Silent? No. There was a dark form in one corner, and when it moved the clanking of chains was heard. 'T was there that Mercado was confined.
"My doom is sealed," he soliloquized, in a low voice. "Death is my portion; eternal misery the inheritance of her I love, the noble and gentle Lucretia! O, that we could have died together, or that I could have told thou that I was going on a far journey, so that thou wouldst have hoped and waited for my return, until I had partially faded from thy remembrance, and thou had thus been prepared for the final blow! If this is thy father's work, fearfully will he repent the wrong he is doing his child!"
A door behind the young noble was noiselessly opened; a familiar[1] entered.
"Signor Mercado," he said, "I come from Alexander Borgia. One of the chief elements of my business is briefness; so I shall not trouble you long. My master has learned that you are in love with his daughter—which he dislikes. You are condemned to death, and only one course can save you. If you will leave Rome forever, and within the hour, and swear never to have any further acquaintance with Donna Lucretia, either by word or deed, you will be set at liberty. What is your reply?"
"This: Go to your master, and tell him that I scorn him and his infamous proposal!"
- ↑ Familiars were the most detestable of all the officers of Catholicism. They were employed by the leading officers of the church to visit prisoners, worm themselves into their confidence, and, under the guise of friendship, gain all their secrets, and then betray them to the Inquisition! They have even been known to show prisoners a pretended way of escape, that they might have the pleasure of arresting them at the moment when they thought themselves free, and thus feast the Holy Fathers on their agony!
