CHAPTER XII.
HOW THEY DEPARTED FROM THE IMPERIAL CITY.
The lord of Ringstetten would have certainly preferred the events ofthis day to have been different; but even as they were, he couldscarcely regret them wholly, as they had exhibited his charming wifeunder such a good and sweet and kindly aspect. "If I have given hera soul," he could not help saying to himself, "I have indeed givenher a better one than my own;" and his only thought now was to speaksoothingly to the weeping Undine, and on the following morning toquit with her a place which, after this incident, must have becomedistasteful to her. It is true that she was not estimateddifferently to what she had been. As something mysterious had longbeen expected of her, the strange discovery of Bertalda's origin hadcaused no great surprise, and every one who had heard the story andhad seen Bertalda's violent behavior, was disgusted with her alone.Of this, however, the knight and his lady knew nothing as yet; and,besides, the condemnation or approval of the public was equallypainful to Undine, and thus there was no better course to pursuethan to leave the walls of the old city behind them with all thespeed possible.
With the earliest beams of morning a pretty carriage drove up to theentrance gate for Undine: the horses which Huldbrand and his squireswere to ride stood near, pawing the ground with impatient eagerness.The knight was leading his beautiful wife from the door, when afisher-girl crossed their way. "We do not need your fish," saidHuldbrand to her, "we are now starting on our journey." Upon thisthe fisher-girl began to weep bitterly, and the young coupleperceived for the first time that it was Bertalda. They immediatelyreturned with her to their apartment, and learned from her that theduke and duchess were so displeased at her violent and unfeelingconduct on the preceding way, that they had entirely withdrawn theirprotection from her, though not without giving her a rich portion.
The fisherman, too, had been handsomely rewarded, and had theevening before set out with his wife to return to their secludedhome.
"I would have gone with them," she continued, "but the oldfisherman, who is said to be my father"--
"And he is so indeed, Bertalda," interrupted Undine. "Look here, thestranger, whom you took for the master of the fountain, told me thewhole story in detail. He wished to dissuade me from taking you withme to castle Ringstetten, and this led him to disclose the secret."
"Well, then," said Bertalda, "if it must be so, my father said, 'Iwill not take you with me until you are changed. Venture to come tous alone through the haunted forest; that shall be the proof whetheryou have any regard for us. But do not come to me as a lady; comeonly as a fisher-girl!' So I will do just as he has told me, for Iam forsaken by the whole world, and I will live and die in solitudeas a poor fisher-girl, with my poor parents. I have a terrible dreadthough of the forest. Horrible spectres are said to dwell in it, andI am so fearful. But how can I help it? I only came here to implorepardon of the noble lady of Ringstetten for my unbecoming behavioryesterday. I feel sure, sweet lady, you meant to do me a kindness,but you knew not how you would wound me, and in my agony andsurprise, many a rash and frantic expression passed my lips. Ohforgive, forgive! I am already so unhappy. Only think yourself whatI was yesterday morning, yesterday at the beginning of your banquet,and what I am now!"
Her voice became stifled with a passionate flood of tears, andUndine, also weeping bitterly, fell on her neck. It was some timebefore the deeply agitated Undine could utter a word; at length shesaid:--
"You can go with us to Ringstetten; everything shall remain as itwas arranged before; only do not speak to me again as 'noble lady.'You see, we were exchanged for each other as children; our faceseven then sprang as it were from the same stem, and we will now sostrengthen this kindred destiny that no human power shall be able toseparate it. Only, first of all, come with us to Ringstetten. Wewill discuss there how we shall share all things as sisters."
Bertalda looked timidly toward Huldbrand. He pitied the beautifulgirl in her distress, and offering her his hand he begged hertenderly to intrust herself with him and his wife. "We will send amessage to your parents," he continued, "to tell them why you arenot come;" and he would have added more with regard to the worthyfisherman and his wife, but he saw that Bertalda shrunk with painfrom the mention of their name, and he therefore refrained fromsaying more.
He then assisted her first into the carriage, Undine followed her;and he mounted his horse and trotted merrily by the side of them,urging the driver at the same time to hasten his speed, so that verysoon they were beyond the confines of the imperial city and all itssad remembrances; and now the ladies began to enjoy the beautifulcountry through which their road lay.
After a journey of some days, they arrived one exquisite evening, atcastle Ringstetten. The young knight had much to hear from hisoverseers and vassals, so that Undine and Bertalda were left alone.
They both repaired to the ramparts of the fortress, and weredelighted with the beautiful landscape which spread far and widethrough fertile Swabia.
Presently a tall man approached them, greeting them respectfully,and Bertalda fancied she saw a resemblance to the master of thefountain in the imperial city. Still more unmistakable grew thelikeness, when Undine angrily and almost threateningly waved himoff, and he retreated with hasty steps and shaking head, as he haddone before, and disappeared into a neighboring copse. Undine,however, said:
"Don't be afraid, dear Bertalda, this time the hateful master of thefountain shall do you no harm." And then she told her the wholestory in detail, and who she was herself, and how Bertalda had beentaken away from the fisherman and his wife, and Undine had gone tothem. The girl was at first terrified with this relation; sheimagined her friend must be seized with sudden madness, but shebecame more convinced that all was true, for Undine's story was soconnected, and fitted so well with former occurrences, and stillmore she had that inward feeling with which truth never fails tomake itself known to us. It seemed strange to her that she was nowherself living, as it were, in the midst of one of those fairy talesto which she had formerly only listened.
She gazed upon Undine with reverence, but she could not resist asense of dread that seemed to come between her and her friend, andat their evening repast she could not but wonder how the knightcould behave so lovingly and kindly toward a being who appeared toher, since the discovery she had just made, more of a phantom than ahuman being.
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