafed to her, in +her hearing, that Marie felt as if she would have given worlds, only +to realize the belief for which he prayed; but the more her heart was +wrung, the more vividly it seemed that her own faith, the religion of +her fathers through a thousand ages, impressed itself upon her mind +and heart, rendering it more and more impossible for her to forswear +it, even at the very moment that weak humanity longed to do it, and so +purchase peace. Naturally so meek and yielding, so peculiarly alive +to the voice of sympathy and kindness, it was inexpressibly and +harrowingly distressing to be thus compelled to resist both; to think +also of all Isabella's gentle, cherishing, and manifested affection; +and to know that the only return she demanded, she dared not, might +not give. To some dispositions these considerations would have been of +no weight whatever; to Marie they were so exquisitely painful, that +she could scarcely understand how it was that, feeling them thus +acutely, she could yet so clearly, so calmly, reply to Father Denis, +bring argument for argument, and never waver in her steadfast +adherence to, and belief in her own creed. The very lessons of her +youth, which she had thought forgotten in the varied trials which +had been her portion since, returned with full--she fancied +superhuman--force and clearness to her mind, rendering even the very +wish to embrace the Catholic religion, futile. There was a voice +within her that _would_ be heard, aye above every human feeling, every +strong temptation. She could not drown its clear ringing tones; even +where her mental sufferings seemed to cloud and harrow up the brain, +to the exclusion of every distinct idea, that voice would breathe its +thrilling whisper, telling her it was vain to hope it, she could not +be in heart a Catholic; and so she dared not be in words. + +A romance is no place for polemical discussion, and we will therefore +leave those painful arguments unrecorded. Suffice it, that Marie's +intimate acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures in their original +tongue--the language of her own people--gave her so decided an +advantage over the old monk, that, after nearly three months' trial, +he sought his Sovereign, and, with the most touching humility, +acknowledged his utter incapacity, for the conversion of Donna Marie, +and implored her to dismiss him, and select one more fitted for the +task. + +Astonished, and bitterly disappointed, Isabella cross-questioned him +as to the cause of this sudden feeling of incapacity, and his answers +but increased her desire to compel Marie to abandon Judaism, and +become--in semblance at least, a Catholic; believing fully that, this +accomplished, the Holy Spirit would do the rest, and she would at +least have saved her soul. She retained the father in the palace; +desiring him to inform his charge that one fortnight's grace would be +allowed her, to ponder on all the solemn truths he had advanced, and +on her own decision whether she would not rather yield to kindness, +than tempt the severity her obstinacy demanded; but, save this +enjoyment, he was to commune with her no further. With a trembling +spirit the Queen again sought the counsel of her confessor, and +reported the information of the holy father. Torquemada listened, with +a curling lip and contracted brow. He was not surprised, he said, +for it was exactly what he had expected. It was a part of their +blaspheming creed, to blind by sorcery, the eyes and minds of all +those who had ever attempted to win them over by kind and reasonable +argument. Father Denis had been bewitched, as all were, who ever +attempted to convert, by other than the harshest means. Her grace must +see the necessity of severity, and surely could not refuse the using +it any longer. But Isabella did refuse, till her last resource had +been tried; and all she asked was, if she might hold forth a powerful +temporal temptation to obtain the end she so earnestly desired? +Torquemada hesitated; but at length, on being told the severe +alternative which Isabella would enforce, if her first proposal were +rejected, reluctantly acceded; still persisting that nothing but the +rack and the flame, or fatal expulsion, would ever purge Spain from +the horrible infection of so poisonous a race. Isabella heard him with +a shudder; but, thankful even for this ungracious sanction, waited, +with, trembling impatience, the termination of the given fourteen +days; hoping, aye praying in her meek, fervid piety, that the mistaken +one might be softened to accept the proffered grace, or her own heart +strengthened to sacrifice all of personal feeling for the purifying by +fire and consequent salvation, of that immortal soul now so fearfully +led astray. + +It was with little hope that the father again sought Marie. Bewitched +he might be, but he was so impressed with the fervid earnestness +of her gentle spirit; with the lofty enthusiasm that dictated her +decision; so touched with the uncomplaining, but visible suffering, +which it cost her to argue with, and reject the voice of +kindness--that it required a strong mental effort in the old man, to +refrain from conjuring his Sovereign, to permit that misguided one +to remain unmolested, and wait, till time, and prayer, from those so +interested in her, should produce the desired effect. But this feeling +was so contrary to the spirit of the age, that it scarcely needed +Torquemada's representations to convince him, that he was experiencing +the effect of the invisible sorcery with which the race of Israel +always blinded the eyes of their opponents. The kind old man was awed +and silenced by his stern superior. Liberty of conscience was then a +thing unheard of; and therefore it was, that so much of the divine +part of our mingled nature was so completely concealed, that it lost +alike effect or influence. It was not even the subjection of the weak +to the strong; but the mere superiority of clerical rank. The truest +and the noblest, the most enlarged mind, the firmest spirit would +bend unresistingly to the simple word of a priest; and the purest +and kindest impulses of our holier nature be annihilated, before the +dictates of those, who were supposed to hold so infallibly, in their +sole keeping, the oracles of God. The spiritual in man was kept in +rigid bondage; the divinity worshipped by the Catholics of that age, +represented to the mass like the Egyptian idol, with a key upon his +lips--his attributes, as his law, hid from them, or imparted by chosen +priests, who explained them only as suited their individual purposes. +Is it marvel, then, that we should read of such awful acts committed +in Religion's name by man upon his brother? or that we should see the +purest and loveliest characters led away by priestly influence to +commit deeds, from which now, the whole mind so recoils, that we turn +away disappointed and perplexed at the inconsistency, and refuse the +meed of love and admiration to those other qualities, which would +otherwise shine forth so unsullied? The inconsistency, the seeming +cruelty and intolerance, staining many a noble one in the middle ages, +were the effects of the fearful spirit of the time; but their virtues +were their own. Truth if sought, must triumph over prejudice. By +inspection and earnest study of facts--of _causes_, as well as of +_events_, the mind disperses the mists of educational error, and +enables us to do justice, even to the injurer; and enlarges and +ennobles our feelings towards one another; till we can attain that +perfection of true, spiritual charity, which would look on all men as +children of one common parent. Liable, indeed, to be led astray by +evil inclination, and yet more by evil circumstances; but still our +brethren, in the divine part of our nature; which, however crushed, +hidden, lost to earth, is still existing--still undying. For such is +the immortal likeness of our universal Father; in which He made man, +and by which He marked mankind as brethren! + +Marie's answer was as Father Denis feared. She had pondered on all +he had said, and the dread alternative awaiting her; but the +impossibility of embracing Catholicism was stronger than ever. The +unfeigned distress of the old monk pained and alarmed her, for it +seemed to her as if he were conscious that some dreadful doom was +hanging over her, which he shrunk from revealing. She had not long to +remain in that torturing suspense: a few hours later in the same day, +she was summoned to Isabella's presence. The sensation of terror was +so intense as to render obedience, for the minute, utterly impossible. +Every limb shook, and again came the wild longing for power to believe +as they desired; for a momentary cessation of the voice of conscience, +to embrace the proffered cross, and be at rest. But it _would not_ +cease; and, scarcely able to support herself, she stood before the +dread Princess in whose hand was her earthly fate. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + + "She clasped her hands"!