The game of chess was finished. Don Gusman had beaten Ruy Lopez, and his
triumph was complete. He rose to his feet.
"I am now, as ever, ready to obey the wishes of my King," he said to
Calavar.
The executioner understood him, and began to prepare the block. Whilst
this was being done Don Gusman advanced towards the crucifix, and said
in a firm voice:--
"Oh, Heaven! may this unjust and rash act which is about to take place
fall upon the head of him who is the instigator of this treachery; but
let not my blood recoil upon the head of my King."
[Illustration: "WHAT DO I BEHOLD?"]
Ruy Lopez, crouching in a corner of the cell, and burying his face in
his mantle, began to recite the prayers for the dying.
Calavar approached Don Gusman, and putting his hand upon the Duke's
shoulder began to loosen his ruff. Don Gusman shrank back from the
contact.
"Nothing that belongs to you, except this axe, shall touch a Gusman," he
said, taking off his ruff himself and placing his head upon the block.
"Strike!" he added, "I am ready!"
The executioner raised the axe--the King's justice was at last to be
satisfied, when shouts, rapid footsteps and confused voices arrested the
sweep of the executioner's arm.
The door gave way under the united efforts of a troop of armed men, and
D'Ossuna, rushing into the cell, threw himself between the executioner
and his victim. He was just in time.
"He lives!" cried Tarraxas.
"He is saved!" repeated D'Ossuna. "My beloved cousin, I never hoped to
have seen you alive again. God in His mercy has not let the innocent
perish for the guilty. God be praised!"
"God be praised!" echoed all the spectators, and louder than the rest
rang out the voice of Ruy Lopez.
"You have arrived in time, my friend," said Don Gusman to his cousin;
"but now I shall have no longer strength to die," and he sank back
fainting on the block. The shock had been too much for him.
Ruy Lopez seized the Duke in his arms, and, followed by all the nobles,
bore him along the passages to the King's apartment. When Don Gusman
opened his eyes he found himself in the midst of a circle of his
friends, amongst which stood the King, looking down upon him with an
expression of joy.
Don Gusman could hardly believe his senses. From the axe and the block
he had passed to the King's apartment. He did not understand why this
change had taken place. He did not know that Don Ramirez, in giving his
_lettres-patentes_ to the King to sign, had, in his agitation, given him
instead a paper containing a plot in which he schemed to get rid for
ever of Don Gusman, a detested rival, and one of the firmest supporters
of the throne. He was ignorant of all that had passed, and did not know
how he had escaped from the clutches of the executioner. It was some
time before everything could be made clear to him.
Three days afterwards, at the same hour as Gusman's miraculous delivery,
Calavar beheaded Don Ramirez, Count of Biscay, traitor and false
witness. Don Gusman was overwhelmed with congratulations on all sides.
King Philip grasped him cordially by his hand.
"Gusman," he said, "I have been very unjust. I can never forgive my
folly."
"Sire," replied the Duke, "let us speak of it no more. Such words spoken
by my King are worth a thousand lives."
But the King continued.
"I desire," he said, "that henceforth, in commemoration of your almost
miraculous deliverance, you carry upon your escutcheon a silver axe
emblazoned on an azure chess-board. This month we shall celebrate your
marriage with Dona Estella. The marriage shall take place in our
Escurial Palace."