The Vale of Cedars; Or, The Martyr

by Grace Aguilar

  CHAPTER XXI.

  The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed, It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes; 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown.

  SHAKSPEARE.

  The interest attending a trial, in which royalty had evinced suchpowerful sympathy, naturally extended to every member of Isabella'sfemale train: her anxiety as to the issue had been very visible,notwithstanding her calm and quiet demeanor. The Infanta Isabella andthe Infant Don Juan were with her during the morning as usual; buteven their infantile caresses, dearer to her true woman's heart thanall her vast possessions, had failed to disperse the anxiety ofthought. Few can peruse the interesting life of Isabella of Castilewithout being struck by the fact, that even as her public career wasone of unmixed prosperity for her country and herself, her privatesorrows and domestic trials vied, in their bitterness, with those ofthe poorest and humblest of her subjects. Her first-born, the InfantaIsabella, who united all the brilliant and endearing qualities of hermother, with great beauty, both of face and form, became a lovingbride only to become a widow--a mother, only to gaze upon her babe,and die; and her orphan quickly followed. Don Juan, the delightand pride and hope of his parents, as of the enthusiasm and almostidolatry of their subjects, died in his twentieth year. The haplessCatherine of Arragon, with whose life of sorrow and neglect everyreader of English history is acquainted, though they sometimes forgether illustrious parentage; her sorrows indeed Isabella was spared, asshe died before Henry the Eighth ascended the English throne. Butit was Juana, the wife of Philip, and mother of Charles V., whoseintellects, always feeble, and destroyed by the neglect and unkindnessof the husband she idolized, struck the last and fatal blow. And she,whom all Europe regarded with unfeigned veneration--she whom her ownsubjects so idolized, they would gladly have laid down a thousandlives for hers--she fell a victim to a mother's heart-consuminggrief.[A] Who then, after perusing her life, and that of how manyother sovereigns, will refuse them, the meed of sympathy, because,raised so far above us in _outward_ things, we deem the griefs andfeelings of common humanity unknown and uncared for? To our mind,the destiny of the Sovereign, the awful responsibility, the utterloneliness of station, the general want of sympathy, the proneness tobe condemned for faults or omissions of which they are, individually,as innocent as their contemners, present a subject for considerationand sympathy, and ought to check the unkind thoughts and hastycondemnation, excited merely because they are placed in rank andcircumstances above us. A King of kings has placed them there, and aUniversal Father calls them His children, even as ourselves.

  [Footnote A: Isabella had been previously attacked by dangerousindisposition, from which, however, the natural strength of herconstitution would have enabled her in some degree to rally; but thesprings of life had been injured by previous bereavement. Her lungsbecame affected, and the symptoms of decline rapidly and fatallyincreased from continual affliction of mind.--_History of Spain_.]

  Isabella had not seen Marie that morning; her trusty attendant, DonnaInez de Leon, had alone been with her, and had reported that she wascalm and composed, and more like herself than she had been since herbereavement. Time passed but slowly, and Catherine Pas, the samehigh-spirited maiden mentioned in a former chapter, perceiving thatthe Queen's anxiety evidently increased as the hours waned, quietlyleft the chamber, unbidden, and even unseen. A brief interval sawher return, and with a countenance so expressive of horrifiedbewilderment, as to excite the astonishment of all.

  "Oh, madam!" she exclaimed, as she flew to the Queen's seat,regardless of either decorum or rebuke; "Oh, madam, it has killed her;she is dying!"

  "Dying!" repeated Isabella, and the whole strength of her characterwas put forth, to prevent her starting from her seat. "Dying!--who isdying? Speak out, in Santa Maria's name!"

  "Donna Marie--the poor, unhappy Marie; she has been borne from thehall! Don Felix had her in his arms; I saw her; I followed them, andshe looked dead, quite dead; they would not let me go to her at first,till I called them hard-hearted wretches! And I have tried to rouseher, but I could not. Oh, save her, gracious madam! Do not let herdie!"

