It seemed to me that it would never be known, save to
Him who knows the secrets of all hearts, what hand had done that
terrible deed; but now I know that the fallibility of all human
judgment has led questi Signori to the conclusion that the girl
Paolina is guilty, and her condemnation would be a misfortune
greater than the first--I knowing the hand which did that deed."
"Ha, you know the murderer; you suppose you know him? You come to
offer us your guess, your suggestion?"
"I come, Signori miei, with pain and sorrow and great reluctance, to
save you from condemning an innocent person by naming him who is
guilty."
A sort of buzz and almost shiver of interest, anxiety, and
expectation ran through the court, as the old friar spoke the above
words in a stronger voice than that in which he had yet spoken.
"Friar," said the Procuratore solemnly and severely; "it is my duty,
before you speak, to warn you to take heed to what you say. You are
about, you say, to make an accusation the most tremendous that one
man can bring against another. Bethink you whether you are able to
substantiate what you are about to utter. Remember that, if you
cannot substantiate it, it would be an hundred-fold better that your
suspicion should remain unuttered."
The Procuratore, as well as every one else in the court, had little
or no doubt that the friar was about to accuse the Marchese Ludovico
as the perpetrator of the murder.
Pages:
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650