by Georg Ebers
CHAPTER XXV.
After this conversation the two men who, in different positions, stoodnearest to the Emperor Charles, placed no obstacle in Barbara's way.
The third--the Bishop of Arras--also showed a friendly spirit toward theEmperor's love affair. True, he had not been taken into his confidence,but he rarely failed to be present when Barbara sang with the boy choir,or alone, in the Golden Cross, before the monarch or distinguishedguests.
Charles summoned her there almost daily, and always at different hours.
This was done to strengthen the courtiers and the citizens of Ratisbonin the belief that Barbara owed his favour solely to her singing.
Granvelle, who appreciated and was interested in music as well as inpainting and sculpture, found real pleasure in listening to Barbara, yetwhile doing so he did not forget that she might be of service to him. Ifshe only remained on good terms with him she would, he was sure of that,whether willing or not, be used as his tool.
Spite of his nine-and-twenty years, he forbade himself to cherish anyother wishes, because he would have regarded it treachery to the royalmaster whom he served with faithful devotion. But, as he acceptedgreat gifts without ever allowing himself to be tempted to treasonor forgetfulness of duty, so he did not reject little tokens offriendliness from Barbara, and of these she showed no lack. The youngBishop of Arras was also an extremely fine-looking man, whose cleverbrain and bright, penetrating glance harmonized with his great intellectand his position. Wolf had already told her how much the monarchregarded the opinion of this counsellor.
The fourth person whose good will had been represented to her asvaluable was the almoner, Pedro de Soto; but he, who usually understoodhow to pay homage to beautiful women in the most delicate manner, keptrigidly aloof.
True, he had placed no obstacle in the way of the late kindling of theheart of his imperial master, but since his servant's report, fromwhich it appeared that Barbara was on friendly terms with heretics, andtherefore cherished but a lukewarm devotion to her own faith, she was nolonger the same to him. In Spain this would have been enough to deliverher to the Holy Inquisition. Here, however, matters were different.Everywhere he saw the lambs associating with the wolves, and the largernumber of the relatives of the Emperor's love had become converts toheresy. Therefore indulgence was demanded, and De Soto would havegladly been convinced of Barbara's orthodoxy under such difficultcircumstances. But if it proved that the girl not only associated withheretics, but inclined to their error, then gentle inaction must betransformed into inexorable sternness, even though the rejuvenatingpower which she exerted upon the monarch were tenfold stronger thanit doubtless was; for what danger might threaten the Emperor andChristianity from the bewitching woman who seemed to love Charles, ifshe undertook to influence him in favour of the new doctrines, which,in the eyes of every earnest Dominican, the Emperor treated far tooleniently!
He, the confessor, even knew that Charles considered several demandsof the Protestants to which the Church could never consent, entirelyjustifiable--nay, that he deemed a reformation of the Church by thecouncil now in session at Trent extremely desirable.
Therefore it was a duty to withhold from him every influence which couldfavour these pernicious views and wishes, and Pedro de Soto had alsobeen young and knew only too well what power so beautiful a woman, withsuch bewitching gifts, could exert upon the man whose heart cherishesher.
So, immediately after Barbara's entrance into Prebrunn, the confessoradopted his measures. Although the conversation to which he subjectedher had resulted in her favour, he had deemed it beneficial to placea priest who was devoted to him among the ecclesiastics in the littlecastle.
To surround her with spies chosen from the lay class was repugnant tohis lofty nature. Besides, they would have been superfluous; for ashort time before his servant Cassian had asked permission to marrythe marquise's French maid, and Alphonsine, who was neither young norpretty, was inclined to all sorts of intrigues. She supplied slow, piousCassian's deficiencies in the best possible manner. A chance word fromthe distinguished prelate had sufficed to make it their duty to watchBarbara and her visitors.
In Alphonsine's mistress, the Marquise de Leria, the almoner alsopossessed a willing tale-bearer. She had avoided him since his refusalto commend her ruined son to the favour of his imperial penitent. Now,unasked, she had again approached him, and her explanation first gavemany an apparently unimportant communication from the servants its realvalue.
The atmosphere of the court was her vital air. Even when she hadvoluntarily offered to take Barbara under her charge, in a secludedhouse in the suburb, she had been aware how greatly she would missthe presence of royalty. Yet she would have endured far more difficultthings, for a thousand signs betrayed that this time his Majesty'sheart had not been merely superficially touched, and Barbara's traits ofcharacter made it appear probable that, like many a beauty at the courtof Francis I of France, she might obtain an influence over the Emperor.If this occurred, the marquise had found the most powerful tool for thedeliverance of her son.
