Yet the prisoner, unmoved by these appeals, persisted that he was
Gabriel de Espinosa, a pastry-cook. But the man's bearing, and
the air of mystery cloaking him, seemed in themselves to belie
that asseveration. That he could not be the Prior of Crato, Don
Rodrigo had now assured himself. He fenced skilfully under
exurnination, ever evading the magistrate's practiced point when
it sought to pin him, and he was no less careful to say nothing
that should incriminate either of the other two prisoners. He
denied that he had ever given himself out to be Don Sebastian,
though he admitted that Frey Miguel and the princess had
persuaded themselves that he was that lost prince.
He pleaded ignorance when asked who were his parents, stating
that he had never known either of them--an answer this which
would have fitted the case of Don Sebastian, who was born after
his father's death, and quitted in early infancy by his mother.
As for Frey Miguel, he stated boldly under examination the conviction
that Don Sebastian had survived the African expedition, and the
belief that Espinosa might well be the missing monarch. He
protested that he had acted in good faith throughout, and without
any thought of disloyalty to the King of Spain.
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