TRIAL BY QUESTION
The court was not full when Manvers and his advocate, with Gil Perez in
attendance, took their places; but it filled up gradually, and the
Judge of First Instance, when he took his seat upon the tribunal, faced
a throng not unworthy of a bull-fight. Bestial, leering, inflamed
faces, peering eyes agog for mischief, all the nervous expectation of
the sudden, the bloody or terrible were there.
There was the same dead hush when Manuela was brought in as when they
throw open the doors of the _toril_, and the throng holds its breath.
Gil Perez drew his with a long whistling sound, and Manvers, who could
dare to look at her, thought he had never seen maidenly dignity more
beautifully shown. She moved to her place with a gentle consciousness
of what was due to herself very touching to see.
The crowded court thrilled and murmured, but she did not raise her
eyes; once only did she show her feeling, and that was when she passed
near the barrier where the spectators could have touched her by leaning
over. More than one stretched his hand out, one at least his walking
cane. Then she took hold of her skirt and held it back, just as a girl
does when she passes wet paint. This little touch, which made the
young men jeer and whisper obscenity, brought the water to Manvers'
eyes. He heard Gil Perez draw again his whistling breath, and felt him
tremble. Directly Manuela was in her place, standing, facing the
assize, Gil Perez looked at her, and never took his eyes from her
again. She was dressed in black, and her hair was smooth over her
ears, knotted neatly on the nape of her neck.
The Judge, a fatigued, monumental person with a long face, pointed
whiskers, and the eyes of a dead fish, told her to stand up. As she
was already standing, she looked at him with patient inquiry; but he
took no notice of that. Her self-possession was indeed remarkable.
She gave her answers quietly, without hesitation, and when anything was
asked her which offended her, either ignored it or told the questioner
what she thought of it. From the outset Manvers could see that the
Judge's business was to incriminate her beyond repair. Her plea of
guilty was not to help her. She was to be shown infamous.
The examination ran thus:--
_Judge_: "You are Manuela, daughter of Incarnacion Presa of Valencia,
and have never known your father?" (_Manuela bows her head_.) "Answer
the Court."
_Manuela_: "It is true."
_Judge_: "It is said that your father was the _gitano_ Sagruel?"
_Manuela_: "I don't know."
_Judge_: "You may well say that. Remember that you are condemning your
mother by such answers. Your mother sold you at twelve years old to an
unfrocked priest named Tormes?"
_Manuela_: "Yes. For three _pesos_."
_Judge_: "Disgraceful transaction! This wretch taught you dancing,
posturing, and all manner of wickedness?"
_Manuela_: "He taught me to dance."
_Judge_: "How long were you in his company?"
_Manuela_: "For three years."
_Judge_: "He took you from fair to fair. You were a public dancer?"
_Manuela_: "That is true."
_Judge_: "I can imagine--the court can imagine--your course of life
during this time. This master of yours, this Tormes, how did he treat
you?"
_Manuela_: "Very ill."
_Judge_: "Be more explicit, Manuela. In what way?"
_Manuela_: "He beat me. He hurt me."
_Judge_: "Why so?"
_Manuela_: "I cannot tell you any more about him."
_Judge_: "You refuse?"
_Manuela_: "Yes."
Judge: "The court places its interpretation upon your silence." (He
looked painfully round as if he regretted the absence of the proper
means of extracting answers. Manvers heard Gil Perez curse him under
his breath.)
The Judge made lengthy notes upon the margin of his docquet, and then
proceeded.
_Judge_: "The young gentleman, Don Bartolome Ramonez, first saw you at
the fair of Salamanca in 1859?"
_Manuela_: "Yes."
_Judge_: "He saw you often, and followed you to Valladolid, where his
father Don Luis lived?"
_Manuela_: "Yes."
_Judge_: "He professed his passion for you, gave you presents?"
_Manuela_: "Yes."
_Judge_: "You persuaded him to take you away from Tormes?"
_Manuela_: "No."
_Judge_: "What do I hear?"
