ng with the expressed wish of the two ladies, in the evening he
made with them the round of the principal churches, which now all wore
gala attire. He took his seat on the box by the coachman's side, and
pointed out, in passing, the buildings and scenes of special interest.
In one of the churches he showed the ladies facsimiles of the four nails
used in the Crucifixion; of the originals, one, he explained, was
preserved in St. Peter's, and another had been used to make the circle
of the Iron Crown. He even bought as a souvenir one of these facsimiles,
which a Cistercian monk was offering for sale. He obtained also
consecrated palm-branches with gilded leaves, and bribed the custodian
of the three sacred orange-trees planted by the Apostles to give his
party each a tiny leaflet. He schooled his face to betray no incredulity
when the keepers of the various holy relics recited their virtues, and
related the miracles wrought by them. And when Blanka knelt in prayer
before a statue of the Madonna, he withdrew respectfully to a distance.
It was an earnest petition she offered before the blessed Virgin, a
prayer for rescue from her enemies, and for strength to resist every
temptation. And she knew not that her rescuer and her tempter were one
and the same person, and that he stood there behind her at that very
moment.

Of a highly impressionable temperament, and fresh from her convent life,
the princess was so moved by the sacred emblems about her, and by their
holy associations, that she could not conceive of any one's viewing
these objects with less of awe and reverence than herself. And when her
conductor recounted the legend of the sacred lance in the chapel of St.
Veronica,--how the Roman lictor Longinus had pierced the Saviour's side
with this lance, and been himself struck blind the same instant, but had
immediately recovered his sight when he rubbed his eyes with the hand on
which four drops of the Redeemer's blood had fallen,--Blanka could not
but ask herself whether another such miracle might not be wrought, and
another blind man be restored to sight. She dreamed of this miracle that
night, and made a vow to the Virgin that in case of her deliverance from
her present difficulties, she would show her gratitude by presenting the
Madonna with a jewel more precious than any that adorned her crown: she
would offer this young man himself, who now refused to worship at her
shrine. The princess felt herself rich enough to buy