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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5554.txt b/5554.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b598056 --- /dev/null +++ b/5554.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2099 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook Margery, by Georg Ebers, Volume 3. +#115 in our series by Georg Ebers + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers***** + + +Title: Margery, Volume 3. + +Author: Georg Ebers + +Release Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5554] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on August 2, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + + + + + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARGERY, BY GEORG EBERS, V3 *** + + + +This eBook was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + + + +[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of the +file for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before making an +entire meal of them. D.W.] + + + + +MARGERY + +By Georg Ebers + +Volume 3. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +Herdegen was to be back in Padua before Passion week, and I shall +remember with thankfulness to the day of my death the few months after +worthy Veit Spiesz's burial and before my brother's departure. Not a day +passed without our meeting; and after my heart had moved me to tell +Cousin Maud all that had happened, and Herdegen had given his consent, we +were rid once for all of the mystery which had at first weighed on our +souls. + +Verily the worthy lady found it no light matter to look kindly on this +early and ill-matched betrothal; yet had she not the heart, nor the +power, to make any resistance. When two young folks who are dear to her +are brimfull of high happiness, the woman who would turn them out of that +Garden of Eden and spoil their present bliss with warnings of future woe +must be of another heart and mind than Cousin Maud. She indeed foresaw +grief to come in many an hour of mistrust by day and many a sleepless +night, more especially by reason of her awe and dread of my grand-uncle; +and indeed, she herself was not bereft of the old pride of race which +dwells in every Nuremberger who is born under a knight's coat of arms. +That Ann was poor she held of no account; but that she was not of noble +birth was indeed a grief and filled her with doubts. But then, when her +best-beloved Herdegen's eyes shone so brightly, and she saw Ann cling to +him with maidenly rapture, vexation and care were no more. + +If I had sung a loud hymn of praise in the woods over their spring and +autumn beauty--and verily it had welled up from my heart--I was ready to +think winter in the town no less gladsome, in especial under the shelter +of a home so warm and well built as our old Schopper-hof. + +In the last century, when, at the time of the Emperor Carolus--[Charles +IV., 1348]--coming to the throne, the guilds, under the leadership of the +Gaisbarts and Pfauentritts, had risen against the noble families and the +worshipful council, they accused the elders of keeping house not as +beseemed plain citizens but after the manner of princes; and they were +not far wrong, for indeed I have heard tell that when certain merchants +from Scandinavia came to our city, they said that the dwelling of a +Nuremberg noble was a match in every way for their king's palace. + + [Gaisbart (goat's beard) and Pfauentritt (peacock-strut), were + nicknames given to the leaders of the guilds who rebelled against + the patrician families in Nuremberg, from whom alone the aldermen or + town-council could be elected. This patrician class originated in + 1198 under the Emperor Henry IV., who ennobled 38 families of the + citizens. They were in some sort comparable with the families + belonging to the Signoria at Venice, from whom, in the same way, the + great council was chosen.] + +As touching our house, it was four stories high, and with seven windows +in every story; with well devised oriels at the corners, and pointed +turrets on the roof. The gables were on the street, in three steps; over +the great house door there was our coat of arms, the three links of the +Schopppes and the fool's head with cap and bells as a crest on the top of +the casque. The middle windows of the first and second stories were of +noble size, and there glittered therein bright and beautiful panes of +Venice glass, whereas the other windows were of small roundels set in +lead. + +And while from outside it was a fine, fair house to look upon, I never +hope to behold a warmer or more snug and comfortable dwelling than the +living-rooms within which was our home the winter through; albeit I found +the saloons and chambers in the palaces of the Signori at Venice loftier +and more airy, and greater and grander. Whenever I have been homesick +under the sunny blue sky of Italy, it was for the most part that I longed +after the rich, fresh green foliage and flowing streams of my own land; +but, next to them, after our pleasant chamber in the Schopper-house, with +its warm, green-tiled stove, with the figures of the Apostles, and the +corner window where I had spun so many a hank of fine yarn, and which was +so especially mine own--although I was ever ready and glad to yield my +right to it, when Herdegen required it to sit in and make love to his +sweetheart. + +The walls of this fine chamber were hung with Flanders tapestry, and I +can to this day see the pictures which were so skilfully woven into it. +That I loved best, from the time when I was but a small thing, was the +Birth of the Saviour, wherein might be seen the Mother and Child, oxen +and asses, the three Holy Kings from the East--the goodliest of them all +a blackamoor with a great yellow beard flowing down over his robes. On +the other hangings a tournament might be seen; and I mind me to this day +how that, when I was a young child, I would gaze up at the herald who was +blowing the trumpet in fear lest his cheeks should burst, inasmuch as +they were so greatly puffed out and he never ceased blowing so hard. +Between the top of these hangings and the ceiling was a light wood +cornice of oak-timber, on which my father, God rest him, had caused +various posies to be carved of his own devising. You might here read: + + "Like a face our life may be + To which love lendeth eyes to see." + +Or again, + + "The Lord Almighty hides his glorious face + That so we may not cease to seek his grace." + +Or else, + + "The Lord shall rule my life while I sit still, + And rule it rightly by his righteous will." + +And whereas my father had loved mirthful song he had written in another +place: + + "If life be likened to a thorny place + Song is the flowery spray that lends it grace." + +Some of these rhymes had been carved there by my grandfather, for example +these lines: + + "By horse and wain I've journeyed up and down, + Yet found no match for this my native town." + +And under our coat of arms was this posy. + + "While the chain on the scutcheon holds firm and fast + The fool on the crest will be game to the last." + +Of the goodly carved seats, and the cushions covered with motley woven +stuffs from the Levant, right pleasant to behold, of all the fine +treasures on the walls, the Venice mirrors, and the metal cage with a +grey parrot therein, which Jordan Kubbelmg, the falconer from Brunswick, +had given to my dear mother, I will say no more; but I would have it +understood that all was clean and bright, well ordered and of good +choice, and above all snug and warm. Nay, and if it had all been far +less costly and good to look at, there was, as it were, a breath of home +which must have gladdened any man's heart: inasmuch as all these goodly +things were not of yesterday nor of to-day, but had long been a joy to +many an one dear to us; so that our welfare in that dwelling was but the +continuing of the good living which our parents and grandparents had +known before us. + +Howbeit, those who will read this writing know what a patrician's house +in Nuremberg is wont to be; and he who hath lived through a like +childhood himself needs not to be told how well hide and seek may be +played in a great hall, or what various and merry pastime can be devised +in the twilight, in a dining hall where the lights hang from the huge +beams of the ceiling; and we for certain knew every game that was worthy +to be named. + +But by this time all this was past and gone; only the love of song would +never die out in the dwelling of the man who had been well-pleased to +hear himself called by his fellows "Schopper the Singer." Ah! how +marvellous well did their voices sound, Ann's and my brother's, when they +sang German songs to the lute or the mandoline, or perchance Italian +airs, as they might choose. But there was one which I could never weary +of hearing and which, meseemed, must work on Herdegen's wayward heart as +a cordial. The words were those of Master Walther von der Vogelweirde, +and were as follows: + + "True love is neither man nor maid, + No body hath nor yet a soul, + Nor any semblance here below, + Its name we hear, itself unknown. + Yet without love no man may win + The grace and favor of the Lord. + Put then thy trust in those who love; + In no false heart may Love abide." + +And when they came to the last lines Kunz would ofttimes join in, taking +the bass part or continuo to the melody. Otherwise he kept modestly in +the background, for since he had come to know that Herdegen and Ann were +of one mind he waited on her as a true and duteous squire, while he was +now more silent than in past time, and in his elder brother's presence +almost dumb. Yet at this I marvelled not, inasmuch as I many a time +marked that brethren are not wont to say much to each other, and even +between friends the one is ready enough to be silent if the other takes +the word. Moreover at Easter Kunz was likewise to quit home, and go to +Venice at my granduncle's behest. Herdegen's love for his brother had, +of a certainty, suffered no breach; but, like many another disciple of +Minerva, he was disposed to look down on the votaries of Mercury. + +Nevertheless the links of the Schopper chain, to which Ann had now been +joined as a fourth, held together right bravely, and when we sang not, +but met for friendly talk, our discourse was but seldom of worthless, +vain matters, forasmuch as Herdegen was one of those who are ready and +free of speech to impart what he had himself learned, and it was Ann's +especial gift to listen keenly and question discreetly. + +And what was there that my brother had not learned from the great +Guarino, and the not less great Humanist, his disciple Vittorino da +Feltre, at that time Magistri at Padua? And how he had found the time, +in a right gay and busy life, to study not merely the science of law but +also Greek, and that so diligently that his master was ever ready to laud +him, was to me a matter for wonder. And how gladly we hearkened while +he told us of the great Plato, and gave us to know wherefore and on what +grounds his doctrine seemed to him, Herdegen, sounder and loftier than +that of Aristotle, concerning whom he had learned much erewhile in +Nuremberg. And whereas I was moved to fear lest these works of the +heathen should tempt him to stray from the true faith, my soul found +comfort when he proved to us that so glorious a lamp of the Church as +Saint Augustine had followed them on many points. Also Herdegen had +written out many verses of Homer's great song from a precious written +book, and had learned to master them well from the teaching of the doctor +of Feltre. They were that portion in which a great hero in the fight, or +ever he goes forth to battle, takes leave of his wife and little son; and +to me and Ann it seemed so fine and withal so touching, that we could +well understand how it should be that Petrarca wrote that no more than to +behold a book of Homer made him glad, and that he longed above all things +to clasp that great man in his arms. + +Indeed, the poems and writings of Petrarca yielded us greater delights +than all the Greek and Roman heathen. Master Ulsenius had before now +lent them to Ann, and she like a bee from a flower would daily suck a +drop of honey from their store. Yet was there one testimony of +Petrarca's--who was, for sure, of all lovers the truest--which she loved +above all else. In the dreadful time of the Black Death which came as a +scourge on all the world, and chiefly on Italy, in the past century, the +lady to whom he had vowed the deepest and purest devotion, appeared to +him in a dream one fair spring morning