By Edith Nesbit
More centuries ago than I care to say， the people of Viennawere governed too mildly. The reason was that the reigningDuke Vicentio was excessively good-natured， and disliked tosee offenders made unhappy.
The consequence was that the number of ill-behaved personsin Vienna was enough to make the Duke shake his head insorrow when his chief secretary showed him it at the end of alist. He decided， therefore， that wrongdoers must be punished.
But popularity was dear to him. He knew that， if he weresuddenly strict after being lax， he would cause people to callhim a tyrant. For this reason he told his Privy Council thathe must go to Poland on important business of state. “I havechosen Angelo to rule in my absence，” said he.
Now this Angelo， although he appeared to be noble， wasreally a mean man. He had promised to marry a girl calledMariana， and now would have nothing to say to her， becauseher dowry had been lost. So poor Mariana lived forlornly，waiting every day for the footstep of her stingy lover， andloving him still.
Having appointed Angelo his deputy， the Duke went toa friar called Thomas and asked him for a friar’s dress andinstruction in the art of giving religious counsel， for he did notintend to go to Poland， but to stay at home and see how Angelogoverned.
Angelo had not been a day in office when he condemnedto death a young man named Claudio for an act of rashselfishness which nowadays would only be punished by severereproof.
Claudio had a queer friend called Lucio， and Lucio saw achance of freedom for Claudio if Claudio’s beautiful sisterIsabella would plead with Angelo.
Isabella was at that time living in a nunnery. Nobody hadwon her heart， and she thought she would like to become asister， or nun.
Meanwhile Claudio did not lack an advocate.
An ancient lord， Escalus， was for leniency. “Let us cut alittle， but not kill，” he said. “This gentleman had a most noblefather.”
Angelo was unmoved. “If twelve men find me guilty， I askno more mercy than is in the law.”
Angelo then ordered the Provost to see that Claudio wasexecuted at nine the next morning.
After the issue of this order Angelo was told that the sister ofthe condemned man desired to see him.
“Admit her，” said Angelo.
On entering with Lucio， the beautiful girl said， “I am awoeful suitor to your Honor.”
“Well？” said Angelo.
She colored at his chill monosyllable and the ascendingred increased the beauty of her face. “I have a brother who iscondemned to die，” she continued. “Condemn the fault， I prayyou， and spare my brother.”
“Every fault，” said Angelo， “is condemned before it iscommitted. A fault cannot suffer. Justice would be void if thecommitter of a fault went free.”
She would have left the court if Lucio had not whispered toher， “You are too cold； you could not speak more tamely if youwanted a pin.”
So Isabella attacked Angelo again， and when he said， “I willnot pardon him，” she was not discouraged， and when he said，“He’s sentenced； ‘tis too late，” she returned to the assault. Butall her fighting was with reasons， and with reasons she couldnot prevail over the Deputy.
She told him that nothing becomes power like mercy. Shetold him that humanity receives and requires mercy fromHeaven， that it was good to have gigantic strength， and hadto use it like a giant. She told him that lightning rives theoak and spares the myrtle. She bade him look for fault in hisown breast， and if he found one， to refrain from making it anargument against her brother’s life.
Angelo found a fault in his breast at that moment. He lovedIsabella’s beauty， and was tempted to do for her beauty whathe would not do for the love of man.
He appeared to relent， for he said， “Come to me tomorrowbefore noon.”
She had， at any rate， succeeded in prolonging her brother’slife for a few hours.’
In her absence Angelo’s conscience rebuked him for triflingwith his judicial duty.
When Isabella called on him the second time， he said， “Yourbrother cannot live.”
Isabella was painfully astonished， but all she said was， “Evenso. Heaven keep your Honor.”
But as she turned to go， Angelo felt that his duty and honorwere slight in comparison with the loss of her.
“Give me your love，” he said， “and Claudio shall be freed.”
“Before I would marry you， he should die if he had twentyheads to lay upon the block，” said Isabella， for she saw thenthat he was not the just man he pretended to be.
So she went to her brother in prison， to inform him that hemust die. At first he was boastful， and promised to hug thedarkness of death. But when he clearly understood that hissister could buy his life by marrying Angelo， he felt his lifemore valuable than her happiness， and he exclaimed， “Sweetsister， let me live.”
“O faithless coward！ O dishonest wretch！” she cried.
At this moment the Duke came forward， in the habit of afriar， to request some speech with Isabella. He called himselfFriar Lodowick.
The Duke then told her that Angelo was affianced to Mariana，whose love-story he related. He then asked her to consider thisplan. Let Mariana， in the dress of Isabella， go closely veiledto Angelo， and say， in a voice resembling Isabella’s， that ifClaudio were spared she would marry him. Let her take thering from Angelo’s little finger， that it might be afterwardsproved that his visitor was Mariana.
Isabella had， of course， a great respect for friars， who are asnearly like nuns as men can be. She agreed， therefore， to theDuke’s plan. They were to meet again at the moated grange，Mariana’s house.
In the street the Duke saw Lucio， who， seeing a man dressedlike a friar， called out， “What news of the Duke， friar？” “I havenone，” said the Duke.
Lucio then told the Duke some stories about Angelo. Thenhe told one about the Duke. The Duke contradicted him. Luciowas provoked， and called the Duke “a shallow， ignorant fool，”