Thenceforward until death snapped the spiritual link that joined them,
the heart of Philip was bared in all its sorrow, its weakness, and its
sin to Sor Maria alone. The haughty face with the pathetic eyes and
great projecting jaw remained unmoved before the world, only the
deepening furrows in it showing the storm that raged within. Men
thought that he was callous and cold; for he suffered silently behind
his mask. But Sor Maria knew, and none but she under heaven, the true
secret of the King's gilded misery. His cry of agony, of remorse, of
pity thenceforward came to the cloistered nun as a surer way to reach
the throne of grace than to all the cardinals, confessors, {381} and
bishops who waited upon his smile, and gently hinted disapproval of
kingly vice.
At the end of July 1643, Philip entered his city of Saragossa, this
time, to the delight of the jealous Aragonese, unattended by the crowd
of dissolute nobles and courtiers who made love to their wives and
threatened their political liberty.[4] No time was lost now in moving
against the French, who were threatening the centre of Aragon, and the
new commander, Felipe de Silva, whom Olivares' jealousy had consigned
to a prison, showed great energy, and soon changed the appearance of
affairs. It will be useful for our purpose to reproduce the principal
paragraphs of Philip's first letter to the nun on the 4th October 1643,
five weeks after his arrival at Saragossa, the precursor of so long and
important a correspondence.[5]
[Sidenote: Philip and Sor Maria]