as an angel of Heaven. And +whereas he inquired of her whether she were in life, she answered him in +these words: "See that thou know me; for I am she who led thee out of the +path of common men, inasmuch as thy young heart clung to me." And lo! +on that very sixth of April, which brought him that vision, one and +twenty years after that he had first beheld her, Laura had made a pious +end. + +With beseeching eyes Ann would repeat to her best beloved, as they sat +together in the oriel bay, how that Laura had led her Petrarca from the +ways of common men; and it went to my heart to hear her entreat him, with +timid and yet fond and heartfelt prayer, to grant to her to be his Laura +and to guide him far from the beaten path, forasmuch as it was narrow and +low for his winged spirit. And while she thus spoke her great eyes had a +marvellous clear and glorious light, and when I looked in her face +wrapped in the veil of her mourning for her father, my spirit grew +solemn, as though I were in church. Herdegen must have felt this +likewise, methinks, for he would bend the knee before her and hide his +face in her lap, and kiss her hands again and again. + +But these solemn hours were few. + +First and last it was a happy fellowship, free and gay, though mingled +with earnest, that held us together; and when Ann's father had been some +few weeks dead our old gleefulness came back to us again, and then, after +gazing at her for a while, Herdegen would suddenly strike the lute and +sing the old merry round: + + "Come, sweetheart, come to me. + Ah how I pine for thee! + Ah, how I pine for thee + Come, sweetheart, come to me. + Sweet rosy lips to kiss, + Come then and bring me bliss, + Come then and bring me bliss, + Sweet rosy lips to kiss!" + +And we would all join in, even Cousin Maud; nay and she would look +another way or quit the chamber, stealing away behind Kunz and holding up +a warning finger, when she perceived how his Ann's "sweet, rosy lips" +tempted Herdegen's to kiss them. But there were other many songs, and +ofttimes, when we were in a more than common merry mood, we strange young +things would sing the saddest tales and tunes we knew, such as that +called "Two Waters," and yet were we only the more gay. + +Herdegen could not be excused from his duty of paying his respects from +time to time to the many friends of our honorable family, yet would he +ever keep away from dances and feastings, and when he was compelled to +attend I was ever at his side, and it was a joy to me to see how +courteous, and withal how cold, was his demeanor to all other ladies. + +The master's fiftieth birthday was honored in due course at the Tetzels' +house, and to please my granduncle, Herdegen could not refuse to do his +part in song and in the dance, and likewise to lead out Ursula, the +daughter of the house, in the dances. Nor did he lose his gay but +careless mien, although she would not quit his side and chose him to +dance with her in "The Sulkers," a dance wherein the man and maid first +turn their backs on each other and then make it up and kiss. But when it +came to this, maiden shame sent the blood into my cheeks; for at the +sound of the music, in the face of all the company she fell into his +arms, as it were by mishap; and it served her right when he would not +kiss her lips, which she was ready enough to offer, but only touched her +brow with his. + +Forasmuch as she had danced with him the Dance of Honor or first dance, +it was his part to beg her hand for the last dance--the "grandfather's +dance;"--[Still a well-known country dance in Germany.]--but she would +fain punish him for the vexation he had caused her and turned her back +upon him. He, however, would have none of this; he grasped her hand ere +she was aware of him, and dragged her after him. It was vain to +struggle, and soon his strong will was a pleasure to her, and her +countenance beamed again full brightly, when as this dance requires, he +had led the way with her, the rest all following, through chamber and +hall, kitchen and courtyard, doors and windows, nay, and even the +stables. In the course of this dance each one seized some utensil or +house-gear, as we do to this day; only never a broom, which would bring +ill-luck. Ursula had snatched up a spoon, and when the mad sport was +ended and he had let go her hand, she rapped him with it smartly on the +arm and cried: "You are still what you ever were, in the dance at least!" + +But my brother only said: "Then will I try to become not the same, even +in that." + +Round the Christmas tree and at the sharing of gifts which Cousin Maud +made ready for Christmas eve, we were all friendly and glad at heart, and +Ann found her way to join us after that she had put the little ones to +bed. + +Herdegen said she herself was the dearest gift for which he could thank +the Christ-child, and he had provided for her as a costly token the great +Petrarca's heroic poem of Africa, in which he sings the deeds of the +noble Scipio, and likewise his smaller poems, all written in a fair hand. +They made three neat books, and on the leathern cover, the binder, by +Herdegen's orders, had stamped the words, "ANNA-LAURA," in a wreath of +full-blown roses. Nor was she slow to understand their intent, and her +heart was uplifted with such glad and hopeful joy that the Christ-child +for a certainty found no more blissful or thankful creature in all +Nuremberg that Christmas eve. + +The manifold duties which filled up all her days left her but scant time +wherein to work for him she loved; nevertheless she had wrought with her +needle a letter pouch, whereon the Schoppers' arms were embroidered in +many colored silks, and the words 'Agape' and 'Pistis'--which are in +Greek Love and Faithfulness in Greek letters with gold thread. Cousin +Maud had dipped deep into her purse and likewise into her linen-press, +and on the table under the Christmas-tree lay many a thing fit for the +bride-chest of a maid of good birth; and albeit Ann could not but rejoice +over these gifts for their own sake, she did so all the more gladly, +inasmuch as she guessed that Cousin Maud was well-disposed to speed her +marriage. + +We were all, indeed, glad and thankful; all save the Magister, whose face +was ill-content and sour by reason that he had culled many verses and +maxims concerning love, for the most part from the Greek and Latin poets, +and yet all his attempts to repeat them before Ann came to nothing, +inasmuch as she was again and again taken up with Herdegen and with me, +after she had once shaken hands with him and given him her greetings. + +At supper he was as dumb as the carp which were served, and it befell +that for the first time Herdegen took his seat between him and his +heart's beloved; and verily I was grieved for him when, after supper, he +withdrew downcast to his own chamber. The rest of us went forth to Saint +Sebald's church, where that night there would be midnight matins, as +there was every year, and a mass called the Christ mass. Cousin Maud and +Kunz were with us, as in the old happy days when we were children and +when we never missed; and in the streets as we went, we met all manner of +folks singing gladly: + + Puer natus in Bethlehem, + Sing, rejoice, Jerusalem! + +or the carol: + + Congaudeat turba fadelium! + Natus est rex, Salvator omnium + In Bethlehem. + +and we joined in; and at last all went together to see Ann to her home. + +Next evening there were more costly gifts, but albeit Puer natus was +still to be heard in the streets, we no longer were moved to join in. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +Every Christmas all my grand-uncle's kith and kin, or so many of them as +were on good terms with him, assembled in the great house of the Im +Hoffs. Everything in that dwelling spoke of ease and wealth, and no +banqueting-hall could be more brightly lighted or more richly decked than +that where the old man welcomed us on the threshold; and yet, how well +soever the hearth was piled or the stove heated, a chill breath seemed to +blow there. + +While great and small were rejoicing over the grand old knight's bounty +he himself would ever stand apart, and his calm, hueless countenance +expressed no change. Meseemed he cared but little for the pleasure he +gave us all; yet was he not idle in the matter, nor left it to others; +for there was no single gift which he had not himself chosen as befitting +him to whom it should be given. + +The trade of his great house was for the most part with Venice, and it +would have been easy to fancy oneself in some fine palazzo on the grand +canal as one marked the carpets, the mirrors, the brocade, and the +vessels in his house; and not a few of his tokens had likewise been +brought from thence. + +Before this largesse in his own house he was wont to bestow another, and +a very noble one, on the old men and women of the poor folks in the town; +and when this was over he went with them to the church of Saint Aegidius, +and washed the feet of about a score of them, which act of penitential +humility he was wont to repeat in Passion week. + +Then when he had welcomed his kin, each one to his house, he would say to +such as thanked him, if it were a child, very soberly: "Be a good child." +But for elder folks he had no more than "It is well," or an almost +churlish: "That is enough." + +This evening he had given me a gown of costly brocade of Cyprus; to Kunz +everything that a Junker might need on his travels; and to Herdegen the +same sword which he himself had in past time worn at court; the hilt was +set with gems and ended in the lion rampant, couped, of the Im Hoffs. +Ursula Tetzel, like me, had had a gown-piece which was lying near by the +sword. + +Herdegen, holding the jewelled weapon in his hand, thanked his grand- +uncle, who muttered as was his wont "'Tis well, 'tis well," when Jost +Tetzel put in his word, saying that the gift of a sword was supposed to +part friends, but that this ill-effect might be hindered if he who +received it made a return-offering to the giver, and so the token was +made into a purchase. + +At this Herdegen hastened to take out a gold pin set with sapphire +stones, which Cousin Maud had given him, from his neck-kerchief, to offer +it to his uncle; but the elder would have nothing to say to such +foolishness, and pushed the pin away. But then when my brother did not +cease, but besought him to accept it, inasmuch as he cared so greatly for +his uncle's fatherly kindness, the old knight cried that he wanted no +such sparkling finery, but that the day might come when he should require +some payment and that Herdegen was then to remember that he was in his +debt. + +At this minute they were hindered from further speech by the servants, +who came in to bid us to supper, and there stood ready wild fowl and +fish, fruits and pastry, with the rarest wines and the richest vessels; +the great middle table and the side buffet alike made such a show as +though Pomona, Ceres, Bacchus, and Plutus had heaped it with prodigal +hand. Yet was there no provision for merry-making. My grand-uncle loved +to be quit of his guests at an early hour; hence no table was laid for +them to sit down to meat, and each one held his plate in one hand. + +Presently, as I strove to get free of young Master Vorchtel who had +served me--and by the same token made love to me--I found my cousin in +speech with my grand-uncle, and the last words of his urgent discourse, +spoken as I came up with them, were that a woman of sound understanding, +as she commonly seemed, should no longer suffer such a state of things. + +Then Cousin Maud answered him, saying: "But you, my noble and worshipful +Cousin Im Hoff, know how that a Schopper is ever ready to run his head +against a wall. If we strive to thwart this hot-headed boy, he will of a +certainty defy us; but if we leave him for a while to go his own way, the +waters will not be dammed up, but will run to waste in the sand." + +This was evil hearing, and much as it vexed me Ursula chafed me even +more, whereas she made a feint of caring for none of the company present +excepting only Sir Franz--who was yet her housemate--and being still pale +and weak needed a friendly woman's hand for many little services, +inasmuch as even now he could scarce use his right arm. Nay, and he +seemed to like Ursula well enough as his helper; albeit he owed all her +sweet care and loving glances to Herdegen, for she never bestowed them +but when he chanced to look that way. + +When we all took leave my grand-uncle bid Herdegen stay, and Kunz waited +on us; but notwithstanding all his merry quips as we went