THE CARDINAL’S CONSCIENCE
/After/ Vespers on Sunday, which the Cardinal-Archbishop had returned
to celebrate in person in Toledo, having for the purpose quitted the
Escurial at dawn and travelled at a speed possible only to royal or
inquisitorial personages, His Eminence took up the papers concerned
with the case of his errant nephew. He recalled that, when the royal
messenger had arrived to summon him to the Escurial, he had been on
the point of sending for the Inquisitor Arrenzuelo so as to discuss
with him certain points in it which remained obscure.
Having refreshed his memory upon those points, which were contained in
the appended note from Arrenzuelo, having indeed given them now an
attention--prompted by his recent interview with the King--which they
had not at first received, the Inquisitor-General found himself
assailed by something of the uneasiness in which Frey Juan wrote. It
appeared to him that they were here upon the edge of complexities
which Arrenzuelo himself had failed to appreciate. He sent for him at
once, and Frey Juan was prompt and even eager to obey the summons.
Honest and God-fearing, Frey Juan de Arrenzuelo never hesitated
frankly and fully to express the doubts by which he was assailed once
the Inquisitor-General had invited him to do so.
He began by confessing that all might well be as Frey Luis Salcedo so
cogently reasoned in his accusation. But in his conscience he could
not account the accusation of witchcraft proven. Because for Don
Pedro’s sake he desired to account it proven, he must practise the
greater vigilance over his judgment. It was so perilously easy to
believe what one desired to believe. The acts and words from which
Frey Luis made his deductions, although clearly of the utmost gravity
in the aggregate, might nevertheless be susceptible of interpretations
quite other than those which he placed upon them.
It might well be, for instance, as Don Pedro himself insisted, that
the only magic the woman had used had been the magic which Nature
places in the hands of every woman. God had placed women in the world
to test men’s fortitude. Don Pedro might have succumbed; and,
succumbing, have grown unmindful of all those guides of conduct proper
to a God-fearing man. In his desire to make this woman his wife, he
had neglected to ascertain that she was a Lutheran. This in itself was
serious. But after all Don Pedro had immediately perceived its
seriousness when pointed out to him, and had been ready, even eager,
that the woman should be converted to the True Faith. The words he had
used to her, where he spoke of forces outside himself which had driven
him to love her, words to which Frey Luis attached so much importance,
might also be no more than the fantastic vapourings of a lovelorn man.
Frey Juan did not say that any of this was so. He merely displayed the
doubts which had come to afflict him on this question of sorcery. He
concluded with the statement that the woman was of an unusual and
commanding beauty, such as had often driven men to extravagances of
conduct.
Cardinal Quiroga, a tall, handsome, vigorous man of fifty, imposing in
his scarlet robes, sat stern and thoughtful, his hands clasping and
unclasping the carved arms of his great chair. They were beautiful
hands, and it was said that to preserve their beauty of texture he
wore, whilst sleeping, mittens that were rubbed in lamb’s fat. He
looked at the tall Dominican who stood before him in his
black-and-white habit, his pallid face in every line of which
self-abnegation had set its imprint, as thoughtful as the Cardinal’s
own. His Eminence spoke slowly.
‘I perceive the difficulty. I suspected it before you came, which
indeed was the reason why I sent for you. Nothing that you have said
has done anything but increase it. Do you offer no counsel?’
They looked into each other’s eyes. Frey Juan made a little gesture of
helplessness, slightly raising his shoulders.
‘I seek the path of duty. It seems to me almost that it must lie in
abandoning this charge of sorcery of which we have no clear,
irrefutable evidence. Both the prisoner and your nephew himself meet
the charge by accusing us of having invented it so as to shelter Don
Pedro from the consequences of having slain an officer of the Holy
Office.’
‘Since that is not true, why need it perturb you?’
‘It perturbs me that if really innocent of sorcery the woman is
justified in believing it true. There remains against her the offence
of heresy, which must be purged. But I desire her conversion and the
salvation of her soul, and how shall we accomplish this if we are
discredited in her eyes by her conviction that we proceed as we do out
of ignoble worldly motives?’
The Cardinal bowed his head. ‘You probe deeply, Frey Juan.’
‘Is my duty less, Eminence?’
‘But, if this charge of sorcery is abandoned, what then of my nephew?
He has committed sacrilege, other sins apart. For that a heavy
expiation is required--his very life is forfeit--unless it can be
shown that responsibility for his actions lies elsewhere.’
Frey Juan stiffened. ‘Are we to fall into the very offence of which
already this woman accuses us?’ he cried. ‘Are we to justify her
accusation?’
That brought the Cardinal to his feet. He stood as tall as Frey Juan,
confronting the sudden sternness of the Dominican, a flush upon his
cheeks, a kindling of anger in his dark eyes.
‘What do you presume to conclude?’ he demanded. ‘Could I have said
what I have said in the assumption that my nephew is guilty? Am I not
entitled, by every act of his past life, to assume him innocent of
intentional evil, and to believe that he must, indeed, have been
bewitched? That is what, in my conscience, I do believe,’ he insisted.
