"Courage, my daughter," whispered a voice close by, and Lady Regina's evil spirit, the pale Jesuit, stood behind her.
"The hour is approaching," he said in a low tone. "The godless king has been taken by your beauty; rejoice, my child. The Holy Virgin has decided his destruction. This night he shall die."
"Oh, my father, my father, what do you demand of me?"
"Listen to me, my daughter. When Holofernes, the King of Assyria, besieged Bethulia, there was a widow, Judith, the daughter of Merari, beautiful as you, my child, devoted as you. She fasted three times, and then she walked out and gained the favour of the enemy of her faith and people. The saints gave his life into her hands, she drew his sword and cut off his head, and delivered her people."
"Mercy, my father!"
"It was counted unto her great honour and ever-lasting salvation, and her name was mentioned among the greatest in Israel. You will some day be mentioned like that, my daughter, amongst the saints of the Holy Catholic Church. Last night the Holy Franciscus was visible by my bedside. He said, the time has come, go to Judith, tell her that I will give Holofernes' head into her hands."
"What shall I do, my father?"
"Mark closely how you ought to deport yourself. This very evening you must request a private audience of the king."
"Impossible!"
"You shall reveal to him a fictitious plot against his life. He will listen to you. You shall entice the ring from him. Once in possession of it, I will be ready to assist you. But if he refuses you the ring, then take this paper, it contains a deadly poison; St. Franciscus has given it himself to me. You shall mix it in the beverage which the king drinks at night."