--the strife + Of love--faith--fear, and the vain dream of life, + Within her woman-heart so deeply wrought-- + It seemed as if a reed, so slight and weak, + _Must_, in the rending storm, not quiver only--break! + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +Isabella's expressive countenance was grave and calm; but it was +impossible to doubt the firmness of her purpose, though what that +purpose might be, Marie had no power to read. She stood leaning +against the back of one of the ponderous chairs; her head bent down, +and her heart so loudly and thickly throbbing that it choked her very +breath. + +"We have summoned thee hither, Marie," the Queen said at length, +gravely, but not severely, "to hear from thine own lips the decision +which Father Denis has reported to us; but which, indeed, we can +scarcely credit. Wert thou other than thou art--one whose heavy trials +and lovable qualities have bound thee to us with more than common +love--we should have delivered thee over at once to the judgment of +our holy fathers, and interfered with their sentence no farther. We +are exposing ourselves to priestly censure even for the forbearance +already shown; but we will dare even that, to win thee from thine +accursed creed, and give thee peace and comfort. Marie canst _thou_ +share the ingratitude--the obstinacy--of thy benighted race, that even +with thee we must deal harshly? Compel me not to a measure from which +my whole heart revolts. Do not let me feel that the charge against thy +people is true, without even one exception, and that kindness shown to +them, is unvalued as unfelt." + +A convulsive sob was the sole reply. Marie's face was buried in her +hands; but the tears were streaming through her slender fingers, and +her slight figure shook with the paroxysm. + +"Nay, Marie, we ask not tears. We demand the proof of grateful +affection on thy part; not its weak display. And what is that proof? +The acceptance of a faith without which there can be no security +in this life, nor felicity hereafter! The rejection of a fearfully +mistaken--terribly accursed--creed; condemning its followers to the +scorn and hate of man, and abiding wrath of God." + +"'To the scorn and hate of man?' Alas, gracious Sovereign, it is +even so; but not to the 'abiding wrath of God,'" answered Marie, +suppressing with a desperate effort, her painful emotion. "The very +scorn and loathing we encounter confirms the blessed truth, of our +having been the chosen children of our God, and the glorious promise +of our future restoration. We are enduring now on earth the effects of +the fearful sins of our ancestors; but for those who live and die true +to His law, there is a future after death laid up with Him; that, how +may we forfeit for transitory joy?" + +"If it were indeed so, we would be the last to demand such forfeit," +answered the Queen; "but were it not for the blinding veil of wilful +rejection cast over the eyes and hearts of thy people, thou wouldst +know and feel, that however thy race were _once_ the chosen of God, +the distinction has been lost for ever, by their blaspheming rejection +of Jesus and his virgin mother; and the misery--its consequence--on +earth, is but a faint type of that misery which is for everlasting. It +is from this we would save thee. Father Denis has brought before thee +the solemn truths which our sainted creed advances, in reply to the +mystifying fallacies of thine; and, he tells me, wholly without +effect. My arguments, then, can be of such little weight, that I have +pledged myself to my confessor to attempt none. We summoned thee +merely to tell our decision in this matter; of too vital importance +to be left to other lips. Once more let me ask--and understand thee +rightly!--have all the Holy Father's lessons failed to convince, even +as all our affection has failed to move, thee?" + +"Would--would to Heaven I could believe as thou demandest!" answered +Marie. "Would that those lessons had brought conviction! The bitter +agony of your Grace's displeasure--of feeling that, while my heart so +throbs and swells with grateful devotion that I would gladly die to +serve thee, yet the proof thou demandest I _cannot_ give; and I must +go down to an early grave, leaving with thee the sole impression that +thou hadst cherished a miserable ingrate, whom, even as thou hast +loved, so thou must now hate and scorn. Oh, madam! try me by other +proof! My creed may be the mistaken one it seems to thee; but, oh! +it is no garment we may wear and cast off at pleasure. Have mercy, +gracious Sovereign! condemn me not as reprobate--hardened--more +insensible than the veriest cur, who is grateful for the kindness of +his master!--because I love my faith better even than thy love--the +dearest earthly joy now left me." + +"Methinks scarcely the dearest," replied Isabella, affected, in spite +of her every effort for control; "but of that here after. Marie, I +have pledged myself to my confessor, not to let this matter rest. He +has told me that my very affection for thee is a snare, and must +be sacrificed if it interfere with my duty; not alone as member of +Christ's church, but as Sovereign of a Catholic realm, whose bounden +duty it is to purge away all heresy and misbelief. I feel that he is +right, and, cost what it may, Christ's dictates must be obeyed. The +years of fraud--of passing for what thou wert not--I forgive, for thy +noble husband's sake; but my confessor has told me, and I feel its +truth, that if we allow thy return to thy people as thou art now, we +permit a continuance of such unnatural unions, encourage fraud, +and expose our subjects to the poisonous taint of Jewish blood and +unbelief. A Christian thou must become. The plan we have decided upon +must bring conviction at last; but it will be attended with such +long years of mental and physical suffering, that we shrink from the +alternative, and only thine own obstinacy will force us to adopt it." + +She paused for above a minute; but though Marie's very lips had +blanched, and her large eyes were fixed in terror on the Queen's face, +there was no answer. + +"Thou hast more than once alluded to death," Isabella continued, +her voice growing sterner; "but, though such may be the punishment +demanded, we cannot so completely banish regard as to expose thy soul, +as well as body, to undying flames. Thou hast heard, perchance, of +holy sisterhoods, who, sacrificing all of earthly joys and earthly +ties, devote themselves as the willing brides of Christ, and pass +their whole lives in acts of personal penance, mortification, +self-denial, and austerity; which to all, save those impelled try this +same lofty enthusiasm, would be unendurable. The convent of St. Ursula +is the most strictly rigid and unpitying of this sternly rigid school; +and there, if still thou wilt not retract, thou wilt be for life +immured, to learn that reverence, that submission, that belief, +which thou refusest now. Ponder well on all the suffering which this +sentence must comprise. It is even to us--a Christian--so dreadful, +that we would not impose it, could we save thy deluded spirit by any +other means. The Abbess, from the strict and terrible discipline of +long years, has conquered every womanly weakness; and to a Jewess +placed under her charge, to be brought a penitent to the bosom of +the Virgin, is not likely to decrease the severity of treatment and +discipline, the portion even of her own. Once delivered to her charge, +we interfere no further. Whatever she may command--short of actual +torture, or death--thou must endure. Marie! wilt thou tempt a doom +like this? In mercy to thyself, retract ere it be too late!" + +"If I can bear the loss of thy favor, my Sovereign, I can bear this," +replied Marie, slowly and painfully. "There is more suffering in the +thought, that your Grace's love is lost for ever; that I shall never +see your Highness more; and thou must ever think of me as only a +wretched, feelingless ingrate, than in all the bodily and mental +anguish such a life may bring." + +"Marie!" exclaimed Isabella, with an irrepressible burst of natural +feeling. And Marie had darted forwards, and was kneeling at her feet, +and covering her hand with tears and kisses, ere she had power to +forcibly subdue the emotion and speak again. + +"This must not be," she said at length; but she did not withdraw the +hand which Marie still convulsively clasped, and, half unconsciously +it seemed, she put back the long, black tresses, which had fallen over +her colorless cheek, looked sadly in that bowed face, and kissed +her brow. "It is the last," she murmured to herself. "It may be +the effects of sorcery--it may be sin; but if I do penance for the +weakness, it must have way." + +"Thou hast heard the one alternative," she continued aloud; "now hear +the other. We have thought long, and watched well, some means of +effectually obliterating the painful memories of the past, and making +thy life as happy as it has been sad. We have asked and received +permission from our confessor to bring forward a temporal inducement +for a spiritual end; that even the affections themselves may be made +conducive to turning a benighted spirit from the path of death into +that of life; and, therefore, we may proceed more hopefully. Marie! is +there not a love thou valuest even more than mine? Nay, attempt not +to deny a truth, which we have known from the hour we told thee that +Arthur Stanley was thy husband's murderer. What meant those wild words +imploring me to save him? For what was the avowal of thy faith, but +that thy witness should not endanger him? Why didst thou return to +danger when safety was before thee?