"The ring was seen in your hands," continued the judge; "have you anything to say now?"
Mary declared that this was impossible. Turning to his side, the judge rang a little bell, and Amelia's maid, Juliette, was brought in. In the fit of jealousy which she had felt because of the dress given to Mary, and in her anxiety to deprive Mary of her mistress's favour, Juliette had said to one or two people that she had seen Mary take the ring. In consequence of this statement Juliette was now summoned as a witness, and, fearful to be caught in a lie, she determined to maintain it even in a court of justice. When the judge warned her to declare the truth before God, she felt her heart beat quickly and her knees tremble; but this wicked girl obeyed neither the voice of the judge nor the voice of her own conscience. "If," said she to herself, "I acknowledge now that I told a lie, then I shall be driven away. Perhaps I may even be imprisoned." Determined to carry out her part, she turned to Mary and said insultingly—
"You have the ring; I saw you with it."
Mary heard this false charge with horror, but she did not allow passion to get the upper hand. Her only reply was, and her tears almost choked her while she said it—
"It is not true. You did not see me with the ring. How can you tell so terrible a falsehood for the sake of ruining me, when I never have injured you?"
At the sight of Mary, Juliette's feelings of hatred and jealousy revived. She repeated the falsehood, with new circumstances and details, after which she was dismissed by the judge.
"Mary, you are convicted," said he. "All the circumstances are against you. The chamber-maid of the young Countess saw the ring in your hand. Tell me now, what you have done with it?"
In vain Mary protested her innocence. According to the cruel custom of those days, the judge now sent her to be whipped until the blood came, in the effort to make her confess her guilt. The punishment made poor Mary scream with pain, but she continued to declare her innocence. Suffering great agony, she was finally thrown into her prison again. Her bed of straw was hard, her wounds gave her great pain, and half the night she spent without sleeping, groaning and praying to God.
The next day she was brought again before the court. The severity of the law had failed to wring any confession from her. The judge now tried to make her confess by adopting a mild tone, and by holding out promises.
"You have incurred the penalty of death," said he, "but if you confess where the ring is, nothing will be done to you. Think well before you answer, for your choice is between life and death."