THE CHARM OF THE OLD WORLD ROMANCES – Premium 10 Book Collection. Robert BarrЧитать онлайн книгу.
helped in some measure to bring on his dilemma."
"With right good will, my Lord, so be it that he treats a man not as a slave or prisoner, and if it come to hanging, or the like, I would rather be hanged by you than by the Count."
Rodolph smiled and said:
"You may be sure I shall not deliver up to the Count whatever rights I possess regarding your fate. I have always insisted on the esteemed privilege of hanging my own men; it is not an advantage I would willingly bestow upon another."
"In that your Lordship is wise," answered the bowman, soberly, "for the relinquishing of apparently trivial pretensions is generally followed by increased encroachment. I shall now bid your Lordship good morning, for I must betake myself to the workshops of the castle and there teach a knave Heinrich has given me, the proper making of arrows, the which is likely to be a task of some duration, for the rascal does not seem over-bright, and the Germans have little skill, at best, in the accurate manufacture of shafts, and the correct balancing of them. I hold it well to prepare for the coming of the Archbishop, and meet him with suitable offerings, lest he suspect us of disrespect to his high station."
"I hope he will appreciate your thoughtfulness," said the Emperor, whereupon the archer descended from the battlements.
Rodolph rested his arms on the parapet and gazed at the peasants toiling slowly up the incline from the river with their burdens. As the sun rose higher and higher the shadow of the great castle also moved imperceptibly up the slope, as if emulating the labourers. The houses of Alken, closely packed together, as was the case with all mediæval villages, stood brilliantly out in the sunshine, now that the shadow of the castle was removed from them. In the clear air every stone of the place stood distinctly out, and it seemed so surprisingly near that one might have imagined he had but to stretch down his hand and touch its roofs. From its streets came up the merry laughter of children, joyous at the unusual bustle going forward, having not the slightest idea of the ominous meaning which the hurrying to and fro brought to older minds.
A musical greeting caused the Emperor to start from his reverie and turn suddenly round. The Countess Tekla stood before him, smiling, and seeming herself a spirit of the morning. To Rodolph she appeared to be robed magnificently, and he wondered how she came by all this finery, which suited her so well, making her look the great lady she undoubtedly was. Notwithstanding her youth, there was an unconscious dignity about her that awed him, even though he was accustomed to the splendour of the grand dames who thronged his now deserted Court at Frankfort. Could this be the girl who had come through such rough usage with him from Treves to Thuron, standing now like a fair goddess of the Moselle in her queenly beauty? Here was one indeed to fight for and to die for, if necessity arose, thinking oneself blessed for the privilege. Her head was coroneted by a semi-circular band of gold, encrusted with jewels. Behind her fair neck the rich profusion of hair was kept in bounds by a clasp of finely-wrought silver, from which imprisonment it then flowed unimpeded, the colour of ripened wheat, each thread apparently spun from the golden beams of the sun itself. It covered her like a mantle, making even the embroidered splendour of her gown seem poor by comparison.
To this radiant vision so unexpectedly risen before him, the Emperor bowed with the slow, lowly deference of a courtier to his monarch, speechless for the moment through the emotions that stirred within him.
The girl laughed merrily at his confusion.
"You must not so critically regard me, my Lord," she said. "My wardrobe is elsewhere, as you know, and I have been compelled to explore this grim castle for the wherewithal to attire myself, finding more of coats of mail than of ladies' adornments, for it is long since feminine vanity dwelt herein, so I have been compelled to piece out this with that, to make myself presentable, and I feel like one engaged in a masquerade, tricking myself out as they tell me the ladies do at some grand function given by the Emperor at Frankfort."
"My Lady, the Emperor's Court is lit by candles; I stand now in the radiance of the sun."
The lady turned her dancing eyes upon him.
"If that is a compliment, my Lord, 'tis fit for Frankfort itself; if it merely refers to the undoubted fact that the sun is shining bravely on you, and that the Court is dim by comparison, think not you will deter me from going there, for I should dearly love to witness the pageantry of the capital."
"Indeed, Countess, if you fail to do so it will not be through lack of invitation."
"When invitation comes I shall eagerly accept it."
"I sincerely trust you will, my Lady."
"Perhaps you also will be there, and may not have forgotten me. If I see you, I shall ask you to point out to a stranger those who are notable."
"Such is my most devout wish, although I lacked the courage to give expression to it."
"But I breathe a warning to you. My uncle tells me you spoke slightingly of the Emperor last night. I was grieved to hear it, for I am a loyal subject of his, and were I a man, would draw sword, did any in my presence allude to the head of the state in other terms than those of respect."
"Knowing your pleasure, I shall be careful not to offend again. Still, in my own defence, I should like to say that I spoke only of faults that the Emperor himself would be the first to admit. An Emperor should be an Emperor, and not a nonentity whose wish commands but slight attention."
The lady drew herself up, a slight frown marring the smoothness of her brow.
"You pay little heed to my request, and while professing to comply, offend the more. A loyal noble would scarce call his Emperor a nonentity."
"Look around you, Countess. Here are going forward busy preparations for war. Does the Count appeal to his over-lord against the suspected incursion of the Archbishop? 'Twould be grotesque to hint that such a thought ever occurred to him. Does the Archbishop send an envoy to Frankfort acquainting the Emperor with his purpose and asking leave to launch an army against Thuron? Not so. He doffs his clerical vestments and dons a coat of mail, as mindless of the Emperor as if no such person existed. Here red-handed war is about to open within a day's journey of the capital, in the centre of the Emperor's domains, and if he ever hears of it, 'twill be because some friend tells him. That jumps not with my idea of the high office."
"But the Emperor is at the Holy War in foreign lands."
"Then should he instead stand where I stand, in the midst of the unholy war in his own land, to stop it or to guide it."
"If you think thus," said the girl, perplexed at the confident tone of the young man, and forgetting the censure she had just pronounced upon him, "why have you left his side? Why do you not say to him what you say of him to me?"
"Indeed, my Lady," replied Rodolph with a laugh, "I have but little influence with his Majesty. Often has he pursued a course that has not met with my approval, being turned aside from great policies of state by the sight of a pretty face. You could sway him, Countess, where I should be helpless. But I know that he has lately met one, who can if she likes, make a great Emperor of him, should he prove capable of a distinguished career, so my part in his reformation will count for little."
"Then she will do so, of course, and be proud of the opportunity," cried the Countess, eagerly.
"Perhaps. Who can tell what a woman may do? It is my earnest hope that she prove not unwilling."
"Is she beautiful?"
"The divinest—yes, she is accounted so."
In spite of Tekla's enthusiasm for the welfare of her Emperor, the ardour with which the young man began his eulogy regarding the unknown lady in question, and the quick suppression of the same, did not escape her notice, nor did it bring that satisfaction which a moment before Tekla had anticipated. She turned her eyes from him and allowed them to wander over the wide and peaceful landscape, whose beauty was so much enhanced by the winding, placid river.
Then she said suddenly, obviously apropos of the labouring peasants:
"We shall be in little danger of starvation in Thuron, unless the siege be long."
"I