home, not once +could we be moved to laughter. My heart was indeed right heavy; a bitter +drop had fallen into it by reason of Cousin Maud. I had ever deemed her +incapable of anything but what was truest and best, and she had proved +herself a double-dealer; and young as I was, and rejoicing in life, I +said, nevertheless, in my soul's dejection, that if life was such that +every poor human soul must be ever armed with doubt, saying, "Whom shall +I trust or doubt?" then it was indeed a hard and painful journey to win +through. + +I slept in my cousin's room, and albeit Cousin Maud wist not that I had +overheard her counsel given to my grand-uncle, she kept out of my way +that night, and we neither of us spoke till we said good-night. Then +could I no longer refrain myself, and asked whether it were verily and +indeed her intent to part Herdegen from Ann. + +And her ill-favored countenance grew strangely puckered and her bosom +heaved till suddenly she cried beside herself: "Cruel! Unhappy! Oh! +It will eat my heart out!" And she sobbed aloud, while I did the same, +crying: + +"But you love them both?" + +"That I do, and that is the very matter," she broke in sadly enough. +"Herdegen, and Ann! Why, I know not which I hold the dearer. But find +me a wiser man in all Nuremberg than your grand-uncle. But verily, +merciful Virgin, I know not what I would be at--I know not....!" + +On this I forgot the respect due to her and put in: "You know not?" And +whereas she made no reply, I railed at her, saying: "And yet you gave her +the linen, and half the matters for her house-gear as a Christmas gift, +as though they were known for a bride and groom to all the town. As old +as you are and as wise, can you take pleasure in a love-match and even +speed it forward as you have done, and yet purpose in your soul to hinder +it at last? And is this the truth and honesty whereof early and late you +have ever taught me? Is this being upright and faithful, or not rather +speaking with two tongues?" + +My fiery blood had again played me an evil trick, and I repented me when +I perceived what great grief my violent speech had wrought in the dear +soul. Never had I beheld her so feeble and doubting, and in a minute I +was in her arms and a third person might have marvelled to hear us each +craving pardon, she for her faint-hearted fears, and I for my unseemly +outbreak. But in that hour I became her friend, and ceased to be no more +than her child and fondling. + +Herdegen was to be ready to set forth before Passion week; but ere he +quitted home he made all the city ring with his praises, for, whereas +he had hitherto won fame in the school of arms only, by the strength and +skill of his arm, he now outdid every other in the procession of masks. +Albeit this custom is still kept up to this very day, yet many an one may +have forgotten how it first had its rise, although in my young days it +was well known to most folks. + +This then is to record, that in the days when the guilds were in revolt +against the city council, the cutlers and the fleshers alone remained +true to the noble families, and whereas they refused to take any guerdon +for their faithfulness, which must have been paid them at the cost of the +rest, they craved no more than the right of a making a goodly show in a +dance and procession at the Carnival; and they were by the same token +privileged at that time to wear apparel of velvet and silk, like gentle +folks of noble and knightly degree. + +Now this dance and its appurtenances were known at the masked show, and +inasmuch as the aid of the governing class was needed to keep the streets +clear for the throng of craftsmen, and as likewise the yearly outlay was +beyond their means, the sons of the great houses took a pride in paying +goodly sums for the right of taking a place in the procession. And as +for our high-spirited young lord, skilled as he was with his weapon, he +had seen and taken part in many such gay carnival doings among the +Italians, and it was a delight to him to join in the like sport at home, +and many were fain to gaze at him rather than at the guilds. + +They assembled under the walls in two bands, and marched past the town +hall and from thence to a dance of both guilds. Each had a dance of its +own. The Fleshers' was such a dance as in England is called a country +dance and they held leather-straps twisted to look like sausages; the +cutlers' dance was less clumsy, and they carried naked swords. + +But the show which most delighted the bystanders was the procession of +masks, wherein, indeed, there were many things pleasant and fair to +behold. + +A party of men in coarse raiment called the men of the woods, carrying +sheaves of oak boughs with acorns, and a number of mummers in fools' +garb, wielding wooden bats, cleared the way for the procession; first +then came minstrels, with drums and pipes and trumpets and bag-pipes, and +merry bells ringing out withal. Next came one on horseback with nuts, +which he flung down among the children, whereat there was merry scuffling +and screaming on the ground. From the windows likewise and balconies +there was no end of the laughter and cries; the young squires gave the +maids and ladies who sat there no peace for the flowers and sweetmeats +they cast up at them, and eggs filled with rose-water. + +This year, whereof I write, many folks in the procession wore garments of +the same color and shape; but among them there were some who loved a +jest, and were clothed as wild men and women, or as black-amoors, ogres +that eat children, ostrich-birds, and the like. Last of all came the +chief glory of the show, various great buildings and devices drawn by +horses: a Ship of Fools, and behind that a wind-mill, and a fowler's +decoy wherein Fools, men and women both, were caught, and other such +pastimes. + +My Herdegen had mingled with this wondrous fellowship arrayed as a knight +crusader leading three captive Saracen princes; namely, the two young +Masters Loffelholz and Schlebitzer, who had stirred him to dress in the +fencing-school, mounted on horses, and between them my squire Akusch on +the bear-leader's camel, all in white as a Son of the Desert; and the +three of them fettered with chains made of wood. + +My grand-uncle had lent Herdegen the suit of mail he himself had worn in +his youth at a tournament; + +Cousin Maud had provided his white cloak with a red cross, and as he rode +forth on a noble black steed in mail-harness with scarlet housings--the +finest and stoutest horse in the Im Hoffs' stables-and his golden hair +shining in the sun, many a maid could not take her eyes off from him. + +Kunz, in the garb of a fool, hither and thither, nay, and everywhere at +once, doubtless had the better sport; but Herdegen's heart beat the +higher, for he could hear a thousand voices proclaiming him the most +comely and his troop the most princely of all; from many a window a +flower was shed on him, or a ribband, or a knot. At last, when the dance +was all over, the guilds with the town-pipers betook them to the head +constable's quarters, where they were served with drink and ate the +Shrove-Tuesday meal of fish which was given in their honor. When the +procession was past and gone my grand-uncle bid Herdegen go to him, and +that which the old man then said and did to move him to give up his love +was shrewdly planned and not without effect on his mind. After looking +at him from head to foot, saying nothing but with no small contentment, +he clapped him kindly on the shoulder and led him, as though by chance, +up to the Venice mirror in the dining-hall. Then pointing to the image +before him: "A Tancred!" he cried, "a Godfrey! Richard of the Lion- +heart! And the bride a miserable scrivener's wench!--a noble bride!" +Thereupon Herdegen fired up and began to speak in praise of Ann's rare +and choice beauty; but his guardian stopped him short, laid his arm round +his shoulders, and muttered in his ear that in his young days likewise +youths of noble birth had to be sure made love to the fair daughters of +the common citizens, but the man who could have thought of courting one +of them in good faith.... + +Here he broke off with a sharp laugh, and drawing the boy closer to him, +cried: + +"No harm is meant my Tancred! And you may keep the black horse in +remembrance of this hour." + +It was old Berthold, my uncle's body-servant who told me all this; +Herdegen when he came home answered none of my questions. He would not +grant my prayer that he should show himself to Ann in his knight's +harness, and said somewhat roughly that she loved not such mummery. Thus +it was not hard to guess what was in his mind; but how came it to pass +that this old man, whose princely wife had wrought ruin to his peace and +happiness, could so diligently labor to lead him he best loved on earth +into the like evil course? And among many matters of which I lacked +understanding there was yet this one: Wherefore should Eppelein, who so +devoutly loved his master, and who knew right well how to value a young +maid's beauty--and why should my good Susan and the greater part of our +servitors have turned so spitefully against Ann, to whom in past days +they were ever courteous and serviceable, since they had scented a +betrothal between her and my eldest brother? + +From the first I had been but ill-pleased to see Herdegen so diligent +over this idle sport and spending so many hours away from his sweetheart, +when he was so soon to quit us all. Nevertheless I had not the heart to +admonish him, all the more as in many a dull hour he was apt to believe +that, for the sake of his love, he must need deny himself sundry +pleasures which our father had been free to enjoy; and I weened that I +knew whence arose this faint-heartedness which was so little akin to his +wonted high spirit. + +Looking backward, a little before this time, I note first that Ann had +not been able to keep her love-matters a secret from her mother. Albeit +the still young and comely widow had solemnly pledged herself to utter +no word of the matter, like most Italian women--and may be many a +Nuremberger--she could not refrain herself from telling that of which her +heart and brain were full, deeming it great good fortune for her child +and her whole family; and she had shared the secret with all her nearest +friends. Eight days before Shrove Tuesday Cousin Maud and we three +Schoppers had been bidden to spend the evening in the house by the river, +and Dame Giovanna, kind-hearted as ever, but not far-seeing, had likewise +bidden her father-in-law, the lute-player, and Adam Heyden from the +tower, and Ann's one and only aunt, the widow of Rudel Hennelein. + +This Hennelein had been the town bee-master, the chief of the bee- +keepers, who, then as now, had their business out in the Lorenzer-Wald. +His duties had been to hold an assize for the bee-keepers three times in +the year at a village called Feucht, and to lend an ear to their +complaints; and albeit he had fulfilled his office without blame, he had +dwelt in strife with his wife, and being given to rioting, he was wont +rather to go to the tavern than sit at table with his cross-grained wife. + +When he presently died there was but small leaving, and the widow in the +little house in the milk market had need to look twice at every farthing, +although she had not chick nor child. And whereas full half of the +offerings sent by the bee-keepers to help out their master's widow were +in honey, she strove to turn this to the best account, and to this end +she would by no means sell it to the dealers who would offer to take it, +but carried it herself in neat little crocks, one at a time, to the +houses of the rich folks, whereby her gains were much the greater. + +Whereas her husband had been a member of the worshipful class of +magistrates, she deemed that such trading ill-beseemed her dignity; and +she at all times wore a great fur hat as large round as a cart-wheel of +fair size, and all the other array of a well-to-do housewife, though in +truth somewhat threadbare. Then she would offer her honey as a gift to +the mothers of children for their dear little ones; nor could she ever be +moved to name a price for her gift, inasmuch as it was not fitting that a +bee-master's widow should do so, while it was all to her honor when a +little bounty was offered as civil return. + +Her honey was good enough, and the children were ever glad to see her: +all the more so for that they had their sport of her behind her back, +inasmuch as that she was a laughable little body, who had a trick of +repeating the last word of every sentence she spoke. Thus