This hope filled the old noblewoman's heart and brain. It was her last,for the Emperor was the only person who could save the worthless idol ofher soul from ruin, and yet, when she had grovelled at his knees in herdespair, she received an angry repulse and the threat of being instantlydeprived of her position if she ever again attempted to speak to himabout this vexatious matter. She knew only too well that Charles wouldkeep his word, and therefore had already induced every person whom shebelieved possessed even a small share of influence over the monarchto intercede for her, but they had been no less sharply rebuffed thanherself; for the sovereign, usually so indulgent to the reckless pranksof the young nobles, would not even hear the name of the aristocraticsharper, who was said to have sold the plans of the fortifications toFrance.
Charles now loved a woman whom, with swift presence of mind, she hadbound to herself, and what no one else had succeeded in doing Barbaramight accomplish.
Therefore the marquise had retired to the solitude which she hated,and hourly humbled herself to cringing flattery of a creature whom, onaccount of her birth, she scorned.
But Barbara was warned and, difficult as it often was for her towithstand the humble entreaties to which the old lady in waitingfrequently condescended, persisted in her refusal.
Yet the unhappy mother did not give up hope, for as soon as the singercommitted any act which she was obliged to conceal she could obtainpower over her. So she kept her eyes open and, whenever the Emperorsought the young girl and was alone with her, she stole into the gardenand peered through the badly fitting window shutters into the lightedroom which was the scene of the happiness of the ill-matched lovers.
What she overheard, however, only increased the feeling of powerlessnessagainst the hated creature whom she so urgently needed; for thetenderness which Charles showed Barbara was so great that it not onlyfilled the marquise with surprise and bitter envy, but also awakened theconviction that it must be a small matter for the singer to obtain fromso ardent a lover far greater things than she had asked.
So she continued to watch and listen unweariedly, day after day andevening after evening, but always in vain. She had not the most trivialthing for which Barbara could be seriously reproached to report to theconfessor; yet De Soto desired nothing better, for Barbara still exertedan extremely favourable influence upon the Emperor's mood. Therefore itvexed him that Cassian informed him of many things which prevented hisrelying firmly upon her orthodoxy.
At any rate, there were Protestants among her visitors and,unfortunately, they included Herr Peter Schlumperger, whom De Soto knewas an active promoter of the apostasy of the Ratisbon burghers. He hadcalled upon her the second day after her arrival and remained a longtime but, it is true, had not appeared again. With the others also sheheld no regular intercourse--nay, she scarcely seemed to enjoy theirvisits. Thus the daughters of the Woller family from the Ark, who hadappeared one afternoon, had been detained only a litt
le longer by herthan other Protestant matrons and maidens.
All this was scarcely sufficient to foster his anxiety; but Cassianreported one visit with which the case was different. Barbara had notonly received this guest alone, but she had kept him more than an hour,and the servant could swear that the young man to whom she sang longsongs--which, it is true, sounded like church music--to the luteand also to the harp, was Erasmus Eckhart, the adopted son of thearchtraitor, Dr. Hiltner, who had just obtained the degree of Masterof Arts in Wittenberg. This seemed suspicious, and induced De Soto toinvestigate the matter thoroughly.
Erasmus had come in the morning, at a time when the Emperor nevervisited Barbara. Nothing remarkable had taken place during theirinterview, but Cassian had heard her dismiss him with a warning which,even to a less distrustful person, would have seemed suspicious. Why hadshe assured the Wittenberg theologian, as she extended her hand to himin farewell, that what he offered her had given her great pleasure, andshe would gladly invite him to bring her similar things often, but mustdeny herself this gratification from motives which he could imagine? Hisurgent entreaty at least to be permitted to call on her sometimes shehad curtly and positively refused, but the Wittenberg heretic did notallow himself to be rebuffed, for Cassian had seen him several times inthe neighbourhood of the castle.
There was as little cause to object to the visits paid to her byGombert, Appenzelder, Damian Feys, occasionally some noblemen or guestsof the court, and once even by no less a personage than the Bishop ofArras, as to the rides she took every afternoon; for the latter werealways under the charge of Herr de Fours, an old equerry of the Emperor,and in the company of several courtiers, among whom Baron Malfalconnetwas often included. A number of gay young pages always belonged tothis brilliant cavalcade, whose number never lacked the handsomesixteen-year-old Count Tassis, who spent his whole large stock of pocketmoney in flowers which he sent every morning to Barbara.
