Part 12 (1/2)

”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 a.s.serts that he missed his sword, but rushed from the house without it. Your culpable neglect, then, prevents our discovering the truth of this a.s.sertion; 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 a.s.sociated 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 pa.s.sions have been excited, opportunity for their indulgence is not likely to pa.s.s 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 circ.u.mstantial 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 a.s.sertion 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 a.s.sa.s.sin 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 pa.s.sed 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 a.s.sertion, that the deed was committed ere he reached the spot.”