A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Z

Sidonia The Sorceress V1

W >> William Mienhold >> Sidonia The Sorceress V1




Whereupon they went to him; but he could give no counsel, only to
leave the matter in the hands of God the Lord; for if they
appealed to the Prince, the sorceress would surely bewitch them
again, and they would be screaming day and night, or maybe die at
once, and then what help for them, &c.

Sidonia meanwhile was not idle; for she sent messages throughout
the whole convent that she lay in her bed sick unto death, and
they must needs come and pray with her, along with the priest,
before they assembled in the chapel for service. At this open
blasphemy and hypocrisy, a great fear and horror fell upon the
abbess, likewise upon the priest, since the witch had specially
named him, and desired that he would come _before_ service to
pray with her. For a long while he hesitated, at last promised to
visit her _after_ service; but again bethought himself that
it would be more advisable to visit her before, for he might
possibly succeed in unveiling all her iniquities, or if not, he
could pray afterwards in the church, "that if indeed Sidonia were
really sick, and a child of God, the just and merciful Father
would raise her up and strengthen her in her weakness; but if she
were practising deceit, and were no child of God, but an accursed
limb of Satan, then he would give her up into the hands of God for
punishment, for had He not said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will
repay, saith the Lord'? (Romans xii. 19.)"

This pleased the abbess, and forthwith the reverend David
proceeded to the refectory.

Now Sidonia had not expected him so early, and she was up and
dressed, busily brewing another hellish drink to have ready for
him by the time he arrived; but when his step sounded in the
passage, she whipped into bed and covered herself up with the
clothes, not so entirely, however, but that a long tail of her
black robe fell outside from under the white sheet--this,
unluckily for herself, she knew nothing of. The priest, however,
saw it plainly, and had, moreover, heard the jump she gave into
bed just as he opened the door; but he made no remark, only
greeted her as usual, and asked what she wanted with him.

_Illa.--"Ah! she was sick, sick unto death--would he not pray
for her? for the night before she was too ill to pray, and no
doubt the Lord was angry with her, by reason of the omission. This
morning, indeed, she had crept out of bed, just to scold her
awkward maid for breaking all the pots and pans, as he himself
saw, but had to go to bed again, and was growing weaker and weaker
every quarter of an hour. But the good priest must taste her beer;
let him drink a can of it first to strengthen his heart. It was
the best beer she had made yet, and her maid had just tapped a
fresh barrel."

Here the reverend David made answer--"He thanked her for her beer,
but would drink none. He could not believe, either, that she was
as ill as she said, and had been lying in bed all the morning."

But she persisted so vehemently in her falsehoods that the very
boards under her must have felt ashamed, if they had possessed any
consciousness. Whereupon the priest shuddered in horror and
disgust, bent down silently, and lifted up the piece of her robe
which lay outside.

"What did this mean? did she wear her nun's dress in bed? or was
she not rather making a mock of him, and the whole convent, by her
pretended sickness?"

Here Sidonia grew red with shame and wrath; but, ere she could
utter a word, the priest continued with a holy and righteous
anger--

"Woe to thee, Sidonia! for thou art a byword amongst the people.
Woe to thee, Sidonia! for thou hast passed thy youth in wantonness
and thy old age in sin. Woe to thee, Sidonia! for thy hellish arts
brought thy mother the abbess, and thy father the superintendent,
nearly to their graves. Woe to thee, Sidonia! for this past night
thou hast taken a horrible revenge upon the whole princely race,
and cursed them by the power which the devil gives thee. Woe to
thee, Sidonia! for by thy hellish drink thou didst seek to destroy
me, the servant of the living God, to thy horrible maid still more
horribly attracting me. Woe to thee, Sidonia! accursed witch and
sorceress, blasphemer of God and man! Behold, thy God liveth, and
thy Prince liveth, and they will rain fire and brimstone upon thy
infamous head. Woe to thee! woe to thee! woe to thee! thou false
serpent--thou accursed above all the generations of vipers--how
wilt thou escape eternal damnation?"

When the righteous priest of God had ended his fearful
malediction, he started at himself, for he knew not how the words
had come into his mouth; then turned from the bed and went out,
while a peal of laughter followed him from the room. But no evil
happened to him at that time, as he had fully expected, from
Sidonia (probably she feared to exasperate the convent and the
Prince against her too much); but she treasured up her vengeance
to another opportunity, as we shall hear further on.


END OF VOL. I.

Copyright (c) 2007. famouswriterz.com. All rights reserved.