r Werff!
You have done this thing, you, the friend of the Prince, the shield and
providence of this brave city, you, the man who received the oaths of
the citizens, the martyr's son, the servant of liberty--"

"No more!" he interrupted, trembling with shame and rage. "Do you know
what it is to bear the guilt of this most terrible suffering before God
and men?"

"Yes, yes, thrice yes; it is laying one's heart on the rack, to save
Holland and liberty. That is what it means! Oh, God, my God! You are
lost! You intend to negotiate with Valdez!"

"And suppose I do?" asked the burgomaster, with an angry gesture.

Maria looked him sternly in the eye, and exclaimed in a loud, resolute
tone:

"Then it will be my turn to say: Go to Delft; we need different men
here."

The burgomaster turned pale and bent his eyes on the floor, while she
fearlessly confronted him with a steady glance.

The light fell full upon her glowing face, and when Peter again raised
his eyes, it seemed as if the same Maria stood before him, who as a
bride had vowed to share trouble and peril with him, remain steadfast in
the struggle for liberty to the end; he felt that his "child" Maria had
grown to his own height and above him, recognized for the first time in
the proud woman before him his companion in conflict, his high-hearted
helper in distress and danger. An overmastering yearning, mightier than
any emotion ever experienced before, surged through his soul, impelled
him towards her, and found utterance in the words:

"Maria, Maria, my wife, my guardian angel! We have written to Valdez,
but there is still time,--nothing binds me yet, and with you, with you I
will stand firm to the end."

Then, in the midst of these days of woe, she threw herself on his
breast, crying aloud in the abundance of this new, unexpected,
unutterable happiness:

"With you, one with you--forever, unto death, in conflict and in love!"

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Peter felt animated with new life. A fresh store of courage and
enthusiasm filled his breast, for he constantly received a new supply
from the stout-hearted woman by his side.

Under the pressure of the terrible responsibility he endured, and urged
by his fellow-magistrates, he had consented, at the meeting of the
council, to write to Valdez and ask him to give free passage to
embassadors, who were to entreat the estates and the Prince of Orange to
release the tortured city from her oath.

Valdez made every