added the feeling, usually found most frequently among gamblers, that
the time to win or, in his Majesty's case, to succeed was past. Lastly,
Charles really did long for less disturbance from the regular course of
business, the reception of ambassadors, the granting of audiences.

"In short," he concluded, "he wants to have an easier life, and,
besides, if the despatches and orders leave him time for it, to
occupy himself with his favourite amusements--his clocks and pieces
of mechanism. Finally, his sufferings remind him often enough of the
approach of death, and he hopes by religious exercises to secure his
place in the kingdom of heaven."

"So far as politics and the table give him leisure for it," interposed
the Frieslander. "He doesn't seem inclined to make his penance too
severe. Quijada is now preparing the penitential cell, and it is neither
in the burning Thebais nor in the arid sands of the desert, but in one
of the most delightful and charming places in Spain. May our sovereign
find there what he seeks! You are aware of the paternal joys which await
him through the boy Geronimo?"

"Where did you learn that?" Granvelle interrupted in a startled tone,
and Barbara held her breath and listened with twofold attention.

"From his Majesty himself," was the reply. "He intended his son for
the monastery. He longs to see him again, because he is said to be
developing magnificently; but he wished to know whether it would not
be safer to remove him from the world before his arrival, for, if
necessary, he could give up meeting him. If he should discover his
father's identity, it might easily fill him with vanity, and in
Villagarcia he was learning to prize knightly achievements above the
service of the Most High. It would not do to leave him in the world;
unpleasant things might come from it. As King Philip's sole heir was the
sickly Don Carlos----"

"His son Geronimo might aspire to the crown," interrupted Granvelle. "He
expressed the same doubts to me also. What I heard of the child
induced me to plead that he might be allowed to grow up in the world
untrammelled. If any one understands how to defend himself against
unauthorized demands, it is Don Philip."

"So I, too, think, and advised," replied Viglius. "Poor boy! His father
of late holds on to thalers more than anxiously and, if I am correctly
informed, the education of his son has hitherto cost his Majesty no more
expense than the maintenance of the mother.