The Marquise of O and Other Stories by Heinrich von Kleist Page B

occasion to dwell in detailon the outrage that had been perpetrated in the garden of the Carmelite convent! He condemned as impious the indulgence with which it had been treated by society, and even digressed, with copious imprecations, to mention the two sinners themselves by name and to consign their souls to all the princes of hell. Doña Constanza, plucking Jerónimo by the arm, called out: ‘Don Fernando!’ but the latter replied as emphatically and at the same time as surreptitiously as possible, ‘Do not say a word, Doña; do not so much as move your eyes, but pretend that you are about to faint, and then we shall leave the church.’ But before Doña Constanza had even executed this ingenious stratagem for their escape, a voice, loudly interrupting the canon’s sermon, cried out: ‘Citizens of Santiago, here stand those two godless sinners! Keep clear, keep well away from them!’ And as a wide circle of people backed away in horror, a second terror-stricken voice asked: ‘Where?’ A third man replied: ‘Here!’ and filled with brutal fervour he seized Josefa by the hair and would have dragged her to the ground together with Don Fernando’s child, if the latter had not supported her. ‘Are you mad?’ cried the young man, putting his arm round Josefa. ‘I am Don Fernando Ormez, the son of the Commandant of this city, whom you all know.’ ‘Don Fernando Ormez?’ exclaimed someone who now came and stood right in front of him; he was a cobbler who had worked for Josefa and knew her at least as well as he knew her tiny feet. ‘Who is this child’s father?’ he demanded, turning with shameless insolence to Asterón’s daughter. Don Fernando turned pale at this question. By turns he glanced furtively at Jerónimo and scanned the congregation, to see if there was anyone who knew him. Under the constraint of this appalling situation Josefa cried out: ‘This is not my child, Master Pedrillo, as you think’; and looking at Don Fernando in unspeakable anguish of mind she added, ‘This young gentleman is Don Fernando Ormez, the son of the Commandant of this city,whom you all know!’ The cobbler asked: ‘Citizens, which of you knows this young man?’ And several of the bystanders repeated: ‘Who knows Jerónimo Rugera? Let him step forward!’ Now it so happened that at this very moment little Juan, frightened by the uproar, began struggling in Josefa’s arms and reaching out towards Don Fernando. At once a voice yelled: ‘He
is
the father!’ and another, ‘He
is
Jerónimo Rugera!’ and a third, ‘
These
are the blasphemers!’ And the whole assembly of Christians in that temple of Jesus raised a cry of ‘Stone them! Stone them!’ At this Jerónimo now cried out: ‘Stop! You monsters! If you are looking for Jerónimo Rugera, he is here! Set free that man, who is innocent!’
    The furious mob, confused by Jerónimo’s words, hesitated; several hands released Don Fernando; and when at that moment a naval officer of high rank approached hurriedly and, pushing his way through the crowd, asked: ‘Don Fernando Ormez! What has happened to you?’, the latter, now quite free, replied with truly heroic presence of mind, ‘Why, look, Don Alonzo, what murderous villains these are! I should have been a dead man if this worthy gentleman had not calmed the raging crowd by pretending to be Jerónimo Rugera. Be so kind as to take him into protective custody, and this young lady as well; and as for this scoundrel,’ he added, seizing Master Pedrillo, ‘arrest him, for it was he who started the whole commotion!’ The cobbler shouted: ‘Don Alonzo Onoreja, I ask you on your conscience, is this girl not Josefa Asterón?’ And when Don Alonzo, who knew Josefa well, hesitated before answering, and several people, stung to new fury by