The great doors of the judgment-hall were flung wide, and the motley throng of priests and underlings, glutted with their awful triumph, pushed through, dragging the piteous figure of their [pg 145]prisoner. The face of the Nazarene gleamed white and calm amid the dark looks of his persecutors; his loving eyes turned for the last time upon Peter and flashed into his darkened soul the remembrance of that sad word of prophecy: “Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.”
And Peter went out and wept bitterly.
CHAPTER X
IN THE PALACE GARDEN
The wife of Pilate arose from her couch with a troubled and haggard look on her fair face. The maid who attended the great lady’s toilet observed this with curiosity. “There is tumult about the gates of the palace this morning,” she said, as she combed out the long blonde tresses with a comb of gold and ivory, preparatory to weaving them into a graceful crown of braided strands.
The princess shrugged her fair shoulders with a slight gesture of weariness. “There is always tumult,” she said [pg 147]languidly. “Ah me, ’tis a dreary place—this Jerusalem. I would I were once more safely at Rome.”
“If my noble lady will but glance into the mirror, she will behold a fairer sight than even Rome can offer,” said the maid obsequiously, and skilfully fastened a fresh-blown rose so that its crimson petals rested on the white neck of her mistress. “But the tumult of this morning differs from that of other days, honorable princess,” she went on eagerly. “Diomed says that the Jews have seized their prophet and are about to put him to death—if, indeed, they are allowed.”
“What prophet, girl?” demanded the lady, a faint flush stealing into her pale cheeks. “Every man is a prophet—or a priest, is it not so, in this hateful Jerusalem? And the prophets have loud [pg 148]voices, and they are always creating a tumult.”
“I myself have seen this man,” said the girl. “He is quite unlike the other rabbis, as they call them—of a gentle voice, and a stature majestic. I bethought me of my gods in Athens. Yet is the man a Jew.”