Torquemada Read Online Free PDF

moon in the sky. They sat together on a bench and Catherine yielded herself immediately to the boy’s arms. She was filled with passion but Juan was passionless. He held her without warmth, and as she drew back away from him, she said,
    â€œForgive me – but I was worried. With you gone, I couldn’t sleep. I could not sleep and I could not eat.”
    â€œBecause I journeyed to Seville? That makes no sense, Catherine.”
    â€œSeville could be the other side of the world as far as I know. I’ve lived my whole life here in Segovia.”
    â€œSeville? Oh, it’s just another place like Segovia, and we went there and now we are back.”
    â€œWhat happened there?” Catherine asked him.
    â€œWell, you know what happened. I was presented to the Queen—”
    â€œDid she adore you? What did she say to you? What is she like? You must tell me everything. At the Court of the Queen. Oh, that’s exciting! Tell me what she was like.”
    â€œHow many days is it to our wedding?” Juan asked, obliquely.
    â€œTwenty-three.”
    As if he could not direct his thoughts or control them, Juan said, “There was a man there called Columbus. He was an Italian. He says the world is round, like a ball, and he intends to sail all around it—”
    â€œWhat are you talking about, Juan? I know about him. My father told us about him. Didn’t you hear what I said? I said it was twenty-three days to our wedding. Didn’t you ask me that? We were talking about the Queen.”
    â€œThe Queen hated me,” Juan said bleakly. “What can I tell you about her?”
    Then they sat in silence, Catherine puzzled and upset. Meanwhile, inside the house, Alvero and his wife Maria were arguing. They argued more and more frequently of late. It seemed to Alvero that some kind of acid was eating away at their relationship. When he was not with his wife, he felt that he needed her and wanted her and never had he felt it so desperately as during this trip to Seville. At the same time, his disappointment matched his need. When they were alone, and he tried to explain to Maria how he felt about Torqucmada, she refused to believe it.
    â€œI will not believe it,” she said, “I cannot believe it. It’s not true, that’s all, it’s not true. You’re being a fool, Alvero. You always become a fool over such things.”
    â€œWhat things?” he demanded. “You never think twice before you call me a fool, do you?”
    â€œDon’t shout at me, Alvero,” she said primly.
    â€œI am not shouting.”
    â€œOf course you are shouting. A gentleman does not raise his voice.”
    â€œWill you instruct me on the habits of a gentleman!” Alvero exclaimed. “Do you want me to go out of my mind? I am sick and worried and you instruct me on the habits of a gentleman?”
    â€œI simply do not believe,” Maria answered, “that anyone who loves us as much as Thomas does would turn against us – in any way. He is my confessor, so how could he turn against us? I have a right to my thoughts. I think you have just taken leave of your senses, that’s all.”
    Pacing back and forth in front of her, Alvero said hoarsely, “You don’t understand. My God, you don’t understand at all. Now listen, just listen to me, Maria, listen. Torquemada said to me, Alvero – where do you come from? Those words. Just in those words, and suddenly those blue eyes of his were cold as ice. You understand me, like ice. He looked through me into my soul. That’s the gift the man has. There are no secrets in the world that arc barred from him. This is why they made him Grand Inquisitor—”
    Maria smiled and shook her head. “Alvero, he knows where you come from,” she said patiently. “Haven’t we spoken of it a dozen times? He knows that you come from Barcelona. Is it a secret?”
    â€œThen why did he ask