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diff --git a/5583.txt b/5583.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b987b3a --- /dev/null +++ b/5583.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11701 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Burgomaster's Wife, Complete, by Georg Ebers + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Burgomaster's Wife, Complete + +Author: Georg Ebers + +Last updated: March 10, 2009 +Release Date: October 17, 2006 [EBook #5583] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BURGOMASTER'S WIFE, COMPLETE *** + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +THE BURGOMASTER'S WIFE, Complete + +By Georg Ebers + + +Translated from the German by Mary J. Safford + + + + +BARONESS SOPHIE VON BRANDENSTEIN, nee EBERS. + +My reason for dedicating a book, and particularly this book, to you, the +only sister of my dead father, needs no word of explanation between us. +From early childhood you have been a dear and faithful friend to me, +and certainly have not forgotten how industriously I labored, while your +guest seventeen years ago, in arranging the material which constitutes +the foundation of the "Burgomaster's Wife." You then took a friendly +interest in many a note of facts, that had seemed to me extraordinary, +admirable, or amusing, and when the claims of an arduous profession +prevented me from pursuing my favorite occupation of studying the +history of Holland, my mother's home, in the old way, never wearied of +reminding me of the fallow material, that had previously awakened your +sympathy. + +At last I have been permitted to give the matter so long laid aside its +just dues. A beautiful portion of Holland's glorious history affords the +espalier, around which the tendrils of my narrative entwine. You have +watched them grow, and therefore will view them kindly and indulgently. + +In love and friendship, + + Ever the same, + + GEORG EBERS + +Leipsic, Oct. 30th, 1881. + + + + +THE BURGOMASTER'S WIFE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +In the year 1574 A. D. spring made its joyous entry into the Netherlands +at an unusually early date. + +The sky was blue, gnats sported in the sunshine, white butterflies +alighted on the newly-opened yellow flowers, and beside one of the +numerous ditches intersecting the wide plain stood a stork, snapping at +a fine frog; the poor fellow soon writhed in its enemy's red beak. One +gulp--the merry jumper vanished, and its murderer, flapping its wings, +soared high into the air. On flew the bird over gardens filled with +blossoming fruit-trees, trimly laid-out flower-beds, and gaily-painted +arbors, across the frowning circlet of walls and towers that girdled +the city, over narrow houses with high, pointed gables, and neat streets +bordered with elm, poplar, linden and willow-trees, decked with the +first green leaves of spring. At last it alighted on a lofty gable-roof, +on whose ridge was its firmly-fastened nest. After generously giving up +its prey to the little wife brooding over the eggs, it stood on one +leg and gazed thoughtfully down upon the city, whose shining red tiles +gleamed spick and span from the green velvet carpet of the meadows. The +bird had known beautiful Leyden, the gem of Holland, for many a year, +and was familiar with all the branches of the Rhine that divided the +stately city into numerous islands, and over which arched as many stone +bridges as there are days in five months of the year; but surely many +changes had occurred here since the stork's last departure for the +south. + +Where were the citizens' gay summer-houses and orchards, where the +wooden frames on which the weavers used to stretch their dark and +colored cloths? + +Whatever plant or work of human hands had risen, outside the city +walls and towers to the height of a man's breast, thus interrupting the +uniformity of the plain, had vanished from the earth, and beyond, on +the bird's best hunting-grounds, brownish spots sown with black circles +appeared among the green of the meadows. + +Late in October of the preceding year, just after the storks left the +country, a Spanish army had encamped here, and a few hours before the +return of the winged wanderers in the first opening days of spring, the +besiegers retired without having accomplished their purpose. + +Barren spots amid the luxuriant growth of vegetation marked the places +where they had pitched their tents, the black cinders of the burnt coals +their camp-fires. + +The sorely-threatened inhabitants of the rescued city, with thankful +hearts, uttered sighs of relief. The industrious, volatile populace +had speedily forgotten the sufferings endured, for early spring is so +beautiful, and never does a rescued life seem so delicious as when we +are surrounded by the joys of spring. + +A new and happier time appeared to have dawned, not only for Nature but +for human beings. The troops quartered in the besieged city, which had +the day before committed many an annoyance, had been dismissed with song +and music. The carpenter's axe flashed in the spring sunlight before the +red walls, towers and gates, and cut sharply into the beams from +which new scaffolds and frames were to be erected; noble cattle grazed +peacefully undisturbed around the city, whose desolated gardens were +being dug, sowed and planted afresh. In the streets and houses a +thousand