punishment, the Inquisition. Now, you understand me. On one condition,
you shall be the successor to Sandoval. Know that I do not promise
without the power to fulfill. The instant I learned that the late
cardinal's death was certain, I repaired to the king. I have the promise
of the appointment; and this night your name shall, if you accept the
condition, and Calderon does not, in the interim, see the king and
prevent the nomination, receive the royal sanction."

"Our excellent Aliaga cannot hesitate," said Don Gaspar de Guzman. "The
order of Loyola rests upon shoulders that can well support the load."

Before that trio separated, the compact was completed. Aliaga practised
against his friend the lesson he had preached to him--that the end
sanctifies all means. Scarce had Aliaga departed ere Juan de la Nuza
entered; for Uzeda, who sought to make the Inquisition his chief
instrument of power, courted the friendship of all its officers. He
readily promised to obtain the release of Fonseca; and, in effect, it was
but little after midnight when an order arrived at the prison for the
release of Don Martin de Fonseca, accompanied by a note from the duke to
the prisoner, full of affectionate professions, and requesting to see him
the next morning.

Late as the hour was, and in spite of the expostulations of the governor,
who wished him to remain the night within the prison, in the hope to
extract from him his secret, Fonseca no sooner received the order than he
claimed and obtained his liberation.