she would say +not: "Ah! here comes Kunz," but, "Here comes Kunz Kunz." Moreover, she +ever held her head between her two hands, tightly, as though with that +great fur cap her thin neck were in danger of breaking. + +In this way she had dealings with most of our noble families; and the +young ones would call her not Hennelein, as her name was, but +Henneleinlein, in jest at her foolish trick of repeating her last word. + +So long as I could remember, Mistress Henneleinlein had been wont to +bring honey to our house, and had received from Cousin Maud, besides many +a bright coin, likewise sundry worn but serviceable garments as +"remembrances." And Herdegen foremost of us all had been ready to make +sport of her; but it had come to his knowledge that she was ever benign +to lovers, and had helped many a couple to come together. + +The glad tidings that her niece was chosen by fate to rule over the +house of the Schoppers had filled her above all others with pride and +contentment, and Dame Giovanna having told her this secret and then +bidden her to meet us, she stuck so closely to Herdegen that Ann was +filled with vexation and fears. I could not but mark that my brother was +sorely ill-pleased when Dame Henneleinlein patted his arm; and when she +kissed his sweetheart on the lips he shrank as though someone had laid +afoul hand on his light-hued velvet doublet. He had always felt a warm +friendship for the worthy lute-player, who was a master in his own art; +yea, and many a time had he right gladly mounted the tower-stairs to see +the old organist; but now, to be treated as a youngster of their own kith +by these two good men filled him with loathing; for it may well be that +many an one whom we are well pleased to seek and truly value in his own +home and amid his own company, seems another man when he makes claim to +live with us as one of ourselves. + +Cousin Maud had not chosen to accept Dame Giovanna's bidding, perchance +for my grand-uncle's sake; she thus escaped the vexation of seeing +Herdegen, on this first night spent with his future kindred, so silent +and moody that he was scarce like himself. He turned pale and bit his +nether lip, as he never did but when he was mastering his temper with +great pains, when Mistress Henneleinlein who had hitherto known him only +as a roystering young blade and now interpreted his reserve and silence +after her own fashion noted mysteriously that the Junker would have to +take a large family with his young bride--though, indeed, there was a +hope that the burden might ere long be lighter. For she went on to say, +with a leer at Mistress Giovanna, that so comely a step-mother would have +suitors in plenty, and she herself had one in her eye, if he were but +brought to the point, who would provide abundantly not only for the +mother but for all the brood of little ones. + +This and much more did he himself repeat to me as we walked home, +speaking with deep ire and in tones of wrath; and what else Dame +Henneleinlein had poured into his ear was to me not so much unpleasing as +a cause of well-grounded fears, inasmuch as the old body had told him +that the man who was fain to pay his court to Mistress Giovanna was none +other than the coppersmith, Ulman Pernhart, the father of the fair maid +for whose sake Aunt Jacoba had banished her only son. + +In vain did I in all honesty speak the praises of the coppersmith; +Herdegen turned a deaf ear, even as my uncle and aunt had done. The +thought that his wife should ever be required to honor this +handicraftsman, if only as a step-father, and that he should hear himself +addressed by him as "Son," was too shrewd a thrust. + +The next morning the Junkers had carried him off to the school of arms +and then to the gentlemen's tavern to take his part in the masquerade; +and when, at a later hour, after the throng had scattered, Ann came to +our house, her lover was not at home: he had gone off again to the revels +at the tavern where he would meet such workingmen as his sweetheart's +future step-father. + +At the same time, as it fell, Brother Ignatius, of the order of Grey +Friars, had come many times to hold forth at our house, by desire of my +grand-uncle whose almoner he was, and when Herdegen announced to us on +Ash Wednesday that the holy man had craved to be allowed to travel in his +company as far as Ingolstadt, I foresaw no good issue; for albeit the +Father was a right reverend priest, whose lively talk had many a time +given me pleasure, it must for certain be his intent to speed my uncle's +wishes. + +In spite of all, Herdegen was in such deep grief at departing that I put +away all doubts and fears. + +Ann, who felt in all matters as he felt and put her whole trust in him, +was wise enough to know that he could have no bond with her kith and kin; +nay, that it must be hard on him to have to call such a woman as Mistress +Henneleinlein his aunt. Also he and she had agreed that hereafter he +should dwell no more at Nuremberg, but seek some office and duty in the +Imperial service; and Sir Franz had been diligent in asking his uncle's +good word, he being one of those highest in power at the Emperor's court. + +Now, when a short time before his departing they were alone with me, Ann, +bearing in mind this pact they had made, cried out: "You promise me we +shall build our nest in some place far from hence; and be it where it +may, wherever we may be left to ourselves and have but each other, a +happy life must await us." + +At this his eyes flashed, and he cried with a lad's bold spirit: + +"With a doctor's hood, at the Emperor's court, I shall ere long be +councillor, and at last, God willing, Chancellor of the Realm!" + +After this they spoke yet many loving and touching words, and when he was +already in the saddle and waved her a last farewell, tears flowed from +his eyes-- + +I saw them for certain.--And at that moment I besought the Lord that He +would rather chastise and try me with pain and grief, but bring these two +together and let their marriage be crowned by the highest bliss ever +vouchsafed to human hearts. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +Spring was past, and again the summer led me and Ann back into the green +wood. Aunt Jacoba's sickness was no whit amended, and the banishment of +her only and comely son gnawed at her heart; but the more she needed +tending and cheering the more Ann could do for her and the dearer she +became to the heart of the sick woman. + +Kunz was ever in Venice. Herdegen wrote right loving letters at first +from Padua, but then they came less often, and the last Ann ever had to +show me was a mere feint which pleased me ill indeed, inasmuch as, albeit +it was full of big words, it was empty of tidings of his life or of his +heart's desire. What all this must mean Ann, with her clear sense and +true love, could not fail to see; nevertheless she ceased not from +building on her lover's truth; or, if she did not, she hid that from all +the world, even from me. + +We came from the forest earlier than we were wont, on Saint Maurice's +day, forasmuch as that Ann could not be longer spared and, now more than +ever, I could not bear to leave her alone. + +Uncle Christian rode to the town with us, and if he had before loved her +well, in this last long time of our all being together he had taken her +yet more into his heart. And now, whereas he had given her the right to +warn him against taking too much wine, he was fain to call her his little +watchman, by reason that it is the watchman's part to give warning of the +enemy's onset. + +But while Ann was so truly beloved at the Forest lodge, on her return +home she found no pleasant welcome. In her absence the coppersmith +Pernhart had wooed her mother in good earnest, and the eldest daughter +not being on the spot, had sped so well that the widow had yielded. Ann +once made bold to beseech her mother with due reverence to give up her +purpose, but she fell on her child's neck, as though Ann were the mother, +entreating her, with many tears, to let her have her will. Ann of a +certainty would not now be long under her roof to cherish the younger +children, and it was not in her power as their mother to guide them in +the way in which their father would have them to walk. For this Ulman +Pernhart was the fittest man. Her dead husband had been a schoolmate of +her suitor's, and of his brother the very reverend lord Bishop, and he +had thought highly of Master Ulman. This it was gave her strength to +follow the prompting of her heart. In this way did the mother try to +move her child to look with favor on the desire of her fiery Italian +heart, now shame-faced and coaxing, and anon with tears in her eyes; and +albeit the widow was past five and thirty and her suitor nigh upon fifty, +yet no man seeing the pair together would have made sport of their love. +The Venice lady had lost so little of her youthful beauty and charms that +it was in truth a marvel; and as to Master Pernhart, he was not a man to +be overlooked, even among many. + +As he was at this time he might be taken for the very pattern of a +stalwart and upright German mastercraftsman; nay, nor would a knight's +harness of mail have ill-beseemed him. Or ever he had thought of paying +court to Mistress Giovanna I had heard the prebendary Master von Hellfeld +speak of Pernhart as a right good fellow, of whom the city might be +proud; and he then spoke likewise of Master Ulman's brother, who had +become a servant of the Holy Church, and while yet a young man had been +raised to the dignity of a bishop. + +When the great schism had come to a happy ending, and one Head, instead +of three, ruled the Church, Pope Martin V. had chosen him to sit in his +council and kept him at Rome, where he was one of the powers of the +Curia. + +Albeit his good German name of Pernhart was now changed to Bernardi, he +had not ceased to love his native town and his own kin, and had so +largely added to the wealth and ease of his own mother and his only +brother that the coppersmith had been able to build himself a dwelling +little behind those of the noble citizens. He had been forlorn in his +great house of late, but no such cause as that was needed to move him to +cast his eye on the fair widow of his very reverend brother's best +friend. + +While Ann was away in the forest Mistress Giovanna had let Pernhart into +the secret of her daughter's betrothal to Herdegen, and so soon as the +young maid was at home again he had spoken to her of the matter, telling +her, in few but hearty words, that she would be ever welcome to his house +and there fill the place of his lost Gertrude; but that if she was fain +to wed an honest man, he would make it his business to provide her +outfit. + +These things, and much more, inclined me in his favor, little as I +desired that he should wed the widow, for Herdegen's sake; and when I met +him for the first time as betrothed to Ann's mother, and the grandlooking +man shook my hand with hearty kindness, and then thanked me with warmth +and simplicity for whatsoever I had done for her who henceforth would be +his dearest and most precious treasure, I returned the warm grasp of his +hand with all honesty, and it was from the bottom of my heart that I +answered him, saying that I gladly hailed him as a new friend, albeit I +could not hope for the same from my brother. + +He heard this with a strange smile, half mournful, but, meseemed, half +proud; then he held forth his horny, hard-worked hand, and said that to +be sure it was an ill-matched pair when such a hand as that should clasp +a soft and white one such as might come out of a velvet sleeve; that +whereas, in order to win the woman he loved, he had taken her tribe of +children into the bargain, and fully purposed to have much joy of them +and be a true father to them, my lord brother, if his love were no less +true, must make the best of his father-in-law, whose honor, though he was +but of simple birth, was as clean as ever another man's in the eyes of +God. + +And as we talked I found there was more and nobler matter in his brain +and heart than I had ever weened I might find in a craftsman. We met +often and learned to know each other well, and one day it fell that I +asked him whether he had in truth forgiven the Junker through whom he had +lost the one he loved best. + +He forthwith replied that I was not to lay the blame on one whom he would +ever remember as a brave and true-hearted youth, inasmuch as it was not +my cousin, but he himself who had put an end to the love-making between +Gotz and Gertrude. It was after the breach between Gotz and his parents +that it had