‘But because we lack the means fully to establish this thing, is Don
Pedro de Mendoza to be left to suffer infamy, death, and the
confiscation of his estates?’
If Frey Juan remained unconvinced of the Cardinal’s sincerity and
freedom from nepotism, he was willing charitably to believe that his
affection for his nephew made him build assumptions into convictions.
He perceived the dilemma; but he could do no more than briefly
recapitulate the situation.
‘The actual facts upon which Frey Luis has built his accusation are
admitted by the prisoner. What she does not admit, what indeed her
arguments go some way to dispel, are the inferences drawn from them by
Frey Luis. These inferences are undoubtedly cogent, plausible, and
well-reasoned. Yet, as the evidence stands, and without independent
confirmation, it does not permit us to sentence the accused. I do not
see,’ he ended gloomily, ‘whence this confirmation is to be obtained.’
‘Whence but from the prisoner herself!’ exclaimed the Cardinal, in the
tone of a man who states the obvious.
Frey Juan shook his head. ‘That I am persuaded she will never yield.’
Quiroga looked him in the face again, and his eyes narrowed.
‘You have not yet proceeded to the question,’ he softly reminded him.
Frey Juan spread his hands. He spoke in a tone of self-accusation. ‘If
I have not employed it, although urged to it already by my assessors,
it is because of my fear, my firm persuasion that it must fail.’
‘Fail!’
The amazement of the exclamation was eloquent indeed. It provoked a
wistful little smile from the Dominican.
‘You have not seen this woman, Eminence. You have had no opportunity
of judging the strength of her spirit, the toughness of her fibre, the
determination of her nature. If the truth sustains her--as well it
may, remember, in this matter of witchcraft--I do not believe that, if
the tormentors were slowly to rend her limb from limb, an
incriminating admission would be wrung from her. I say this upon long
and deep consideration, Eminence. My office has taught me something of
humanity. There are men and women in whom mental exaltation produces a
detachment of the spirit which renders them unconscious of the flesh,
and, therefore, insensible to pain. Such a woman do I judge this one
to be. If innocent of sorcery, consciousness of her innocence would
produce in her such an exaltation.’
He paused before concluding: ‘If we are to persist in the accusation
of sorcery, we may have to come to the audience of torment before the
end is reached. But, if we come to it, and fail in spite of it, as I
believe we shall, what will then be the position of Don Pedro de
Mendoza?’
The Inquisitor-General sat down again, heavily. He sank his chin to
his breast, and muttered through his teeth: ‘Devil take the fool for
having placed himself in this position!’ More vehemently he added:
‘And Devil take this Frey Luis Salcedo for yielding to his excessive
zeal!’
‘Frey Luis acted in accordance with his lights and without regard to
anything but his duty to his habit. He was within his rights,
Eminence.’
‘But something rash, I think. Yourself you have come to perceive it
and to be troubled by it. An accusation of this nature should never
have been brought until I had been consulted. Witchcraft is a charge
never easy to establish.’
‘Yet had the accusation not been lodged, Eminence, in what case must
Don Pedro have found himself?’
The Cardinal raised his hands, and let them fall back resoundingly and
heavily upon the arms of his chair. ‘Yes, yes! So we swing--backwards
and forwards--in this matter. We are in a circle which we cannot
break. Either this woman is convicted of having bewitched my nephew,
or else Don Pedro is guilty of an offence for which the Holy Office
prescribes the penalty of death with confiscation of his possessions;
and you tell me that you do not believe the woman can be so
convicted.’
‘That is my firm persuasion.’
The Cardinal heaved himself up slowly, a deep frown of perplexity
between his fine, thoughtful, wide-set eyes. He paced slowly the
length of the room and back, his chin sunk upon his breast, and for
some moments there was no sound there beyond the soft fall of his
slippered feet upon the wood mosaics of the floor, the rustle of his
trailing gown of scarlet silk.
At length he came to stand once more before the Dominican. He looked
at him with eyes that did not seem to see him, so introspective was
their gaze. His fine hand, on which a great sapphire glowed sombrely,
toyed absently with the broad jewelled cross that hung upon his
breast. His full lips parted at last. He spoke very quietly and
slowly.
‘There is, I think, a way out of this difficulty, after all. I
hesitate even now to urge its adoption, because it might appear to
some to be not quite a legitimate way according to the laws that
govern us.’ He broke off to ask a question. ‘Is it a truth, Frey Juan,
that the end may justify the means?’
‘The Jesuits assert it,’ answered the Dominican uneasily.
‘Here is a case that may serve to show that they are sometimes right.
Consider me now this nephew of mine. He is a man who has served God
and the Faith as loyally as he has served his King. As much in the
service of one as the other did he sail upon the ship which he
commanded. He is a tertiary of the Order of Saint Dominic, and a man
of a devout and God-fearing nature. Remembering all this, are we not
justified of the persuasion that it would have been impossible for him
to have committed the offences against the Faith with which he is now
charged unless he had been the victim of some aberration? Whether this
aberration was the result of black arts employed against him,
according to the arguments of Frey Luis Salcedo, or whether, as you
seem to consider a possible alternative, it results from the simple
and normal magic of Nature in such cases, we may be able to determine
later. At the moment all that we can determine is that the aberration
exists. Of this, you, who have examined him and the English woman,
entertain, like myself, no doubt?’