  "And have they none with her?" demanded the Queen. "But whom can theyhave, save her own terrified women? Inez--Leonor--go to her at once!Your skill and tenderness will soon revive her; this silly childis terrified at shadows. 'Tis but a faint, such as followed theannouncement of her husband's death. If any one dare refuse youentrance, tell them you go in your Queen's name. Foolish trembler,"she added, in a tone of relief, as her commands were instantly obeyed,"why this excessive agitation, when thou hast seen a faint like thisbefore?"

  "Nay, but by your leave, gracious madam, I have not," repliedCatherine, with emotion. "There is far more of horror in this; she iscold--cold, like stone; and they have planted a guard at the entranceof her apartments, and they tell a tale so wild and strange, I cannotgive it credence!"

  "Ha! what say they?" demanded the Queen hastily, her eyes flashingwith light, as they always did when she was excited. "What can it be,too wild and strange for thy hair-brained fancy to believe? Marvellousit must be indeed!"

  Isabella spoke jestingly, but her heart was not with her words: andCatherine replied with tears starting to her eyes, "Oh, do not speakthus, my liege. It is indeed no theme for jest." And she continued sorapidly, that to any but the quickened mind of Isabella, her wordsmust have seemed unintelligible. "They say she is a heretic, royalmadam! Nay, worse--a blaspheming unbeliever; that she has refused totake the oath, on plea of not believing in the Holy Catholic Church;that she has insulted, has trampled on the sacred cross! Nor isthis all--worse, yet worse; they say she has proclaimed herself aJEWESS!--an abhorred, an unbelieving Jewess!"

  A general start and loud exclamation of horror was the naturalrejoinder to this unlooked-for intelligence; but not from Isabella,whose flashing eyes were still fixed on the young girl's face, as toread in her soul the confirmation of these strange words. "What dostthou say?" she said at length, and so slowly, a second might haveintervened between each word. "Speak! let me hear again! A Jewess!Santa Maria! But no; it _cannot_ be. They must have told thee false!"

  So the Queen spoke; but ere Catherine had concluded a calmerrepetition of the tale, Marie's words of the preceding evening rushedback on her mind, confirming it but too surely. "To-morrow all will bedistinct and clear enough!" she had said; ay, distinct it was; andso engrossingly intense became the thoughts thronging in her mind,bewildering succession, that Isabella sat motionless, her brow leaningon her hand, wholly unconscious of the lapse of time.

  A confusion in the gallery, and the words, "The King! the King!"roused her at length; and never was the appearance of Ferdinand morewelcome, not only to Isabella, but to her attendants, as giving themthe longed-for opportunity to retire, and so satisfy curiosity, andgive vent to the wonderment which, from their compelled silence inIsabella's presence, had actually become intolerable.

  Ferdinand speedily narrated the affairs of the morning, and concludedby inquiring if any thing had occurred in her interview with Marie toexcite suspicion of her mad design. The Queen replied by relating, inher turn, all that had passed between them. The idea of madness couldno longer exist; there was not the faintest hope that in a moment offrenzy she had spoken falsely.

  "And yet, was it not madness," the King urged, "thus publicly to avowa determined heresy, and expose herself to all the horrors of thechurch's vengeance! 'Years of deception and fraud!' she told thee,'would be disclosed.' By St. Francis! fraud enough. Who could havesuspected the wife of Don Ferdinand Morales a Jewess? It was on thisaccount he kept her so retired. How could he reconcile his conscienceto a union with one of a race so abhorred, beautiful as she is? Andwhere could he have found her? But this matters not: it is all wildconjecture, save the madness of the avowal. What cause could therehave been for such self-sacrifice?"

  "There was a cause," replied t
he Queen earnestly; "cause enough torender life to her of little moment. Do not ask me my meaning, dearestFerdinand; I would not do her such wrong as to breathe the suspicionthat, spite of myself, spite of incomprehensible mystery, will come,even to thee. Do not let us regret her secret is discovered. Let herbut recover from the agony of these repeated trials, and with the helpof our holy fathers, we may yet turn her from her abhorred faith, andso render her happy in this world, and secure her salvation in thenext."

  "The help of the holy fathers!" repeated the King. "Nay, Isabel,their sole help will be to torture and burn! They will accuse herof insulting, by years of deceit, the holy faith, of which she hasappeared a member. Nay, perchance of using foul magic on Morales (whomthe saints preserve), and then thou knowest what will follow!"