_Manuela_: "I said 'No.' It was because he said that he loved me that
I went with him. He wished to marry me, he said."
_Judge_: "What! Don Bartolome Ramonez marry a public dancer! Be
careful what you say there, Manuela."
_Manuela_: "He told me so, and I believed him."
_Judge_: "I pass on. You were with him until the April of this
year--you were with him two years?"
_Manuela_: "Yes."
_Judge_: "And then you found another lover and deserted him?"
_Manuela_: "No. I ran away from him by myself."
_Judge_: "But you found another lover?"
_Manuela_: "No."
_Judge_: "Be careful, Manuela. You will trip in a moment. You ran
away from Don Bartolome when you were at Pobledo, and you went to
Palencia. What did you do there?"
_Manuela_: "I cannot answer you."
_Judge_: "You mean that you will not?"
_Manuela_: "I mean that I cannot."
_Judge_: "This is wilful prevarication again. I have authority to
compel you."
_Manuela_: "You have none."
_Judge_: "We shall see, Manuela, we shall see. You left Palencia on
the 12th of May in the company of an Englishman?"
_Manuela_: "Yes."
_Judge_: "He is here in court?"
_Manuela_: "Yes."
_Judge_: "Do you see him at this moment?"
_Manuela_: "Yes." (But she did not turn her head to look at Manvers
until the Judge forced her.)
_Judge_: "I am not he. I am not likely to have taken you from Palencia
and your proceedings there. Look at the Englishman." (She hesitated
for a little while, and then turned her eyes upon him with such gentle
modesty that Manvers felt nearer to loving her than he had ever done.
He rose slightly in his seat and bowed to her: she returned the salute
like a young queen. The Judge had gained nothing by that.) "I see
that you treat each other with ceremony; there may be reasons for that.
We shall soon see. This gentleman then took you away from Palencia in
the direction of Valladolid, and made you certain proposals. What were
they?"
_Manuela_: "He proposed that I should return to Palencia."
_Judge_: "And you refused?"
_Manuela_: "Yes."
_Judge_: "Why?"
_Manuela_: "I could not go back to Palencia."
_Judge_: "Why?"
_Manuela_: "There were many reasons. One was that I was afraid of
seeing Esteban there."
_Judge_: "You mean Don Bartolome Ramonez de, Alavia?" (She nodded.)
"Answer me."
_Manuela_: "Yes, yes."
_Judge_: "You are impatient because your evil deeds are coming to
light. I am not surprised; but you must command yourself. There is
more to come." (Manvers, who was furious, asked his advocate whether
something could not be done. Directly her fear of Esteban was touched
upon, he said, the Judge changed his tactics. The advocate smiled.
"Be patient, sir," he said. "The Judge has been instructed
beforehand." "You mean," said Manvers, "that he has been bribed?" "I
did not say so," the advocate replied.)
The Judge returned to Palencia. "What other reasons had you?" was his
next question, but Manuela was clever enough to see where her strength
lay. "My fear of Esteban swallowed all other reasons." She saved
herself, and with unconcealed chagrin the Judge went on towards the
real point.
_Judge_: "The Englishman then made you another proposal?"
_Manuela_: "Yes, sir. He proposed to take me to a convent."
_Judge_: "You refused that?"
_Manuela_: "No, sir. I should have been glad to go to a convent."
_Judge_: "You, however, accepted his third proposal, namely, that you
should be under his protection?"
_Manuela_: "I was thankful for his protection when I saw Esteban
coming."
_Judge_: "I have no doubt of that. You had reason to fear Don
Bartolome's resentment?"
_Manuela_: "I knew that Esteban intended to murder me."
_Judge_: "Don Bartolome overtook you. You were riding before the
Englishman on his horse?"
_Manuela_: "Yes. I could not walk. I was ill."
_Judge_: "Don Bartolome remained with you until the Englishman ran
away?"
_Manuela_: "He did not run away. Why should he? He went away on his
own affairs."
_Judge_ (after looking at his papers): "I see. The Englishman went
away after the pair of you had killed Don Bartolome?"