hands, which but a short time before had guided spears and +arquebuses on the walls and towers, were busy at useful work, and old +people sat quietly before their doors to let the warm spring sun shine +on their backs. + +Few discontented faces were to be seen in Leyden on this eighteenth of +April. True, there was no lack of impatient ones, and whoever wanted +to seek them need only go to the principal school, where noon was +approaching and many boys gazed far more eagerly through the open +windows of the school-room, than at the teacher's lips. + +But in that part of the spacious hall where the older lads received +instruction, no restlessness prevailed. True, the spring sun shone on +their books and exercises too, the spring called them into the open +air, but even more powerful than its alluring voice seemed the influence +exerted on their young minds by what they were now hearing. + +Forty sparkling eyes were turned towards the bearded man, who addressed +them in his deep voice. Even wild Jan Mulder had dropped the knife with +which he had begun to cut on his desk a well-executed figure of a ham, +and was listening attentively. + +The noon bell now rang from the neighboring church, and soon after was +heard from the tower of the town-hall, the little boys noisily left the +room, but--strange-=the patience of the older ones still held out; they +were surely hearing things that did not exactly belong to their lessons. + +The man who stood before them was no teacher in the school, but the +city clerk, Van Hout, who, to-day filled the place of his sick friend, +Verstroot, master of arts and preacher. During the ringing of the bells +he had closed the book, and now said: + +"'Suspendo lectionem.' Jan Mulder, how would you translate my +'suspendere'?" + +"Hang," replied the boy. + +"Hang!" laughed Van Hout. "You might be hung from a hook perhaps, but +where should we hang a lesson? Adrian Van der Werff." + +The lad called rose quickly, saying: + +"'Suspendere lectionen' means to break off the lesson." + +"Very well; and if we wanted to hang up Jan Mulder, what should we say?" + +"Patibulare--ad patibulum!" cried the scholars. Van Hout, who had just +been smiling, grew very grave. Drawing a long breath, he said: + +"Patibulo is a bad Latin word, and your fathers, who formerly sat here, +understood its meaning far less thoroughly than you. Now, every child in +the Netherlands knows it, Alva has impressed it on our minds. More than +eighteen thousand worthy citizens have come to the gallows through his +'ad patibulum.'" + +With these words he pulled his short black doublet through his girdle, +advanced nearer the first desk, and bending his muscular body forward, +said with constantly increasing emotion: + +"'This shall be enough for to-day, boys. It will do no great harm, if +you afterwards forget the names earned here. But always remember +one thing: your country first of all. Leonidas and his three hundred +Spartans did not die in vain, so long as there are men ready to follow +their example. Your turn will come too. It is not my business to boast, +but truth is truth. We Hollanders have furnished fifty times three +hundred men for the freedom of our native soil. In such stormy times +there are steadfast men; even boys have shown themselves great. Ulrich +yonder, at your head, can bear his nickname of Lowing with honor. +'Hither Persians--hither Greeks!' was said in ancient times, but we cry: +'Hither Netherlands, hither Spain!' And indeed, the proud Darius never +ravaged Greece as King Philip has devastated Holland. Ay, my lads, +many flowers bloom in the breasts of men. Among them is hatred of the +poisonous hemlock. Spain has sowed it in our gardens. I feel it +growing within me, and you too feel and ought to feel it. But don't +misunderstand me! 'Hither Spain--hither Netherlands!' is the cry, and +not: 'Hither Catholics and hither Protestants.' Every faith may be +right in the Lord's eyes, if only the man strives earnestly to walk in +Christ's ways. At the throne of Heaven, it will not be asked: Are you +Papist, Calvinist, or Lutheran? but: What were your intentions and acts? +Respect every man's belief; but despise him who makes common cause with +the tyrant against the liberty of our native land. Now pray silently, +then you may go home." + +The scholars rose; Van Hout wiped the perspiration from his high +forehead, and while the boys were collecting books, pencils, and pens, +said slowly, as if apologizing to himself for the words already uttered: + +"What I have told you perhaps does not belong to the school-room; but, +my lads, this battle is still far from being ended, and though you must +occupy the school-benches for a while, you are the future soldiers. +Lowing, remain behind, I have something to say to you." + +He slowly turned his back to the boys, who rushed out of doors. In a +corner of the yard of St. Peter's church, which was behind the building +and entered by few of the passers-by, they stood still, and from amid +the wild confusion of exclamations arose a sort of consultation, +to which the organ-notes echoing from the church formed a strange +accompaniment. + +They were trying to decide upon the game to be played in the afternoon. + +It was a matter of course, after what Van Hout had said, that there +should be a battle; it had not even been proposed by anybody, but the +discussion that now arose proceeded from the