The nuns came beautifully dressed to hear mass at the grilles giving
into the chapel adjoining the church; the tourist may have his glimpse
of them there on Sundays, and on week-days he may have his guess of
their cloistered life and his wonder how much it continues the tradition
of repose which the name of the old garden grounds implies. These lady
nuns must be of patrician lineage and of fortune enough to defray their
expense in the convent, which is of the courtliest origin, for it was
founded eight hundred years ago by Alfonso VIII. "to expiate his sins
and to gratify his queen," who probably knew of them. I wish now I had
known, while I was there, that the abbess of Las Huelgas had once had
the power of life and death in the neighborhood, and could hang people
if she liked; I cannot think just what good it would have done me, but
one likes to realize such things on the spot. She is still one of the
greatest ladies of Spain, though perhaps not still "lady of ax and
gibbet," and her nuns are of like dignity. In their chapel are the tombs
of Alfonso and his queen, whose figures are among those on the high
altar of the church. She was Eleanor Plantagenet, the daughter of our
Henry II.
Pages:
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72