The Fiery Angel (44 page)

“In the Criminal Code”—he was saying—“printed by the will of His Majesty the Emperor for the use of the whole Empire three years ago, and by which we are now governed, clause 109 declares: ‘
Item
, if a body by means of sorcery cause evil or misfortune to any other body, he shall be punished for it by death, and execution shall be performed by means of fire. If, however, a body shall have practised sorcery, but yet not caused harm to any other body, he shall be punished according to the circumstances of the case.’ Sister Maria has from her own mouth confessed herself guilty of having caused harm to human beings, and cattle, and crops, and thus she incurs death.”

The Count also enquired whether one accused must be submitted to torture if she has already confessed all of her own accord, and Brother Thomas answered this also without delay:

“Unquestionably”—said he—“for clause 44 of the same Constitution of the Emperor Charles says explicitly: ‘
Item
, if a body has recourse to doubtful matters, deeds and actions which in themselves contain sorcery, and if such a body be but accused thereof, by this fact is given a clear indication of the presence of sorcery, and a sufficient ground for the application of torture.’ Apart from this, you are probably unaware that there is no other means against such fiends as witches, to force them to speak the truth, for the Devil is for ever present at their examinations and often helps them to support the most arduous trials. In cases of such weighty crime, one must perforce have recourse to the most powerful countering methods.”

I did not listen further to what the inquisitor was saying, for I felt as though I had wandered into some ensorcelled courtyard, from which there was no egress, so that I fruitlessly flung myself from side to side, everywhere meeting stone, insuperable walls. Not saying a word to anyone, I hastened my steps, and almost ran from those talking, having no purpose before me, only desiring to be alone. The Count, however, soon caught up with me, asking me whither I was running, and I replied to him:

“Dear Count! It behoves us to attempt our enterprise immediately, for every hour of delay may cost Renata her life. Till now I have restrained myself from any crucial action, only because you promised me your assistance. I beseech you not to postpone matters any longer, or, pray, tell me straightway that you are powerless to help me. Then I shall act on my own, even though my attempts may lead me to certain death.”

The Count replied to me:

“I pledged you my knightly word, Rupprecht, and I shall keep that oath. Go to our tent and there await my call, while I shall work on your behalf.”

The voice of the Count was so persuasive, and I was so conscious of my utter impotence, that I had no other course left me but to obey, yet I had not the strength to enter, for a second time, that tent, where, as in a lion’s den, would have lain in watch for me, with greedy jaws and sharp fangs, the same thoughts of sorrow as those of the morning, and perhaps many more, not less bitter.

I told the Count that I should await him on the shores of the rivulet, and, avoiding all encounters, I made my way through the thick willow growths that lined its course, and there hid in the twilight and the moisture, so placing myself that the convent was visible to me through breaches in the foliage. Here, once more in forced idleness, I spent another period of several hours, breathing the fresh fragrance of the running water, and knowing that Renata, ill, exhausted, was spending these same hours upon clammy earth, amidst lichen, spiders and woodlice.

I feared that I might lose the power to act with reason if I gave myself up to the waves of despair that pressed upon me, and, accordingly, I stubbornly forced myself not to lose my clearness of thought. As if resolving some problem, I considered all the possible means of saving Renata, yet could think of none but that of gaining possession of the convent by main force, breaking open the doors of her prison and carrying her off, before the Archbishop could have time to assemble a considerable troop. Transported by such dreams, I already imagined to myself all the particulars of the forthcoming fight between the supporters of the Count and the henchmen of the Archbishop, visualised exactly how I should break down the gates of the cloister, composed from the first word to the last the speech that I should address to the frightened nuns persuading them not to oppose the liberation of Sister Maria, and finally, with tears in my voice, I repeated the words I should speak to the rescued Renata.