supposition. + +It was soon decided that patriots and Spaniards, not Greeks and +Persians, were to appear in the lists against each other; but when the +burgomaster's son, Adrian Van der Werff, a lad of fourteen, proposed to +form the two parties, and in the imperious way peculiar to him attempted +to make Paul Van Swieten and Claus Dirkson Spaniards, he encountered +violent opposition, and the troublesome circumstance was discovered that +no one was willing to represent a foreign soldier. + +Each boy wanted to make somebody else a Castilian, and fight himself +under the banner of the Netherlands. But friends and foes are necessary +for a war, and Holland's heroic courage required Spaniards to prove +it. The youngsters grew excited, the cheeks of the disputants began +to flush, here and there clenched fists were raised, and everything +indicated that a horrible civil war would precede the battle to be given +the foes of the country. + +In truth, these lively boys were ill-suited to play the part of King +Philip's gloomy, stiff-necked soldiers. Amid the many fair heads, few +lads were seen with brown locks, and only one with black hair and dark +eyes. This was Adam Baersdorp, whose father, like Van der Werff's, +was one of the leaders of the citizens. When he too refused to act a +Spaniard, one of the boys exclaimed: + +"You won't? Yet my father says your father is half a Glipper,--[The +name given in Holland to those who sympathized with Spain]--and a whole +Papist to boot." + +At these words young Baersdorp threw his books on the ground, and was +rushing with upraised fist upon his enemy--but Adrian Van der Werff +hastily interposed, crying: + +"For shame, Cornelius.--I'll stop the mouth of anybody who utters such +an insult again. Catholics are Christians, as well as we. You heard it +from Van Hout, and my father says so too. Will you be a Spaniard, Adam, +yes or no?" + +"No!" cried the latter firmly. "And if anybody else--" + +"You can quarrel afterward," said Adrian Van der Werff, interrupting his +excited companions, then good-naturedly picking up the books Baersdorp +had flung down, and handing them to him, continued resolutely, "I'll be +a Spaniard to-day. Who else?" + +"I, I, I too, for aught I care," shouted several of the scholars, and +the forming of the two parties would have been carried on in the best +order to the end, if the boys' attention had not been diverted by a +fresh incident. + +A young gentleman, followed by a black servant, came up the street +directly towards them. He too was a Netherlander, but had little in +common with the school-boys except his age, a red and white complexion, +fair hair, and clear blue eyes, eyes that looked arrogantly out upon +the world. Every step showed that he considered himself an important +personage, and the gaily-costumed negro, who carried a few recently +purchased articles behind him, imitated this bearing in a most comical +way. The negro's head was held still farther back than the young +noble's, whose stiff Spanish ruff prevented him from moving his handsome +head as freely as other mortals. + +"That ape, Wibisma," said one of the school-boys, pointing to the +approaching nobleman. + +All eyes turned towards him, scornfully scanning his little velvet hat +decked with a long plume, the quilted red satin garment padded in the +breast and sleeves, the huge puffs of his short brown breeches, and the +brilliant scarlet silk stockings that closely fitted his well-formed +limbs. + +"The ape," repeated Paul Van Swieten. "He wants to be a cardinal, that's +why he wears so much red." + +"And looks as Spanish as if he came straight from Madrid," cried another +lad, while a third added: + +"The Wibismas certainly were not to be found here, so long as bread was +short with us." + +The Wibismas are all Glippers. + +"And he struts about on week-days, dressed in velvet and silk," said +Adrian. "Just look at the black boy the red-legged stork has brought +with him to Leyden." + +The scholars burst into a loud laugh, and as soon as the youth had +reached them, Paul Van Swieten snarled in a nasal tone: + +"How did deserting suit you? How are affairs in Spain, master Glipper?" + +The young noble raised his head still higher, the negro did the same, +and both walked quietly on, even when Adrian shouted in his ear: + +"Little Glipper, tell me, for how many pieces of silver did Judas sell +the Saviour?" + +Young Matanesse Van Wibisma made an indignant gesture, but controlled +himself until Jan Mulder stepped in front of him, holding his little +cloth cap, into which he had thrust a hen's feather, under his chin like +a beggar, and saying humbly: + +"Give me a little shrove-money for our tom-cat, Sir Grandee; he stole a +leg of veal from the butcher yesterday." + +"Out of my way!" said the youth in a haughty, resolute tone, trying to +push Mulder aside with the back of his hand. + +"Hands off, Glipper!" cried the school-boys, raising their clenched +hands threateningly. + +"Then let me alone," replied Wibisma, "I want no quarrel, least of all +with you." + +"Why not with us?" asked Adrian Van der Werff, irritated by the +supercilious, arrogant tone of the last words. + +The youth shrugged his shoulders, but Adrian cried: "Because you like +your Spanish costume better than our doublets of Leyden cloth." + +Here he paused, for Jan Mulder stole behind Wibisma, struck his hat down +on his head with a