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.