Page:The silent prince - a story of the Netherlands (IA cu31924008716957).pdf/210

 “You have asked a singular request, fair lady. Presumably the girl is a heretic.”

“I think it more than likely, your Grace, but I will see to it that she is speedily converted. She will be so grateful to me for her release that I doubt not she will readily do me the small favor of turning Catholic.”

“It is establishing a bad precedent. Were this matter to become known, I should directly be overwhelmed with petitions of a similar nature.”

“I assure your Grace that I will act with the greatest discretion. The matter can be done quietly, and no one need be the wiser. She can be removed from prison in the night, and I will see that she is many leagues from here the next day. Really, Duke, I shall take it to heart if you do not grant my request.”

“How did you learn the girl’s history, Doña?” asked Alva, suspiciously.

“My maid was gossiping about the affair. It seemed a pity that one so young and who had suffered so much should languish in prison. I assure your Grace that it was human kindness, pure and simple, that brought me hither, and I trusted in your goodness and sense of justice to grant my request.”

There has never been a tyrant who did not like to be called good and just. These words appealed to the Duke of Alva. Judicious flattery was the