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hing upon his face, as he sank p▓rostrate and lifeless on the earth, reve▓aled to Alvar’s tortured senses th●e features of his wife. How long that dead f●aint continued Almah knew not, but when sense▓ returned she found herse
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re came● I here.For my faith, mine is my h▓usband’s.” “And know you the doom of al●l wh
o attempt or abet escape Death●—death by burning! and this you have h●urled upon him and yourself.It is not▓ the Holy Office, but his wife who has condemne▓d him,” and with gibing laugh they left he
- den sound broke the oppressiv●e stillness.It
- was the tramp of▓ heavy feet an
- d the clash of arms; t▓he light of many torches flashed upon the d●arkness
r,▓ securing with heavy bolt and bar the ir●on door.She darted forwards, beseechi▓ng them, as they hoped for mercy, to take● her to her husband, to confine them und▓erground a thousand fathoms deep, so that they m▓ight but be together; but only the hollo●w echo of her own voice replied,▓ and the wretched girl sunk back upon ●the ground, relieved from present suff▓ering by long hours of utter insensibili●ty.
It was not till brought from thei●r resp
ective prisons to hear pro▓nounced on them the sentence of death, th●at Alvar Rodriguez and his heroic wife o●nce more gazed upon each other.
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They had provided Almah, at her own entreaty,● with female habiliments; for, ▓in the bewildering agony of her spirit, she att●ributed the failure of her scheme for t●he rescue of her husband to h▓er having disobeyed the positive command o●f God, and adopted a male disguise, which i▓n His eyes was abomination, but which in her ●wild desire to save Alvar she ha●d completely overlooked, and she now in conse▓quence shrunk from the fatal garb with● agony and loathing.Yet despite the ●haggard look of intense mental and bo●dily suffering, the loss of her lovely ●hair, which she had cut close to her head,● lest by the merest chance its ●length and luxuriance should discov●er her, so exquisite, so touching,▓ was her del
icate loveliness, that her very ju▓dges, stern, unbending as was the●ir nature, looked on her with an admiration ▓almost softening them to mercy.
And now, fo▓r the first time, Alvar’s manly▓ composure seemed about to desert▓ him.He, too, had suffered alm▓ost as herself, save that her devo▓tedness, her love, appeared to give hi●m strength, to endow him with co●urage, even to look upon her fate, blende▓d as it now was with his own, with cal▓mness in that merciful God who called▓ him thus early to Himself.Almah cou●ld not realize such thoughts.B
ut one imag●e was ever present, seeming to mock her very mis●ery to madness.Her effort had failed; had she ●not so wildly sought her husband’s ?/p>
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坋scape—had she but waited—they might h▓ave released him; and now, what was she but▓ his murderess Little passed between the p▓risoners and their judges.Their guilt was all-▓sufficiently proved by their ende●avours to escape, which in itself ●was a crime always visited by de●ath; and for these manifold s▓ins and misde
meanours they we▓re sentenced to be burnt aliv●e, on All Saints’ day, in the grand square o▓f the Inquisition, at nine o’clock▓ in the morning, and proclamation co▓mmanded to be made throughout▓ Lisbon, that all who sought to witness and▓ assist at the ceremony should receive remissi●on of sins, and be accounted wor●thy servants of Jesus Christ.● The lesser severity of strangling the victims b▓efore burning was denied t
hem, as they● neither repented nor had trus▓ted to the justice and clemenc●y of the Holy Office, but had a●ttempted to avert a deserved fa
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te by flight. ● Not a muscle of Alvar’s fine countenanc▓e moved during this awful sentence.He stood● proudly and l
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oftily erect, rega▓rding those that spake with an eye●, bright, stern, unflinching as ●their own; but a change passed over it ▓as, breaking from the guard around, Almah flun●g herself on her knees at his fee▓t. “Alvar! Alvar! I have murdered〃埅my husband, oh, my husband, say
yo▓u forgive—forgive—” “Hush, hus▓h, beloved! mine own heroic Almah, fail● not now!” he answered, with a c●alm and tender seriousness, ●which seeming to still that crushi