登陆注册
5386600000032

第32章 THE NIGHT OF BETRAYAL(15)

That was why he bade them proceed against me only on the lesser charge of corruption.

I was taken to the fortress of Turruegano, and there they came to demand of me the surrender of my papers which the alcalde had failed to discover at my house. I imagined the uneasiness of Philip in dispatching those emissaries. I almost laughed as I refused. Those papers were my buckler against worse befalling me than had befallen already. Even now, if too hard pressed, I might find the opportunity of breaking my bonds by means of them. I sometimes wonder why Idid not apply myself to that. Yet there is small cause for wonder, really. From boyhood, almost, King Philip had been my master.

Loyalty to him was a habit that went to the very roots of my being.

I had served him without conscience and without scruple, and the notion of betraying him, save as a very last and very desperate resource, was inconceivable. I do not think he ever knew the depth and breadth of that loyalty of mine.

My refusal led those sons of dogs to attempt to frighten my wife with threats of unmentionable horrors unless she delivered up the papers I had secreted. She and our children were threatened with perpetual imprisonment on bread and water if she persisted in refusing to surrender them. But she held out against all threats, and remained firm even under the oily persecution to the same end of Philip's confessor, Frey Diego. Finally, I was notified that, in view of her stubbornness and my own, she and our children were cast into prison, and that there they would remain until I saw fit to become submissive to the royal will.

It is a subtle form of mental torture that will bid a man contemplate the suffering for his sake to which those who are dear to him are being subjected.

I raged and stormed before the officer who brought me this infamous piece of news. I gave vent to my impotent anger in blasphemous expressions that were afterwards to be used against me. The officer was subtly sympathetic.

"I understand your grief, Don Antonio," he said. "Believe me, Ifeel for you - so much that I urge you to set an end to the captivity of those dear ones who are innocent, who are suffering for your sake.""And so make an end of myself?" I asked him fiercely.

"Reflection may show that even that is your duty in the circumstances."I looked into his smug face, and I was within an ace of striking him. Then I controlled myself, and my will was snapped.

"Very well," I said. "The papers shall be surrendered. Let my steward, Diego Martinez, come to me here, and he shall receive my instructions to deliver the chests containing them to my wife, that she in turn may deliver them to the King."He withdrew, well pleased. No doubt he would take great credit to himself for this. Within three days, such haste did they make, my faithful steward stood before me in my prison at Turruegano.

You conceive the despair that had overwhelmed me after giving my consent, the consciousness that it was my life I was surrendering with those papers, - that without them I should be utterly defenceless. But in the three days that were sped I had been thinking, and not quite in vain.

Martinez left me with precise instructions, as a result of which those two iron-bound chests, locked and sealed, were delivered, together with the keys, to the royal confessor. Martinez was asked what they contained.

"I do not know," he answered. "My orders are merely to deliver them."I can conceive the King's relief and joy in his conviction that thus had he drawn my teeth, that betide now what might, I could never defend or justify myself. The immediate sequel took me by surprise. We were at the end of '85, and my health was suffering from my confinement and its privations. And now my captivity was mitigated. My wife Juana even succeeded in obtaining permission that I should be taken home to Madrid, and there for fourteen months I enjoyed a half liberty, and received the visits of my old friends, among whom were numbered most of the members of the Court.

I imagined at first that since my teeth were drawn the King despised me, and intended nothing further. But I was soon to be disillusioned on that score. It began with the arrest of Martinez on a charge of complicity in the murder of Escovedo. And then one day I was again arrested, without warning, and carried off for a while to the fortress of Pinto. Thence I was brought back in close captivity to Madrid, and there I learnt at last what had been stirring.

In the previous summer King Philip had gone into Aragon to preside over the Cortes, and Vasquez, who had gone with him, had seized the opportunity to examine the ensign Enriquez, who had, meanwhile, denounced himself of complicity in the murder of Escovedo. Enriquez made a full confession - turned accuser under a promise of full pardon for himself and charged Mesa, Rubio, and my steward Martinez with complicity, denouncing Martinez as the ringleader of the business. The other two, Insausti and Bosque, were already dead.

Immediately Vasquez attempted to seize the survivors. But Mesa had gone to earth in Aragon, and Rubio was with him. Martinez alone remained, and him they seized and questioned. He remained as cool and master of himself as he was true and loyal to me. Their threats made no impression on him. He maintained that the tale was all a lie, begotten of spite, that I had been Escovedo's best friend, that I had been greatly afflicted by his death, and that no man could have done more than I to discover his real murderers. They confronted him with Enriquez, and the confrontation no whit disturbed him. He handled the traitor contemptuously as a perjured, suborned witness, a false servant, a man who, as he proceeded to show, was a scoundrel steeped in crime, whose word was utterly worthless, and who, no doubt, had been bought to bring these charges against his sometime master.

