Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/351

207 ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. 207 tection, than, burning with indignation, she imme- chapter diatelj mounted her horse, though in the midst of '- — a heavy storm of rain, and proceeded alone towards the castle of Simancas, then in possession of the admiral, the father of the offender, where she sup- posed him to have taken refuge, travelling all the while with such rapidity, that she was not over- taken by the officers of her guard, until she had gained the fortress. She instantly summoned the admiral to deliver up his son to justice ; and, on his replying that " Don Frederic was not there, and that he was ignorant where he was," she commanded him to surrender the keys of the castle, and, after a fruitless search, again returned to Valladolid. The next day Isabella was confined to her bed by an illness occasioned as much by chagrin, as by the excessive fatigue which she had undergone. " My body is lame," said she, " with the blows given by Don Frederic in contempt of my safe-conduct." The admiral, perceiving how deeply he and his family had incurred the displeasure of the queen, took counsel with his friends, who were led by their knowledge of Isabella's character to believe that he would have more to hope from the surren- der of his son, than from further attempts at concealment. The young man was accordingly conducted to the palace by his uncle, the constable de Haro, who deprecated the queen's resentment by representing the age of his nephew, scarcely amounting to twenty years. Isabella, however, thought proper to punish the youthful delinquent, by ordering him to be publicly conducted as a