  The Queen shuddered. "Never with my consent, my husband! From thefirst moment I beheld this unfortunate, something attracted me towardsher; her misery deepened the feeling; and even now, knowing what sheis, affection lingers. The Holy Virgin give me pardon, if 'tis sin!"

  "For such sin I will give thee absolution, dearest," replied the King,half jestingly, half earnestly. "Do not look so grave. No one knows,or values thy sterling piety half so tenderly and reverentially asI do. But this is no common case. Were Marie one of those base andgrovelling wretches, those accursed unbelievers, who taint our fairrealm with their abhorred rites--think of nothing but gold and usury,and how best to cheat their fellows; hating us almost as intensely aswe hate them--why, she should abide by the fate she has drawn uponherself. But the wife of my noble Morales, one who has associated solong with zealous Catholics, that she is already most probably one ofus, and only avowed her descent from some mysterious cause--by St.Francis, she shall be saved!"

  "But how?" inquired Isabella anxiously. "Wouldst thou deny her faithto Father Francis, and persuade him she has spoken falsely?"

  The King shook his head. "That will never do, Isabel. I have had theholy man closeted with me already, insisting on the sanity of herwords, and urging me to resign the unbeliever at once to the tendermercy of the church. All must depend on thee."

  "On me?" repeated Isabella, in a tone of surprised yet anxiousinquiry.

  "On thee, love. Thy perfect humility is ignorant of the fact--yet itis nevertheless perfectly true--that thou art reverenced, well nighcanonized, by the holy church; and thy words will have weight whenmine would be light as air. Refuse the holy fathers all access to her;say she is unfitted to encounter them; that she is ill; nay, mad, ifthou wilt. Bring forward the state in which she was borne from thehall; her very laugh (by St. Francis, it rings in my ear still) toconfirm it, and they will believe thee. The present excitement willgradually subside, and her very existence be forgotten. Let none butthy steadiest, most pious matrons have access to her; forbid thy youngmaidens to approach or hold converse with her; and her being underthy protection can do harm to none. Let her be prisoner in her ownapartments, an thou wilt; she deserves punishment for the deceptionpractised towards thee. Treat her as thou deemest best, only give hernot up to the mercy of the church!"

  "Talk not of it," replied the Queen earnestly. "Unbeliever thoughshe be, offspring of a race which every true Catholic must hold inabhorrence, she is yet a _woman_, Ferdinand, and, as such, demands andshall receive the protection of her Queen. Yet, would there were somemeans of saving her from the eternal perdition to which, as a Jewess,she is destined; some method, without increase of suffering, to allureher, as a penitent and believing child, to the bosom of our holymother church."

  "And to do this, who so fitted as thyself, dearest Isabel?" answeredthe King with earnest affection. "Thou hast able assistants in someof thy older matrons, and may after a while call in the aid of FatherDenis, whose kindly nature is better fitted for gentle conversionthan either Francis, or thy still sterner chaplain, Torquemada. Thykindness has gained thee the love of this misguided one; and if anyone have sufficient influence to convert, by other than sharp means,it can only be thyself."

  Isabella was not long undecided. Her heart felt that to turn Mariefrom blindness and perdition by kindness and affection would be indeedfar more acceptable to the virgin (her own peculiar saint) than theheretic's blood, and she answered with animation, "Then so it shallbe, Ferdinand; I fear me, alas! that there will be little reason toprevaricate, to deny all spiritual access to her. Thy report, combinedwith my terrified Catherine's, gives me but little hope for health orreason. But should she indeed recover, trust me she shall be happyyet."

