He was tall and haggard; a long beard descended to his waist. His
peculiar nose--the most marked characteristic of his race, long and
beak-shaped, yet not exactly aquiline--marked the Jew. He looked
anxiously around.
"Thou art Abraham of Toledo?"
The Hebrew bowed submissively.
"A compounder of poisons?"
"Say rather of medicines, lord; for the making of one is the
rule--of the other, the exception."
"Thou dost not deny the accusation, which places thy life at the
mercy of the court?"
"I will own all, and throw myself on its mercy, trusting that the
relief I have oft afforded in bodily anguish, maybe allowed to
atone, in its measure, for any aid my fears may have driven me to
lend to crime."
"It is thine only chance, Jew, to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth."
"I am at your lordship's disposal."
"Didst thou ever deal with Hugo, sometime lord of Malville. and
afterwards of Aescendune?"
"Once only."
"On what occasion?"
"He sought a medicine."
"A medicine?" said Geoffrey, sternly; "thou triflest."
"Nay!--a poison, I would have said."
"Of what specific nature?"
"To produce the symptoms of decline--the patient would sink and
die."
"What was the appearance of the poison?"
"Dropped in water it diffused at first a sapphire hue, but after
exposure to the air the hue of the ruby succeeded.
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