As she took her seat upon the throne and gave the signal to open the court, the light in her face was a radiance beautiful to behold.
"Bow down before the Majesty of the Law!" His Grace the Archbishop, solemnly proclaimed, while two priests from Santa Soffia stepped forth from under the arcades, reverently carrying the illuminated MS. of the Evangel which had been the treasure of their monastery from earliest ages; and behind them came others of their brotherhood bearing the quaint, copper casket in which were enshrined those revered Books of the Law known as the "_a.s.sizes of Jerusalem_," and esteemed among all the codes of the nations for their wisdom and justice.
The ancient volumes which bore this t.i.tle had long since disappeared, in the destruction of Jerusalem; and tradition, p.r.o.ne to a.s.sign to well-known authors of ill.u.s.trious deeds many good feats accomplished by those who remain nameless, had ascribed the compilation of this early masterpiece of judicial wisdom to G.o.dfrey de Bouillon. It had been sacredly kept in the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and guarded by a decree ordaining that it should not be opened except in the presence of certain high officials.
Upon the maxims of this ancient work, faithfully digested in the famous law-schools of Nikosia by their greatest scholars, the present volume of a.s.sizes had been founded; and among those most largely concerned in its authorship was Joan of Iblin--the distinguished ancestor of Dama Margherita.
Dama Margherita had never been present when the volume was opened, for like the famous code which had preceded it, it was hedged about with solemn formalities and might not be unsealed save in the presence of the Sovereign and four barons of the realm; and she leaned eagerly forward as the herald, who parted the crowd before the bearers of the sacred chest reiterated again and again the command:
"Bow down before the Majesty of the Law!"
The little procession proceeded slowly through the intricacies of the throng, all heads bowing as they pa.s.sed, until they brought it under the dome that was raised over the dias where the thrones were set for the Sovereigns, and where, looking upward, one might read in great golden characters, wrought above the frieze, this admonition from the Book of the Law:
_Whoever shall appear in this Court and bear false witness, be he the n.o.blest in the land, he shall lose his head._
The Queen, to show her reverence, had risen from her throne as they paused before her, and descending the steps she laid her hand upon the Evangel, where His Grace the Archbishop held open the page for her, and kneeling to kiss the venerated Book of the a.s.sizes, she solemnly swore to uphold the laws and statutes of Cyprus.
But this day was destined to become memorable in the annals of the courts.
There had been some disputes and decrees of minor interest to be pa.s.sed upon before the matter of the recent conspiracy had been brought forward. This had absorbed the attention of the most learned Cyprian men at law for some time past, and at this first session of the Court of a.s.sizes, the summing up of evidence and the closing arguments were to be laid before the tribunal and sentence would be declared. The revelations of the trial had thus far been kept secret--but it was known from other sources that the ident.i.ty of many of those implicated had been discovered, and an important prisoner, who was supposed to have had a large share in shaping the plot, was to be brought into court to close her trial.
It was she, they said, who, trusted near the person of Her Majesty, having full opportunity of access to those highest in authority and of friendly intercourse with all the ancient Cyprian n.o.bility, had been chosen by the chiefs of the conspiracy to receive and transmit their orders covertly; to win converts for the scheme, wherever there might be hope of partisans, and to protect their plans from suspicion. The charge was "High Treason," for it was whispered that the seizure of the strongholds was but to have been a step toward the seizure of the Crown, and this leader came of an ambitious race, than which no family of Cyprus could boast a more ancient lineage.
In the innermost circle about the Queen, whatever the suspicions of the maids and knights might have been, the name of this arch-offender was not even whispered: for their dear Queen herself, with eyes that were dark with emotion, had pleaded with them.
"For love of me, seek not to know until her innocence or guilt shall be declared. If she should be innocent--which may our Blessed Lady grant!--let us save her from dishonor in thought and name."
But one of their number had been long absent, on a visit, it had been declared, to her distant estates; and if some who came less frequently to court, named the name of "Madama di Niuna" over-curiously, the courtiers turned their faces from each other, lest their eyes should betray the request of their beloved Sovereign Lady--for so had her misfortunes and her graces and high demeanor won their loyalty.
The prisoner stood before her judges, when they led her into the Hall of the a.s.sizes, mercifully swathed from head to foot in the filmy silken veil usually worn by the women of Nikosia; but through the snowy folds which concealed the features, there came the gleam of the fantastic jewelled garb, and the lines of the pose--proudly defiant--were plainly discernible--it could be none other than the young and beautiful and high-born Dama Ecciva de Montferrat.
The young maids of honor turned sad eyes upon each other, each seeking to touch the hand of her nearest companion, by way of a.s.surance, while all waited, in a stress of suspense that was near despair.
Throughout the trial, the splendid a.s.sembly followed every phase with breathless attention, yet with conflicting emotions,--for the prisoner was one of their peers and all felt the case to be momentous; while, as the masterly arguments proceeded, and the evidence seemed irrefutable, perhaps few among them could have determined how it should be most wisely decided, in view of the waverings and discontent which had threatened to undermine the Government.
