The Eagle and the Dove by Vita Sackville-West

Author:Vita Sackville-West
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House

XVII

IT MIGHT BE thought that the re-interred Teresa would now be left in peace, but for those suspected of sainthood there is little repose. For two years the tomb was left undisturbed in the care of the nuns of Alba, who thought themselves secure in the possession of their treasure. They little knew that at the General Chapter of the Order, convoked at Pastrana, Father Gracian was advancing the claims of Avila to the body of its holy daughter. The indignation aroused by Teresa’s first foundation at San José, when they had threatened to throw her into prison, was now quite forgotten, and even ironically reversed by the argument that San José had the right to her remains since she held the position of its Prioress at the time of her death. No one would have been more amused than Teresa at this working-out of human ways.

The Chapter had the grace to be concerned about the feelings of the nuns of Alba. It was realised that they would bitterly resent the deprivation, and it was therefore agreed that the removal of the coffin should take place in secret, the nuns being kept in ignorance until all was over, also that what remained of the left arm should be severed and left for indemnity in their keeping. This tactful plan went slightly wrong, for they had reckoned without Teresa. At the very moment the decision was come to in distant Pastrana three loud knocks, twice repeated, were heard within the tomb, startling the nuns who at first believed that someone had got shut into the church by mistake and dispatched the portress in all haste to release the prisoner. Their misgivings were allayed by the Prioress, who told them to pay no attention as it was evidently the Devil trying to disturb them.

The Prioress, with two of the older nuns, was taken into the secret when Father Gracian, Julian of Avila, three friars, and the Bishop of Palencia’s secretary eventually arrived on their mission at the convent. Distressed though the women may have been, they could of course make no objection to the orders of their superiors. It was thought advisable however to get the flock of the community out of the way by sending them to sing Matins in the upper choir while the friars accompanied by the Prioress and the two nuns went to their task of reopening the tomb. The mysterious fragrance was again present; and the body, although rather more dried-up than before, was still uncorrupted within the cloths that had again rotted. This time it was observed that a cloak of white bunting, which had been used on her death-bed to staunch the flow of blood from her mouth and had been buried with her, was still bright red as though soaked in fresh blood and possessed the curious property of staining any piece of linen brought into contact with it. A further marvel was observed in the condition of the flesh, for when Father Gregorio

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