It was but three days after this ridiculous scene, on a certainafternoon, when Adrian had been out for the second time, that theevil tidings came. Dirk had heard them in the town, and returned homewell-nigh weeping. Elsa saw his face and knew at once.
"Oh! is he dead?" she gasped.
He nodded, for he dared not trust himself to speak.
"How? Where?"
"In the Poort prison at The Hague."
"How do you know?"
"I have seen a man who helped to bury him."
She looked up as though to ask for further details, but Dirk turned awaymuttering, "He is dead, he is dead, let be."
Then she understood, nor did she ever seek to know any more. Whatever hehad suffered, at least now he was with the God he worshipped, and withthe wife he lost. Only the poor orphan, comforted by Lysbeth, crept fromthe chamber, and for a week was seen no more. When she appeared againshe seemed to be herself in all things, only she never smiled and wasvery indifferent to what took place about her. Thus she remained formany days.
Although this demeanour on Elsa's part was understood and received withsympathy and more by the rest of the household, Adrian soon began tofind it irksome and even ridiculous. So colossal was this young man'svanity that he was unable quite to understand how a girl could be sowrapped up in the memories of a murdered father, that no place was leftin her mind for the tendernesses of a present adorer. After all, thisfather, what was he? A middle-aged and, doubtless, quite uninterestingburgher, who could lay claim to but one distinction, that of greatwealth, most of which had been amassed by his ancestors.
Now a rich man alive has points of interest, but a rich man dead isonly interesting to his heirs. Also, this Brant was one of thesenarrow-minded, fanatical, New Religion fellows who were so wearisome tomen of intellect and refinement. True, he, Adrian, was himself of thatcommunity, for circumstances had driven him into the herd, but oh! hefound them a dreary set. Their bald doctrines of individual effort, ofpersonal striving to win a personal redemption, did not appeal to him;moreover, they generally ended at the stake. Now about the pomp andcircumstance of the Mother Church there was something attractive. Ofcourse, as a matter of prejudice he attended its ceremonials from timeto time and found them comfortable and satisfying. Comfortable alsowere the dogmas of forgiveness to be obtained by an act of penitentialconfession, and the sense of a great supporting force whose whole weightwas at the disposal of the humblest believer.
In short, there was nothing picturesque about the excellent departedHendrik, nothing that could justify the young woman in wrapping herselfup in grief for him to the entire exclusion of a person who _was_picturesque and ready, at the first opportunity, to wrap himself up inher.
After long brooding, assisted by a close study of the romances of theperiod, Adrian convinced himself that in all this there was somethingunnatural, that the girl must be under a species of spell which in herown interest ought to be broken through. But how? That was the question.Try as he would he could do nothing. Therefore, like others in adifficulty, he determined to seek the assistance of an expert, namely,Black Meg, who, among her other occupations, for a certain fee payablein advance, was ready to give advice as a specialist in affairs of theheart.
To Black Meg accordingly he went, disguised, secretly and by night, forhe loved mystery, and in truth it was hardly safe that he should visither by the light of day. Seated in a shadowed chamber he poured out hisartless tale to the pythoness, of course concealing all names. He mighthave spared himself this trouble, as he was an old client of Meg's, afact that no disguise could keep from her. Before he opened his lipsshe knew perfectly what was the name of his inamorata and indeed all thecircumstances connected with the pair of them.
The wise woman listened in patience, and when he had done, shook herhead, saying that the case was too hard for her. She proposed, however,to consult a Master more learned than herself, who, by great goodfortune, was at that moment in Leyden, frequenting her house in fact,and begged that Adrian would return at the same hour on the morrow.
Now, as it chanced, oddly enough Black Meg had been commissioned by thesaid Master to bring about a meeting between himself and this very youngman.
Adrian returned accordingly, and was informed that the Master, afterconsulting the stars and other sources of divination, had become sodeeply interested in the affair that, for pure love of the thing andnot for any temporal purpose of gain, he was in attendance to advise inperson. Adrian was overjoyed, and prayed that he might be introduced.Presently a noble-looking form entered the room, wrapped in along cloak. Adrian bowed, and the form, after contemplating himearnestly--very earnestly, if he had known the truth--acknowledgedthe salute with dignity. Adrian cleared his throat and began to speak,whereon the sage stopped him.
"Explanations are needless, young man," he said, in a measured andmelodious voice, "for my studies of the matter have already informedme of more than you can tell. Let me see; your name is Adrian vanGoorl--no, called Van Goorl; the lady you desire to win is Elsa Brant,the daughter of Hendrik Brant, a heretic and well-known goldsmith, whowas recently executed at The Hague. She is a girl of much beauty, butone unnaturally insensible to the influence of love, and who does notat present recognise your worth. There are, also, unless I am mistaken,other important circumstances connected with the case.
