“Therefore the wicked will not survive the judgment, and sinners will not be in the community of the righteous.” ~ Psalm 1:5
Last week, we left our story with Blanca in safety; yet there is still justice to be done…
Godfrey’s Ruse
After spiriting her away, Godfrey brings Blanca straight to his mother, who cares for her “as though she had been her own born daughter.”[1] Very soon, “the soft sympathetic feelings of love” awake “between the hearts of the youthful knight and the beautiful Blanca.”[2]
However, Godfrey did not forget his promise to Blanca in the crypt: he had to avenge her against Richilda. So, “amid the wedding preparations” to Blanca, Godfrey rides off to Richilda’s court.[3]
While all this was occurring, Richilda is still trying to decide upon a second husband. With no mirror to help her, she is very much at a loss! That is, until Godfrey came, calling himself the “Knight of the Tomb.”[4] She was instantly drawn to him, and after a time, she decided to choose him for a second husband.
Godfrey, who is aware of Richilda’s feelings and is (as we shall see) faking affection, tells her that although he wants to, she would have to leave her court, for he has promised his mother not to leave until she is dead. Richilda does not like the prospect; still, overcome by love, she agrees. However, she frees poor Sambul, thinking to make use of his abilities to kill the mother quickly so they come back to her own castle.
Yes, Richilda’s deadly desires and passions run deep…
Richilda’s Judgement
They arrive at Godfrey’s castle, and make preparations for the wedding. On the big day, Richilda, dressed “like the queen of the fairies,” eagerly awaits the hour, believing it to be her big day.[5] Suddenly, a page boy enters and tells Godfrey that one of the maids of honor – the page boy’s own sweetheart! – was brutally killed by an “unnatural mother.”[6]
Godfrey asks Richilda what should be done (for some reason she is waiting with her intended). “Richilda, chagrined at an accident that seemed to delay her wishes, or at least to cast a gloom over the auspicious day, said with displeasure, ‘Oh! the frightful deed! The cruel mother deserves, in the place of those she has murdered, to open the bridal dance with the unhappy youth in red-hot iron shoes. This would be balm for the wounds of his heart; for revenge, like love, is sweet.” Everyone approves this sentence.[7]
Suddenly, the doors open once more and out steps the beautiful Blanca. Both Blanca and Richilda are severely distressed to see the other; however, both recover (although Richilda is rather unwilling), and Blanca marries her beloved Godfrey.
After the wedding, they go into the dancing hall. The dwarves have prepared steel shoes for Richilda – red hot, in accordance to her judgement. She then dances with the very knight who first alerted her to Blanca’s continued existence after the soap poisoning. He twirls her about the room for an entire song (while she’s wearing those hot shoes, mind you), and then spins her down a staircase into a dungeon.
Learn from Richilda’s Mistakes
The verse in Psalm 1:5 perfectly sums up Richilda’s plight. She can barely stand her own judgement, and she had no place in the community of Blanca and Godfrey’s court. At the beginning of this story, I wrote about how Richilda – beautiful, innocent, lovely Richilda – had a choice. She was born into sin, but she could have chosen Christ. She continually chose her own glory, however, and it led her to the attempted murder of her stepdaughter – someone she should have loved. It’s clear she had allowed the evil to grow inside of her, since she a) was planning on murdering her mother-in-law, and b) did not recognize her own story when Godfrey told it to her.
Everyone has the opportunity to be the bride of Christ, if they repent. For those who don’t, judgement awaits. What if Richilda had confessed her crimes? Jesus told the Pharisees – who were just as hypocritical as Richilda – that by their words they would be condemned or acquitted (Matt. 12:37). Thus, if Richilda’s words had been full of grace and mercy, she would have been judged accordingly.
Unfortunately, that is not what happened, and Richilda suffered the consequences of her hard heart. However, she still received the opportunity to repent. She wasn’t killed, but left in prison “where the sinner had time and leisure enough to repent of her sins.”[8]
And, wonderful, kind Sambul – Richilda’s physician whom she’d been so cruel to – took pity on her and made a salve for her blistered feet.
As for Blanca and Godfrey, they “lived as happy as Adam and Eve in Paradise,” compensating Sambul immensely for “refus[ing] to kill where he safely might.”[9]
Sources
[1] Heiner, “Richilda,” Sleeping Beauties, 86.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Heiner, 86.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Heiner, 87.
[6] Heiner, 88.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Heiner, 89.
[9] Ibid.