book, and while Nicolas Van Wibisma was trying to +free his eyes from the covering that shaded them, exclaimed: + +"There, Sir Grandee, now the little hat sits firm! You can keep it on, +even before the king." + +The negro could not go to his master's assistance, for his arms were +filled with parcels, but the young noble did not call him, knowing +how cowardly his black servant was, and feeling strong enough to help +himself. + +A costly clasp, which he had just received as a gift on his seventeenth +birthday, confined the plume in his hat; but without a thought he flung +it aside, stretched out his arms as if for a wrestling-match, and with +florid cheeks, asked in a loud, resolute tone: "Who did that?" + +Jan Mulder had hastily retreated among his companions, and instead of +coming forward and giving his name, called: + +"Look for the hat-fuller, Glipper! We'll play blindman's buff." + +The youth, frantic with rage, repeated his question. When, instead of +any other answer, the boys entered into Jan Mulder's jest, shouting +gaily: "Yes, play blind-man's buff! Look for the hat-fuller. Come, +little Glipper, begin." Nicolas could contain himself no longer, but +shouted furiously to the laughing throng: + +"Cowardly rabble!" + +Scarcely had the words been uttered, when Paul Van Swieten raised his +grammar, bound in hog-skin, and hurled it at Wibisma's breast. + +Other books followed, amid loud outcries, striking him on the legs and +shoulders. Bewildered, he shielded his face with his hands and retreated +to the church-yard wall, where he stood still and prepared to rush upon +his foes. + +The stiff, fashionable high Spanish ruff no longer confined his handsome +head with its floating golden locks. Freely and boldly he looked his +enemies in the face, stretched the young limbs hardened by many a +knightly exercise, and with a true Netherland oath sprang upon Adrian +Van der Werff, who stood nearest. + +After a short struggle, the burgomaster's son, inferior in strength and +age to his opponent, lay extended on the ground; but the other lads, who +had not ceased shouting, "Glipper, Glipper," seized the young noble, who +was kneeling on his vanquished foe. + +Nicolas struggled bravely, but his enemies' superior power was too +great. + +Frantic with fury, wild with rage and shame, he snatched the dagger from +his belt. + +The boys now raised a frightful yell, and two of them rushed upon +Nicolas to wrest the weapon from him. This was quickly accomplished; the +dagger flew on the pavement, but Van Swieten sprang back with a low cry, +for the sharp blade had struck his arm, and the bright blood streamed on +the ground. + +For several minutes the shouts of the lads and the piteous cries of the +black page drowned the beautiful melody of the organ, pouring from +the windows of the church. Suddenly the music ceased; instead of the +intricate harmony the slowly-dying note of a single pipe was heard, and +a young man rushed out of the door of the sacristy of the House of God. +He quickly perceived the cause of the wild uproar that had interrupted +his practising, and a smile flitted over the handsome face which, framed +by a closely-cut beard, had just looked startled enough, though the +reproving words and pushes with which he separated the enraged lads were +earnest enough, and by no means failed to produce their effect. + +The boys knew the musician, Wilhelm Corneliussohn, and offered no +resistance, for they liked him, and his dozen years of seniority gave +him an undisputed authority among them. Not a hand was again raised +against Wibisma, but the boys, all shouting and talking together, +crowded around the organist to accuse Nicolas and defend themselves. + +Paul Van Swieten's wound was slight. He stood outside the circle of +his companions, supporting the injured left arm with his right hand. He +frequently blew upon the burning spot in his flesh, over which a bit +of cloth was wrapped, but curiosity concerning the result of this +entertaining brawl was stronger than the wish to have it bandaged and +healed. + +As the peace-maker's work was already drawing to a close, the wounded +lad, pointing with his sound hand in the direction of the school, +suddenly called warningly: + +"There comes Herr von Nordwyk. Let the Glipper go, or there will be +trouble." + +Paul Van Swieten again clasped his wounded arm with his right hand and +ran swiftly around the church. Several other boys followed, but the +new-comer of whom they were afraid, a man scarcely thirty years old, had +legs of considerable length, and knew how to use them bravely. + +"Stop, boys!" he shouted in an echoing voice of command. "Stop! What has +Happened here?" + +Every one in Leyden respected the learned and brave young nobleman, so +all the lads who had not instantly obeyed Van Swieten's warning shout, +stood still until Herr von Nordwyk reached them. + +A strange, eager light sparkled in this man's clever eyes, and a subtle +smile hovered around his moustached lip, as he called to the musician: + +"What has happened here, Meister Wilhelm? Didn't the clamor of Minerva's +apprentices harmonize with your organ-playing, or did--but by all the +colors of Iris, that's surely Nico Matanesse, young Wibisma! And how he +looks! Brawling in the shadow of the church--and you here too, Adrian, +and you, Meister Wilhelm?" + +"I separated them," replied the other quietly, smoothing his