And now the judges and the learned men had withdrawn for private consultation, and the a.s.sembly waited for the verdict in a hush through which one might have counted the heart-beats sounding in tumultuous rhythm; but the girlish prisoner still kept her defiant att.i.tude--tapping the pavement impatiently with her tiny booted foot--as making light of any crime that might be imputed to Dama Ecciva de Montferrat.
Then, more swiftly than one might tell it, a blaze of irrepressible human pa.s.sion broke upon the decorous quiet of the Chamber; the n.o.bles sprang to their feet, struggling for expression; for the awful announcement "_Guilty_," although they had awaited it, brought a sudden desperate realization of the fearful consequences, as, almost without pause, the penalty was declared and a piercing shriek rent the air.
"Not _death!_--Holy Saints--NOT DEATH!"
They could see the sinuous figure writhing and panting convulsively under her wrappings, then tearing her veil like a frenzied woman, as she sank fainting upon the pavement; and the crowd made way in awe-struck silence for the Lady Beata with the maidens of the court who closed about the tortured figure in shielding ministration.
A stately patrician robed in black, fought her way through the excited throng to the steps of the throne, and threw herself at the feet of the Queen.
"Have mercy!" she cried; "she is too young to die! Take my life for hers--_she is my child!_"
A messenger was crossing the chamber from the judge"s throne, bearing a parchment tied in black, a portentous seal depending from the ribbon. It was the first time that a death-warrant had been presented for the Queen"s signature, and she was visibly agitated.
The agonized mother at her feet kept up her pa.s.sionate entreaties.
Caterina started up pale and trembling, holding out her hand to the kneeling figure and drawing her forward:
"Counts and Barons of the Realm, Judges of the Court and all ye people who look to us for protection! We have sworn before you all to uphold the laws of Cyprus--we will not fail you!" she protested. "Yet, oh I beg you to remember that together in this Chamber we have prayed to-day that we might temper judgment with mercy!--_Let us not sign it!_"
A low murmur of sympathy echoed through the a.s.sembly, half-a.s.senting, and Caterina, perceiving it hurried on.
"Let us rule together wisely," she besought them, "and for the honor of Cyprus! Let it not be told that our first meeting in this n.o.ble a.s.sembly hath been darkened by a sentence of death upon one of our own n.o.bles!
Madonna mia! Grant us to be merciful--spare the n.o.ble house of Montferrat; let the penalty be exile!"
There was a confused murmur in the Hall of the a.s.sizes: disjointed words punctuated the low babel of sounds: "Exile!" "Exile with confiscation!"
"Death!" "Mercy!" "Death and Confiscation."
They scarcely knew whether they prayed for death or mercy, or whether in their souls they wished for justice or pardon, for the question was too weighty to be solved by law, since a nation"s peace might hang upon it.
They knew not if they saw distinctly, for the mist that seemed to cloud their vision--a mist enfolding two women like a halo--the one tall, black-robed, superb in anguish, with pathetic lines of age upon her hair and brow, and in her eyes, darker than night, such frenzy of supplication as one may only offer for a dearer than self: the other young, tender, fair--all compa.s.sion, divine in forgiveness and comprehension--for were they not both mothers, and had she not suffered the irreparable loss that she might learn to shield grieving mother-hearts? She held the Countess of Montferrat closely clasped as if she would sustain her in her trouble.
"_Not_ confiscation!" she pleaded. "Hath not this mother enough to suffer in knowing that her child hath missed the highest trust? Shall we add this also to her pain, and take from her the estates which have been the home of her people for long ages? Shall she not take the vow of fealty to the State, instead of her child? And for the Dama Ecciva--we grieve that it must be exile--yet the safety of the Crown demandeth it.
Be merciful--dear people!"
It was a woman"s reason--but a woman"s heart, stronger than law or precedent, had won the day.
x.x.xIV
"A confidential communication of deep import to Cyprus--so thou come at once, and alone. "The Prisoner in the Castle.""
The Signor Aluisi Bernardini read the note a second time with frowning brows, for there was more than one prisoner, even of this recent conspiracy, in the castle, and the hand was disguised or unknown to him, and he could but guess at the ident.i.ty of the sender of this mysterious message, which had been brought him, quite openly, by one of the castle guards.
The man stood waiting at the door of his study, until he called to him:
"Thou hast a message for me from----?"
"The Dama Ecciva de Montferrat, Eccellentissimo," the messenger answered, readily.
"Deliver it."
"I was to remind your Excellency that the galley will sail to-morrow for Venice--if your Excellency should have despatches--the Dama de Montferrat feared that it might not be known beyond the castle."
"Is this known within the castle and by order of the Castellan?"
Bernardini asked quickly, in surprise.