been most hard to turn a deaf ear to the prayers of the +devoted lover and of his own child. But, through all, he had borne in +mind the doctrine by which his father had ever ruled his going, namely, +not to bring on our neighbor such grief as would make our own heart sore. +Therefore he examined himself as to what he would feel towards one who +should make his child to wed against his will with a suitor he liked not; +and whereas his own dignity as a man and his care for his daughter's +welfare forbade that he should give her in marriage to a youth whose +kinsfolks would receive her with scorn and ill-feeling, rather than with +love and kindness, he had at last set his heart hard against young +Waldstromer, whom he had loved as his own son, and forced him to go far +away from his sweetheart. I, in my heart, was strangely wroth with my +cousin in that he had not staked his all to win so fair a maid; nay, and +I made so bold as to confess that in Gertrude's place I should have gone +after my lover whithersoever he would, even against my father's will. + +And again that proud smile came upon Ulman Pernhart's bearded lips, and +his eye flashed fire as he said: "My life moves in a narrow round, but +all that dwell therein bend to my will as the copper bends under my +hammer. If you think that the Junker gave in without a struggle you are +greatly mistaken; after I had forbidden him the house, he had tempted +Gertrude to turn against me and was ready to carry her off; nay, and +would you believe it, my own mother sided with the young ones. The +priest even was in readiness to marry them privily, and they would have +won the day in spite of me. But the eyes of jealousy are ever the +sharpest; my head apprentice, who was madly in love with the maid, +betrayed the plot, and then, Mistress Margery, were things said and done +--things concerning which I had best hold my peace. And if you crave to +know them, you may ask my mother. You will see some day, if you do not +scorn to enter my house and if you gain her friendship--and I doubt not +that you will, albeit it is not granted to every one--she will be glad +enough to complain of my dealings in this matter--mine, her own son's, +although on other points she is wont to praise my virtues over-loudly." + +This discourse raised my cousin once more to his old place in my opinion, +and I knew now that the honest glance of his blue eyes, which doubtless +had won fair Gertrude's heart, was trustworthy and true. + +Master Ulman Pernhart was married in a right sober fashion to fair +Mistress Giovanna, and I remember to this day seeing them wed in Saint +Laurence's Church. It was a few months before this that I was taken for +the first time to a dance at the town hall. There, as soon as I had +forgotten my first little fears, I took my pleasure right gladly to the +sound of the music, and I verily delighted in the dance. But albeit I +found no lack of young ladies my friends, and still less of youths who +would fain win my favor, I nevertheless lost not the feeling that I had +left part of my very being at home; nay, that I scarce had a right to +these joys, since my brothers were in a distant land and Ann could not +share them with me, and while I was taking my pleasure she had the heart- +ache. + +Then was there a second dance, and a third and fourth; and at home there +came a whole troop of young men in their best apparel to ask of Cousin +Maud, each after his own fashion, to be allowed to pay court to me; but +albeit they were all of good family, and to many a one I felt no dislike, +I felt nothing at all like love as I imagined it, and I would have +nothing to say to any one of them. And all this I took with a light +heart, for which Cousin Maud many a time,--and most rightly--reproved me. + +But at that time, and yet more as the months went on, I hardly knew +my own mind; another fate than my own weighed most on my soul; and I +thought so little of my own value that meseemed it could add to no man's +happiness to call me his. All else in life passed before my eyes like a +shadow; a time came when all joy was gone from me, and my suitors sought +me in vain in the dancing-hall, for a great and heavy grief befell me. + +All was at an end--even now I scarce can bear to write the words--between +Ann and Herdegen; and by no fault of hers, but only and wholly by reason +of his great and unpardonable sin. + +But I will write down in order how it came about. So early as at +Martinmas I heard from Cousin Maud--and my grand-uncle had told her--that +Herdegen had quitted Padua and that it was his intent to take the degree +of doctor at Paris whither the famous Gerson's great genius was drawing +the studious youth of all lands; and his reason for this was that a +bloody fray had made the soil of Italy too hot for his feet. "These +tidings boded evil; all the more as neither we nor Ann had a word from +Herdegen in his own hand to tell us that he had quitted the country and +his school. Then, in my fear and grief, I could not help going to my +grand-uncle, but he would have nothing to say to me or to Cousin Maud, +or else he put us off with impatient answers, or empty words that meant +nothing. Thus we lived in dread and sorrow, till at last, a few days +before Pernhart was married, a letter came to me from Eppelein, and I +have it before me now, among other papers all gone yellow. + +"From your most duteous and obedient servant Eppelein Gockel to the lady +Margery Schopper," was the superscription. And he went on to excuse +himself in that he knew not the art of writing, and had requested the +service of the Magister of the young Count von Solms. + +"And inasmuch as I erewhile pledged my word as a, man to the illustrious +and worshipful Mistress Margery, in her sisterly care, that I would write +to her if we at any time needed the favor of her counsel and help, I +would ere now have craved for the Magister's aid if the all-merciful +Virgin had not succored us in due season. + +"Nevertheless my heart was moved to write to you, gracious and worshipful +Mistress Margery, inasmuch as I wist you would be in sorrow, and longing +for tidings of my gracious master; for it is by this time long since I +gave his last letter for the Schopperhof in charge to the German post- +runner; and meseems that my gracious master has liked to give his +precious time to study and to other pastimes rather than to those who, +being his next of kin, are ever ready and willing to be patient with him; +as indeed they could if they pleased enquire of my lord the knight Sebald +Im Hoff as to his well-being. My gracious master gave him to know by +long letters how matters were speeding with him, and of a certainty told +him how that the old Marchese and his nephews, malicious knaves, came to +blows with us at Padua by reason of the old Marchese's young and fair +lady, who held my gracious master so dear that all Padua talked thereof. + +"Nevertheless it was an evil business, inasmuch as three of them fell on +us in the darkness of night; and if the merciful Saints had not protected +us with their special grace nobler and more honorable blood should have +been shed than those rogues. Also we came to Paris in good heart; and +safe and sound in body; and this is a city wherein life is far more +ravishing than in Nuremberg. + +"Whereas I have known full well that you, most illustrious Mistress +Margery, have ever vouchsafed your gracious friendship to Mistress Ann +Spiesz--and indeed I myself hold her in the highest respect, as a lady +rich in all virtue--I would beseech her to put away from her heart all +thought of my gracious master as soon as may be, and to strive no more to +keep his troth, forasmuch as it can do no good: Better had she look for +some other suitor who is more honest in his intent, that so she may not +wholly waste her maiden days--which sweet Saint Katharine forbid! Yet, +most worshipful Mistress Margery, I entreat you with due submission not +to take this amiss in your beloved brother, nor to withdraw from him any +share of your precious love, whereas my gracious master may rightly look +higher for his future wife. And as touching his doings now in his +unmarried state, of us the saying is true: Like master, like man. And +whereas I, who am but a poor and simple serving man, have never been fain +to set my heart on one only maid, no less is to be looked for in my +gracious master, who is rich and of noble birth." + +This epistle would of a certainty have moved me to laughter at any other +time but, as things stood, the matter and manner of the low varlet's +letter in daring to write thus of Ann, roused me to fury. And yet he was +a brave fellow, and of rare faithfulness to his master; for when the +Marchese's nephew had fallen upon Herdegen, he had wrenched the sword out +of the young nobleman's hand at the peril of his own life and had +thereafter modestly held his peace as to that brave deed. It was, in +truth, hard not to betray the coming of this letter, even by a look; yet +did I hide it; but when another letter was brought, not long after, all +care and secrecy were vain. + +Oh! that dreadful letter. I could not hide the matter of it; but I let +pass her mother's wedding before I confessed to Ann what my brother had +written to me. + +That cruel letter lies before me now. It is longer than any he had +written me heretofore, and I will here write it fair, for indeed I could +not, an I would, copy the writing, so wild and reckless as it is. + +"All must be at an end, Margery, betwixt Ann and me"--and those first +words stung me like a whip-lash. "There. 'Tis written, and now you know +it. I was never worthy of her, for I have sold my heart's love for +money, as Judas sold the Lord. + +"Not that my love or longing are dead. Even while I write I feel dragged +to her; a thousand voices cry to me that there is but one Ann, and when a +few weeks ago the young Sieur de Blonay made so bold as to vaunt of his +lady and her rose-red as above all other ladies and colors, my sword +compelled him to yield the place of honor to blue--for whose sake you +know well. + +"And nevertheless I must give her up. Although I fled from temptation, +it pursued me, and when it fell upon me, after a short battle I was +brought low. The craving for those joys of the world which she tried to +teach me to scorn, is strong within me. I was born to sin; and now as +matters stand they must remain. A wight such as I am, who shoots through +life like a wild hawk, cannot pause nor think until a shaft has broken +his wings. The bitter fate which bids me part from Ann has stricken me +thus, and now I can only look back and into my own soul; and the fairer, +the sweeter, the loftier is she whom I have lost, the darker and more +vile, meseemeth, is all I discover in myself. + +"Yet, or ever I cast behind me all that was pure and noble, righteous and +truly blissful, I hold up the mirror to my own sinful face, and will +bring, myself to show to you, my Margery, the hideous countenance I +behold therein. + +"I will not cloke nor spare myself in anything; and yet, at this hour, +which finds me sober and at home, having quitted my fellows betimes this +night, I verily believe that I might have done well, and not ill, and +what was pleasing in the sight of God, and in yours, my Margery, and in +the eyes of Ann and of all righteous folk, if only some other hand had +had the steering of my life's bark. + +"Margery, we are orphans; and there is nothing a man needs so much, in +the years while he is still unripe and unsure of himself, as a master +whom he must revere in fear or in love. And we--I--Margery, what was my +grand-uncle to me? + +"You and I again are of one blood and so near in age that, albeit one may +counsel the other, it is scarce to be hoped that I should take your +judgment, or you mine, without cavil. + +"Then Cousin Maud! With all the mother's love she has ever shown us, all +I did was right in her eyes; and herein doubtless lies the difference +between a true mother, who brought us with travail into the world, and a +loving foster-mother, who fears to turn our hearts from her by harshness; +but the true mother punishes her children wherein she deems it good, +inasmuch as she is sure of their love. My cousin's love was great +indeed, but her strictness towards me was too small. Out of sheer love, +when I went to the High School she kept my purse filled; then, as I grew +older, our uncle did likewise, though for other reasons; and now that I +have redenied Ann, to do his pleasure, I loathe myself. Nay, more and +more since I am raised to such fortune as thousands may envy me; inasmuch +as my granduncle