rumpled +cuffs. + +"With perfect calmness, but impressively--like your organ-music," said +the commander, laughing. + +"Who began the fight? You, young sir? or the others?" + +Nicolas, in his excitement, shame, and indignation, could find no +coherent words, but Adrian came forward saying: "We wrestled together. +Don't be too much vexed with us, Herr Janus." + +Nicolas cast a friendly glance at his foe. + +Herr von Nordwyk, Jan Van der Does, or as a learned man he preferred +to call himself, Janus Dousa, was by no means satisfied with this +information, but exclaimed: + +"Patience, patience! You look suspicious enough, Meister Adrian; come +here and tell me, 'atrekeos,' according to the truth, what has been +going on." + +The boy obeyed the command and told his story honestly, without +concealing or palliating anything that had occurred. + +"Hm," said Dousa, after the lad had finished his report. "A difficult +case. No one is to be acquitted. Your cause would be the better one, had +it not been for the knife, my fine young nobleman, but you, Adrian, +and you, you chubby-cheeked rascals, who--There comes the rector--If +he catches you, you'll certainly see nothing but four walls the rest of +this beautiful day. I should be sorry for that." + +The chubby-cheeked rascals, and Adrian also, understood this hint, and +without stopping to take leave scampered around the corner of the church +like a flock of doves pursued by a hawk. + +As soon as they had vanished, the commander approached young Nicolas, +saying: + +"Vexatious business! What was right to them is just to you. Go to your +home. Are you visiting your aunt?" + +"Yes, my lord," replied the young noble. "Is your father in the city +too?" Nicolas was silent. + +"He doesn't wish to be seen?" + +Nicolas nodded assent, and Dousa continued: + +"Leyden stands open to every Netherlander, even to you. To be sure, if +you go about like King Philip's page, and show contempt to your equals, +you must endure the consequences yourself. There lies the dagger, my +young friend, and there is your hat. Pick them up, and remember that +such a weapon is no toy. Many a man has spoiled his whole life, by +thoughtlessly using one a single moment. The superior numbers that +pressed upon you may excuse you. But how will you get to your aunt's +house in that tattered doublet?" + +"My cloak is in the church," said the musician, "I'll give it to the +young gentleman." + +"Bravo, Meister Wilhelm!" replied Dousa. "Wait here, my little master, +and then go home. I wish the time, when your father would value my +greeting, might come again. Do you know why it is no longer pleasant to +him?" + +"No, my lord." + +"Then I'll tell you. Because he is fond of Spain, and I cling to the +Netherlands." + +"We are Netherlanders as well as you," replied Nicolas with glowing +cheeks. + +"Scarcely," answered Dousa calmly, putting his hand up to his thin chin, +and intending to add a kinder word to the sharp one, when the youth +vehemently exclaimed: + +"Take back that 'scarcely,' Herr von Nordwyk." Dousa gazed at the bold +lad in surprise, and again an expression of amusement hovered about his +lips. Then he said kindly: + +"I like you, Herr Nicolas; and shall rejoice if you wish to become a +true Hollander. There comes Meister Wilhelm with his cloak. Give me your +hand. No, not this one, the other." + +Nicolas hesitated, but Janus grasped the boy's right hand in both of +his, bent his tall figure to the latter's ear, and said in so low a tone +that the musician could not understand: + +"Ere we part, take with you this word of counsel from one who means +kindly. Chains, even golden ones, drag us down, but liberty gives wings. +You shine in the glittering splendor, but we strike the Spanish chains +with the sword, and I devote myself to our work. Remember these words, +and if you choose repeat them to your father." + +Janus Dousa turned his back on the boy, waved a farewell to the +musician, and went away. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +Young Adrian hurried down the Werffsteg, which had given his family its +name. He heeded neither the lindens on both sides, amid whose tops the +first tiny green leaves were forcing their way out of the pointed buds, +nor the birds that flew hither and thither among the hospitable boughs +of the stately trees, building their nests and twittering to each other, +for he had no thought in his mind except to reach home as quickly as +possible. + +Beyond the bridge spanning the Achtergracht, he paused irresolutely +before a large building. + +The knocker hung on the central door, but he did not venture to lift +it and let it fall on the shining plate beneath, for he could expect no +pleasant reception from his family. + +His doublet had fared ill during his struggle with his stronger enemy. +The torn neck-ruffles had been removed from their proper place and +thrust into his pocket, and the new violet stocking on his right leg, +luckless thing, had been so frayed by rubbing on the pavement, that +a large yawning rent showed far more of Adrian's white knee than was +agreeable to him. + +The peacock feather in his little velvet cap could easily be replaced, +but the doublet was torn, not ripped, and the stocking scarcely capable +of being mended. The boy was sincerely sorry, for his father had bade +him take good care of the stuff to save money; during these times there +were hard