The confessor was glad to hear that the estimable violinist Massifrequently visited the girl, for he was firm in the faith, and that hebrought her tidings of the sorely wounded Sir Wolf Hartschwert couldonly be beneficial, for perhaps he warned her of the seriousness of lifeand that there were other things here below than the joy of love, jest,and laughter. The almoner's doubt of Wolf's orthodoxy had been entirelydispelled by his confession. Men do not deceive in the presence ofdeath.
It would have been a genuine boon had Barbara selected him to open herheart to him in the confessional, for her relation to the wounded manrendered it difficult for him to trust her entirely.
Wolf's thoughts in his fever constantly dwelt upon her, and he sometimesaccused her of the basest treachery, sometimes coupled her name withMalfalconnet's, sometimes with Luis Quijada's. The Emperor's, on thecontrary, he had not mentioned.
He must love Barbara with ardent passion, and she, too, still seemedwarmly attached to him, for to see him again she had bravely exposedherself to serious danger.
Eye and ear witnesses had reported that, notwithstanding his Majesty'spositive orders to avoid her old home, she had entered the house and theknight's apartments, knelt beside his couch, and even kissed his weak,burning hand with tender devotion.
But though she still retained a portion of her former affection for WolfHartschwert, she loved the Emperor Charles with passionate fervour. Eventhe marquise did not venture to doubt this. Often as she had watched themeetings of the lovers, she had marvelled at the youthful ardour of themonarch, the joyous excitement with which Barbara awaited him, and hersorrowful depression when he left her. During the first week the oldnoblewoman thought that she had never met a happier pair. The almonerdeemed it unworthy of him to listen to a report of the caresses whichshe scornfully mentioned.
The time even came when he no longer needed confirmation from others,and forbade himself to doubt Barbara's fidelity to her religion; for atthe end of the first week in Prebrunn she had desired to ask a servantof the Church what she must do to make herself worthy of such abundanceof the highest happiness, and to atone for the sin she was committingthrough her love.
In doing so she had opened her heart to the confessor with childlikefrankness, and what De Soto heard on this occasion sincerely delightedhim and endeared to him this thoroughly sound, beautiful creatureovermastered by a first great passion. He believed her, and indignantlyrejected what the spies afterward brought to him.
Yet he did not close his ears to the marquise when, in her clever,entertaining way, she told him what, against her will, she had overheardin consequence of the careless construction of the little castle, builtonly for a summer residence, or had seen during a walk in the gardenwhen the shutters, through forgetfulness, had not been closed.
How should he not have heard gladly that the monarch, at every interviewwith Barbara, listened to her singing with special pleasure?
At first she chose grave, usually even religious songs, and among themCharles's favourite was the "Quia amore langueo."
To listen to these deeply felt tones of yearning always seemed topossess a fresh charm for him.
No wonder!
The singer understood how to produce a new effect each time by means ofwonderful gradations of expression in the comprehension and execution.
Once she had also succeeded in cheering her lover with PerissoneCambio's merry singing lesson on the 'ut re mi fa sol', and again withWillaert's laughing song, "Sempre mi ridesta."
Two days later there had again been a great deal of laughing becauseBarbara undertook to sing to his Majesty another almost recklesslymerry song by the same composer. The marquise knew it, and declared thatBarbara's style and voice did not suit such things. She admitted thather execution of serious, especially religious and solemn compositions,was not amiss--nay, often it was wonderfully fine--but in such seculartunes her real nature appeared too plainly, and the skilful singerbecame a Bacchante.
It had been a sorry pleasure to her to watch the boisterous manner andsinging of this creature, who had been far too highly favoured by thecaprice of Fortune.
These reckless songs, unless she was mistaken, had also been by no meanspleasing to his Majesty. The light had fallen directly upon his facejust as she happened to glance up at the house from under the group oflindens, and she had distinctly seen him angrily thrust out hislower lip, which every one near his person knew was a sign of extremedispleasure.
But the girl had gone beyond all bounds. Old as she was, she could nothelp blushing at the mere thought of it. In her reckless mood she hadprobably forgotten that she had drawn her imperial lover into her netby arts of an entirely different nature. The almoner listenedincredulously, for in his youth the Emperor Charles had joined in thewildest songs of the soldiery, and had well understood, on certainoccasions, how to be merry with the merry, laugh and carouse in aFlemish tavern. After the confession the almoner heard things to whichhe would gladly have shut his ears, though they proved that the timewhich the marquise had spent at the French court had benefited herpowers of observation.
