Part 40 (1/2)

x.x.xV.

The Eve of the Auto.

”It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.

He putteth his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.”--Lamentations iii, 27-29

On the 21st of September 1559, all Seville wore a festive appearance.

The shops were closed, and the streets were filled with idle loiterers in their gay holiday apparel. For it was the eve of the great Auto, and the preliminary ceremonies were going forward amidst the admiration of gazing thousands. Two stately scaffolds, in the form of an amphitheatre, had been erected in the great square of the city, then called the Square of St. Francis; and thither, when the work was completed, flags and crosses were borne in solemn procession, with music and singing.

But a still more significant ceremonial was enacted in another place.

Outside the walls, on the Prado San Sebastian, stood the ghastly Quemadero--the great altar upon which, for generations, men had offered human sacrifices to the G.o.d of peace and love. Thither came long files of barefooted friars, carrying bushes and f.a.ggots, which they laid in order on the place of death, while, in sweet yet solemn tones, they chanted the ”Miserere” and ”De Profundis.”

Very close together on those festive days were ”strong light and deep shadow.” But our way leads us, for the present, into the light.

Turning away from the Square of St. Francis, and the Prado San Sebastian, we enter a cool upper room in the stately mansion of Don Garcia Ramirez. There, in the midst of gold and gems, and of silk and lace, Dona Inez is standing, busily engaged in the task of selecting the fairest treasures of her wardrobe to grace the grand festival of the following day. Dona Beatriz de Lavella, and the young waiting-woman who had been employed in the vain though generous effort to save Don Carlos, are both aiding her in the choice.

”Please your ladys.h.i.+p,” said the girl, ”I should recommend rose colour for the basquina. Then, with those beautiful pearls, my lord's late gift, my lady will be as fine as a d.u.c.h.ess; of whom, I hear, many will be there.--But what will Senora Dona Beatriz please to wear?”

”I do not intend to go, Juanita,” said Dona Beatriz, with a little embarra.s.sment.

”Not intend to go!” cried the girl, crossing herself in surprise. ”Not go to see the grandest sight there has been in Seville for many a year!

Worth a hundred bull-feasts! Ay de mi! what a pity!”

”Juanita,” interposed her mistress, ”I think I hear the senorita's voice in the garden. It is far too hot for her to be out of doors. Oblige me by bringing her in at once.”

As soon as the attendant was gone, Dona Inez turned to her cousin. ”It is really most unreasonable of Don Juan,” she said, ”to keep you shut up here, whilst all Seville is making holiday.”

”I am glad--I have no heart to go forth,” said Dona Beatriz, with a quivering lip.

”Nor have I too much, for that matter. My poor brother is so weak and ill to-day, it grieves me to the heart. Moreover, he is still so thoughtless about his poor soul. That is the worst of all. I never cease praying Our Lady to bring him to a better mind. If he would only consent to see a priest; but he was ever obstinate. And if I urge the point too strongly, he will think I suppose him dying.”

”I thought his health had improved since you had him brought over here.”

”Certainly he is happier here than he was in his father's house. But of late he seems to me to be sinking, and that quickly. And now, the Auto--”

”What of that?” asked Dona Beatriz, with a quick look, half suspicious and half frightened.

Dona Inez closed the door carefully, and drew nearer to her cousin.

”They say _she_ will be amongst the relaxed,”[#] she whispered.

[#] Those delivered over to the secular arm--that is, to death.

”Does he know it?” asked Beatriz.

”I fear he suspects something; and what to tell him, or not to tell him, I know not--Our Lady help me! Ay de mi! 'Tis a horrible business from beginning to end. And the last thing--the arrest of the sister, Dona Juana! A duke's daughter--a n.o.ble's bride. But--best be silent.

'Con el re e la Inquisition, Chiton! Chiton!'”[#]