--peril thine own life but to save +his? Answer me truly: thou lovest Stanley, Marie?" + +"I have loved him, gracious Sovereign." + +"And thou dost no longer? Marie, methinks there would be less wrong +in loving now, than when we first suspected it," rejoined the Queen, +gravely. + +"Alas! my liege, who may school the heart? He was its first--first +affection! But, oh! my Sovereign, I never wronged my noble husband. He +knew it all ere he was taken from me, and forgave and loved me still; +and, oh! had he been but spared, even memory itself would have lost +its power to sting. His trust, his love, had made me all--all his +own!" + +"I believe thee, my poor child; but how came it that, loving Stanley, +thy hand was given to Morales?" + +For the first time, the dangerous ground on which she stood flashed on +the mind of Marie; and her voice faltered as she answered--"My father +willed it, Madam." + +"Thy father! And was he of thy faith, yet gave his child to one of +us?" + +"He was dying, Madam, and there was none to protect his Marie. He +loved and admired him to whom he gave me; for Ferdinand had never +scorned nor persecuted us. He had done us such good service that my +father sought to repay him; but he would accept nothing but my hand, +and swore to protect my faith--none other would have made such +promise. I was weak, I know, and wrong; but I dared not then confess I +loved another. And, once his wife, it was sin even to think of Arthur. +Oh, Madam! night and day I prayed that we might never meet, till all +of love was conquered." + +"Poor child," replied Isabella, kindly. "But, since thou wert once +more free, since Stanley was cleared of even the suspicion of guilt, +has no former feeling for him returned! He loves thee, Marie, with +such faithful love as in man I have seldom seen equalled; why check +affection now?" + +"Alas! my liege, what may a Jewess be to him; or his love to me, save +as the most terrible temptation to estrange me from my God?" + +"Say rather to gently lure thee to Him, Marie," replied Isabella, +earnestly. "There is a thick veil between thy heart and thy God now; +let the love thou bearest this young Englishman be the blessed means +of removing it, and bringing thee to the sole source of salvation, the +Saviour Stanley worships. One word--one little word--from thee, and +thou shalt be Stanley's wife! His own; dearer than ever from the +trials of the past. Oh! speak it, Marie! Let me feel I have saved thee +from everlasting torment, and made this life--in its deep, calm joy--a +foretaste of the heaven that, as a Christian, will await thee above. +Spare Stanley--aye, and thy Sovereign--the bitter grief of losing thee +for ever!" + +"Would--would I could!" burst wildly from the heart-stricken Marie; +and she wrung her hands in that one moment of intense agony, and +looked up in the Queen's face, with an expression of suffering +Isabella could not meet. "Would that obedience, conviction, could come +at will! His wife?--Stanley's. To rest this desolate heart on his? To +weep upon his bosom?--feel his arm around me?--his love protect me? To +be his--all his? And only on condition of speaking one little word? +Oh! why can I not speak it? Why will that dread voice sound within, +telling me I dare not--cannot--for I do not believe? How dare I take +the Christians's vow, embrace the cross, and in my heart remain a +Jewess still?" + +"Embrace the cross, and conviction will follow," replied the Queen. +"This question we have asked of Father Tomas, and been assured that +the vows of baptism once taken, grace will be found from on high; and +to the _heart_, as well as _lip_, conversion speedily ensue. +Forswear the blaspheming errors of thy present creed--consent to be +baptized--and that very hour sees thee Stanley's wife!" + +"No, no, no!--Oh! say not such words again! My liege, my gracious +liege, tempt not this weak spirit more!" implored Marie, in fearful +agitation. "Oh! if thou hast ever loved me, in mercy spare me this!" + +"In mercy is it that we do thus speak, unhappy girl." replied +Isabella, with returning firmness; for she saw the decisive moment had +come. "We have laid both alternatives before thee; it rests with thee +alone to make thine own election. Love on earth and joy in Heaven, +depends upon one word: refuse to speak it, and thou knowest thy doom!" + +It was well, perhaps, for Marie's firmness, that the Queen's appealing +tone had given place to returning severity; it recalled the departing +strength--the sinking energy--the power once more to _endure!_ For +several minutes there was no sound: Marie had buried her face in her +hands, and remained--half kneeling, half crouching--on the cushion at +the Queen's feet, motionless as stone; and Isabella--internally as +agitated as herself--was, under the veil of unbending sternness, +struggling for control. The contending emotions sweeping over that +frail woman-heart in that fearful period of indecision we pretend not +to describe: again and again the terrible temptation came, to say but +the desired word, and happiness was hers--such intense happiness, that +her brain reeled beneath its thought of ecstasy; and again and again +it was driven back by that thrilling voice--louder than ever in its +call--to remain faithful to her God. It was a fearful contest; and +when she did look up, Isabella started; so terribly was its index +inscribed on those white and chiselled features. + +She rose slowly, and stood before the Sovereign, her hands tightly +clasped together, and the veins on her forehead raised like cords +across it. Three times she tried to speak; but only unintelligible +murmurs came, and her lips shook as with convulsion. "It is over," +she said at length, and her usually sweet voice sounded harsh and +unnatural. "The weakness is conquered, gracious Sovereign, condemn, +scorn, hate me as thou wilt, thou must: I must endure it till my +heart breaks, and death brings release; but the word thou demandest I +_cannot_ speak! Thy favor, Arthur's love, I resign them all! 'Tis the +bidding of my God, and he will strengthen me to bear it. Imprison, +torture, slay, with the lingering misery of a broken heart, but I +cannot deny my faith!" + +Disappointed, grieved, as she was at this unexpected reply, Isabella +was too much an enthusiast in religion herself not to understand the +feeling which dictated it; and much as she still abhorred the faith, +the martyr spirit which could thus immolate the most fervid, the +most passionate emotions of woman's nature at the shrine of her God, +stirred a sympathetic chord in her own heart, and so moved her, that +the stern words she had intended to speak were choked within her. + +"We must summon those then to whose charge we are pledged to commit +thee," she said with difficulty; and hastily rung a silver bell beside +her. "We had hoped such would not have been needed; but, as it is--" + +She paused abruptly; for the hangings were hastily pushed aside, and, +instead of the stern figure of Torquemada, who was to have obeyed the +signal, the Infanta Isabella eagerly entered; and ran up to the Queen, +with childish and caressing glee at being permitted to rejoin her. +The confessor--not imagining his presence would be needed, or that he +would return to his post in time--had restlessly obeyed the summons of +a brother prelate, and, in some important clerical details, forgot the +mandate of his Sovereign. + +Marie saw the softened expression of the Queen's face; the ineffectual +effort to resist her child's caresses, and retain her sternness: and, +with a sudden impulse, she threw herself at her feet. + +"Oh! do not turn from me, my Sovereign!" she implored, wildly clasping +Isabella's knees. "I ask nothing--nothing, but to return to my +childhood's home, and die there! I ask not to return to my people; they +would not receive me, for I have dared to love the stranger; but in my +own isolated home, where but two aged retainers of my father dwell, I +can do harm to none--mingle with none; let me bear a breaking heart for +a brief--brief while; and rest beside my parents. I will swear to thee +never to quit that place of banishment--swear never more to mingle with +either thy people or with mine--to be as much lost to man, as if the +grave had already closed over me, or convent walls immured me! Oh, +Madam! grant me but this! Will it not be enough of suffering to give up +Arthur?--to tear myself from thy cherishing love?--to bear my misery +alone? Leave me, oh! leave me but my faith--the sole joy, sole hope, now +left me! Give me not up to the harsh, and cruel father--the stern mother +of St. Ursula! If I can sacrifice love, kindness--all that would make +earth a heaven--will harshness gain thine end? Plead for me," she +continued, addressing the infant-princess, who, as if affected by the +grief she beheld, had left her mother to cling round Marie caressingly; +"plead for me, Infanta! Oh, Madam! the fate of war might place this +beloved and cherished one in the hands of those who regard thy faith +even as thou dost mine; were such an alternative proffered, how wouldst +thou she should decide? My Sovereign, my gracious Sovereign, oh, have +mercy!" + +"Mamma! dear Mamma!" repeated the princess at the same moment, and +aware that her intercession was required, though unable to comprehend +the wherefore, she clasped her little hands entreatingly; "grant poor +Marie what she wishes! You have told me a Queen's first duty is to be +kind and good; and do all in her power to make others happy. Make her +happy, dear Mamma, she has been so sad!" + +The appeal to Isabella's nature was irresistible; she caught her child +to her heart, and burst into passionate tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + + "I will have vengeance! + I'll crush thy swelling pride! I'll still thy vaunting! + I'll do a deed of blood! + Now all idle forms are over-- + Now open villany, now open hate-- + Defend thy life!" + + JOANNA BAILLIE. + + "Let me but look upon 'her' face once more-- + Let me but say farewell, my soul's beloved, + And I will bless thee still." + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +Some time had elapsed since King Ferdinand and his splendid army had +quitted Saragossa. He himself had not as yet headed any important +expedition, but fixing his head-quarters at Seville, dispatched thence +various detachments under experienced officers, to make sallies on the +Moors, who had already enraged the Christian camp by the capture of +Zahara. Arthur Stanley was with the Marquis of Cadiz, when this insult +was ably avenged by the taking of Albania, a most important post, +situated within thirty miles of the capital. The Spaniards took +possession of the city, massacred many of the