shifts in the big house, which with its three doors, triple +gables adorned with beautifully-arched volutes, and six windows in the +upper and lower stories, fronted the Werffsteg in a very proud, stately +guise. + +The burgomaster's office did not bring in a large income, and Adrian's +grandfather's trade of preparing chamois leather, as well as the +business in skins, was falling off; his father had other matters in his +head, matters that claimed not only his intellect, strength and time, +but also every superfluous farthing. + +Adrian had nothing pleasant to expect at home--certainly not from his +father, far less from his aunt Barbara. Yet the boy dreaded the anger of +these two far less, than a single disapproving glance from the eyes of +the young wife, whom he had called "mother" scarcely a twelve month, and +who was only six years his senior. + +She never said an unkind word to him, but his defiance and wildness +melted before her beauty, her quiet, aristocratic manner. He scarcely +knew himself whether he loved her or not, but she appeared like the good +fairy of whom the fairy tales spoke, and it often seemed as if she were +far too delicate, dainty and charming for her simple, unpretending home. +To see her smile rendered the boy happy, and when she looked sad--a +thing that often happened-it made his heart ache. Merciful Heavens! She +certainly could not receive him kindly when she saw his doublet, the +ruffles thrust into his pocket, and his unlucky stockings. + +And then! + +There were the bells ringing again! + +The dinner hour had long since passed, and his father waited for no +one. Whoever came too late must go without, unless Aunt Barbara took +compassion on him in the kitchen. + +But what was the use of pondering and hesitating? Adrian summoned up +all his courage, clenched his teeth, clasped his right hand still closer +around the torn ruffles in his pocket, and struck the knocker loudly on +the steel plate beneath. + +Trautchen, the old maid-servant, opened the door, and in the spacious, +dusky entrance-hall, where the bales of leather were packed closely +together, did not notice the dilapidation of his outer man. + +He hurried swiftly up the stairs. + +The dining-room door was open, and--marvellous--the table was still +untouched, his father must have remained at the town-hall longer than +usual. + +Adrian rushed with long leaps to his little attic room, dressed himself +neatly, and entered the presence of his family before the master of the +house had asked the blessing. + +The doublet and stocking could be confided to the hands of Aunt Barbara +or Trautchen, at some opportune hour. + +Adrian sturdily attacked the smoking dishes; but his heart soon grew +heavy, for his father did not utter a word, and gazed into vacancy as +gravely and anxiously as at the time when misery entered the beleaguered +city. + +The boy's young step-mother sat opposite her husband, and often glanced +at Peter Van der Werff's grave face to win a loving glance from him. + +Whenever she did so in vain, she pushed her soft, golden hair back from +her forehead, raised her beautiful head higher, or bit her lips and +gazed silently into her plate. + +In reply to Aunt Barbara's questions: "What happened at the council? Has +the money for the new bell been collected? Will Jacob Van Sloten rent +you the meadow?" he made curt, evasive replies. + +The steadfast man, who sat so silently with frowning brow among his +family, sometimes attacking the viands on his plate, then leaving them +untouched, did not look like one who yields to idle whims. + +All present, even the men and maid-servants, were still devoting +themselves to the food, when the master of the house rose, and pressing +both hands over the back of his head, which was very prominently +developed, exclaimed groaning: + +"I can hold out no longer. Do you give thanks, Maria. Go to the +town-hall, Janche, and ask if no messenger has yet arrived." + +The man-servant wiped his mouth and instantly obeyed. He was a tall, +broad-shouldered Frieselander, but only reached to his master's +forehead. + +Peter Van der Werff, without any form of salutation, turned his back on +his family, opened the door leading into his study, and after +crossing the threshold, closed it with a bang, approached the big oak +writing-desk, on which papers and letters lay piled in heaps, secured +by rough leaden weights, and began to rummage among the newly-arrived +documents. For fifteen minutes he vainly strove to fix the necessary +attention upon his task, then grasped his study-chair to rest his folded +arms on the high, perforated back, adorned with simple carving, and +gazed thoughtfully at the wooden wainscoting of the ceiling. After a few +minutes he pushed the chair aside with his foot, raised his hand to his +mouth, separated his moustache from his thick brown beard, and went to +the window. The small, round, leaden-cased panes, however brightly they +might be polished, permitted only a narrow portion of the street to be +seen, but the burgomaster seemed to have found the object for which he +had been looking. Hastily opening the window, he called to his servant, +who was hurriedly approaching the house: + +"Is he in, Janche?" + +The Frieselander shook his head, the window again closed, and a few +minutes after the burgomaster seized his hat, which hung, between some +cavalry pistols and a plain, substantial