o severe a judgment upon a man whom
my sovereign lady has raised above other men by casting upon him a
look of kindness; but if Robert of Cabane has deserved the reproach of
inconstancy and ingratitude, if he has perjured himself like a coward,
he must indeed be the basest of all miserable beings, despising a
happiness which other men might have entreated of God the whole time of
their life and paid for through eternity. One man I know, who weeps
both night and day without hope or consolation, consumed by a slow and
painful malady, when one word might yet avail to save him, did it come
from the lips of my noble mistress."

"I will not hear another word," cried Joan, suddenly rising; "there
shall be no new cause for remorse in my life. Trouble has come upon me
through my loves, both lawful and criminal; alas! no longer will I try
to control my awful fate, I will bow my head without a murmur. I am the
queen, and I must yield myself up for the good of my subjects."

"Will you forbid me, madam," replied Dona Cancha in a kind, affectionate
tone--"will you forbid me to name Bertrand of Artois in your presence,
that unhappy man, with the beauty of an angel and the modesty of a girl?
Now that you are queen and have the life and death of your subjects in
your own keeping, will you feel no kindness towards an unfortunate one
whose only fault is to adore you, who strives with all his mind and
strength to bear a chance look of yours without dying of his joy?"

"I have struggled hard never to look on him," cried the queen, urged
by an impulse she was not strong enough to conquer: then, to efface
the impression that might well have been made on her friend's mind, she
added severely, "I forbid you to pronounce his name before me; and if
he should ever venture to complain, I bid you tell him from me that the
first time I even suspect the cause of his distress he will be banished
for ever from my presence."

"Ah, madam, dismiss me also; for I shall never be strong enough to do so
hard a bidding: the unhappy man who cannot awake in your heart so much
as a feeling of pity may now be struck down by yourself in your wrath,
for here he stands; he has heard your sentence, and come to die at your
feet."

The last words were spoken in a louder voice, so that they might be
heard from outside, and Bertrand of Artois came hurriedly into the room
and fell on his knees before the queen. For a long time past the young
lady-in-waiting had perceiv