to business; for time presses,
and all must be despatched to-night. Before interest is made by
others with the king, we must be prompt in gaining the appointment of
Sandoval's successor."

"Report says that the cardinal-duke, your father, himself desires the
vacant chair of the Inquisition."

"My poor father, he is old--his sun has set. No, Aliaga; I have thought
of one fitter for that high and stern office in a word, that appointment
rests with yourself. I can make you Grand Inquisitor of Spain--!"

"Me!" said the Jesuit, and he turned aside his face. "You jest with me,
noble son."

"I am serious--hear me. We have been foes and rivals; why should not
our path be the same? Calderon has deprived you of friends more powerful
than himself. His hour is come. The Duke de Lerma's downfall cannot
be avoided; if it could, I, his son, would not as, you may suppose,
withhold my hand. But business fatigues him--he is old--the affairs of
Spain are in a deplorable condition--they need younger and abler hands.
My father will not repine at a retirement suited to his years, and which
shall be made honourable to his gray hairs. But some victim must glut
the rage of the people; that victim must be the upstart Calderon; the
means of his punishment, the Inquisition. Now, you understand me. On one
condition, you shall be the successor to Sandoval. Know that I do not
promise without the power to fulfill. The instant I learned that the
late cardinal's death was certain, I repaired to the king. I have the
promise of the appointment; and this night your name shall, if you
accept the condition, and Calderon does not, in the interim, see the
king and prevent the nomination, receive the royal sanction."

"Our excellent Aliaga cannot hesitate," said Don Gaspar de Guzman. "The
order of Loyola rests upon shoulders that can well support the load."

Before that trio separated, the compact was completed. Aliaga practised
against his friend the lesson he had preached to him--that the end
sanctifies all means. Scarce had Aliaga departed ere Juan de la Nuza
entered; for Uzeda, who sought to make the Inquisition his chief
instrument of power, courted the friendship of all its officers. He
readily promised to obtain the release of Fonseca; and, in effect, it
was but little after midnight when an order arrived at the prison for
the release of Don Martin de Fonseca, accompanied by a note from the
duke to the prisoner, full of affectionate professions, a