purposes to make me his heir by form of law. Last +night, when I came home with great gains from play in my pocket, I was +nigh to put an end to the woes of this life.... + +"But have no fear, Margery. A light heart soon will bring to the top +again what ruth, at this hour, is bearing to the deeps. Of what use is +waiting? Am I then the first Junker who has made love to a sweet maid of +low birth, only to forget her for a new lady love? + +"Sooth to say, Margery, my confessor, to whom--albeit with bitter pains-- +I am laying open every fold of my heart--yes, Margery, if Ann's cradle +had been graced with a coat of arms matters would be otherwise. But to +call a copper-smith father-in-law, and little Henneleinlein Madame Aunt! +In church, to nod from the old seats of the Schoppers to all those common +folk as my nearest kin, to meet the lute-player among my own people, +teaching the lads and maids their music, and to greet him as dear +grandfather, to see my brethren and sisters-in-law busy in the clerks' +chambers or work-shops--all this I say is bitter to the taste; and yet +more when the tempter on the other side shows the gaudy young gentleman +the very joys dearest to his courtly spirit. And with what eloquence and +good cheer has Father Ignatius set all this before mine eyes here in +Paris, doubtless with honest intent; and he spoke to my heart soberly and +to edification, setting forth all that the precepts of the Lord, and my +old and noble family required of me. + +"Much less than all this would have overruled so feeble a wight as I am. +I promised Father Ignatius to give up Ann, and, on my home-coming, to +submit in all things to my uncle and to agree with him as to what each +should yield up and renounce to the other--as though it were a matter of +merchandise in spices from the Levant, or silk kerchiefs from Florence; +and thereupon the holy Friar gave me his benediction, as though my +salvation were henceforth sure in this world and the next. + +"I rode forth with him even to the gate, firm in the belief that I had +thrown the winning number in life's game; but scarce had I turned my +horse homeward when I wist that I had cast from me all the peace and joy +of my soul. + +"It is done. I have denied Ann--given her up forever--and whereas she +must one day hear it, be it done at once. You, my poor Margery, I make +my messenger. I have tried, in truth, to write to Ann, but it would not +do. One thing you must say, and that is that, even when I have sinned +most against her, I have never forgotten her; nay, that the memory of +that happy time when she was fain to call herself my Laura moved me to +ride forth to Treviso, where, in the chapel of the Franciscan Brethren, +there may be seen a head of the true Laura done by the limner Simone di +Martino, the friend of Petrarca, a right worthy work of art. Methought +she drew me to her with voice and becks. And yet, and yet--woe, woe is +me! + +"My pen has had a long rest, for meseemed I saw first Petrarca's lady +with her fair braids, and then Ann with her black hair, which shone with +such lustrous, soft waves, and lay so nobly on the snow-white brow. Her +eyes and mien are verily those of Laura; both alike pure and lofty. But +here my full heart over-flows; it cannot forget how far Ann exceeds Laura +in sweet woman's grace. + +"Day is breaking, and I can but sigh forth to the morning: 'Lost, lost! +I have lost the fairest and the best!' + +"Then I sat long, sunk in thought, looking out of window, across the bare +tree-tops in the garden, at the grey mist which seems as though it ended +only at the edge of the world. It drips from the leafless boughs, and +mine eyes--I need not hide it--will not be kept dry. It is as though the +leaves from the tree of my life had all dropped on the ground--nay, as +though my own guilty hand had torn them from the stem." + +"I have but now come home from a right merry company! It is of a truth a +merciful fashion which turns night into day. Yes, Margery, for one whose +first desire is to forget many matters, this Paris is a place of delight. +I have drunk deep of the wine-cup, but I would call any man villain who +should say that I am drunk. Can I not write as well as ever another--and +this I know, that if I sold myself it was not cheap. It has cost me my +love, and whereas it was great the void is great to fill. Wherefore I +say: 'Bring hither all that giveth joy, wine and love-making, torches and +the giddy dame in velvet and silk, dice and gaming, and mad rides, the +fresh greenwood and bloody frays!' Is this nothing? Is it even a +trivial thing? + +"How, when all is said and done, shall we answer the question as to which +is the better lot: heavenly love, soaring on white swan's wings far above +all that is common dust, as Ann was wont to sing of it, or earthly joys, +bold and free, which we can know only with both feet on the clod? + +"I have made choice and can never turn back. Long life to every +pleasure, call it by what name you will! You have a gleeful, rich, and +magnificent brother, little Margery; and albeit the simple lad of old, +who chose to wife the daughter of a poor clerk, may have been dearer to +you--as he was to my own heart--yet love him still! Of his love you are +ever sure; remember him in your prayers; and as for that you have to say +to Ann, say it in such wise that she shall not take it over much to +heart. Show her how unworthy of her is this brother of yours, though in +your secret soul you shall know that my guardian saint never had, nor +ever shall have, any other face than hers. + +"Now will I hasten to seal this letter and wake Eppelein that he may give +it to the post-rider. I am weary of tearing up many sheets of paper, but +if I were to read through in all soberness that I have written half +drunk, this letter would of a certainty go the way of many others written +by me to you, and to my beloved, faithful, only love, my lost Ann." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Master Pernhart was wed on Tuesday after Palm Sunday. Ann was wont to +come to our house early on Wednesday morning, and this was ever a happy +meeting to which we gave the name of "the Italian spinning-hour," by +reason that one of us would turn her wheel and draw out the yarn, while +the other read aloud from the works of the great Italian poets. + +Nor did Ann fail to come on this Wednesday after the wedding; but I had +thrust Herdegen's letter into the bosom of my bodice and awaited her with +a quaking heart. + +Her spirit was heavy; I could see in her eyes that they had shed tears, +and at my first question they filled again. Had she not seen her mother +this morn beaming with happiness, and then remembered, with new pangs of +heartache, the father she had lost scarce a year ago and whose image +seemed to have faded out of the mind of the wife he had so truly loved. + +When I said to her that I well understood her sorrow, but that I had +other matter to lay before her which might bring her yet more cruel +grief, she knew that it must be as touching Herdegen; and whereas before +I spoke I could only clasp her to me and could not bring out a single +word, she thrust me from her and cried: "Herdegen? Speak! Some ill has +come upon him! Margery--Merciful Virgin! How you are sobbing!--Dead--is +he dead?" + +As she said these words her cheeks turned pale and, when I shook my head, +she seized my hand and asked sadly: "Worse? Then he has broken faith +once more?" + +Meseemed I could never speak again; and yet I might not keep silence, and +the words broke from my bursting heart: "Ah, worse and far worse; more +strange, more terrible! I have it here, in his hand.--Henceforth--my +uncle, his rich inheritance.... All is over, Ann, betwixt him and you. +And I--oh, that he should have left it to me to tell it!" + +She stood in front of me as if rooted to the ground, and it was some time +before she could find a word. Then she said in a dull voice: "Where is +the letter?" + +I snatched it out of the bosom of my dress and was about to rend it as I +went towards the hearth, but she stood in my way, snatched the letter +violently from me, and cried: "Then if all is at an end, I will at any +rate be clear about it. No false comfort, no cloaking of the truth!" + +And she strove to wrench Herdegen's letter from me. But my strength was +greater than hers, indeed full great for a maid; yet my heart told me +that in her case my will would have been the same, so I made no more +resistance but yielded up the letter. Then and there she read it; and +although she was pale as death and I marked how her lips trembled and +every nerve in her body, her eyes were dry, and when she presently folded +the letter and held it forth to me, she said with light scorn which cut +in--to the heart: "This then is what matters have come to! He has sold +his love and his sweetheart! Only her face, it would seem, is not in the +bargain by reason that he keeps that to rob his saint of her holiness! +Well, he is free, and the wild joys of life in every form are to make up +for love; and yet--and yet, Margery, pray that he may not end miserably!" + +Gentle pity had sounded in these last words, and I took her hand and +besought her right earnestly: "And you, Ann. Do you pray with me." But +she shook her head and replied: "Nay, Margery; all is at an end between +him and me, even thoughts and yearning. I know him no more--and now let +me go." With this she put on her little cloak, and was by the door +already when Cousin Maud came in with some sweetmeats, as she was ever +wont to do when we thus sat spinning; and as soon as she had set down +that which she was carrying she opened her arms to the outcast maid, to +clasp her to her bosom and comfort her with good words; but Ann only took +her hand, pressed it to her lips, and vanished down the stairs. + +At dinner that morning the dishes would have been carried out as full as +they were brought in, if Master Peter had not done his best to hinder it; +and as soon as the meal was over I could no longer bear myself in the +house, but went off straight to the Pernharts'. + +There the air seemed warmer and lighter, and Mistress Giovanna welcomed +me to her new home right gladly; but she would not suffer me to go to +Ann's chamber, forasmuch as that she had a terrible headache and had +prayed to see no one, not even me. Yet I felt strongly drawn to her, and +as the new-made wife knew that she and I were as one she did not forbid +me from going upstairs, where Pernhart had made dead Gertrude's room all +clean and fresh for Ann. Now whereas I knew that when her head ached +every noise gave her pain, I mounted the steps with great care and opened +the door softly without knocking. Also she was not aware of my coming. +I would fain have crept away unseen; or even rather would have fallen on +my knees by her side to crave her forgiveness for the bitter wrong my +brother had done her. She was lying on the bed, her face hidden in the +pillows, and her slender body shook as in an ague fit, while she sobbed +low but right bitterly. Nor did she mark my presence there till I fell +on my knees by the bed and cast my arms about her. Then she suddenly +raised herself from the pillows, passed her hand across her wet eyes, and +entreated me to leave her. Yet I did not as she bade me; and when she +saw how deeply I took her griefs to heart, she rose from her couch, on +which she had lain down with all her clothes on, and only prayed me that +this should be the last time I would ever speak with her of Herdegen. + +Then she led me to her table and showed me things which she had laid out +thereon; poor little gifts which my brother had brought her; every one, +except only the Petrarca with the names in gold: Anna-Laura. And she +desired that I would take them all and send them back to Herdegen at some +fitting time. + +As I nodded sadly enough, she must have seen in my face that I missed the +little volumes and, ere I was aware, she had taken them out of her chest +and thrown them in with the rest. + +Then she cried in a changed voice: "That likewise--Ah, no, not that! It +is the best gift he ever made me, and he was so good and kind then--You +do not know, you do not know!