aron knows of a
secret passage from his castle leading under the river Durance to one of
the towers of the papal residence. He bids Nerto go to seek deliverance
from the bond, and to make known to the Pope the means of escape. Nerto
reaches the palace at the moment when all is in great commotion, for the
enemy have succeeded in setting it on fire. She is first seen by the
Pope's nephew Don Rodrigue, an exceedingly wicked young man, a sort of
brawling Don Juan, who seems to have been guilty of numerous
assassinations. He immediately begins to talk love to the maiden, as the
means of saving her from the Devil, "the path of love is full of flowers
and leads to Paradise." But Nerto has been taught that the road to
Heaven is full of stones and thorns, and her innocence saves her from
the passionate outburst of the licentious youth. And Nerto is taken to
the Pope, whom she finds sadly enthroned in all his splendor, and brings
him the news of a means of escape. The last Pope of Avignon bearing the
sacred elements, _pourtant soun Dieu_, follows the maiden through the
underground passage, and escapes with all his followers. At
Chateau-Renard he sets up his court with the King of Forcalquier,
Naples, and Jerusalem and Donna Iolanthe his Queen. Nerto asks the Pope
to save her soul, but he is powerless. Only a miracle can save a soul
sold to Satan. She must enter a convent, and pray to the Saints
continually. The Court is about to move to Arles, she shall enter the
convent there. On the way, Don Rodrigue makes love to her assiduously,
but the young girl's heart seems untroubled.

At Arles we witness a great combat of animals, in which the lion of
Arles, along with four bulls, is turned loose in the arena. The lion
kills all but one of the bulls. The fourth beast, enraged, gores the
lion. The royal brute rushes among the spectators and makes for the
King's throne. Nerto and the Queen are crouching in terror before him,
when Don Rodrigue slays the animal, saving Nerto's life. Nay, he saves
more than her life, for had she died then she would have been a prey to
the flames of Hell.

Nerto becomes a nun, but Don Rodrigue, with a band of ribald followers,
succeeds in carrying her off with all the other nuns. They are all
driven by the King's soldiers into the cemetery of the Aliscamps. Nerto
wanders away during the battle and is lost among the tombs. At dawn the
next day she strays far out to a forest, where she finds a hermit. The
old