Anon the low door creaks on its hinges and a figure appears, completely shrouded in black. The head is covered by a cowl with slits for eyes; in one hand is a torch, which throws a glare in the chamber like blood; the other lies concealed in the mantle.
At this horrible sight Blanche loses all her composure. She shrieks aloud, and burying herself in the arms of Claire clings closely to the stone walls.
But the priest exhorting her with holy words, she speedily regains her courage, and turning to the executioner speaks with a gentle voice.
“Friend, I pardon you. You must obey the king, who sends you, as I do in dying here.” And rising to her feet, a kind of glory gathers on her face; all her young beauty comes back to her again, such as she was when, as a happy girl, she left Narbonne a bride.
“I am but eighteen years old, and I am about to die, a virgin, as I have lived. The crown which was put on my head was one of sorrow; I hope to find a better in another world. My father,” turning to the priest, who is bowed down with grief, “if it be possible, commend me to my sister, the Queen of France, and to my father, and tell them I have not disgraced them by any act.”
And with these words upon her lips, she kneels down, the executioner seizes her, and passes the fatal bowstring round her throat.
According to a legend of the time, Blanche of Bourbon was interred in the old cathedral at Xeres, but as an entirely new building was erected in 1695, no record of her burying-place remains.
CHAPTER XVI
Death of Maria de Padilla—Don Juan de Mañara
OREMOST in the fighting at Toledo, when Don Pedro drove out Don Enrique de Trastamare and took Queen Blanche prisoner, was his favourite, Don Juan de Mañara, an historical profligate of no small fame in poetry and music, and dreaded by husbands and fathers.