Part 39 (1/2)
He watched Cornelia for a moment, then drew out some papers and spread them upon the table before her. ”Here are the doc.u.ments which are to serve us as weapons against Ottmar; read them, and convince yourself whether they will be destructive enough to him to outweigh the sacrifice you must make to secure his safety.”
Cornelia looked over the papers, the very ones with which years before Severinus had succeeded in intimidating Ottmar, and binding upon him the chains he now wished to strip off. When she had finished, she gazed sorrowfully into vacancy.
”This is certainly material enough to devise a snare for him. Oh, Severinus, throw these papers into the fire, and I will revere you as a saint!”
”It will only cost you a few words, Cornelia. Say, 'I will become a Catholic,' and these papers are _yours_!”
Cornelia drew herself up proudly. ”I have already told you that I would drive no bargain with my convictions. This is my final resolution!”
”n.o.ble woman!” thought Severinus, gazing at her in astonishment.
Cornelia gathered up the doc.u.ments, restored them to the priest, then clasped her hands, and gazed into his face with her irresistible charm.
”Severinus, give me these papers.”
A long pause ensued. The priest was absorbed in watching the beautiful face, and made no reply.
Cornelia took his hand; he started back.
”Severinus, for once, be more obedient to the law of love and forbearance G.o.d has written in our hearts, than the stern commands of your order; destroy these proofs of Heinrich's, and also your, dishonor,--or give them to me that I may do so. You do not answer! Oh, let my entreaties move you, dear, honored friend!”
Severinus covered his eyes with his hand, and exclaimed, almost imploringly: ”Cease, Cornelia; you know not what you are doing.”
”I am well aware of it,--I am torturing you; for I am bringing you into a conflict with what you believe to be your duty. I see the struggle between your Jesuit's conscience and your heart. True, genuine manhood will conquer; it will burst the fetters in which your whole life is bound.”
She rushed to the table, took up a light, and held it towards Severinus, that he might set the papers on fire. A gust of air that blew through the open window made the flame flicker to and fro, and her light dress float around her like a cloud. As she stood thus with the arm that held the candle raised high above her head, bathed in the red gleam of the flickering light, in the earnestness of her enthusiasm,--half pleading, half commanding,--she seemed like an angel; and without knowing what he was doing he threw the papers towards her, bent down, and pressed the hem of her dress to his lips.
”I thank you!” cried Cornelia. But ere she could gather up the scattered papers Severinus recollected himself, and caught her hand.
”Stop! these papers are not yours nor mine; they belong to the order which intrusted them to my care, and only an evil spirit could have so bewildered my mind that I wavered in my duty.” He made the sign of the cross, pressed his hands tightly upon his heart, and softly murmured the ”_Anima Christi, sanctifica me_,”[1] then collected the papers and went to the window. The rain was pouring in torrents; he leaned out and let the cool water drench his head. ”Extinguish, oh, extinguish the fire!” he prayed, looking up with a deep sigh at the dark watery ma.s.ses of clouds.
Cornelia watched him with mingled surprise and grief. ”Severinus, you are playing a part with yourself, like all who hold ideas founded on sophisms and principles contrary to nature; you must do so, at a moment when your illusion forms so striking a contrast with the truth. I can only pity you; but may G.o.d let those who made you a Jesuit,--who robbed you of the world and the world of you,--reap the fruits of their deed!”
”Do not blame them,” replied Severinus, turning calmly away from the window. ”They were my parents, and both are dead. I, too, have often cursed them for giving me life; but since I became a Jesuit, I bless them.”
”Unhappy man, what secret weighs upon the past which you have hitherto so closely concealed?”
”Disgrace, girl! To you alone I will confess it, that some day you may think of me more kindly when we are parted. I have no name save that the church gave me; no father save G.o.d; no home save the Casa al Gesu; no human dignity save that of my holy office. If I had belonged to the world, I should have been an outcast. But my parents turned the curse into a blessing when they dedicated to Heaven the life they denied on earth; and for the sake of that deed may G.o.d pardon the sin which gave me birth!” He raised his head, while his face kindled with enthusiastic feeling. ”But I, Cornelia, will devote my strength, to my latest breath, to that Jesuitism which accomplished the miracle of making the child of sin the supporter of the highest and holiest cause, which produces everything great and n.o.ble that can be done for the honor of G.o.d, and desires nothing except by all means, both mild and gentle, to lead men to heaven.”
Cornelia gazed thoughtfully into vacancy, then suddenly looked earnestly at the regular features of the handsome man before her.
”Severinus,” she said, with strange eagerness, ”who was your father?”
”I do not know; I never saw him.”
”Did your mother tell you nothing about him? or did you not know her either?”
”She could tell me nothing except how she loved him, and how he had deceived her. His accent betrayed that he was a German, but he concealed his name and residence. When I was scarcely a year old he disappeared, and no longer gave my mother any signs of existence except the remittance, through some unknown hand, of money for my education upon the condition that I should become a priest.”
”And your mother; what was her name?”
”Girl, why do you ask me all these questions?”