Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/294

268 268 FERDINANDS RETURN AND REGENCY. II. iwRT before her departure. The remonstrances of her counsellors, and the holy men of the monastery of Mh-aflores, proved equally fruitless. Opposition only roused her passions into frenzy, and they were obliged to comply with her mad humors. The corpse was removed from the vault; the two coffins of lead and wood were opened, and such as chose gazed on the mouldering relics, which, notwith- standing their having been embalmed, exhibited scarcely a trace of humanity. The queen was not satisfied till she touched them with her own hand, which she did without shedding a tear, or testifying the least emotion. The unfortunate lady, indeed, was said never to have been seen to weep, since she detected her husband's intrigue with the Flem- ish courtesan. The body was then placed on a magnificent car, or hearse, drawn by four horses. It was accompa- nied by a long train of ecclesiastics and nobles, who, together with the queen, left the city on the night of the 20th of December. She made her journeys by night, saying, that "a widow, who had lost the sun of her own soul, should never expose herself to the light of day." AVhen she halted, the body was deposited in some church or monastery, where the funeral services were performed, as if her husband had just died ; and a corps of armed men kept constant guard, chiefly, as it would seem, with the view of preventing any female from pro- faning the place by her presence. For Joanna still retained the same jealousy of her sex, which