  Great was the astonishment of the guards as they beheld theirSovereign fearlessly enter the chamber of a proclaimed Jewess--a wordin their minds synonymous with the lowest, most degraded rank ofbeing; and yet more, to hear and perceive that she herself wasadministering relief. The attendants of Isabella--whose curiosity wasnow more than satisfied, for the tale had been repeated with the usualexaggerations, even to a belief that she had used the arts of sorceryon Morales--huddled together in groups, heaping every opprobriousepithet upon her, and accusing her of exposing them all to the horrorsof purgatory by contaminating them with her presence. And as theSovereign re-appeared in her saloon with the leech Benedicto, whoseaid she had summoned, there were many who ventured to conjure her notto expose herself to such pollution as the tending of a Jewess--toleave her to the fate her fraud so merited. Even Catherine, finding todisbelieve the tale any longer was impossible, and awed and terrifiedat the mysterious words of her companions, which told of danger to herbeloved mistress, flung herself on her knees before her, clasping herrobe to detain her from again seeking the chamber of Marie. Thenwas the moment for a painter to have seized on the face and form ofIsabella! Her eye flashed till its very color was undistinguishable,her lip curled, every feature--usually so mild and feminine--was sotransformed by indignation into majesty and unutterable scorn asscarcely to have been recognized. Her slight and graceful form dilatedtill the very boldest cowered before her, even before she spoke; fornever had they so encountered her reproof:--

  "Are ye women?" she said at length, in the quiet, concentrated tone ofstrong emotion; "or are we deceived as to the meaning of your words?Pollution! Are we to see a young, unhappy being perish for want ofsympathy and succor, because--forsooth--she is a Jewess? Danger to oursoul! We should indeed fear it; did we leave her to die, without oneeffort to restore health to the frame, and the peace of Christ to themind! Has every spark of woman's nature faded from your hearts, thatye can speak thus? If for yourselves you fear, tend her not, approachher not--we will ourselves give her the aid she needs. And as forthee," she continued severely, as she forced the now tremblingCatherine to stand upright before her, "whose energy to serve Mariewe loved and applauded; child as thou art, must thou too speak ofpollution? but example may have done this. Follow me, minion; and thentalk of pollution if thou canst!" And with a swift step Isabella ledthe way to the chamber of Marie.

  "Behold!" she said emphatically, as she pointed to the unhappysufferer, who, though restored to life, was still utterly unconsciouswhere she was or who surrounded her; her cheek and brow, white anddamp; her large eye lustreless and wandering; her lip and eyelidquivering convulsively; her whole appearance proving too painfullythat reason had indeed, for the time, fled. The soul had been strongtill the dread words were said; but the re-action had been too muchfor either frame or mind. "Catherine! thou hast seen her in herbeauty, the cherished, the beloved of all who knew her--seen her whenno loveliness could mate with hers. Thou seest now the wreck thatmisery has made, though she has numbered but few more years than thouhast! Detest, abhor, avoid her _faith_--for that we command thee; buther sex, her sorrow, have a claim to sympathy and aid, which not evenher race can remove. Jewess though she be, if thou can look on herthus, and still speak of pollution and danger, thou art not what wedeemed thee!"

  Struck to the heart, alike by the marked display of a mistress sheidolized and the sympathy her better nature really felt for Marie,Catherine sunk on her knees by the couch, and burst into tears.Isabella watched her till her unusua
l indignation subsided, and thensaid more kindly, "It is enough; go, Catherine. If we judge theerightly thou wilt not easily forget this lesson! Again I bid theeabhor her faith; but seek to win her to the right path, by gentlenessand love, not prejudice and hate."

  "Oh! let me tarry here and tend her, my gracious Sovereign," imploredCatherine, again clasping Isabella's robe and looking beseechingly inher face--but from a very different feeling to the prompter of thesame action a few minutes before--"Oh, madam, do not send me from her!I will be so gentle, so active--watch, tend, serve; only say yourGrace's bidding, and I will do it, if I stood by her alone!"

  "My bidding would be but the promptings of thine own heart, my girl,"replied the Queen, fondly, for she saw the desired impression had beenmade. "If I need thee--which I may do--I will call upon thee; butnow, thou canst do nothing, but think kindly, and judgemercifully--important work indeed, if thou wouldst serve an erring andunhappy fellow-creature, with heart as well as hand. But now go: nay,not so sorrowfully; thy momentary fault is forgiven," she added,kindly, as she extended her hand towards the evidently pained andpenitent maiden, who raised it gratefully and reverentially to herlips, and thoughtfully withdrew.