inhabitants, placed +strong restrictions on those who surrendered, and strongly garrisoned +every tower and fort. Nor were they long inactive: the Moors resolved +to retake what they considered the very threshold of their capital; +hastily assembled their forces, and regularly entered upon the siege. + +While at Seville, the camp of Ferdinand had been joined by several +foreign chevaliers, amongst whom was an Italian knight, who had +excited the attention and curiosity of many of the younger Spaniards +from the mystery environing him. He was never seen without his armor. +His helmet always closed, keeping surlily aloof, he never mingled in +the brilliant jousts and tournaments of the camp, except when Arthur +Stanley chanced to be one of the combatants: he was then sure to be +found in the lists, and always selected the young Englishman as his +opponent. At first this strange pertinacity was regarded more as a +curious coincidence than actual design; but it occurred so often, that +at length it excited remark. Arthur himself laughed it off, suggesting +that the Italian had perhaps some grudge against England, and wished +to prove the mettle of her sons. The Italian deigned no explanation, +merely saying that he supposed the Spanish jousts were governed by the +same laws as others, and he was therefore at liberty to choose his own +opponent. But Arthur was convinced that some cause existed for this +mysterious hostility. Not wishing to create public confusion, he +contended himself by keeping a watch upon his movements. He found, +however, that he did not watch more carefully than he was watched, +and incensed at length, he resolved on calling his enemy publicly to +account for his dishonorable conduct. This, however, he found much +easier in theory than practice. The wily Italian, as if aware of his +intentions, skilfully eluded them; and as weeks passed without any +recurrence of their secret attacks. Stanley, guided by his own frank +and honorable feelings, believed his suspicions groundless, and +dismissed them altogether. On the tumultuary entrance of the +Spaniards, however, these suspicions were re-excited. Separated by the +press of contending warriors from the main body of his men, Stanley +plunged headlong into the thickest battalion of Moors, intending to +cut his way through them to the Marquis of Cadiz, who was at that +moment entering the town. His unerring arm and lightness of movement +bore him successfully onward. A very brief space divided him from his +friends: the spirited charger on which he rode, cheered by his hand +and voice, with one successful bound cleared the remaining impediments +in his way, but at that moment, with a piercing cry of suffering, +sprung high in the air and fell dead, nearly crushing his astonished +master with his weight. Happily for Stanley, the despairing anguish of +the Moors at that moment at its height, from the triumphant entry of +the Spaniards into their beloved Albania, aggravated by the shrieks +of the victims in the unsparing slaughter, effectually turned the +attention of those around him from his fall. He sprung up, utterly +unable to account for the death of his steed: the dastard blow had +been dealt from behind, and no Moor had been near but those in front. +He looked hastily round him: a tall figure was retreating through the +thickening _melee_, whose dull, red armor, and deep, black plume, +discovered on the instant his identity. Arthur's blood tingled with +just indignation, and it was with difficulty that he restrained +himself from following, and demanding on the instant, and at the +sword's point, the meaning of the deed. + +The sudden start, and muttered execration of the Italian, as Stanley +joined the victorious group around the Marquis, convinced him that his +reappearance, and unhurt, was quite contrary to his mysterious enemy's +intention. The exciting events of the siege which followed, the +alternate hope and fear of the Spaniards, reduced to great distress +by the Moors having succeeded in turning the course of a river which +supplied the city with water, and finally, the timely arrival of +succors under the Duke of Medina Sidonia, which compelled the Moors to +raise the siege and disperse--the rejoicing attendant on so great and +almost unexpected a triumph, all combined to prevent any attention to +individual concerns. The Italian had not crossed Arthur's path again, +except in the general attack or defence; and Stanley found the +best means of conquering his own irritation towards such secret +machinations, was to treat them with indifference and contempt. + +The halls of Alhama were of course kept strongly manned; and a guard, +under an experienced officer, constantly occupied the summit of a +lofty tower, situated on a precipitous height which commanded a +view of the open country for miles, and overlooked the most distant +approach of the Moors. As was usual to Moorish architecture, the tower +had been erected on a rock, which on one side shelved down so straight +and smooth, as to appear a continuance of the tower-wall, but forming +from the battlements a precipice some thousand feet in depth. The +strongest nerve turned sick and giddy to look beneath, and the side of +the tower overlooking it was almost always kept unguarded. + +It was near midnight when Stanley, who was that night on command, +after completing his rounds, and perceiving every sentinel on duty, +found himself unconsciously on the part of the tower we have named. +So pre-occupied was his mind, that he looked beneath him without +shrinking; and then retracing his steps some twenty or thirty yards +from the immediate and unprotected edge, wrapped his mantle closely +round him, and lying down, rested his head on his arm, and permitted +the full dominion of thought. He was in that dreamy mood, when the +silence and holiness of nature is so much more soothing than even the +dearest sympathy of man; when every passing cloud and distant star, +and moaning wind, speaks with a hundred tongues, and the immaterial +spirit holds unconscious commune with beings invisible, and immaterial +as itself. Above his head, heavy clouds floated over the dark azure of +the heavens, sometimes totally obscuring the mild light of the full +moon; at others merely shrouding her beams in a transparent veil, +from which she would burst resplendently, sailing majestically along, +seeming the more light and lovely from the previous shade. One +brilliant planet followed closely on her track, and as the dark masses +of clouds would rend asunder, portions of the heavens, studded with +glittering stars, were visible, seeming like the gemmed dome of some +mighty temple, whose walls and pillars, shrouded in black drapery, +were lost in the distance on either side. Gradually, Stanley's +thoughts became indistinct; the stars seemed to lose their radiance, +as covered by a light mist; a dark cloud appearing, in his half +dormant fancy, to take the gigantic proportions of a man, hovered on +the battlement. It became smaller and smaller, but still it seemed +a cloud, through which the moonlight gleamed; but a thrill passed +through him, as if telling of some impalpable and indefinable object +of dread. With a sudden effort he shook off the lethargy of half +sleep, and sprung to his feet, at the very moment a gleaming sword was +pointed at his throat. "Ha, villain! at thy murderous work again!" he +exclaimed, and another moment beheld him closed in deadly conflict +with his mysterious foe. A deep and terrible oath, and then a mocking +laugh, escaped his adversary; and something in those sounds, nerved +Stanley's arms with resistless power: he was sure he could not be +mistaken, and he fought, not with the unguarded desire of one eager +to obtain satisfaction for personal injury--but he was calm, cool, +collected, as threefold an avenger. For once, the demon-like caution +of the supposed Italian deserted him: discovery was inevitable, and +his sole aim was to compass the death of the hated foreigner with his +own. He tried gradually to retreat to the very edge of the precipice, +and Stanley's calm and cautious avoidance of the design lashed him +into yet fiercer desperation. Thick and fast, fell those tremendous +blows. The Italian had the advantage in height and size, Stanley in +steady coolness and prudent guard; the Italian sought only to slay his +adversary, caring not to defend himself; Arthur evidently endeavored +merely to unhelm the traitor, and bring him but slightly wounded to +the ground. For several minutes there was no cessation in that fearful +clash of steel; the strokes were so rapid, so continued, a hundred +combatants might have seemed engaged. A moment they drew back, as if +to breathe; the Italian, with a despairing effort, raised his weapon +and sprung forwards; Arthur lightly leaped aside, and the murderous +stroke clove but the yielding earth. Another second, and ere the +Italian had regained his equilibrium, Arthur's sword had descended +with so true and sure a stroke that the clasp of the helmet gave way, +the dark blood bubbled up from the cloven brow, he reeled and fell; +and a long, loud shout from the officers and soldiers, who, at the +sound of arms, had flocked round, proclaimed some stronger feeling +than simply admiration of Stanley's well-known prowess. + +"Seize him! seize him! or by Heaven he will escape us yet!" were among +the few words intelligible. "The daring villain, to come amongst us! +Did he think for ever to elude Heaven's vengeance? Bind, fetter, hold +him; or his assistant fiends will release him still!" + +Fiercely the fallen man had striven to extricate himself; but +Stanley's knee moved not from his breast, nor his sword from his +throat, until a strong guard had raised and surrounded him: "but the +horrible passions imprinted on those lived