‘No doubt whatever,’ answered Frey Juan promptly and truthfully.
‘In that case, there would be no violence to our consciences or our
duty if we were in this instance to reverse the normal order of
procedure. The proper course is naturally that we first sift the
charge against the woman, so as to establish clearly the grounds upon
which Don Pedro is to be sentenced. But since in our own minds and
consciences these grounds are firmly established already, might we
not, ignoring the forms of law, proceed at once to sentence Don Pedro
upon the indictment as drawn up by Frey Luis Salcedo? Upon that, which
presumes that he was bewitched and not responsible for his deeds, the
Holy Office will be appeased by imposing a penance _de leviter_, but
public, to be performed at next Thursday’s Auto de Fé. Thus he will
be purged of his sin before we finally proceed against the woman. If,
then, the charge of witchcraft should fail for lack of confirmation,
and only the charge of heresy remain upon which to sentence her, at
least it will be too late to reopen the case against Don Pedro.’
The Cardinal paused, his eyes closely scanning the face of his
subordinate inquisitor.
Frey Juan remained gravely impassive. It was a moment before he spoke.
‘I, too, had thought of that,’ he said slowly.
The Cardinal’s glance quickened. His hand fell upon the Dominican’s
shoulder and gripped it. ‘You had! Why, then…?’ He left his question
there.
But Frey Juan shook his head, and sighed. ‘It is never too late in
questions of the Faith to reopen a case against an accused, if it is
shown that there was more against him than appeared at the trial in
which he was sentenced.’
‘Why, that I know. But here… Who is there would dream of reopening
it?’
Frey Juan hesitated before answering. ‘There are other consciences
than ours, Eminence. An enemy of Don Pedro’s might be moved by his
conscience to see him expiate to the full his offence against the
Faith. A successor of mine or yours, Eminence, perusing the records
might perceive the irregularity and be moved to correct it.’
‘Those risks we could take without loss of sleep.’
‘Those, perhaps yes. But there is yet another. There is the delator,
Frey Luis Salcedo.’
The Cardinal stared at him. ‘Frey Luis Salcedo? But it is he who
argues and insists upon the witchcraft!’ He removed his hand from the
Dominican’s shoulder as he spoke.
‘I say it without hostility to him, Eminence: his zeal is greater than
his discretion. He is of a terrible singleness of aim, and in this
matter he has shown a tenacity and persistence which have led me to
remind him that hatred, even when springing from righteousness, can be
a mortal sin. If I know him at all, he will be driven to frenzy if the
accusation of witchcraft is not established. He is intolerant of all
doubts in the matter; violent in asserting his conviction and in
insisting upon the cogency of his arguments. If the witchcraft being
presumed, we penance Don Pedro _de leviter_, Frey Luis will be the
first to raise an outcry and denounce that penancing as a mockery
should the witchcraft not subsequently be proven against the woman.’
The Cardinal, a human man after all, not to be blamed by any
reasonable person for his efforts on his nephew’s behalf, flushed now
with anger.
‘But for what does he count, then, this man, in your tribunal? He is
but a witness there, without powers or voice of any kind.’
‘He has the voice of a delator, and the voice of a delator is the one
voice which the Holy Office has no power to silence. The Fiscal
Advocate has been on his side in what arguments we have had, and I
think that even the Diocesan Ordinary is becoming impatient with my
endeavours to hold the scales level. In their opinion, I am too tender
of a heretic.’
The Inquisitor-General looked into the fine ascetic face of his
subordinate.
‘You think that Frey Luis might become vindictive?’
‘That is what I have hesitated to say. But since Your Eminence has
used the word, I confess that it is what is in my mind. If the woman
is sentenced only as a heretic, he may take vengeance upon those whom
he regards as having frustrated him, by seeking in turn to frustrate
them where Don Pedro is concerned; by demanding that Don Pedro be
tried again, and sentenced for deeds which will then be beyond
condonation.’
Cardinal Quiroga was reduced to exasperation. He could only cry out
again that they were held within a circle so that in whatever
direction they moved they encountered ever the same points. He became,
on the subject of his nephew and his folly, as nearly blasphemous as
was possible to a prelate in the presence of a subordinate. Finally he
urged that they should stake everything upon the question and its
efficacy in wringing the requisite admission of guilt from the woman.
Frey Juan bowed his head. ‘If Your Eminence commands it, as is your
right,’ he said. ‘But I solemnly warn you that it is a stake upon
which Don Pedro will lose all.’
This the Inquisitor-General perceived was but to recommence the
arguments, to make another turn round that exasperating circle.
Abruptly he dismissed Frey Juan.
‘I must consider,’ he announced. ‘It is all before me now. I shall
pray for guidance, and do you do the same, Frey Juan. Go with God!’