The Spanish Jade Part 14

_Judge_: "I have no doubt of that. You had reason to fear Don Bartolome's resentment?"

_Manuela_: "I knew that Esteban intended to murder me."

_Judge_: "Don Bartolome overtook you. You were riding before the Englishman on his horse?"

_Manuela_: "Yes. I could not walk. I was ill."

_Judge_: "Don Bartolome remained with you until the Englishman ran away?"

_Manuela_: "He did not run away. Why should he? He went away on his own affairs."

_Judge_ (after looking at his papers): "I see. The Englishman went away after the pair of you had killed Don Bartolome?"

_Manuela_: "That is not true. He went away to bathe, and then I killed Esteban with his own knife. I killed him because he told me that he intended to murder me, and the English gentleman who had been kind to me. I confess it--I confessed it to the _alguazils_ and the _carcelero_. You may twist what I say as you will, to please your friends, but the truth is in what I say."

_Judge_: "Silence! It is for you to answer the questions which I put to you. You forget yourself, Manuela. But I will take your confession as true for the moment. Supposing it to be true, did you not stab Don Bartolome in the neck in order that you might be free?"

_Manuela_: "I killed him to defend myself and an innocent person. I have told you so."

_Judge_: "Why should Don Bartolome wish to kill you?"

_Manuela_: "He hated me because I had refused to do his pleasure. He wished to make me bad----"

_Judge_ (lifting his hands and throwing his head up): "Bad! Was he not jealous of the Englishman?"

_Manuela_: "I don't know."

_Judge_: "Did he not tell you that the Englishman was your lover? Did you not say so to Fray Juan de la Cruz?"

_Manuela_: "He spoke falsely. It was not true. He may have believed it."

_Judge_: "We shall see. Have patience, Manuela. Having slain your old lover, you were careful to leave a token for his successor. You left more than that: your crucifix from your neck, and a message with Fray Juan?"

_Manuela_: "Yes. I told Fray Juan the whole of the truth, and begged him to tell the gentleman, because I wished him to think well of me. I told him that Esteban----"

_Judge_: "Softly, softly, Manuela. Why did you leave your crucifix behind you?"

_Manuela_: "Because I was grateful to the gentleman who had saved my life at Palencia; because I had nothing else to give him. Had I had anything more valuable I would have left it. n.o.body had been kind to me before."

_Judge_: "You know what he has done with your crucifix, Manuela?"

_Manuela_: "I do not."

_Judge_: "What are you saying?"

_Manuela_: "The truth."

_Judge_: "I have the means of confuting you. You told Fray Juan that you were going to Madrid?"

_Manuela_: "I did not."

_Judge_: "In the hope that he would tell the Englishman?"

_Manuela_: "If he told the gentleman that, he lied."

_Judge_: "It is then a singular coincidence which led to your meeting him here in Madrid?"

_Manuela_: "I did not meet him."

_Judge_: "Did you not meet him a few nights before you surrendered to justice?"

_Manuela_: "No."

_Judge_: "Did you meet his servant?"

_Manuela_: "I cannot tell you."

_Judge_: "Did not the Englishman pay for your lodging in the Carcel de la Corte? Did he not send his servant every day to see you?"

_Manuela_: "The gentleman was lying wounded at the hotel. He had been stabbed in the street."

_Judge_: "We are not discussing the Englishman's private affairs.

Answer my questions?"

_Manuela_: "I cannot answer them."

_Judge_: "You mean that you will not, Manuela. Did you not know that the Englishman caused your crucifix to be set in gold, like a holy relic?"

_Manuela_: "I did not know it."

_Judge_: "We have it on your own confession that you slew Don Bartolome Ramonez in the wood of La Huerca, and you admit that the Englishman was protecting you before that dreadful deed was done, that he has since paid for your treatment in prison, and that he has treasured your crucifix like a sacred relic?"

_Manuela_: "You are pleased to say these things. I don't say them.

You wish to incriminate a person who has been kind to me."

_Judge_: "I will ask you one more question, Manuela. Why did you give yourself up to justice?"

_Manuela_ (after a painful pause, speaking with high fervour and some approach to dramatic effect): "I will answer you, senor Juez. It was because I knew that Don Luis would contrive the death of Don Osmundo if I did not prove him innocent."

_Judge_ (rising, very angry): "Silence! The court cannot entertain your views of persons not concerned in your crime."

_Manuela_: "But----" (She shrugged, and looked away.)

_Judge_: "You can sit down."