"This lady is a great heiress, but her fortune is at present missing;it is, I have reason to believe, hidden in the Haarlemer Meer. Sheis surrounded with influences that are inimical to you, all of which,however, can be overcome if you will place yourself unreservedly in myhands, for, young man, I accept no half-confidences, nor do I ask forany fee. When the fortune is recovered and the maiden is your happywife, then we will talk of payment for services rendered, and notbefore."
"Wonderful, wonderful!" gasped Adrian; "most learned senor, every wordyou say is true."
"Yes, friend Adrian, and I have not told you all the truth. Forinstance--but, no, this is not the time to speak. The question is, doyou accept my terms?"
"What terms, senor?"
"The old terms, without which no wonder can be worked--faith, absolutefaith."
Adrian hesitated a little. Absolute faith seemed a large present to givea complete stranger at a first interview.
"I read your thought and I respect it," went on the sage, who, to telltruth, was afraid he had ventured a little too far. "There is no hurry;these affairs cannot be concluded in a day."
Adrian admitted that they could not, but intimated that he would be gladof a little practical and immediate assistance. The sage buried his facein his hands and thought.
"The first thing to do," he said presently, "is to induce a favourabledisposition of the maiden's mind towards yourself, and this, I think,can best be brought about--though the method is one which I do notoften use--by means of a love philtre carefully compounded to suit thecircumstances of the case. If you will come here to-morrow at dusk, thelady of this house--a worthy woman, though rough of speech and no trueadept--will hand it to you."
"It isn't poisonous?" suggested Adrian doubtfully.
"Fool, do I deal in poisons? It will poison the girl's heart in yourfavour, that is all."
"And how is it to be administered?" asked Adrian.
"In the water or the wine she drinks, and afterwards you must speak toher again as soon as possible. Now that is settled," he went on airily,"so, young friend, good-bye."
"Are you sure that there is no fee?" hesitated Adrian.
"No, indeed," answered the sage, "at any rate until all is accomplished.Ah!" and he sighed, "did you but know what a delight it is to a wearyand world-worn traveller to help forward the bright ambitions of youth,to assist the pure and soaring soul to find the mate destined to it byheaven--ehem!--you wouldn't talk of fees. Besides, I will be frank; fromthe moment that I entered this room and saw you, I recognised in you akindred nature, one which under my guidance is capable of great things,of things greater than I care to tell. Ah! what a vision do I see. You,
the husband of the beautiful Elsa and master of her great wealth, and Iat your side guiding you with my wisdom and experience--then what mightnot be achieved? Dreams, doubtless dreams, though how often have mydreams been prophetic! Still, forget them, and at least, young man, wewill be friends," and he stretched out his hand.
"With all my heart," answered Adrian, taking those cool, agile-lookingfingers. "For years I have sought someone on whom I could rely, someonewho would understand me as I feel you do."
"Yes, yes," sighed the sage, "I do indeed understand you."
"To think," he said to himself after the door had closed behind thedelighted and flattered Adrian, "to think that I can be the fatherof such a fool as that. Well, it bears out my theories aboutcross-breeding, and, after all, in this case a good-looking, gulliblefool will be much more useful to me than a young man of sense. Let mesee; the price of the office is paid and I shall have my appointmentduly sealed as the new Governor of the Gevangenhuis by next week atfurthest, so I may as well begin to collect evidence against my worthysuccessor, Dirk van Goorl, his adventurous son Foy, and that red-headedruffian, Martin. Once I have them in the Gevangenhuis it will go hard ifI can't squeeze the secret of old Brant's money out of one of the threeof them. The women wouldn't know, they wouldn't have told the women,besides I don't want to meddle with them, indeed nothing would persuademe to that"--and he shivered as though at some wretched recollection."But there must be evidence; there is such noise about these executionsand questionings that they won't allow any more of them in Leydenwithout decent evidence; even Alva and the Blood Council are gettinga bit frightened. Well, who can furnish better testimony than thatjackass, my worthy son, Adrian? Probably, however, he has a consciencesomewhere, so it may be as well not to let him know that when he thinkshimself engaged in conversation he is really in the witness box. Let mesee, we must take the old fellow, Dirk, on the ground of heresy, andthe youngster and the serving man on a charge of murdering the king'ssoldiers and assisting the escape of heretics with their goods. Murdersounds bad, and, especially in the case of a young man, excites lesssympathy than common heresy."
Then he went to the door, calling, "Meg, hostess mine, Meg."
He might have saved himself the trouble, however, since, on opening itsuddenly, that lady fell almost into his arms.
"What!" he said, "listening, oh, fie! and all for nothing. But there,ladies will be curious and"--this to himself--"I must be more careful.Lucky I didn't talk aloud."
Then he called her in, and having inspected the chamber narrowly,proceeded to make certain arrangements.
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