Three days before the Emperor, for the first time, had seriously foundfault with Barbara.
It had been impossible for the lady in waiting to discover the cause;but what she knew certainly was that her lover's censure had rousedthe girl to vehement contradiction, and that his Majesty, after a sharpreply, had been on the point of leaving her. True, the reckless beautyhad repented her imprudent outburst of wrath speedily enough, and hadunderstood how to conciliate the far too indulgent sovereign by suchhumility and such sweet tenderness that he probably must have forgivenher--at least the farewell had been as affectionate as ever.
Nevertheless, on the following evening, for the first time, he did notcome to the castle, and the marquise had feared that the Emperor mightnow withdraw his favour from Barbara, which would have been too soon forher own wishes.
But yesterday evening, after sunset, the dark litter, to the oldnoblewoman's relief, had again stopped behind the garden gate, and thepleasure of having her lover again had so deeply overjoy
ed Barbara thathe, too, was infected by her radiant delight.
Then, in the midst of the most tender caresses, he had been summoned outof the room, and when he returned, with frowning brow, the marquise hadwitnessed at least the commencement of a scene which seemed to justifyher opinion that his Majesty: would have no taste for Barbara's utterfreedom from restraint and gay secular songs.
Unfortunately, she had been prematurely driven from her post ofobservation; but she had seen the Emperor come in, and Barbara, withoutnoticing his altered expression, or rather, probably, to cheer himby something especially merry, gaily began Baldassare Donati's superbdancing-master's song, "Qui la gagliarda vuol imparare," at the sametime in the merriest, most graceful manner imitating the movements ofthe gagliarda dancer.
But Charles soon interrupted her, sharply requesting her to singsomething else or cease entirely for that day.
Startled, she again asked forgiveness, and then pleaded in justificationthe universally acknowledged beauty of this charming song, which MaestroGombert also admired; but the Emperor flew into a passion, and cut hershort with the loud remark that he was not in the habit of having hisown judgment corrected by the opinion of others. The jest did all honourto the skill and merry mood of the composer, but the contrary might besaid of the singer who ventured to sing it to a person in whom it couldawaken only bitter feelings.
But when, so painfully surprised that her eyes filled with tears, sheconfessed that her selection perhaps had not been very appropriate, andsadly added the inquiry why her beloved sovereign condemned a trivialoffence so harshly, he wrathfully exclaimed, "For more than one reason."
Then, rising, he paced the room several times with a somewhat limpinggait, saying, in so loud a tone that it could be distinctly heard in thedark, sultry garden: "Because it shows little delicacy of feeling whenthe man who is satiated tells the starving one of the dainty meal whichhe has just eaten; because--because I call it shameful for a person whocan see to tell one who is blind of the pleasure he derives from thesplendid colours of gay flowers; because I expect from the woman whom Ihonour with my love more consideration for me and what shadows my life.Because"--and here he raised his voice still more angrily--"I demandfrom any one united to me, the Emperor, by whatever bond----"
The marquise had been unable to hear more of the monarch's violentattack, for the messenger who had just brought the unwelcome news--itwas Adrian Dubois--had not only passed her, but ventured to call to herand remark that she would be wise to go into the house--a thunderstormwas rising. He was not afraid of the rain, and would wait there for hisMajesty.
So the listener did not hear how the incensed monarch continued with thedemand that the woman he loved should neither tell him falsehoods nordeceive him.
Until then Barbara had listened, silent and pale, biting her tremblinglips in order to adhere to her resolve to submit without reply towhatever Charles's terrible irritability inflicted upon her. But he musthave noticed what was passing in her mind, for he suddenly paused inhis walk, and, abruptly standing before her, gazed full into her face,exclaiming: "It is not you who are offended, but I, the sovereignwhom you say you love. Day before yesterday I forbade you to go to themusician in Red Cock Street, yet you were with him to-day. I askedyou just now whether you had obeyed me and, with smiling lips, youassented."
Barbara was already prepared with an answer in harmony with thesharpness of the attack, yet her lover's reproof was well founded.
When he had left the room shortly before he must have been informedthat, in defiance of his explicit command, she had gone to the knight'shouse that morning.
But no one had ever charged her with lack of courage. Why had she notdared to confess the fault which, from a good and certainly pardonableimpulse, she had committed?