features were such, that +his very captors turned away shuddering. + +"Hadst thou not had enough of blood and crime, thou human monster, +that thou wouldst stain thy already blackened soul with, another +midnight murder?" demanded Stanley, as he sternly confronted his +baffled foe. "Don Luis Garcia, as men have termed thee, what claim +have I on thy pursuing and unchanging hate? With what dost thou charge +me? What wrong?" + +"Wrong!" hoarsely and fiercely repeated Don Louis. "The wrong of +baffled hate; of success, when I planned thy downfall; of escape, +when I had sworn thy death! Did the drivelling idiots, who haunted, +persecuted, excommunicated me from these realms, as some loathed +reptile, dream that I would draw back from my sworn vengeance for such +as they? Poor, miserable fools, whom the first scent of danger would +turn aside from the pursuit of hate! I staked my life on thine, and +the stake is lost; but what care I? My hate shall follow thee; wither +thy bones with its curse; poison every joy; blight every hope; rankle +in thy life blood! Bid thee seek health, and bite the dust for anguish +because it flies thee! And for me. Ha, ha! Men may think to judge +me--torture, triumph, slay! Well, let them." And with a movement so +sudden and so desperate, that to avert it was impossible, he burst +from the grasp of his guards; and with one spring, stood firm and +triumphant on the farthest edge of the battlement. "Now follow me who +dares!" he exclaimed; and, with a fearful mocking laugh; flung himself +headlong down, ere the soldiers had recovered his first sudden +movement. Stanley alone retained presence of mind sufficient to dart +forward, regardless of his own imminent danger, in the vain hope of +arresting the leap; but quick as were his movements, he only reached +the brink in time to see the wretched man, one moment quivering in +air, and lost the next in a dark abyss of shade. + +A cry of mingled disappointment, horror, and execration, burst from +all around; and several of the soldiers hastened from the battlements +to the base of the rock, determined on fighting the arch-fiend +himself, if, as many of them firmly believed, he had rendered Don Luis +invulnerable to air, and would wait there to receive him. But even +this heroic resolution was disappointed: the height was so tremendous, +and the velocity of the fall so frightful, that the action of the air +had not only deprived him of life, but actually loosed the limbs from +the trunk, and a fearfully mangled corpse was all that remained to +glut the vengeance of the infuriated soldiers. + +The confusion and excitement attending this important event, spread +like wildfire; not only over Albania, but reaching to the Duke's camp +without the city. To send off the momentous information to the +King, was instantly decided upon; and young Stanley, as the person +principally concerned, selected for the mission. + +Ferdinand was astonished and indignant, and greatly disappointed +that justice had been so eluded; but that such a monster, whose +machinations seemed, in their subtlety and secrecy, to prevent all +defeat, no longer cumbered Spain, was in itself a relief so great both +to monarch and people, as after the first burst of indignation to +cause universal rejoicings. + +It so happened that Ferdinand had been desirous of Stanley's presence +for some weeks; letters from Isabella, some little time previous, had +expressed an earnest desire for the young man's return to Saragossa, +if only for a visit of a few days. This was then impossible. Three +months had elapsed since Isabella's first communication; within the +last two she had not again reverted to Stanley; but the King, thinking +she had merely refrained from doing so, because of its present +impossibility, gladly seized the opportunity of his appearance at +Seville, to dispatch him, as envoy extraordinary, on both public and +private business, to the court of Arragon. + +Isabella was surrounded by her ministers and nobles when Stanley +was conducted to her presence; she received him with cordiality and +graciousness, asked many and eager questions concerning her husband +and the progress of his arms, entered minutely into the affair of Don +Luis, congratulated him on his having been the hand destined to unmask +the traitor and bring him low; gave her full attention on the instant +to the communications from the King, with which he was charged; +occupied some hours in earnest and thoughtful deliberation with her +counsel, which, on perusal of the King's papers, she had summoned +directly. And yet, through all this, Arthur fancied there was an even +unusual degree of sympathy and kindliness in the tone and look with +which she addressed him individually; but he felt intuitively it +was sympathy with sorrow, not with joy. He was convinced that his +unexpected presence had startled and almost grieved her; and why +should this be, if she had still the hope with which she had so +infused his spirit, when they had parted. His heart, so full of +elasticity a few hours previous, sunk chilled and pained within him, +and it was with an effort impossible to have been denied, had it not +been for the Queen's _unspoken_ but real sympathy; he roused himself +sufficiently to execute his mission. + +But Isabella was too much the true and feeling woman, to permit the +day to close without the private interview she saw Stanley needed; +reality, sad as it was, she felt would be better than harrowing +suspense; and, in a few kindly words, the tale was told. + +"I should have known it!" he exclaimed, when the first shock of bitter +disappointment permitted words. "My own true, precious Marie! How +dared I dream that for me thou wouldst sacrifice thy faith; all, all +else--joy, hope, strength; aye, life itself--but not thy God! Oh, +Madam," he continued, turning passionately to the Queen, "thou hast +not condemned her to misery for this! Thou hast not revoked thy former +heavenly mercy, and delivered her over to the stern fathers of our +holy church? No, no! Isabella could not have done this!" + +"Nor have we," replied the Queen, so mildly that Arthur flung himself at +her feet, conjuring her to pardon his disrespectful words. "Give her to +thee, without retracting her fearful misbelief, indeed we dared not, but +further misery has not been inflicted. We have indeed done penance for +our weakness, severe penance; for Father Tomas asserts that we have most +grievously sinned; and more, have pledged ourselves most solemnly, that +what he may counsel for the entire uprooting of this horrible heresy, +and accursed race, shall be followed, cost what it may, politically or +privately; but to refuse the last boon of the unhappy girl, who had so +strangely, perchance so bewilderingly, wound herself about my +heart--Stanley, I must have changed my nature first!" + +"Her last boon! Gracious Sovereign--" + +"Nay, her last to her Sovereign, my friend. It may be that even yet +her errors may be abjured, and grace be granted in her solitude, to +become in this world as the next, what we have prayed for; but we dare +not hope it; nor must thou. She besought permission to return to the +home of her childhood, pledging herself never to leave it, or mingle +with her people or ours more." + +"And she is there! God in Heaven bless, reward your Highness for the +mercy!" burst impetuously from Arthur. "I trust she is, nay, I believe +it; for Jewess as she is, she would not pledge me false. In the garb +of the novice, as she saved thee, Father Denis conducted her to the +frontiers of Castile. More we know not, for we asked not the site of +her home." + +There was a few minutes' pause, and then, with beseeching eloquence, +Arthur conjured the Sovereign to let him see her once, but once again. +He asked no more, but he felt as if he could not sustain the agony of +eternal separation, without one last, last interview. He pledged his +honor, that no temptation of a secret union should interfere with the +sentence of the Queen; that both would submit; only to permit them +once more to meet again. + +Isabella hesitated, but not for long. Perhaps the secret hope arose +that Stanley's presence would effect that for which all else had +failed; or that she really could not resist his passionate pleadings. + +"One word of retraction, and even now she is thine.--And I will bless +thee that thou gavest her to me again," she said in parting; but her +own spirit told her the hope was vain. + +Half an hour after this agitating interview Arthur Stanley was again +on horseback, a deep hectic on either cheek; his eye bloodshot and +strained, traversing with the speed of lightning the open country, in +the direction of Castile. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + + "Oh! love, love, strong as death--from such an hour + Pressing out joy by thine immortal power; + Holy and fervent love! Had earth but rest + For thee and thine, this world were all too fair: + How could we thence be weaned to die without despair! + + "But woe for him who felt that heart grow still + Which with its weight of agony had lain + Breaking on his. Scarce could the mortal chill + Of the hushed bosom, ne'er to heave again, + And all the curdling silence round the eye, + Bring home the stern belief that she could die." + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +The glowing light of a glorious sunset lingered on the Vale of Cedars, +displaying that calm and beautiful retreat in all the fair and rich +luxuriance of former years. Reuben and Ruth, the aged retainers of the +house of Henriquez, had made it their pride and occupation to preserve +the cherished retreat, lovely as it had been left. Nor were they its +only inmates; their daughter, her husband, and children, after various +struggles in the Christian world, had been settled in the Vale by the +benevolence of Ferdinand Morales--their sole duty, to preserve it in +such order, as to render it a fitting place of refuge for any who +should need it. Within the last twelve months, another inmate had been +added to them. Weary of his wanderings, and of the constant course of +deception which his apparent profession of a monk demanded, Julien +Morales had returned to the home of his childhood, there to fix +his permanent abode; only to make such excursions from it, as the +interests of his niece might demand. Her destiny was his sole anxious +thought. Her detention by Isabella convinced him that her disguise had +been penetrated, and filled him with solicitude for her spiritual, yet +more than her temporal welfare. Royal protection of a Jewess was +so unprecedented, that it could only argue the hope--nay, perhaps +conviction--of her final conversion. And the old man actually tried to +divorce the sweet image of his niece from his affections, so convinced +was he that her unhappy love for Arthur, combined with Isabella's +authority, and, no doubt, the threat of some terrible alternative +should she refuse, would compel her acceptance of the proffered cross, +and so sever them for ever. How little can man, even the most gentle +and affectionate, read woman! + +It was the day completing the eleventh month after Don Ferdinand's +murder, when Julien Morales repaired earlier than usual to the little +temple, there to read the service for the dead appointed for the day, +and thence proceeded to his nephew's grave. An unusual object, which +had fallen on, or was kneeling beside the grave, caught his eye, and +impelled him to quicken his pace. His heart throbbed as he recognized +the garb of a novice, and to such a degree as almost to deprive him of +all power, as in the white, chiselled features, resting on the cold, +damp sod, he recognized his niece, and believed, for the first +agonizing moment, that it was but clay resting against clay; and that +the sweet, pure spirit had but guided her to that grave and flown. But +death for a brief interval withdrew his grasp; though his shaft had +reached her, and no human hand could draw it back. Father Denis had +conducted her so carefully and tenderly to the frontiers of Castile, +that she had scarcely felt fatigue, and encountered no exposure to the +elements; but when he left her, her desire to reach her home became +stronger, with the seeming physical incapacity to do so. Her spirit +gave way, and mental and bodily exhaustion followed. The season was +unusually damp and tempestuous, and, though scarcely felt at the time, +sowed the seeds of cold and decline, from which her naturally good +constitution might, in the very midst of her trials, otherwise have +saved her. Her repugnance to encounter the eyes or speech of her +fellows, lest her disguise should be penetrated, caused her to shrink +from entering any habitation, except for the single night which +intervened, between the period of the father's leaving her and her +reaching the secret entrance to the Vale. Her wallet provided her with +more food than her parched throat could swallow; and for the consuming +thirst, the fresh streams that so often bubbled across her path, gave +her all she needed. The fellowship of man, then, was unrequited, +and, as the second night fell, so comparatively short a distance lay +between her and her home, that buoyed up by the desire to reach it, +she was not sensible of her utter exhaustion, till she stood within +the little graveyard of the Vale; and the moon shining softly and +clearly on the headstones, disclosed to her the grave of her husband. +She was totally ignorant that he had been borne there; and the rush +of feeling which came over her, as she read his name--the memories of +their happy, innocent, childhood, of all his love for her--that had he +been but spared, all the last year's misery might have been averted, +for she would have loved him, ay, even as he loved her; and he would +have guarded, saved--so overpowered her, that she had sunk down upon +the senseless earth which covered him, conscious only of the wild, +sickly longing, like him to flee away and be at rest. She had reached +her home; exertion no longer needed, the unnatural strength, ebbed +fast, and the frail tenement withered, hour by hour, away. And how +might Julien mourn! Her work on earth was done. Young, tried, frail +as she was, she had been permitted to show forth the glory, the +sustaining glory, of her faith, by a sacrifice whose magnitude was +indeed apparent, but whose depth and intensity of suffering, none knew +but Him for whom it had been made. She had been preserved from the +crime--if possible more fearful in the mind of the Hebrew than any +other--apostacy: and though the first conviction, that she was indeed +"passing away" even from his affection, was fraught with absolute +anguish, yet her uncle could not, dared not pray for life on earth. +And in the peace, the calm, the depth, of quietude which gradually +sunk on her heart, infusing her every word and look and gentle smile, +it was as if her spirit had already the foretaste of that blissful +heaven for which its wings were plumed. As the frame dwindled, the +expression of her sweet face became more and more unearthly in its +exquisite beauty, the mind more and more beatified, and the heart more +freed from earthly feeling. The reward of her constancy appeared in +part bestowed on earth, for death itself was revealed to her--not as +the King of Terrors, but as an Angel of Light, at whose touch the +lingering raiment of mortality would dissolve, and the freed soul +spring up rejoicing to its home. + +It was the Feast of the Tabernacle and the Sabbath eve. The +tent--formed of branches of thick trees and fragrant shrubs--was +erected, as we have seen it in a former page, a short distance from +the temple. Marie's taste had once again, been consulted in its +decorations; her hand, feeble as it was, had twined the lovely +wreaths of luscious flowers and arranged the glowing fruit. With some +difficulty she had joined in the devotional service performed by her +uncle in the little temple--borne there in the arms of old Reuben, for +her weakness now prevented walking--and on the evening of the Sabbath +in the Festival, she reclined on one of the luxurious couches within +the tent, through the opening of which, she could look forth on the +varied beauties of the Vale, and the rich glorious hues dyeing the +western skies. The Sabbath lamps were lighted, but their rays were +faint and flickering in the still glowing atmosphere. A crimson ray +from the departing luminary gleamed through the branches, and a faint +glow--either from its reflection, or from that deceiving beauty, which +too often gilds the features of the dying--rested on Marie's features, +lighting up her large and lustrous eyes with unnatural brilliance. She +had been speaking earnestly of that life beyond the grave, belief in +which throughout her trials had been her sole sustainer. Julien had +listened, wrapt and almost awe-struck, so completely did it seem as if +the spirit, and not the mortal, spoke. + +"And thine own trials, my beloved one," he said,--"Has the question +never come, why thou shouldst thus have been afflicted?" + +"Often, very often, my father, and only within the last few weeks has +the full answer come; and I can say from my inmost heart, in the words +of Job, 'It is good that I have been afflicted,' and that I believe +all is well. While _on_ earth, we must be in some degree _of_ earth, +and bear the penalty of our earthly nature. The infirmities and +imperfections of that nature in others, as often as in ourselves, +occasion human misery, which our God, in his infinite love, permits, +to try our spirit's strength and faith, and so prepare us for that +higher state of being, in which the spirit will move and act, when +the earthly shell is shivered, and earthly infirmities are for ever +stilled. In the time of suffering we cannot think thus; but looking +back as I do now--when the near vicinity of another world bids me +regard my own past life almost as if it were another's--I feel it in +my inmost heart, and bless God for every suffering which has prepared +me thus early for his home. There is but one feeling, one wish +of earth, remaining," she continued, after a long pause of utter +exhaustion. "It is weak, perhaps, and wrong; but if--if Arthur could +but know that fatal secret which made me seem a worse deceiver than +I was--I know it cannot be, but it so haunts me. If I wedded one +Christian, may he not think there needed not this sacrifice--sacrifice +not of myself, but of his happiness. Oh! could I but--Hush! whose step +is that?" she suddenly interrupted herself; and with the effort of +strong excitement, started up, and laid her hand on her uncle's arm. + +"Nay, my child, there is no sound," he replied soothingly, after +listening attentively for several moments. + +"But there is. Hark, dost thou not hear it now? God of mercy! thou +hast heard my prayer--it is _his_!" she exclaimed, sinking powerlessly +back, at the moment that even Julien's duller ear had caught a rapid +step; and in another minute the branches were hastily pushed aside, +and Stanley indeed stood upon the threshold. + +"Marie--and thus!" he passionately exclaimed; and flinging himself +on his knees beside her, he buried his face on her hand, and wept in +agony. + + * * * * * + +Nearly an hour passed ere Marie could rally from the agitation of +Arthur's unexpected presence sufficiently to speak. She lay with her +hand clasped in his, and his arm around her--realizing, indeed, to the +full, the soothing consolation of his presence, but utterly powerless +to speak that for which she had so longed to see him once again. The +extent of her weakness had