THE SEVENTH NOVEL.—ISABEL OF VALOIS, BEING
FORSAKEN BY ALL OTHERS, IS BEFRIENDED BY A PRIEST,
WHO, IN CHIEF THROUGH A CHILD'S INNOCENCE, CONTRIVES
AND EXECUTES A LAUDABLE IMPOSTURE, AND WINS
TO DEATH THEREBY.
The Story of the Heritage
n the year of grace 1399 (Nicolas begins) dwelt in a hut near Caer Dathyl in Arvon, as he had done for some five years, a gaunt hermit, notoriously consecrate, whom neighboring Welshmen revered as the Blessed Evrawc. There had been a time when people called him Edward Maudelain, but this period he dared not often remember.
For though in macerations of the flesh, in fasting, and in hour-long prayers he spent his days, this holy man was much troubled by devils. He got little rest because of them. Sometimes would come into his hut Belphegor in the likeness of a butler, and whisper, "Sire, had you been King, as was your right, you had drunk to-day not water but the wines of Spain and Hungary." Or Asmodeus saying, "Sire, had you been King, as was your right, you had lain now on cushions of silk."
One day in early spring came a more cunning devil, named Bembo, in the likeness of a fair woman with yellow hair and large blue eyes. She wore a massive crown which seemed too heavy for her frailness to sustain. Soft tranquil eyes had lifted from her book. "You are my cousin now, messire," this phantom had appeared to say.
"IN THE LIKENESS OF A FAIR WOMAN" Painting by Howard Pyle
That was the worst, and Maudelain began to fear he was a little mad because even this he had resisted with many aves.