Was she not free, or when had she placed herself under obligation torender blind obedience to her lover?
But the falsehood!
How severely she must perhaps atone for it this time!
Yet the esteem, the love of the man to whom her heart clung, whom sheworshipped with all the fervour of her passionate soul, might be atstake, and when he now seized his hat to withdraw she barred his way.
Sobbing aloud, she threw herself at his feet, confessed that she wasguilty, and remorsefully admitted that fear of his resentment, whichseemed to her more terrible than death, had induced her to deny whatshe had done. She could hate herself for it. Nothing could palliate thedeparture from the path of truth, but her disobedience might perhapsappear to him in a milder light if he learned what had induced her tocommit it.
Charles, still in an angry, imperious tone, ordered her to rise. Shesilently obeyed, and when he threw himself on the divan she timidly satdown by his side, turning toward him her troubled face, which for thefirst time he saw wet with tears.
Yet a hopeful smile brightened her moist eyes, for she felt that, sincehe permitted her to remain at his side, all might yet be well.
Then she timidly took his hand and, as he permitted it, she heldit firmly while she explained what ties had bound her to Wolf fromchildhood.
She represented herself as the sisterly counsellor of the friend who hadgrown up in the same house with her. Music and the Catholic religion,in the midst of a city which had fallen into the Protestant heresy, hadbeen the bond between them. After his return home he had probably beenunable to help falling in love with her, but, so truly as she hoped forHeaven's mercy, she had kept her heart closed against Cupid until he,the Emperor, had approached in order, like that other Caesar, to come,to see, and to conquer. But she was only a woman, and pity in a woman'ssoft heart was as hard to silence as the murmur of a swift mountainstream or the rushing of the wind.
Yesterday she had learned from the violinist Massi that the knight'scondition was much more critical, and he desired before his death toclasp her hand again. So, believing that disobedience committed tolighten the last hours of a dying man would be pardonable before God andhuman beings, she had visited the unfortunate Wolf.
The helpful and joy-bestowing power of good works, which the Protestantsdenied, had thus become very evident to her; for since she had claspedthe sufferer's hand an indescribable sense of happiness had takenpossession of her, while the knight began to improve. The news hadreached her just before this, the Emperor's, arrival, had made herhappy, and, in spite of her evil conscience, had put her in a verycheerful mood. But now this beautiful evening had become the saddest oneof her whole life.
Fresh tears, and the other means of conciliation inspired by her lovingheart, then induced the angry lover to forgive her.
Barbara felt this as a great piece of good fortune, and made everyeffort to curb the refractory temper which, hitherto, had found nothingless welcome than humble submission.
Day after day since that evening the confessor had been informed thatnothing interrupted the concord of the lovers, and that Barbara oftenprayed very fervently in the private chapel. This pleased the almoner,and when Cassian told him that, on the evening after the quarrel, theEmperor had again come to the castle to remain a long time, he rejoiced.
To Barbara this visit had been a true heavenly blessing, but thoughCharles showed himself sufficiently loving, she felt, even during thesucceeding visits, that since that fateful episode something difficultto describe or explain had rested like a gloomy shadow on the Emperor'sjoyous confidence.
This change in her lover could scarcely be due to her, for she hadhonestly endeavoured to avoid everything which could anger him.
How should she have suspected that the great student of human nature towhom she had given her heart perceived the restraint which she imposedupon herself in every interview with him, and that the moderation towhich she submitted from love robbed her of a portion of the charm hergay unconcern had exerted upon him? Charles suspiciously attributed thischange in the disposition of the woman he loved sometimes to one cause,sometimes to another; and when he showed her that he missed somethingin her which had been dear to him, she thought it a new to
ken of hisdissatisfaction, and increased the restraint which she placed uponherself.
If the gout again attacked him or the pressure of business, which atthat time constantly made more and more imperious demands upon theEmperor Charles, detained him from her on one or another evening,torturing anxiety assailed her, and she had no sleep all night.
Besides, the marquise did not cease to press her with entreaties andexpostulations, and Frau Lerch constantly urged Barbara to profit by thefavour of such a lover. She ought to think of the future, and indemnifyherself with estates and titles for the sad fate awaiting her if hisMajesty wearied of her love.
The ex-maid knew how to describe, in vivid hues, how all would turnfrom her if that should happen, and how little the jewels with which hesometimes delighted her would avail.