been unknown till that moment either to +her uncle or herself, and Julien watched over her in terror lest the +indefinable change which in that hour of stillness was perceptibly +stealing over her features should be indeed the dim shadow of death. +To Arthur speech was equally impossible, save in the scarcely +articulate expressions of love and veneration which he lavished on +her. What he had hoped in thus seeking her he could not himself have +defined. His whole soul was absorbed in the wild wish to see her +again, and the thoughts of death for her had never entered his heart. +The shock, then, had been terrible, and to realize the infinite mercy +which thus bade sorrow cease, was in such a moment impossible. He +could but gaze and clasp her closer and closer, yet, as if even death +should be averted by his love. + +"Uncle Julien," she murmured, as she faintly extended her hand towards +him, "thou wilt not refuse to clasp hands with one who has so loved +thy Marie! And thou, Arthur, oh! scorn him not. Without him the +invisible dungeons of the Inquisition would have been my grave, and +thine that of a dishonored knight and suspected murderer." + +The eyes of her companions met, and their hands were grasped in that +firm pressure, betraying unity of feeling, and reciprocal esteem, +which need no words. + +"Raise me a little, dearest Arthur; uncle Julien" put back that +spreading bough. I would say something more, and the fresher air may +give me strength. Ah! the evening breeze is so fresh and sweet; it +always makes me feel as if the spirits of those we loved were hovering +near us. We hold much closer and dearer communion with the beloved +dead in the calm twilight than in the garish day. Arthur, dearest, +thou wilt think of me sometimes in an hour like this." + +"When shall I not think of thee?" he passionately rejoined. "Oh, +Marie, Marie! I thought separation on earth the worst agony that could +befall me; but what--what is it compared to the eternal one of death?" + +"No, no, not eternal, Arthur. In heaven I feel there is no distinction +of creed or faith; we shall all love God and one another there, and +earth's fearful distinctions can never come between us. I know such +is not the creed of thy people, nor of some of mine; but when thou +standest on the verge of eternity, as I do now, thou wilt feel this +too." + +"How can I gaze on thee, and not believe it?" he replied. "The loudest +thunders of the church could not shake my trust in the purity of +heaven, which is thine." + +"Because thou lovest, Arthur. Thy love for Marie is stronger than thy +hatred of her race; and, oh! if thou lovest thus, I know thou hast +forgiven." + +"Forgiven!" he passionately reiterated. + +"Yes, dearest Arthur. Is the past indeed so obliterated that the wrong +I did thee is forgotten even as forgiven? But, oh, Arthur! it was not +so unjustifiable as it seemed then. I dared not breathe the truth in +Isabella's court. I dare not whisper it now save to thee, who would +die rather than reveal it. Arthur, dearest Arthur, it was no Christian +whom I wedded. We had been betrothed from early childhood, though I +knew it not; and when the time came, I could not draw down on me a +father's curse, or dash with agony a heart that so cherished, so loved +me, by revelation of a truth which could avail me nothing, and would +bring him but misery. Ferdinand was my cousin--a child of Israel, as +myself." + +"Now heaven bless thee for those words, my own, true, precious Marie!" +exclaimed Stanley, in strong emotion, and clasping her still closer, +he pressed his quivering lips to her forehead, starting in agony as he +marked the cold, damp dews which had gathered upon it, too truly +the index of departing life. He besought her to speak no more--the +exertion was exhausting her; she smiled faintly, drank of the reviving +draught which Julien proffered, and lay for a few minutes calm and +still. + +"I am better now," she said, after an interval. "It was only the +excitement of speaking that truth, which I have so long desired to +reveal--to clear my memory from the caprice and inconstancy with which +even thy love must have charged me; and now, Arthur, promise me that +thou wilt not mourn me too long: that thou wilt strive to conquer the +morbid misery, which I know, if encouraged, will cloud thy whole life, +and unfit thee for the glorious career which must otherwise be thine. +Do not forget me wholly, love, but deem it not a duty to my memory +never to love again. Arthur, dearest, thou canst bestow happiness on +another, and one of thine own faith, even such happiness as to have +been thy wife would have given me. Do not reject the calm rest and +peacefulness, which such love will bring to thee, though now thou +feelest as if the very thought were loathing. She will speak to thee +of me; for Jewess as she knew me, she has loved and tended me in +suffering, and so wept my banishment, that my frozen tears had well +nigh flowed in seeing hers. Seek her in Isabella's court, and try to +love her, Arthur--if at first merely for my sake, it will soon, soon +be for her own." + +Impressively and pleadingly, these words fell on Arthur's aching +heart, even at that moment when he felt to comply with them was and +must ever be impossible. When time had done its work, and softened +individual agony, they returned again and yet again; and at each +returning, seemed less painful to obey. + +"And Isabella, my kind, loving, generous mistress," she continued, +after a very long pause, and her voice was so faint as scarcely +to make distinguishable the words, save for the still lingering +sweetness, and clearness of her articulation--"Oh! what can I say to +her? Arthur, dearest Arthur, thou must repay the debt of gratitude +I owe her. Her creed condemns, but her heart loves me--aye, still, +still! And better (though she cannot think so) than had I for earthly +joy turned traitor to my God. Oh, tell her how with my last breath I +loved and blessed her, Arthur; tell her we shall meet again, where +Jew and Gentile worship the same God! Oh that I could but have +proved--proved--How suddenly it has grown dark! Uncle Julien, is it +not time for the evening prayer?" + +And her lips moved in the wordless utterance of the prayer for which +she had asked, forgetting it had some time before been said; and then +her head sunk lower and lower on Arthur's bosom, and there was no +sound. Twilight lingered, as loth to disappear, then deepened into +night, and the silver lamps within the tents brighter and more +brightly illumined the gloom; but Arthur moved not, suppressing even +his breath, lest he should disturb that deep and still repose. It was +more than an hour ere Julien Morales could realize the truth, and then +he gently endeavored to unclasp Arthur's almost convulsive hold, and +with, kindly force to lead him from the couch. The light of the lamp +fell full upon that sweet, sweet face; and, oh! never had it seemed so +lovely. The awful stillness of sculptured repose was indeed there; the +breath of life and its disturbing emotions had passed away, and nought +but the shrine remained. But like marble sculptured by God's hand, +that sweet face gleamed--seeming, in its perfect tracery, its heavenly +repose, to whisper even to the waves of agony, "Be still--my spirit is +with God!" + + * * * * * + +Julien Morales and Arthur Stanley--the aged and the young--the Jewish +recluse and Christian warrior--knelt side by side on the cold earth, +which concealed the remains of one to both so inexpressibly dear. The +moonlit shrubs and spangled heaven alone beheld their mutual sorrow, +and the pale moon waned, and the stars gleamed paler and paler in the +first gray of dawn ere that vigil was concluded. And then both arose +and advanced to the barrier wall; the spring answered to the touch, +and the concealed door flew back. The young Christian turned, and +was folded to the heart of the Jew. The blessing of the Hebrew was +breathed in the ear of the Englishman, and Stanley disappeared. + +Oh, love! thou fairest, brightest, most imperishable type of heaven! +what to thee are earth's distinctions? Alone in thy pure essence thou +standest, and every mere earthly feeling crouches at thy feet. And art +thou but this world's blessing? Oh! they have never loved who thus +believe. Love is the voice of God, Love is the rule of Heaven! As one +grain to the uncounted sands, as one drop to the unfathomed depths--is +the love of earth to that of heaven; but when the mortal shrine is +shivered, the minute particle will re-unite itself with its kindred +essence, to exist unshadowed and for ever. