Page 39 - Doralice
P. 39

been searched. To which the astrologer replied,'
           Sire, search everywhere and respect no one, and
           then you will surely find the murderer.' So the
           king searched first his mother, and then the
           queen, and when he took the dagger which
           Doralice wore and drew it from the scabbard,
           he found it covered with blood. Then the king,
           convinced by this proof, turned to the queen

           and said to her, 'O, wicked and inhuman
           woman, enemy of your own flesh and blood,
           traitress to your own children! what desperate
           madness has led you to dye your hands in the
           blood of these babes? I swear that you shall
           suffer the full penalty fixed for such a crime.'
           But though the king in his rage would fain have

           sent her straightway to a shameful death, his
           desire for vengeance prompted him to dispose
           of her so that she might suffer longer and more
           cruel torment. Where fore he commanded that
           she should be stripped and thus naked buried
           up to her chin in the earth, and that she should
           be well fed in order that she might linger long
           and the worms devour her flesh while she still
           lived. The queen, seasoned to misfortune in the

           past, and       conscious      of   her    innocence,
           contemplated her terrible doom ___


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