同类推荐
  • 佛说阿阇世王经

    佛说阿阇世王经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 伤寒论

    伤寒论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 西清笔记

    西清笔记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 東北邊防輯要

    東北邊防輯要

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 明伦汇编交谊典赠答部

    明伦汇编交谊典赠答部

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 带着率土之滨混三国

    带着率土之滨混三国

    光和七年,黄巾起义,被王玢大力资助的太平道一举干掉东汉朝廷,局势会怎样?袁绍还能定河北?董卓还用五千西凉铁骑雄霸雒阳吗?孙坚、陶谦还能凭借平羌胡之乱坐镇南方吗?刘焉又如何霸占益州?刘表还能单骑定益州?刘虞是称帝还是割据?刘跑跑是否还有机会流亡天下后割据一方?王玢据朔方而起,借系统之力能否在十年之内平定天下。
  • 每天都在作死一万遍

    每天都在作死一万遍

    德维尔的兴趣是解剖各种各样的东西,被称为“变态医生”。直到有一天,他解剖了一个不正常的人,却不知道这人以后和他的纠葛。在相隔世纪的时光相遇,正巧你爱我我爱你,这样不是最美好的吗?
  • 豆田篱下:糟糠不下堂

    豆田篱下:糟糠不下堂

    现代建筑女强人一朝穿越成为绑在喜堂上成亲的农家妇女。公婆嫌弃,小姑找茬,弟媳陷害,当地经济不发达,日子过得苦巴巴……她就不信了,有现代人的知识和技能,还怕搞不定婆媳关系过不上好日子!她用职场经验妥妥收拾了婆婆和小姑,又雄心壮志要带领全村人脱贫致富奔小康,红红火火开始了在古代的事业,意外获得的一枚藏有古井的手镯更让她如鱼得水春风得意!
  • 李希凡文集(第五卷):艺术评论集

    李希凡文集(第五卷):艺术评论集

    《李希凡文集(第五卷):艺术评论集》共收录作者关于艺术评论方面的文章83篇。主要为两个部分:一是在作为被*钦点的“小人物”登上历史舞台之后,李希凡先生从1955年至1986年在《人民日报》文艺评论部工作期间,发表的大量文艺评论以及戏剧电影评论文章。二是1986年后,李希凡先生出任中国艺术研究院副院长,担任《中华艺术通史》总主编,他对于《通史》的编纂、革命历史题材剧的改编、古典名著的影视改编等,发表的颇有影响的文章。
  • 悬疑大师讲故事:世界上最引人入胜的N个悬疑故事

    悬疑大师讲故事:世界上最引人入胜的N个悬疑故事

    《悬疑大师讲故事》:世界上最引人入胜的N个悬疑故事,悬疑大师带给你的诡异吸引力,将你难以抗拒。希区柯克、埃德加·艾伦·坡、阿加莎·克里斯蒂等十余位世界著名悬疑大师悉数登场。《夜莺山庄》、《午夜追踪》、《十五个杀人的医生》等几十篇跌宕起伏的悬疑作品跃然纸上。赶快打开这本书,考验一下自己的想象力,与大师们展开一次真正的智慧大比拼。
  • 《论语》中不可不知的人生哲理

    《论语》中不可不知的人生哲理

    《〈论语〉中不可不知的人生哲理》主要内容:《论语》是一部记录孔子言行的语录。一般人或许会想,记录孔子言行的书有什么好看的。圣人嘛,一定一天到晚道貌岸然,玩深沉,装伟大,其一言一行也必定乏味之极。如果你也这样想,那就错了。看完《论语》,你会发现孔子与一般人也没有什么两样,其一言一行也是非常平易近人、和蔼可亲的。
  • 南海一号之惊天海盗

    南海一号之惊天海盗

    传说沉没的船只重见天日的时候,时光之锁就会开启,历史便会重现。本书为玄幻小说,围绕神秘乘客,讲述南海一号在船长廖庭忠的带领下向大海出发。途中,他们遭遇海盗袭击,而廖庭忠也是在这个时候与女海盗卡特娜米擦出爱情的火花。
  • 深夜将至,别吃罐头

    深夜将至,别吃罐头

    它是这样的一本短篇小说集结,一篇故事就是一个罐头,而每个罐头都期待能让你在某个私密的夜晚想起,不多不少,就只让你一个人想起:关于恐惧那张感官模糊又诱人的面孔。大概每个人都摆脱不了午夜一个人独处的心悸吧。只是你从来不知道让你辗转不安的东西是什么样子的。来吧——85后台湾作家“不带剑”用令人惊艳的笔触,告诉你关于深夜的秘密。
  • 童年诡事

    童年诡事

    本书是“我”身患绝症的爷爷,即主人公李书甲所讲述的故事。十岁那年,主人公偶遇了传说中的鬼尸婆婆,她行踪诡秘、法力高深,独自住在荒野坟地之间。从认识鬼尸婆婆那天开始,主人公便遇到了以前从未想象过的诡异事件,后来,他们一同经历了一场场荒诞离奇的鬼怪之旅。在这段艰险的历程中,有一条勇猛忠诚的黑狗和一只神秘莫测的黄鼠狼时常陪伴在他们左右,以无畏的勇气和神奇的法术帮助他们度过种种难关。
  • 绝世炼药师:邪王小逃妃

    绝世炼药师:邪王小逃妃

    她,A国顶级特工,现代神秘人物,一场阴谋,她穿越而来。她,蓝国将军府嫡女,废材,痴傻,被家族暗杀,睁开紫眸,看她强势归来。说她是废物,看本姑娘不灭了你全族:“高级炼药师!”算不了什么?她是双修。面对现任未婚夫,她嘴角带着一抹讽刺道:“太子是什么?”强大身份暴露,她付之一笑。他,三界统治者,为了她,甘愿毁去万年修行。一千五百年后的一场交锋,她与他相识。他,傲风大陆最受敬仰之人,大陆统治者,身份遥不可及。他,万古至尊,上古神兽,为了她,重头修炼。谁来告诉她,这个冷酷自大的男人,为什么要带她回去?