_Manuela_: "That is not true. He went away to bathe, and then I killed
Esteban with his own knife. I killed him because he told me that he
intended to murder me, and the English gentleman who had been kind to
me. I confess it--I confessed it to the _alguazils_ and the
_carcelero_. You may twist what I say as you will, to please your
friends, but the truth is in what I say."
_Judge_: "Silence! It is for you to answer the questions which I put
to you. You forget yourself, Manuela. But I will take your confession
as true for the moment. Supposing it to be true, did you not stab Don
Bartolome in the neck in order that you might be free?"
_Manuela_: "I killed him to defend myself and an innocent person. I
have told you so."
_Judge_: "Why should Don Bartolome wish to kill you?"
_Manuela_: "He hated me because I had refused to do his pleasure. He
wished to make me bad----"
_Judge_ (lifting his hands and throwing his head up): "Bad! Was he not
jealous of the Englishman?"
_Manuela_: "I don't know."
_Judge_: "Did he not tell you that the Englishman was your lover? Did
you not say so to Fray Juan de la Cruz?"
_Manuela_: "He spoke falsely. It was not true. He may have believed
it."
_Judge_: "We shall see. Have patience, Manuela. Having slain your old
lover, you were careful to leave a token for his successor. You left
more than that: your crucifix from your neck, and a message with Fray
Juan?"
_Manuela_: "Yes. I told Fray Juan the whole of the truth, and begged
him to tell the gentleman, because I wished him to think well of me. I
told him that Esteban----"
_Judge_: "Softly, softly, Manuela. Why did you leave your crucifix
behind you?"
_Manuela_: "Because I was grateful to the gentleman who had saved my
life at Palencia; because I had nothing else to give him. Had I had
anything more valuable I would have left it. Nobody had been kind to
me before."
_Judge_: "You know what he has done with your crucifix, Manuela?"
_Manuela_: "I do not."
_Judge_: "What are you saying?"
_Manuela_: "The truth."
_Judge_: "I have the means of confuting you. You told Fray Juan that
you were going to Madrid?"
_Manuela_: "I did not."
_Judge_: "In the hope that he would tell the Englishman?"
_Manuela_: "If he told the gentleman that, he lied."
_Judge_: "It is then a singular coincidence which led to your meeting
him here in Madrid?"
_Manuela_: "I did not meet him."
_Judge_: "Did you not meet him a few nights before you surrendered to
justice?"
_Manuela_: "No."
_Judge_: "Did you meet his servant?"
_Manuela_: "I cannot tell you."
_Judge_: "Did not the Englishman pay for your lodging in the Carcel de
la Corte? Did he not send his servant every day to see you?"
_Manuela_: "The gentleman was lying wounded at the hotel. He had been
stabbed in the street."
_Judge_: "We are not discussing the Englishman's private affairs.
Answer my questions?"
_Manuela_: "I cannot answer them."
_Judge_: "You mean that you will not, Manuela. Did you not know that
the Englishman caused your crucifix to be set in gold, like a holy
relic?"
_Manuela_: "I did not know it."
_Judge_: "We have it on your own confession that you slew Don Bartolome
Ramonez in the wood of La Huerca, and you admit that the Englishman was
protecting you before that dreadful deed was done, that he has since
paid for your treatment in prison, and that he has treasured your
crucifix like a sacred relic?"
_Manuela_: "You are pleased to say these things. I don't say them.
You wish to incriminate a person who has been kind to me."
_Judge_: "I will ask you one more question, Manuela. Why did you give
yourself up to justice?"
_Manuela_ (after a painful pause, speaking with high fervour and some
approach to dramatic effect): "I will answer you, senor Juez. It was
because I knew that Don Luis would contrive the death of Don Osmundo if
I did not prove him innocent."
_Judge_ (rising, very angry): "Silence! The court cannot entertain
your views of persons not concerned in your crime."
_Manuela_: "But----" (She shrugged, and looked away.)
_Judge_: "You can sit down."