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + + "Why then a final note prolong, + Or lengthen out a closing song, + Unless to bid the gentles speed + Who long have listened to my rede?" + + SIR WALTER SCOTT. + + +The fickle sun of "merrie England" shone forth in unusual splendor; +and, as if resolved to bless the august ceremony on which it gazed, +permitted not a cloud to shadow the lustrous beams, which, darted +their floods of light through the gorgeous casements of Westminster +Abbey, in whose sacred precincts was then celebrating the bridal of +the young heir of England, with a fair and gentle daughter of Spain. +It was a scene to interest the coldest heart--not for the state and +splendor of the accoutrements, nor the high rank of the parties +principally concerned, nor for the many renowned characters of church, +state, and chivalry there assembled; it was the extreme youth and +touching expression, impressed on the features, of both bride and +bridegroom. + +Neither Arthur, Prince of Wales, nor Catherine, Infanta of Arragon, +had yet numbered eighteen years, the first fresh season of joyous +life; but on neither countenance could be traced the hilarity and +thoughtlessness, natural to their age. The fair, transparent brow of +the young Prince, under which the blue veins could be clearly seen, +till lost beneath the rich chesnut curls, that parted on his brow, +fell loosely on either shoulder; the large and deep blue eye, which +was ever half concealed beneath the long, dark lash, as if some untold +languor caused the eyelid to droop so heavily; the delicate pink of +his downless cheek, the brilliant hue on his lips, even his peculiar +smile, all seemed to whisper the coming ill, that one so dear to +Englishmen would not linger with them to fulfil the sweet promise of +his youth. + +Beauty is, perhaps, too strong a word to apply to the youthful bride. +It was the pensive sadness of her mild and pleasing features that so +attracted--natural enough to her position in a strange land, and the +thoughts of early severance from a mother she idolized, but recalled +some twenty years afterwards as the dim shadow of the sorrowing +future, glooming through the gay promise of the present. And there, +too, was Prince Henry, then only in his twelfth year, bearing in his +flashing eye and constantly varying expression of brow and mouth, true +index of those passions which were one day to shake Europe to the +centre; and presenting in his whole appearance a striking contrast +to his brother, and drawing around him, even while yet so young, the +hottest and wildest spirits of his father's court, who, while they +loved the person, scorned the gentle amusements of the Prince of +Wales. + +Henry the Seventh and his hapless consort, Elizabeth of York, were, of +course, present--the one rejoicing in the conclusion of a marriage for +which he had been in treaty the last seven years, and which was at +last purchased at the cost of innocent blood; the other beholding only +her precious son, whose gentle and peculiarly domestic virtues, were +her sweetest solace for conjugal neglect and ill-concealed dislike. + +Amongst the many noble Spaniards forming the immediate attendants of +the Infanta, had been one so different in aspect to his companions as +to attract universal notice; and not a few of the senior noblemen of +England had been observed to crowd round him whenever he appeared, and +evince towards him the most marked and pleasurable cordiality. His +thickly silvered hair and somewhat furrowed brow bore the impress +of some five-and-fifty years; but a nearer examination might have +betrayed, that sorrow more than years, had aged him, and full six, +or even ten years might very well be subtracted from the age which a +first glance supposed him. Why the fancy was taken that he was not a +Spaniard could not have been very easily explained; for his wife was +the daughter of the famous Pedro Pas, whose beauty, wit, and high +spirits were essentially Spanish, and was the Infanta's nearest and +most favored attendant; and he himself was constantly near her person, +and looked up to by the usually jealous Spaniards as even higher in +rank and importance that many of themselves. How, then, could he be a +foreigner? And marvel merged into the most tormenting curiosity, when, +on the bridal day of the Prince of Wales, though he still adhered to +the immediate train of the Princess, he appeared in the rich and full +costume of an English Peer. The impatience of several young gallants +could hardly by restrained even during the ceremony; at the conclusion +of which they tumultuously surrounded Lord Scales, declaring they +would not let him go, till he had told them who and what was this +mysterious friend: Lord Scales had headed a gallant band of English +knights in the Moorish war, and was therefore supposed to know every +thing concerning Spain, and certainly of this Anglo-Spaniard, as ever +since his arrival in England they had constantly been seen together. +He smiled good-humoredly at their importunity, and replied-- + +"I am afraid my friend's history has nothing very marvellous or +mysterious in it. His family were all staunch Lancastrians, and +perished either on the field or scaffold; he escaped almost +miraculously, and after a brief interval of restless wandering, went +to Spain and was treated with such consideration and kindness by +Ferdinand and Isabella, that he has lived there ever since, honored +and treated in all things as a child of the soil. On my arrival, I was +struck by his extraordinary courage and rash disregard of danger, and +gladly hailed in him a countryman. I learned afterwards that this +reckless bravery had been incited by a wish for death, and that events +had occurred in his previous life, which would supply matter for many +a minstrel tale." + +"Let us hear it, let us hear it!" interrupted many eager voices, but +Lord Seales laughingly shook his head. + +"Excuse me, my young friends: at present I have neither time nor +inclination for a long story. Enough that he loved, and loved +unhappily; not from its being unreturned, but from a concatenation of +circumstances and sorrows which may not be detailed." + +"But he is married; and he is as devoted to Donna Catherine as she is +to him. I heard they were proverbial for their mutual affection and +domestic happiness. How could he so have loved before?" demanded, +somewhat skeptically, a very young man. + +"My good friend, when you get a little older, you will cease to marvel +at such things, or imagine, because a man has been very wretched, he +is to be for ever. My friend once felt as you do (Lord Seales changed +his tone to one of impressive seriousness); but he was wise enough +to abide by the counsels of the beloved one he had lost, struggle to +shake off the sluggish misery which was crushing him, cease to wish +for death, and welcome life as a solemn path of usefulness and good, +still to be trodden, though its flowers might have faded. Gradually as +he awoke to outward things, and sought the companionship of her whom +his lost one had loved, he became sensible that, spiritless as he had +thought himself, he could yet, did he see fit, win and rivet regard; +and so he married, loving less than he was loved, perchance at the +time but scarcely so now. His marriage, and his present happiness, are +far less mysterious than his extraordinary interference in the event +which followed the conquest of the Moors--I mean the expulsion of the +Jews." + +"By the way, what caused that remarkable edict?" demanded one of the +circle more interested in politics than in individuals. "It is a good +thing indeed to rid a land of such vermin; but in Spain they had +so much to do with the successful commerce of the country, that it +appears as impolitic as unnecessary." + +"Impolitic it was, so far as concerned the temporal interests of the +kingdom; but the sovereigns of Spain decided on it, from the religious +light in which it was placed before them, by Torquemada. It is +whispered that Isabella would never have consented to a decree, +sentencing so many thousands of her innocent subjects to misery and +expulsion, had not her confessor worked on her conscience in an +unusual manner; alluding to some unprecedented favor shown to one of +that hated race, occasioned, he declared, by those arts of magic which +might occur again and yet again, and do most fatal evil to the land. +Isabella had, it appears, when reproached by Torquemada for her act +of mercy, which he termed weakness, pledged herself, not to interfere +with his measures for the extermination of the unbelief, and on this +promise of course he worked, till the edict was proclaimed." + +"But this stranger, what had he to do with it?" demanded many of the +group, impatient at the interruption. + +"What he had to do with it I really cannot tell you, but his zeal +to avert the edict lost him, in a great measure the confidence of +Ferdinand. When he found to prevent their expulsion was impossible, +he did all in his power to lessen their misfortune, if such it may be +called, by relieving every unbeliever that crossed his path." + +An exclamation of horrified astonishment escaped his auditors. "What +could such conduct mean? did he lean towards unbelief himself--" + +"That could hardly be," replied Lord Scales. "Unless he had been a +Catholic, earnest and zealous as herself, Isabella would never have so +esteemed him, as to give him as wife her especial favorite, Catherine +Pas, and place him so near the person of her child. When I left Spain, +I entreated my friend to accompany me, and resume his hereditary title +and estate, but I pleaded in vain. Some more than common tie seemed to +devote him to the interests of the Queen of Castile, whom he declared +he would never leave unless in England he could serve her better than +in Spain. At that time there was no chance of such an event. He now +tells me, that it was Isabella's earnest request that he should attend +the Princess; be always near her, and so decrease the difficulties, +which in a foreign land must for a time surround her. The Queen is +broken in health, and dispirited, from many domestic afflictions; and +it was with tears, she besought him to devote his remaining years, to +the service of her child, and be to the future Queen of England true, +faithful, and upright, as he had ever been to the Queen of Spain. +Need I say the honorable charge was instantly accepted, and while he +resumes his rank and duties as a Peer of his native land, the grateful +service of an adopted son of Spain will ever be remembered and +performed." + +"But his name, his name?" cried many eager voices. + +"ARTHUR STANLEY, EARL OF DERBY." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VALE OF CEDARS *** + + +******* This file should be named 12725.txt or 12725.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/7/2/12725 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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