From these imaginings, as from a soothing dream, I was roused by a voice that softly called me by my name, and turning round, I saw that near me stood the Count, and behind him Michael, holding two horses by the reins. The Count’s face was more deeply clouded than I had ever see it before, and in the first instant, thinking that all was over, and that Renata had already been condemned and executed, I involuntarily exclaimed:

“Can it be that it is too late?”

The Count replied to me:

“We must ride at once, Rupprecht, I have convinced myself that such forces as we have here are not sufficient for our undertaking. We must seek allies, whom the Romans, too, did not disdain. In the immediate neighbourhood I know a castle, the seigneur of which maintains a friendship with me. Let us ride thither, and bring back with us a score of stout lads.”

This appeal accorded so miraculously with my dreams, that I did not for one moment doubt the sincerity of the Count, and it never entered my mind that it would be unwise for us both to leave the cloister; on the contrary, with all eagerness I hastened to my horse and soon both of us were in the saddle. I asked the Count whether our way were long, and he only retorted that we must hurry, but that we had best make the first part of our road along the bed of the rivulet, so that our departure should not be noted in the camp. All this was very convincing, and I was ready at this moment if need be to blaze my way after the Count with my sword.

Having ridden for about a quarter of an hour in the depths of the valley, we climbed up, and galloped due westward along a bad country lane. My eyes were blinded by the sun, which was now setting, and which built before me, by the frolic of its rays, weird castles from the evening clouds, only to annihilate them immediately, and I felt as though it was in those ghostly palaces that we should find the help that we were seeking. I urged on my horse as though in truth I hoped to gallop to the land where Aurora opens wide the flaming gates to Phœbus, and the wind whistled in my ears, either words of encouragement or prophecies of despair. Gradually the west grew dimmer and dimmer, the red sun went down behind the nethermost cloud, and the air around freshened; the country became more rugged, but no sign of human habitation appeared, and in vain did I scan the horizon for the towers of the promised castle. Several times I asked the Count whether it were yet far for us to ride, but each time I received no answer, and at last, seeing that my horse was tired, and that the road was completely disappearing amidst boulders strewn in disarray, I suddenly drew rein and thus exclaimed:

“Count! You have deceived me! There is no castle! Whither have you led me?”

Then the Count, too, stopped his horse, and he answered me in a soft, touching voice, which at times he knew how to assume:

“Yes, I have deceived you. There is no castle.”

All my flesh grew cold, my hands trembled, and, flinging my horse straight at the Count, ready to assail him in combat, in this forsaken, man-deserted valley, in the hour of the first shadows, I shouted:

“Why have you done this? What was your purpose? Answer me, or else I slay you where you stand!”

The Count replied to me calmly:

“
Rupprechte, insanis!
Listen first, and threaten afterwards. I discovered that Thomas had appointed a second examination for this evening. Much as I tried, I could not alter this decision. I did not doubt that, had you remained at the convent, you would have committed some rash act, and thereby ruined our whole enterprise. I resolved to take you away for a time, to save both yourself and your beloved.”

“What!”—I demanded—“the second examination is fixed for this evening? Then that means that it is being conducted at this moment? But the examination will be by ordeal! That means that Renata is even now being subjected to torture, and I am far from her—here, here, here—in this field, and cannot even reply to her moans!”

With this, the fit of fury left me, and, jumping from the horse, I flung myself face downwards on the boulders moist with evening dew, pressed against them with my cheek, and, once more, tears streamed unchecked from my eyes, for, like a woman or a child, I had no other weapons to combat my fate. I at once represented to myself all the forms of torture of which I had even only sometime heard: the press, the screw, the strings, the pincers, the strappado, the goat, the mare, the ladder, the Spanish boot, the collar, flogging, the insertion of pegs under the nails, torture with water, with fire, with pitch, and all the other horrors invented by man against man. I wept uncontrolledly, and at that moment sincerely desired but one thing only: to be with Renata, at her side; to yield my body to all the torments to which she was being subjected, and it seemed monstrous and incongruous that I should feel no pain while she was languishing beneath her sufferings.

