ons of opinion given by the
young minister swiftly and without deeper examination. The saying that
the Emperor could not dispense with him, but he might do without the
Emperor, had originally applied to his father, whose position he filled
to the monarch's satisfaction in every respect.

The confessor had reminded the sovereign of the anniversary which had
already dawned, and which he was accustomed to celebrate in his own way.

Very early in the morning, after a few hours spent in suffering, he
heard mass, and then remained for hours in the sable-draped room where
he communed with himself alone.

The regent knew that on this memorable day he would not be seen even by
her. The success of the surprise afforded a guarantee that music would
supply her place to him on the morrow also, and ere she left him she
requested a short leave of absence to enjoy the hunting for which she
longed, and permission to take his major-domo Quijada with her.

An almost unintelligible murmur from the sufferer told her that he had
granted the petition. It was done reluctantly, but the Queen departed
at dawn with Don Luis and a small train of attendants, while the Emperor
retired into the black-draped chamber.

The gout would really have prohibited him from kneeling before the
altar, whence the agonized face of the crucified Redeemer, carved in
ivory by a great Florentine master, gazed at him, but he took this
torture upon himself.

Even in the period of health and happiness when, at the age of
twenty-three, besides the great boon of health, besides fame, power,
and woman's love, he had enjoyed in rich abundance all the gifts which
Heaven bestows on mortals, his devout nature had led him to retreat into
a gloomy, solitary apartment.

The feeling that constantly drew him thither again was akin to the
dread which the ancients had of the envy of the gods, and, moreover, the
admonition of his pious teacher who afterward became Pope Adrian, that
the less man spares himself the more confidently he can rely upon the
forbearance of God.

And, in truth, this mighty sovereign, racked by almost unendurable pain,
dealt cruelly enough with himself when he compelled his aching knee to
bend until consciousness threatened to fail under the excess of agony.

Nowhere did he find more complete calmness than here, in no spot could
he pray more fervently, and the boon which he most ardently besought
from Heaven was that it would spare him the fate of his