THE TRIAL
MARY WAS SCARCELY AWAKE, WHEN an officer came to conduct her before the tribunal. A cold shudder came over her as she entered the gloomy vaulted room, where the light of day could scarcely penetrate through the small panes of the high Gothic windows.
The judge was sitting on a raised seat covered with scarlet, and the clerk was below, near a large old desk blackened by time. The judge asked Mary many questions. She answered them all truthfully; and she declared her innocence, even with tears. But the judge said coldly, "You cannot deceive me so far as to persuade me of that which is impossible. No one but you had been in the room. You must have the ring; confess it at once."
Mary answered weeping, "I can say no more than I have already said. I have not the ring; I have not even seen it."
"The ring has been seen in your hand," continued the judge. "How will you answer that?"
Mary said that this was impossible; and the judge ordered Margaret to be summoned.
To account for her appearance, it is necessary to relate what had passed at the castle in the meantime. On the day that the ring was missed, Margaret, still angry at the loss of the dress, to which she imagined herself entitled, and jealous of Mary, thought it a good opportunity to be revenged. She said openly to the servants in the castle: "This wretched flower girl must have taken the ring. I met her as she was leaving the castle, and I saw a ring in her hand set with jewels; she was looking at it, but when she saw me she hastily put it out of sight. It looked suspicious, but I thought it best to say nothing. She is such a favorite, I thought the Countess might have given it to her, as she has given her so many things before, and I determined not to speak rashly. I am very glad I did not happen to go into the Countess's room at the time. Such wicked hypocrites as Mary may cause honest people to be suspected."
Margaret's words were repeated, and she was consequently summoned as a witness on the trial. When she appeared before the tribunal, and the judge admonished her to speak the truth, her heart beat violently, and her knees trembled; but this wicked woman resisted the voice of conscience and the warning of the judge. "If I confess that I have told a lie," thought she, "I shall be dismissed from the castle in disgrace." This fear hardened her heart; and she even dared to say to Mary, "You have the ring; I saw it in your hand."
Mary shuddered with horror when she heard this calumny, but she bore it patiently. She only said, "You know Margaret, that this is not true; you did not see the ring in my hand. How can you thus perjure yourself in order to injure one who has never done you any harm?" But Margaret, influenced both by the fear of disgrace and the love of revenge, persisted in her falsehood; and, after being cross-questioned in vain, was dismissed.
"Your guilt is now evident," said the judge to Mary. "Every circumstance is against you. The Countess's maid has seen the ring in your hand. Now, confess where you have concealed it."
Mary persisted in saying that she had it not; and, according to the barbarous custom of those times, he ordered her to be whipped till the blood came, to compel her to confess.
Poor Mary screamed and wept; but, steadfast to the truth, she continued to protest that she was innocent. Pale, bleeding, and exhausted, she was again thrust into her cell. She suffered cruelly from her wounds, tossing on her uneasy bed. But she remembered her father's parting words. He had said, "When I am separated from you, cling closer to that Savior from whom no human power can separate you." She had recourse to prayer, and God, who hears and answers prayer, sent her a sweet and refreshing sleep.
The next day Mary was brought again before the tribunal, and the judge, finding severity of no use, tried to induce her to confess by gentleness and by promises. "You have incurred the punishment of death," said he; "but if you will only confess where the ring is, you shall be set free; no further punishment shall be inflicted upon you." His promises had as little effect as his threats.
Mary repeated her former words. The judge, observing her tender affection for her father, tried to work upon this feeling. "If you continue obstinate," said he, "your father also shall be punished. Have pity on his gray hairs. Could you bear to see his head fall under the executioner's ax? He must have helped and encouraged you in crime; and he, too, must die, unless you will yet save him by a full confession."
Mary's courage gave way when she heard these words—she nearly fainted. "Confess," said the judge, "that you have taken the ring that one word 'Yes' may save your father's life."
This was a severe trial to Mary. She was long silent. She was tempted to say that she had taken the ring, and that she had lost it on the road, but she resisted the temptation. "No," said she at length, as if speaking to herself; "it is better to die than to sin. I cannot save my father's life, if it is only to be done by sinning against God. I will still trust Thee, O my God; Thou wilt yet save us." She then continued, in a loud and firm tone, "If I were to say that I took the ring, it would be a lie, and I dare not tell a lie even to escape death. But oh," she added, in an agonized voice, "I implore you to be satisfied with taking my life. I would gladly die to save my father."
The judge, notwithstanding his severity, was deeply moved. He said no more, and ordered Mary to be taken back to prison.