  It was not, however, with her attendants only, this generous andhigh-minded princess had to contend--with them her example was enough;but the task was much more difficult, when the following day, as KingFerdinand had anticipated, brought the stern Sub-Prior of St. Francisto demand, in the church's name, the immediate surrender of Marie. ButIsabella's decision once formed never wavered. Marie was under herprotection, she said--an erring indeed, but an unhappy young creature,who, by her very confession, had thrown herself on the mercy of herSovereign--and she would not deliver up the charge. In vain the Priorurged the abomination of a Jewess residing under her very roof--thedanger to her soul should she be tempted to associate with her, andthat granting protection to an avowed and blaspheming unbeliever mustexpose her to the suspicions, or, at least the censure of the church.Isabella was inexorable. To his first and second clause she quietlyanswered as she had done to her own attendants; his third onlyproduced a calm and fearless smile. She knew too well, as did thePrior also, though for the time he chose to forget it, that hercharacter for munificent and heartfelt piety was too well established,not only in Spain but throughout Europe, to be shaken even by theprotection of a Jewess. Father Francis then solicited to see her; buteven this point he could not gain. Isabella had, alas! no need toequivocate as to the reason of his non-admission to Marie. Reason hadindeed returned, and with it the full sense of the dangers she haddrawn upon herself; but neither frame nor mind was in a state toencounter such an interview as the Prior demanded.

  The severity of Father Francis originated, as we have before remarked,neither in weak intellect nor selfish superstition. Towards himselfindeed he never relented either in severity or discipline; towardsothers benevolence and humanity very often gained ascendency; andsomething very like a tear glistened in his eye as Isabella forciblyportrayed the state in which Marie still remained. And when sheconcluded, by frankly imparting her intention, if health were indeedrestored, to leave no means untried--even to pursue some degree ofseverity if nothing else would do--to wean her from her mistakenfaith, he not only abandoned his previous intentions, but commendedand blessed the nobler purpose of his Sovereign. To his request thatMarie might be restrained from all intercourse with the youngermembers of Isabella's female court--in fact, associate with none butstrict and uncompromising Catholics--the Queen readily acceded; andmoreover, granted him full permission to examine the mansion ofDon Ferdinand Morales, that any books or articles of dangerous orheretical import might be discovered and destroyed.

  With these concessions Father Francis left his Sovereign, affectedat her goodness and astonished at her influence on himself. He hadentered her presence believing nothing could change the severity ofhis intentions or the harshness of his feelings; he left her with theone entirely renounced, and the other utterly subdued.

  Such was the triumph of prejudice achieved by the lofty-minded andgenerous woman, who swayed the sceptre of Castile.[A] And yet, thoughevery history of the time unites in so portraying her; though herindividual character was the noblest, the most magnanimous, the mostcomplete union of masculine intellect with perfect womanhood,ever traced on the pages of the past; though under her publicadministration her kingdom stood forth the noblest, the most refined,most generous, ay, and the freest, alike in national position, as inindividual sentiment, amongst all the nations of Europe, Isabella'swas the fated hand to sign two edicts[B] whose consequencesextinguished the lustre, diminished the virtues, enslaved thesentiments, checked the commerce, and in a word deteriorated the wholecharacter of Spain.

  [Footnote A: We are authorized to give this character to Isabella ofCastile, and annex the lustre of such action to her memory; as we knowthat even when, by the persuasions and representations of Torquemada,the Inquisition was publicly established, Isabella constantlyinterfered her authority to prevent _zeal_ from becoming _inhumanity_.Rendered unusually penetrating by her peculiarly feeling and gentlenature, she discovered, what was concealed from others, "That manyenormities may be committed under the veil of religion--many innocentpersons falsely accused; their riches being their only crime. Herexertions brought such things to light, and the suborners werepunished according to their guilt."--WASHINGTON IRVING'S _Siege ofGranada_.--Of Ferdinand too we are told, "_Respeto la jurisdictionecclesiastica, y conservo la real_;" he respected the ecclesiasticaljurisdiction, but _guarded_ or was _jealous_, for that of the crown.His determination, therefore, to refuse the church's interference inthe case of Marie, though unusual to his _age_, is warranted by hislarger mind and freer policy.]

  [Footnote B: The establishment of the Inquisition, and expulsion ofthe Jews.]

  For fourteen days affairs remained the same. At the end of that periodthe castle and city of Segovia were thrown anew into a state ofthe wildest excitement by a most mysterious occurrence--Marie haddisappeared.