But Barbara had cared only for her lord's love, and it was not evendifficult for her to resist the urgency. Yet whenever she was alone withCharles, and he showed plainly how dear she was to him, the questionforced itself upon her whether this would not be the right time to speakof her future, and to follow the counsel of the experienced woman whocertainly meant kindly toward her.
This made her silent and constrained for a time, and when she saw thather manner annoyed her lover she thrust aside the selfish impulse whichwas rendering her unlovable, and sometimes showed her delight in thevictory of love over every other feeling so impetuously, that hernature seemed to have lost the unvarying cheerfulness which had formerlydelighted him, and he left her in a less satisfied mood.
Besides, the marquise had received a letter from Paris, in which her sondeclared that if his gambling debts were not paid by the first of Augusthe would be completely disgraced, and nothing would remain for himexcept to end an existence which had lost all charm. The wretched motheragain opened her heart to Barbara and, when she still resisted herlamentations and entreaties, threw herself on her knees and sobbingbesought her to let her heart be softened.
The sight of the aged noblewoman writhing like a maniac in the dust wasso pitiful and touching that it melted Barbara's heart, and induced herto promise to use the first favourable opportunity to intercede with theEmperor in behalf of her son and his child, a little girl of six. Fromthat time she awaited at every new interview the opportune moment; butwhen Charles was less gracious, the right time certainly had not come,and when he was especially loving the happiness of possessing his heartseemed to her so great that it appeared sinful to risk it for the sakeof a stranger.
This waiting and conflict with herself also did not remain unnoticed,and it was characteristic of Charles to reflect upon and seek reasonsfor it. Only the spell of her voice and her beauty had remainedunchanged, and when she sang in the Golden Cross in the presence of theguests, who became more numerous the nearer drew the time of the openingof the Reichstag, fixed for the fifth of June, and he perceived theirdelight, vanity fanned the dying fire again, for he still loved her, andtherefore felt associated with her and her successes.
So the days became weeks, and though they brought Barbara a wealth ofhappiness, they were not free from gloomy and bitter hours.
The marquise, who saw her son's doom drawing nearer and nearer, made themealtimes and every moment which she spent with her a perfect hell. FrauLerch continued to urge her, and now advised her to persuade the Emperorto rid her of the old tormentor.
In another matter also she was at a loss what to do. The Wittenbergtheologian, Erasmus Eckhart, found that his own songs, when she sangthem to him, seemed entirely new, and the gratitude he felt merged intoardent love, the first which had taken possession of his young soul. ButBarbara resolutely refused to receive his visits, and thereby deprivedhim of the possibility of opening his heart to her. So, in despair,he wandered about her house more and more frequently, and sent her onefiery love letter after another.
To betray his unseemly conduct to the Emperor or to the confessor wouldhave brought upon him too severe a punishment for an offence which,after all, was the most profound homage. She dared not go to theHiltners, from fear of a fresh misunderstanding, and it would be a longtime ere Wolf's health would permit him to be excited by such matters.
So she was forced to content herself with censuring Erasmus's conduct,through Frau Lerch, in the harshest manner, and threatening to appealto his foster-parents and, in the worst extremity, to the magistrate,to rid herself of his importunities. Nearly two thirds of May had passedwhen the Emperor found himself prevented by a second attack of gout fromvisiting her. But Barbara's heart drew her toward him so strongly thatduring the usual noon ride she hit upon an idea, for whose execution sheimmediately made preparations by secretly entreating young Count Tassisto lend her one of his suits of clothes.
The merry page, a handsome boy of sixteen, who had already crossedrapiers with one of his companions for her sake, was about her height,and delighted to share a secret with her. His most expensive costume,with everything belonging to it, was placed in her room at twilight, andwhen night closed in, disguised as a page, she entered the litter andwas carried to the Golden Cross, where Adrian received her and conductedher to his royal master.
The elderly man thought he had never seen her look so charming as in theyellow velvet doublet with ash-gray facings, the gray silk hose, and theyellow and gray cap resting on her glittering golden hair.
And the Emperor Charles was of the same opinion.
Besides, her lively prank transported him back to his own youth, whenhe himself had glided more than once in page's attire to some beautifulyoung lady of the court, and gaily as in better days, tenderly as anardent youth, he thanked her for her charming enterprise.
After a few blissful hours, which crowded all that she had latelysuffered into oblivion, she left him.
When she again entered the little Prebrunn castle she would gladly haveembraced the whole world.
From the litter she had noticed a light in the windows of the marquise'ssitting-room, but she could now look the poor old noblewoman freely inthe face, for this time, sure of experiencing no sharp rebuff, she hadfound courage to speak of the son to her royal lover.