sword, on the only wall of his +room not perfectly bare. + +The torturing anxiety that filled his mind, would no longer allow him to +remain in the house. + +He would have his horse saddled, and ride to meet the expected +messenger. + +Ere leaving the room, he paused a moment lost in thought, then +approached the writing-table to sign some papers intended for the +town-hall; for his return might be delayed till night. + +Still standing, he looked over the two sheets he had spread out before +him, and seized the pen. Just at that moment the door of the room gently +opened, and the fresh sand strewn over the white boards creaked under +a light foot. He doubtless heard it, but did not allow himself to be +interrupted. + +His wife was now standing close behind him. Four and twenty years his +junior, she seemed like a timid girl, as she raised her arm, yet did not +venture to divert her husband's attention from his business. + +She waited quietly till he had signed the first paper, then turned her +pretty head aside, and blushing faintly, exclaimed with downcast eyes: + +"It is I, Peter!" + +"Very well, my child," he answered curtly, raising the second paper +nearer his eyes. + +"Peter!" she exclaimed a second time, still more eagerly, but with +timidity. "I have something to tell you." + +Van der Werff turned his head, cast a hasty, affectionate glance at her, +and said: + +"Now, child? You see I am busy, and there is my hat." + +"But Peter!" she replied, a flash of something like indignation +sparkling in her eyes, as she continued in a voice pervaded with a +slightly perceptible tone of complaint: "We haven't said anything to +each other to-day. My heart is so full, and what I would fain say to you +is, must surely--" + +"When I come home Maria, not now," he interrupted, his deep voice +sounding half impatient, half beseeching. "First the city and the +country--then love-making." + +At these words, Maria raised her head proudly, and answered with +quivering lips: + +"That is what you have said ever since the first day of our marriage." + +"And unhappily--unhappily--I must continue to say so until we reach +the goal," he answered firmly. The blood mounted into the young wife's +delicate cheeks, and with quickened breathing, she answered in a hasty, +resolute tone: + +"Yes, indeed, I have known these words ever since your courtship, and as +I am my father's daughter never opposed them, but now they are no longer +suited to us, and should be: 'Everything for the country, and nothing at +all for the wife.'" + +Van der Werff laid down his pen and turned full towards her. + +Maria's slender figure seemed to have grown taller, and the blue eyes, +swimming in tears, flashed proudly. This life-companion seemed to have +been created by God especially for him. His heart opened to her, and +frankly stretching out both hands, he said tenderly: + +"You know how matters are! This heart is changeless, and other days will +come." + +"When?" asked Maria, in a tone as mournful as if she believed in no +happier future. + +"Soon," replied her husband firmly. "Soon, if only each one gives +willingly what our native land demands." + +At these words the young wife loosed her hands from her husband's, +for the door had opened and Barbara called to her brother from the +threshold. + +"Herr Matanesse Van Wibisma, the Glipper, is in the entry and wants to +speak to you." + +"Show him up," said the burgomaster reluctantly. When again alone with +his wife, he asked hastily "Will you be indulgent and help me?" + +She nodded assent, trying to smile. + +He saw that she was sad and, as this grieved him, held out his hand to +her again, saying: + +"Better days will come, when I shall be permitted to be more to you than +to-day. What were you going to say just now?" + +"Whether you know it or not--is of no importance to the state." + +"But to you. Then lift up your head again, and look at me. Quick, love, +for they are already on the stairs." + +"It isn't worth mentioning--a year ago to-day--we might celebrate the +anniversary of our wedding to-day." + +"The anniversary of our wedding-day!" he cried, striking his hands +loudly together. "Yes, this is the seventeenth of April, and I have +forgotten it." + +He drew her tenderly towards him, but just at that moment the door +opened, and Adrian ushered the baron into the room. + +Van der Werff bowed courteously to the infrequent guest, then called +to his blushing wife, who was retiring: "My congratulations! I'll come +later. Adrian, we are to celebrate a beautiful festival to-day, the +anniversary of our marriage." + +The boy glided swiftly out of the door, which he still held in his hand, +for he suspected the aristocratic visitor boded him no good. + +In the entry he paused to think, then hurried up the stairs, seized his +plumeless cap, and rushed out of doors. He saw his school-mates, armed +with sticks and poles, ranging themselves in battle array, and would +have liked to join the game of war, but for that very reason preferred +not to listen to the shouts of the combatants at that moment, and ran +towards the Zylhof until beyond the sound of their voices. + +He now checked his steps, and in a stooping posture, often on his knees, +followed the windings of a narrow canal that emptied into the Rhine. + +As soon as his cap was overflowing with the white, blue, and yellow +spring flowers he had gathered, he sat down on a