In the meantime the Count dismounted also, sat down next me upon the ground, and also as if seeing in me some child, he began to soothe me tenderly. In the most persuasive manner, he tried to assure me that I must not be alarmed by the torture, which we had no means to prevent, for very many persons can endure it without ultimate injury to their health. The Count himself had known some alchymist, whom the infidels of Mostar had thirty times submitted to torture, and even impaled, hoping thereby to extract from him the secret of the philosopher’s stone, which, it was alleged, was known to him. And yet he had lived to a ripe old age. And besides, according to the words of the Count, it was not possible that, in this peaceful and isolated cloister, there could be those terrible implements of torture of which boast such towns as Bamberg, Mecklenburg, or Nürnberg, so that the worst that could happen to Sister Maria was a dislocation of her arm joints on the strappado, which the executioner himself would be able immediately to set. The Count also did not forget to cite for my comfort several quotations from Annæus Seneca, the philosopher, who points out how beneficial it is for mankind to suffer physical pain.

Naturally, these words of the Count failed in any way to soothe me, and even provided at times fuel to augment my despair, and at last the Count, noticing that all his arguments and logical deductions were powerless against my emotions, spoke to me as follows:

“Well then, listen, Rupprecht, I shall disclose to you my plan, so that you shall not think me your enemy, but your true friend. Know then, that I have already staged all for the rescue of your beloved. Mother Martha is very well disposed towards Sister Maria and does not believe in her guilt. Moreover, being a Clarissian and consequently belonging to the Franciscan order, she is only too glad to have the opportunity of annoying a Dominican. You know, of course, that all these monastic orders gnaw at each other like dogs. In short, Mother Martha has agreed, after very much persuasion on my part, to help us to engineer the flight of your Renata. But you understand that such an enterprise can be accomplished only at night,
per amica silentia lunæ
. We shall even now return to the convent. On guard at the gates both of the cloister and of the prison will be nuns entirely loyal to the Mother Superior, and moreover revering Sister Maria as a saint. They will unfasten all the locks before us. You will descend into the vaults and lead out your Renata, or carry her in your arms if she have not the strength to walk. At the gates will await you Michael and a couple of fresh horses; ride straight to my castle. Afterwards we shall see what has further to be done, but I am convinced that not only the others, but Thomas himself, despite his apostolic name, will believe that Sister Maria has been freed by the Devil. Thus, give me your hand, and
ne moremur!
”

The Count’s plan contained far more of that fantasy of youthful imagination that habitually governed his actions, than of experience or knowledge of men; however, this was the last rope by clutching which I might climb out of the abyss of my misfortunes. We again mounted our horses, and again urged them, this time in the opposite direction, finding our way with difficulty in the gathering darkness. Fortunately we did not lose our way, and we reached the camp in the feeble light of an emaciated new moon.

W
HEN the walls of the cloister within which Renata was imprisoned once more came in sight—I felt in me, despite my fatigue from the senseless gallop, an inrush of energy and courage, for decisive hours always draw my soul taut, as a firm arm tautens an arbalist.

Near our tent we dismounted and gave our horses to Michael, who was awaiting us, displaying obvious impatience, for he replied to the query of the Count whether all was ready, thus:

“Long ready, indeed, and to tarry further is impossible. Jan is posted with fresh horses near the northern wall, I have wound their hooves in wool. And this accursed pater Thomas is prowling around here, and may light on something at any moment.”

We all three of us proceeded to the convent, choosing the part of the road that lay most darkly and trying by all means to pass unnoticed, though apparently all were asleep, for we met no one on our road and not a dog barked in the village. Michael walked in front, as if leading the way, behind him was the Count, no doubt vastly inspirited by our unusual adventures, and I came last of all, for I did not want anyone to notice me. The thought that I was now about to see Renata alone, and that within the space of a few minutes she would be free once more and under my protection, made my heart tremble with joy, and I should, without wavering, have fought one against three, if only to realise my dreams.