--How I long to keep the books! But away, +away with them!" + +Then she put everything into a silken kerchief, tied it up with hard +knots, pushed the bundle into my hand, and besought me to go home. + +I went home, sick at heart, with the bundle in my cold hand, and when the +door was opened by Akusch, who, poor wight, bore our bitter winters but +ill, I heard from above-stairs loud and right merry laughter and glee; +and I knew it for the voice of Cousin Maud who seemed overpowered by +sheer mirth. My wrath flared up, for our house this day was of a +certainty the last where such merriment was fitting. + +My cheeks were red from the snow-storm, yet rage made them even hotter +as I hastened up-stairs. But before I could speak a single word Cousin +Maud, with whom were the Magister and old Pirkheimer the member of +council, cried out as soon as she saw me: "Only imagine, Margery, what +rare tidings his Excellency has brought us." And she went on to tell me, +with great joy, while his worship added facts now and then, that the +Magister had since yestereve become a rich man, inasmuch as his +godmother, old Dame Oelhaf, had died, leaving him no small wealth. + +This was verily marvellous and joyful hearing, for many had imagined the +deceased to be a needy woman who had carried on the business left her by +her husband, albeit she had no service but that of an ill-paid shop-lad, +who was like one of the lean ears of Pharaoh's dream and moreover blind +of one eye. Nevertheless I remembered well that her little shop, which +was no greater than a fair-sized closet, had ever been filled with buyers +when we had stolen in, against all commands, to buy a few dried figs. I +can see the little crippled mistress now as she limped across the shop or +along the street, and the boys would call after her: "Hip hop! Lame +duck!" and all Nuremberg knew her better by the nickname of the Lame +Duck than by her husband's. + +That the poor little woman had departed this life we had all heard +yestereve; but even the Magister had fully believed that her leavings +would scarce be worth the pains of a walk to the town hall. But now the +learned advocate told him that by her will, drawn up and attested +according to law, she had devised to him all she had to leave as being +the only child she had ever been thought worthy to hold at the font. + +Then, due inquisition being made in her little place, a goodly number of +worn stockings were found in the straw of her bed and other hiding +places, and in them, instead of her lean little legs, many a gulden and +Hungarian ducat of good gold. Moreover she had a house at Nordlingen and +a mill at Schwabach, and thus the inheritance that had come to Magister +Peter was altogether no small matter. + +The simple man had never hoped for such fortune, and it was in truth +laughable to see how he forgot his dignity, and leaped first on one foot +and then the other, crying: "No, no! It cannot be true! Then poor Irus +is become rich Croesus!" + +And thus he went on till he left us with Master Perkheimer. Then I +laughed with my cousin; and when I was once more alone I marvelled at the +mercy of a benevolent Providence, by whose ruling a small joy makes us to +forget our heavy griefs, though it were but for a moment. + +At night, to be sure, I could not help thinking with fresh sorrow of that +which had come upon us; but then, on the morrow, I saw the Magister +again, and would fain have rejoiced in his gladness; but lo, he was now +silent and dull, and at the first opening he led ne aside and said, right +humbly and with downcast eyes: "Think no evil of me, Mistress Margery, in +that yestereve my joy in earthly possessions was over much for my wits; +believe me, it was not the glitter of mammon, but far other matters that +turned my brain." And he confessed to me that he had ever borne Ann +in his heart, even when she was but a young maid at school, and had made +the winning of her the goal of his life. To this end, and whereas +without some means of living he could not hope, he had laid by every +penny he had earned by teaching at our house and in the Latin classes, +and had foregone the buying of many a fine and learned book, or even of a +jar of wine to drink in the company of his fellows. Thus had he saved a +goodly sum of money; nay, he had thought himself within reach of his high +aim when he had discovered, that Christmas eve before Herdegen's +departing, that the Junker had robbed him of his one ewe lamb. There was +nought left for him to do but to hold his peace, albeit in bitter sorrow, +till within the last few days Heaven had showered its mercies on him. +The powerful Junker--for so it was that he ever spoke and thought of my +elder brother--had it seemed, released the lamb, and he himself was now +in a state of life in which he might right well set up housekeeping. +Then he went on to beseech me with all humbleness to speak a word for him +to the lady of his choice, and I found it not in my heart to give the +death-blow forthwith to his fond and faithful hopes, albeit I wist full +surely that they were all in vain. Thus I bid him to have patience at +least till Christmas, inasmuch as he should give Ann time to put away the +memory of Herdegen; and he consented with simple kindness, although he +had changed much and for the better in these late years, and could boast +of good respect among the learned men of our city; and thus, albeit not a +wealthy man, and in spite of his mature years, he would be welcomed as a +son-in-law by many a mother of daughters. + +Thus the Magister, who had waited so long, held back even yet awhile. +One week followed another, the third Sunday in Advent went by, and the +holy tide was at hand when the delay should end which the patient suitor +had allowed. + +I had seen Ann less often than in past times. In the coppersmith's great +household she commonly had her hands full, and I felt indeed that her +face was changed towards me. A kind of fear, which I had not marked in +her of old, had come over her of late; meseemed she lived ever in dread +of some new insult and hurt; also she had courteously but steadfastly +refused to join in the festivities to which she was bidden by Elsa Ebner +or others of the upper class, and even said nay to uncle Christian's +bidding to a dance, to be given this very day, being his name-day, at +his lodgings in the Castle. I likewise was bidden and had accepted my +godfather's kindness; but my timid endeavor to move Ann to do his will, +as her best and dearest old friend, brought forth the sorrowful answer +that I myself must judge how little she was fit for any merry-makings of +the kind. My friendship with her, which had once been my highest joy, +had thus lost all its lightheartedness, albeit it had not lost all its +joys, nor was she therefore the less dear to me though I dealt with her +now as with a well-beloved child for whose hurt we are not wholly +blameless. + +Now it fell that on this day, the 20th December, being my godfather's +name-day, I found her not with the rest, but in her own chamber in +violent distress. Her cheeks were on fire, and she was in such turmoil +as though she had escaped some terrible persecution. Thereupon I +questioned her in haste and fear, and she answered me with reserve, till, +on a sudden, she cried: + +"It is killing me! I will bear it no more!" and hid her face in her +hands, I clasped her in my arms, and to soothe her spoke in praise of +her stepfather, Master Pernhart, and his high spirit and good heart; then +she sobbed aloud and said: "Oh, for that matter! If that were all!" + +And suddenly, or even I was aware, she had cast her arms about me and +kissed my lips and cheeks with great warmth. Then she cried out: "Oh, +Margery! You cannot turn from me! I indeed tried to turn from you; and +I could have done it, even if it had cost me my heart's blood! But now +and here I ask you: Is it just that I should lay myself on the rack +because he has so cruelly hurt me? No, no. And I need your true soul +to help me to shake off the burden which is crushing me to the earth and +choking me. Help me to bear it, or I shall come to a bad end--I shall +follow her who died here in this very chamber." + +My soul had ever stood open to her and so I told her right heartily, and +her face became once more as it had been of old; and albeit those things +she had to tell me were not indeed comforting, still I could in all +honesty bid her to be of good heart; and I presently felt that to +unburden herself of all that had weighed upon her these last few weeks, +did her as much good as a bath. For it still was a pain to her to see +her mother cooing like a pigeon round her new mate. She herself was full +of his praises, albeit this man, well brought up and trained to good +manners, would ever abide by the old customs of the old craftsmen, and +his venerable mother likewise held fast by them, so that his wife had +striven in vain to change the ways of the house. Thus master and +mistress, son and daughter, foreman and apprentice, sewing man and maid +all ate, as they had ever done, at the same table. And whereas the +daughters, by old custom, sat in order on the mother's side, the youngest +next to her and the oldest at the end, it thus fell that Ann was placed +next to the foreman, who was that very one who had betrayed Gotz +Waldstromer to his master because he had himself cast an eye on Gertrude. +The young fellow had ere long set his light heart on Ann; and being a +fine lad, and the sole son of a well-to-do master in Augsburg, he was +likewise a famous wooer and breaker of maiden hearts, and could boast of +many a triumphant love affair among the daughters of the simpler class. +He was, in his own rank of life, cock of the walk, as such folks say; and +I remembered well having seen him at an apprentices' dance at the May +merrymakings, whither he had come apparelled in a rose-colored jerkin and +light-hued hose, bedecked with flowers and greenery in his cap and belt; +he had fooled with the daughters of the master of his guild like the +coxcomb he was, and whirled them off to dance as though he did them high +honor by paying court to them. It might, to be sure, have given him a +lesson to find that his master's fair daughter scorned his suit; yet that +sank not deep, inasmuch as it was for the sake of a Junker of high +degree. With Ann he might hope for better luck; for although from the +first she gave him to wit that he pleased her not, he did not therefore +leave her in peace, and this very morning, finding her alone in the hall, +he had made so bold as to put forth his hand to clasp her. Albeit she +had forthwith set him in his place, and right sharply, it seemed that to +protect herself against his advances there was no remedy but a complaint +to his master, which would disturb the peace of the household. She was +indeed able enough to take care of herself and to ward off any unseemly +boldness on his part; but she felt her noble purity soiled by contact +with that taint of commonness of which she was conscious in this young +fellow's ways, and in many other daily experiences. + +Every meal, with the great dish into which the apprentice dipped his +spoon next to hers, was a misery to her; and when the master's old mother +marked this, and noted also how uneasily she submitted to her new place +and part in life, seeing likewise Ann's tear-stained eyes and sorrowful +countenance, she conceived that all this was by reason that Ann's pride +could hardly bend to endure life in a craftsman's dwelling. And her +heart was turned from her son's step-daughter, whom at first she had +welcomed right kindly; she overlooked her as a rule, or if she spoke to +her, it was in harsh and ungracious tones. This, as Ann saw its purpose, +hurt her all the more, as she saw more clearly that the new grandmother +was a warm-hearted and worthy and right-minded woman, from whose lips +fell many a wise word, while she was as kind to the younger children as +though they had been her own grandchildren. Nay, one had but to look at +her to see that she was made of sound stuff, and had head and heart both +in the right place. + +A few hours since Ann had opened her heart to her Father confessor, the +reverend prebendary von Hellfeld; and he had counselled her to take the +veil and win heavenly bliss in a convent as the bride of Christ. And +whereas all she craved was peace, and a refuge from the world wherein she +had suffered so much, and Cousin Maud and I likewise deemed it the better +course for her, she would gladly have followed this good counsel, but +that her late dear father had ever been strongly averse to the life of +the cloister. Self-seeking, he would say, is at the root of all evil, +and he who becomes an alien from this world and its duties to seek +happiness in a convent--inasmuch as that beatitude for which monks and +nuns strive is nothing else than a higher form of happiness, extending +beyond the grave to the very end of all things--may indeed intend to +pursue the highest aim, and yet it is but self-seeking, although of the +loftiest and noblest kind. Also, but a few days ere he died, he had +admonished Ann, in whom he had long discerned the true teacher of his +younger children, to warn them above all things against self-seeking, +inasmuch as now that the hand of death was already on him, he found his +chiefest comfort in the assurance of having labored faithfully, trusting +in his Redeemer's grace, to do all that in him lay for his own kith and +kin, and for other folks' orphans, whether rich or poor. + +This discourse had sunk deep into Ann's soul, and had been in her mind +when she spoke such brave words to Herdegen, exhorting him to higher +aims. Now, again, coming forth from the good priest's door, she had met +her grand-uncle the organist, and asking him what he would say if a +hapless and forlorn maid should seek the peace she had lost in the +silence of the cloister, the simple man looked her full in the eyes and +murmured sadly to himself: "Alack! And has it come to this!" Then he +went close up to her, raised her drooping head, and cried in a cheering +voice: + +"In a cloister? You, in a cloister! You, our Ann, who have already +learnt to be so good a mother in the Sisters's school? No child, and +again and again I say No. Pay heed rather to the saying which your old +grand-uncle once heard from the lips of a wise and good man, when in the +sorest hour of his life he was about to knock at the gate of a Cistercian +convent.