True, as soon as Charles heard what she desired, he kindly requestedher not to sully her beautiful lips with the name of a scoundrel whohad long since forfeited every claim to his favour, and her mission wasthereby frustrated; but she had now kept her promise.
With the entreaty to spare him in future the pain of refusing any wishof the woman he loved, the disagreeable affair had been dismissed.
When Barbara took the lute, he had begged the fairest of all troubadoursto sing once more, before any other song, his beloved "Quia amorelangueo," and the most vigorous applause was bestowed on every one whichshe afterward executed.
Now she had done all that was possible for the marquise, but no power onearth should induce her to undertake anything of the sort a second time;She was saying this to herself as she entered the little castle.
Let the old noblewoman come now!
She was not long in doing so. But how she looked!
The little gray curls done up in papers stood out queerly from hernarrow head. Her haggard cheeks were destitute of rouge and lividlypale.
Her black eyes glittered strangely from their deep sockets as if shewere insane, and ragged pieces of her morning dress, which she had tornin a fit of helpless fury, hung down upon her breast.
The sight made Barbara shudder. She suspected the truth.
During her absence a new message of evil had reached the marquise.
Unless ten thousand lire could be sent to her son at once, he would becondemned to the galleys, and his child would be abandoned to misery anddisgrace.
While speaking, the wretched mother, with trembling hands, tore out alocket which she wore on a little chain around her neck. It containedthe angelic face, painted on ivory by an artist's hand, of a fair-hairedlittle girl. The child bore her name, Barbara. The singer knew this. Howoften the affectionate grandmother had told her with sparkling eyes ofher little "Babette"!
T
he father chained to the rowers' bench among the most abominableruffians, this loveliest of children perishing in hunger, misery,and shame--what a terrible picture! Barbara beheld it with tangibledistinctness, and while the undignified old aristocrat, deprived of allself-control, sobbed and besought her to have compassion, the girl whohad grown up amid poverty and care went back in memory to the days when,to earn money for a thin soup, a bit of dry bread, a small piece ofcheap cow beef, or to protect herself from the importunity of an unpaidtradesman, she had washed laces with her own delicate hands and seenher nobly born, heroic father scratch crooked letters and scrawlingornaments upon common gray tin.
The same fate, nay, one a thousand times worse, awaited this wonderfullylovely patrician child, whose father was to wield the oars in thegalleys if no one interceded for the unfortunate man.
What was life!
From the height of happiness it led her directly to such an abyss of thedeepest woe.
What contrasts!
A day, an hour had transported her from bitter poverty and torturingyearning to the side of the highest and greatest of monarchs, but whocould tell for how long--how soon the fall into the gulf awaited her?
A shudder ran through her frame, and a deep pity for the sweet creaturewhose coloured likeness she held in her hand seized upon her.
She probably remembered her lover's refusal, and that she only neededto allude to it to release herself from the wailing old woman, but aninvisible power sealed her lips. She was filled with an ardent desireto help, to avert this unutterable misery, to bring aid to this child,devoted to destruction.
To rise above everything petty, and with the imperial motto "More,farther," before her eyes, to attain a lofty height from which to lookdown upon others and show her own generosity to them, had been thelonging of her life. She was still permitted to feel herself the objectof the love of the mightiest sovereign on earth, and should she bedenied performing, by her own power, an act of deliverance to whichheart and mind urged her?
No, and again no!
She was no longer poor Wawerl!
She could and would show this, for, like an illumination, words whichshe had heard the day before in the Golden Cross had flashed into hermemory.
Master Wenzel Jamnitzer, the famous Nuremberg goldsmith, had addressedthem to her in the imperial apartments, where he had listened to hersinging the day before.
He had come to consult with the Emperor Charles about the diadems whichhe wished to give his two nieces, the daughters of Ferdinand, Kingof the Romans, who were to be married in July in Ratisbon. Theirmanufacture had been intrusted to Master Jamnitzer, and after theconcert the Nuremberg artist had thanked Barbara for the pleasure whichhe owed her. In doing so, he had noticed the Emperor's first gift,the magnificent star which she wore on her breast at the side of hersquarenecked dress. Examining it with the eye of an expert, he hadremarked that the central stone alone was worth an estate.
If she deprived herself of this superb ornament, the despairing oldmother would be consoled, and the lovely child saved from hunger anddisgrace.
With Barbara, thought, resolve, and action followed one another in rapidsuccession.
