"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."