Punishment of Simon Turchi It was six o'clock in the morning.
The height of the sun indicated that the warm season of summer had
replaced the mild month of May. It was apparently a festival day at
Antwerp, for through all the gates people poured from the surrounding
country into the city. The streets were filled with persons of all ages,
who, talking and laughing, hastened to the centre of the city, as though
they anticipated some magnificent spectacle.
Before Mr. Van de Werve's residence was a compact mass of citizens who
seemed impatient at the delay. Through a sentiment of respect, they were
perfectly quiet, speaking in very low tones, and making way to afford a
passage through the crowd every time that a cavalier or any notable
personage presented himself for admission into the house.
The attraction to the centre of the city must have been very powerful, for
the greater part of those who passed neither stopped nor turned their
heads. Some approached, and learning upon inquiry as to the cause of the
gathering, that Miss Van de Werve was about to leave for Italy, they
immediately resumed their walk, as if the sight of this departure were no
equivalent to the imposing spectacle they were going to witness. A few,
however, remained in order to discover the real object of so large a
concourse of people.
An old gray-headed peasant, after having listened to the conversation
going on among the peasants, recognized in the crowd a man from his own
village, who had been residing for some time in the city, near the church
of Saint James, and who consequently, he thought, must be better informed
than the others in regard to Miss Van de Werve.
He elbowed his way through the crowd until he reached his friend, struck
him on the shoulder, and said: "What is going on here, Master John, to collect such an assembly? I heard
some one say that Miss Van de Werve was about to leave for Italy."
"Ah! Master Stephen," said the other, "call her Madame Geronimo Deodati."
"Is she married?"
"One would say, Master Stephen, that our village is at the other end of
the world. Even the children of Antwerp bless this marriage as a striking
proof of God's justice."
"I did hear, friend John, that God had visibly avenged virtue and punished
crime. The assassin dies by a frightful death, and the victim becomes the
husband of the noblest and wealthiest young lady in the marquisate. Do you
know her, Master John?"
"Do I know her? She passes my house twice every day in going to church. I
furnish the family with bread, and I have frequent opportunities of
speaking with this amiable young lady."