a heretic was a deadly sin; but to save a soul would be acceptable to
God--a holy offering at the footstool of the throne of grace and mercy.
This hope would justify any sacrifice. The great Prince was about to march
against Tver, and Antonio was to accompany him. Could she permit him to
depart without an effort to redeem him from his heresy, or, alas! without
a token of her love? She determined to send him the crucifix she wore
round her neck--a holy and a sacred thing, which it would have been a
deadly sin to part with unless to rescue a soul from perdition--and she
sent it. Her brother, too, was to accompany the army, and had besides, on
his return, to encounter a judicial combat. The soul of the old warrior
Obrazétz was deeply moved by the near approach of his son's departure. One
son had died by his side--he might never see Iván more, and his heart
yearned to join with him in prayer. "The mercies of God are unaccountable."

"Trusting in them, Obrazétz proceeded to the oratory, whither, by his
command, he was followed by Khabár and Anastasia.

"Silently they go, plunged in feelings of awe: they enter the oratory;
the solitary window is curtained; in the obscurity, feebly dispelled
by the mysterious glimmer of the lamp, through the deep stillness,
fitfully broken by the flaring of the taper, they were gazed down
upon from every side by the dark images of the Saviour, the Holy
Mother of God, and the Holy Saints. From them there seems to breathe
a chilly air as of another world: here thou canst not hide thyself
from their glances; from every side they follow thee in the slightest
movement of thy thoughts and feelings. Their wasted faces, feeble
limbs, and withered frames--their flesh macerated by prayer and
fasting--the cross, the agony--all here speaks of the victory of will
over passions. Themselves an example of purity in body and soul, they
demand the same purity from all who enter the oratory, their holy