"You shall have what you need to-morrow," she called to the marquise,kissed--obeying a hasty impulse--her little namesake's picture, rejectedany expression of thanks from the astonished old dame, and went to rest.
Frau Lerch had never seen her so radiant with happiness, yet she wasirritated by the reserve of the girl for whom she thought she hadsacrificed so much, yet whose new garments had already brought her moreprofit than the earnings of the three previous years.
The next morning Master Jamnitzer called the valuable star his own,and pledged himself to keep the matter secret, and to obtain from theFuggers a bill of exchange upon Paris for ten thousand lire.
The honest man sent her through the Haller banking house a thousandducats, that he might not be open to the reproach of having defraudedher.
Yet the gold which she did not need for the marquise seemed to Barbaralike money unjustly obtained. While she was riding out at noon, FrauLerch found it in her chest, and thought that she now knew what had madethe girl so happy the day before. She was all the more indignant when,soon after, Barbara gave half the new wealth to the Prebrunn town clerkto distribute among the poor journeymen potters whose huts had beenburned down the previous night. The rest she kept to give to therelatives of her one-eyed maid-servant at home, who were in the direstpoverty.
For the first time she had felt the pleasure of interposing, like ahigher power, in the destiny of others. What she had hoped from thegreatness to which she had risen now appeared on the eve of beingactually and wholly fulfilled.
Even the strange manner in which the marquise thanked her for hergenerosity could but partially impair the exquisite sense of happinesswhich filled her heart.
As soon as the old noblewoman heard that the bill of exchange for herson was on the way to Paris, she expressed her intention of thanking hisMajesty for this noble donation.
Startled and anxious, Barbara was obliged to forbid this, and to confessthat, on the contrary, the Emperor had refused to do anything whateverfor her son, and that morning, for little Babette's sake, she had usedher own property.
The marquise then angrily declared that a Marquise de Leria could acceptsuch a favour without a blush solely from his Majesty. Even from anequal in station she must refuse gifts of such value. If Barbara washonest, she would admit that she had never, even by a syllable, askedfor a donation, but always only for her intercession with his Majesty.Her hasty action made withdrawal impossible, but the humiliation whichshe had experienced through her was so hard to conquer that she couldscarcely bring herself to feel grateful for a gift which, in itself, wascertainly worthy of appreciation.
In fact, from that time the marquise entirely changed her manner, andinstead of flattering her ward as before, she treated her with haughtycoldness, and sometimes remarked that poverty and hostility were ofteneasier to bear than intrusive kindness and humiliating gifts.
Hitherto Barbara had placed no one under obligation to be grateful, andtherefore the ugliness of ingratitude was unknown to her.
Now she was to become acquainted with it.
At first this disappointment wounded her, but soon the marquise'sintention of ridding herself, by this conduct, of a heavy debt becameapparent, and she opposed to the base cunning a gay defence, but wasthen forced to encounter the marquise's condemnation of it as theoutgrowth of an ungenerous soul.
How unpleasant this was! Yet she kept what she had done for the oldaristocrat and the way in which she had requited it a secret, even fromFrau Lerch, especially as the Emperor soon alluded to his denial of herentreaty, and gave a description of young Leria which filled her withhorror, and led to the conviction that the sacrifice which she had madefor him and his little daughter had been utterly futile.
Little Babette, she also heard, was cared for in the best possiblemanner, having been withdrawn front her father's influence long beforeand placed in charge of an estimable, wealthy, and aristocratic aunt,her mother's sister, who filled the latter's place.
This act of charity had been utterly spoiled for the overhasty giver,and, while the glad remembrance of the pure delight which she had feltafter her generous resolve faded more and more, she began to be uneasyabout her reckless transaction with the Nuremberg goldsmith, for theEmperor during his very next visit had asked about the star, and inher confusion she had again been forced into a falsehood, and triedto excuse herself for so rarely wearing his beautiful present by thepretext that the gold pin which fastened it was bent.
She could have inflicted various punishments upon herself for herprecipitate yielding to a hastily awakened sympathy, for it would surelyanger the Emperor if he learned how carelessly she had treated his firstcostly gift.
Perhaps some hint of its sale had already reached his ears, for,although he had made no opposition to her apology, he afterward remainedtaciturn and irritable.
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Every subsequent interview with her lover was terribly shadowed by thedread that he might think of the unlucky ornament again.
Yet, on this occasion also, fear prevented the brave girl fromconfessing the whole truth.
