The consequence has been that strange
fancies have troubled his brain; that at dead of night, when alone in
his chamber, he has imagined that visions have appeared to him; that
voices have spoken--awful voices--talking of prophecies, lamentations,
and judgments, and charging him with a mighty and terrible mission. All
these things I have heard from his own lips, and I have heard and seen
much more, which has satisfied me that his intellects are disordered,
and that he cannot be held accountable for his actions."
"If such be the case, he should have been kept under restraint, and not
suffered to go abroad," said Sir Thomas. "Such madmen are highly
mischievous and dangerous. Much blame rests with you, maiden."
"The whole blame is mine!" she exclaimed. "I confess my error--my
crime--and will atone for it willingly with my life, provided he be
spared. If a sacrifice must be made, let me be the victim."
"There is no sacrifice, and no victim," returned Sir Thomas gravely,
though he was not unmoved by her filial devotion. "There is an offender,
and there will be justice; and justice must be satisfied. Inexorable as
fate, her dread sentences cannot be averted."
"O, honourable Sir! you may one day recall those words; for which of us
can hold himself free from offence? My father is not guilty in the eyes
of Heaven; or if he be, I am equally culpable, since I ought to have
prevented the commission of the crime. O, I shall never forgive myself
that I did not follow him when he parted from me yesterday!"
"Let me hear how that occurred, maiden?" asked Sir Thomas.
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