ned forward to see her; others, having seen her once,
ran forward to have a second view of her. Among those who were most
eager to behold her, was a man who attracted the notice of many by his
extraordinary efforts. He was dressed in the garb of a slave lately
ransomed, and wore on his breast the emblem of the Holy Trinity, by
which it was known that he had been redeemed by the charity of the
Redemptorist fathers.

Already Isabella had set one foot on the threshold of the convent gate,
where the prioress and the nuns stood ready to receive her with the
cross, when this ransomed captive cried out, "Stop, Isabella, stop!"
Isabella and her parents turned at this cry, and saw the man cleaving
his way towards them through the crowd by main strength. The blue hat he
wore having fallen oft through the violence of his exertions, disclosed
a profusion of flaxen hair, and a clear red and white complexion, which
showed him at once to be a foreigner.

Struggling, stumbling, and rising again, he at last reached the spot
where Isabella stood, caught her hand in his, and said, "Do you know me,
Isabella? I am Richard, your betrothed." "Well do I know you," said
Isabella, "if indeed you are not a phantom come to trouble my repose."
Her parents also examined his features attentively, and saw that this
captive was indeed Richard. As for him, weeping at Isabella's feet, he
implored her not to let the strange garb he wore prevent her recognising
him, nor his low fortune impede the fulfilment of the pledges exchanged
between them. In spite of the impression which the letter from Richard's
mother had made on her memory, Isabella chose rather to believe the
living evidence before her eyes; and embracing the captive, she said,
"Without doubt, my lord and master, you are he who alone could hinder
the fulfilment of my Christian determination; you are without doubt the
half of my soul; my own betrothed! your image is stamped upon my memory,
and treasured in my heart. The news of your death, sent me by your lady
mother, not having killed me on the spot, I resolved to dedicate myself
to religion, and I was just about to enter this convent for the rest of
my days; but since God has shown us by so just an impediment that he
wills otherwise, it is not for me to refuse obedience. Come, senor, to
the house of my parents, which is yours, and there I will give myself to
you in the way which our holy catholic faith prescribes."

This dialogue, overheard b