--His words were: 'Though thou lose all thou deemest thy +happiness, if thou canst but make the happiness of others, thou shalt +find it again in thine own heart.'" + +And at a later day old Heyden himself told me that he, who while yet but +a youth had been the prefectus of the town-pipers, had been nigh to +madness when his wife, his Elslein, had been snatched from him after +scarce a year and a half of married life. After he had recovered his +wits, he had conceived that any balance or peace of mind was only to be +found in a convent, near to God; and it was at that time that the wise +and excellent Ulman Stromer had spoken the words which had been +thenceforth the light and guiding line of his life. He had remained in +the world; but he had renounced the more honorable post of prefect of the +town-musicians, and taken on him the humble one of organist, in which it +had been granted to him to offer up his great gift of music as it were a +sacrifice to Heaven. This maxim, which had spared the virtuous old man +to the world, made its mark on Ann likewise; and whereas I saw how gladly +she had received the doctrine that happiness should be found in making +others happy, I prayed her to join me in taking it henceforth as the +guiding lamp of our lives. At this she was well pleased; and she went on +to point wherein and how we should henceforth strive to forget ourselves +for our neighbor's sake, with that soaring flight of soul in which I +could scarce follow her but as a child lags after a butterfly or a bird. + +Then, when I presently saw that she was in better heart, I took courage, +but in jest, being sure of her refusal, to plead the Magister's suit. +This, however, was as I was departing; I had already stayed and delayed +her over-long, inasmuch as I had yet to array myself for the feast at +Uncle Christian's. But, as I was about to speak; a serving man came in +with a letter written by the kind old man to Ann herself, his "dear +watchman" in which, for the third time, he besought her, with pressing +warmth, not to refuse to go to him on his name day and pledge him in the +loving cup to his health and happiness. + +With the help of this tender appeal I made her say she would go; yet she +spoke the words in haste and great agitation. + +My uncle's messenger had hindered my suing, so while we hastily looked +through Ann's store of holiday raiment, I brought my pleading for Master +Peter to an end; and what I looked for came, in truth, to pass: without +seeming one whit surprised she steadfastly rejected his suit, saying that +he was the poor, good, faithful Magister, and worthy to win a wife whose +heart was all his own. + +At my uncle's house that night, with the exception of certain learned and +reverend gentlemen, Ann alone was not of gentle birth. Yet was she in no +wise the least, neither in demeanor nor in attire; and when I beheld her +in the ante-chamber, all lighted up with wax tapers, in her sky-blue +gown, thanking the master of the house and his sister--who kept house for +him--for their condescension, as she upraised her great eyes with loving +respect, I could have clasped her in my arms in the face of all the +world, and I marvelled how my brother Herdegen could have sinfully cast +such a jewel from him. + +Then, when we went on together into the guest chamber, it fell that the +town-pipers at that minute ceased to play and there was silence on all, +as though a flourish of trumpets had warned of the approach of a prince; +and yet it was only in honor of Ann and her wondrous beauty. Each and +all of the young men there would, meseemed, gladly have stepped into +Herdegen's place, and she was so fully taken up with dancing that she +could scarce mark how diligently all the mothers and maidens overlooked +her. Howbeit, Ursula Tetzel was not content with that, but went up to +her and with a sneer enquired whether Junker Schopper at Paris were well. + +Ann drew herself up with pride and hastily answered that if any one +craved news of him he had best apply to Mistress Ursula Tetzel, inasmuch +as she was ever wont to have a keen eye on her dear cousin. + +At this Ursula cried out: "How well our old schoolmate remembers the +lessons she learnt; even the fable of the Fox and the Grapes!" then, +turning to me she added: "Nor has she lost her skill in learning; she has +not long been in her stepfather's dwelling and she has already mastered +the art of hitting blows as the coppersmiths do." And she turned her +back on us both. + +And presently, when it came to her turn to join the chain in which Ann +was taking part, I marked well that she urged the youth she danced with +to stand away from the craftsman's daughter. Howbeit I at once brought +her plot to naught and the young gentleman to shame. Not that she needed +any such defence, for her beauty led every man to seek her above all +others. And when, at supper, Uncle Christian called her to his side and +made it fully manifest to all present how dear she was to his faithful +heart, I hoped that indeed the day was won for her, and that henceforth +our friendship would be regarded as a matter apart from any concern with +her step-father the coppersmith. What need she care about those +discourteous women, who made it, to be sure, plain enough at their +departing, that they took her presence there amiss. + +On our way home methought she was in a meditative mood, and as we parted +she bid me go to see her early next morning. This I should have done in +any case, inasmuch as I knew no greater pleasure, after a feast or dance +at which we had been together, than to talk with her of any matter we +might each have marked, but there was something more than this in her +mind. + +Next day, indeed, when I had greeted her, she had lost her cheerful mien +of the day before; it was plain to see that she had not slept, and I +presently learned that she had been thinking through the night what her +life must be, and how she could best fulfill the vow we had both made. +The more diligently she had considered of the matter, the more worthy had +she deemed our purpose; and the dance at my Uncle Christian's had clearly +proven to her that among our class there were few to whom her presence +could be welcome, and none to whom it could bring any real pleasure. + +In this she was doubtless right; yet was I startled when, with the +steadfast will which she ever showed, she said that, after duly weighing +the matter, she had made up her mind to accept the Magister. + +When she perceived how greatly I was amazed, she besought me, with the +same eager haste as I had marvelled at the day before, that I would not +contend against a conclusion she had fully weighed; inasmuch as that the +Magister was a worthy man whom she could make truly happy. Moreover, his +newly-acquired wealth would enable her to help many indigent persons in +their need and misery. I enquired of her earnestly how about any love +for him, and she broke out with much vehemence, saying that I must know +for certain that for her all love and the joys of love were numbered with +the dead. She would tell this to Master Peter with all honesty, and she +was sure that he would be content with her friendship and warm goodwill. + +But all this she poured out as though she could not endure to hear her +own words. An inward voice at the same time warned me that she had made +up her mind to this step, in order that Herdegen might fully understand +that to him she was lost for ever, albeit I had not given up all hope +that they might some day come together, and that Ann's noble love of what +was best in my brother might thus rescue him from utter ruin. Hence her +ill-starred resolve filled me with rage, to such a degree that I railed +at it as a mad and sinful deed against her own peace of mind, and indeed +against him whom she had once held as dear as her own life. + +But Ann cut me short, and bade me sharply to mind my promise, and never +speak of Herdegen again. My hot blood rose at this and I made for the +door; nay, I had the handle of the latch in my hand when she flew after +me, held me back by force, and entreated me with prayers that I would let +her do her will, for that she had no choice. She purposed in solemn +earnest henceforth at all times to devote herself to the happiness of +others, and whereas that demanded heavy sacrifice, she was now ready to +make it. If indeed I still refused to carry her answer to the Magister, +then would she send it through her step-father or Dame Henneleinlein, who +was apt at such errands, and bid her suitor come to see her. + +Then I perceived that there was but small hope; with a heavy heart, +and, indeed, a secret intent behind, I took the task upon me, for I saw +plainly that my refusal would ruin all. All the same, meseemed it was a +happy ordering that the Magister should have set forth early that morning +to spend a few days at Nordlingen, to take possession of the house he had +fallen heir to; for, when a great misfortune lies ahead, a hopeful soul +clings to delay as the harbinger of deliverance. + +I made my way home full of forebodings, and in front of our door I saw my +Forest uncle's horses in waiting. He was above stairs with cousin Maud, +and I soon was informed that he had come to bid me and Ann to the great +hunt which was to take place at the New Year. His Highness Duke Albrecht +of Bavaria, with divers other knights and gentlemen, had promised to take +part in it, and he needed our help for his sick and suffering wife; also, +said he, he loved to see "a few smart young maids" at his board. Already +he and cousin Maud had discussed at length whether it would be seemly to +bring the coppersmith's stepdaughter into the company of such illustrious +guests; and the balance in her favor had been struck in his mind by his +opinion that a fair young maid must ever be pleasing in the hunter's eyes +out in the forest, whatever her rank might be. + +He had now but one care, and that was that neither he nor any other man +had hitherto dared to utter the name of Master Ulman Pernhart to my aunt +Jacoba, and that she therefore knew not of his marriage with her dear +Ann's mother. Yet must the lady be informed thereof; so, finding that my +cousin Maud made no secret of her will to speed the Magister's wooing, +while I weened, with good reason, that my aunt would gladly support me in +hindering it, I then and there made up my mind to go back with my uncle, +and hold council with his shrewd-witted wife. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +A small joy makes us to forget our heavy griefs +All I did was right in her eyes +Especial gift to listen keenly and question discreetly +Happiness should be found in making others happy +Have never been fain to set my heart on one only maid +Hopeful soul clings to delay as the harbinger of deliverance +No false comfort, no cloaking of the truth +One Head, instead of three, ruled the Church +Though thou lose all thou deemest thy happiness + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARGERY, BY GEORG EBERS, V3 *** + +******** This file should be named 5554.txt or 5554.zip ******** + +This eBook was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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