boundary stone, and +with sparkling eyes bound them into a beautiful bouquet, with which he +ran home. + +On the bench beside the gate sat the old maidservant with his little +sister, a child six years old. Handing the flowers, which he had kept +hidden behind his back, to her, he said: + +"Take them and carry them to mother, Bessie; this is the anniversary of +her wedding-day. Give her warm congratulations too, from us both." + +The child rose, and the old servant said, "You are a good boy, Adrian." + +"Do you think so?" he asked, all the sins of the forenoon returning to +his mind. + +But unluckily they caused him no repentance; on the contrary, his eyes +began to sparkle mischievously, and a smile hovered around his lips, as +he patted the old woman's shoulder, whispering softly in her ear: + +"The hair flew to-day, Trautchen. My doublet and new stockings are lying +up in my room under the bed. Nobody can mend as well as you." + +Trautchen shook her finger at him, but he turned hastily back and +ran towards the Zyl-gate, this time to lead the Spaniards against the +Netherlanders. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +The burgomaster had pressed the nobleman to sit down in the study-chair, +while he himself leaned in a half-sitting attitude on the writing-table, +listening somewhat impatiently to his distinguished guest. + +"Before speaking of more important things," Herr Matanesse Van Wibisma +had begun, "I should like to appeal to you, as a just man, for some +punishment for the injury my son has sustained in this city." + +"Speak," said the burgomaster, and the nobleman now briefly, and with +unconcealed indignation, related the story of the attack upon his son at +the church. + +"I'll inform the rector of the annoying incident," replied Van der +Werff, "and the culprits will receive their just dues; but pardon me, +noble sir, if I ask whether any inquiry has been made concerning the +cause of the quarrel?" + +Herr Matanesse Van Wibisma looked at the burgomaster in surprise and +answered proudly: + +"You know my son's report." + +"Both sides must be fairly heard," replied Van der Werff calmly. "That +has been the custom of the Netherlands from ancient times." + +"My son bears my name and speaks the truth." + +"Our boys are called simply Leendert or Adrian or Gerrit, but they +do the same, so I must beg you to send the young gentleman to the +examination at the school." + +"By no means," answered the knight resolutely. "If I had thought the +matter belonged to the rector's department, I should have sought him and +not you, Herr Peter. My son has his own tutor, and was not attacked in +your school, which in any case he has outgrown, for he is seventeen, +but in the public street, whose security it is the burgomaster's duty to +guard." + +"Very well then, make your complaint, take the youth before the judges, +summon witnesses and let the law follow its course. But, sir," continued +Van der Werff, softening the impatience in his voice, "were you not +young yourself once? Have you entirely forgotten the fights under +the citadel? What pleasure will it afford you, if we lock up a few +thoughtless lads for two days this sunny weather? The scamps will find +something amusing to do indoors, as well as out, and only the parents +will be punished." + +The last words were uttered so cordially and pleasantly, that they could +not fail to have their effect upon the baron. He was a handsome +man, whose refined, agreeable features, of the true Netherland type, +expressed anything rather than severity. + +"If you speak to me in this tone, we shall come to an agreement more +easily," he answered, smiling. "I will only say this. Had the brawl +arisen in sport, or from some boyish quarrel, I wouldn't have wasted +a word on the matter--but that children already venture to assail with +jeers and violence those who hold different opinions, ought not to be +permitted to pass without reproof. The boys shouted after my son the +absurd word--" + +"It is certainly an insult," interrupted Van der Werff, "a very +disagreeable name, that our people bestow on the enemies of their +liberty." + +The baron rose, angrily confronting the other. + +"Who tells you," he cried, striking his broad breast, padded with silken +puffs, "who tells you that we grudge Holland her liberty? We desire, +just as earnestly as you, to win it back to the States, but by other, +straighter paths than Orange--" + +"I cannot test here whether your paths are crooked or straight," +retorted Van der Werff; "but I do know this--they are labyrinths." + +"They will lead to the heart of Philip, our king and yours." + +"Yes, if he only had what we in Holland call a heart," replied the +other, smiling bitterly; but Wibisma threw his head back vehemently, +exclaiming reproachfully: + +"Sir Burgomaster, you are speaking of the anointed Prince to whom I have +sworn fealty." + +"Baron Matanesse," replied Van der Werff, in a tone of deep earnestness, +as he drew himself up to his full height, folded his arms, and looked +the nobleman sharply in the eye, "I speak rather of the tyrant, whose +bloody council declared all who bore the Netherland name, and you among +us, criminals worthy of death; who, through his destroying devil, Alva, +burned, beheaded, and hung thousands of honest men, robbed and exiled +from the country thousands of others, I speak of the profligate--" + +"Enough!" cried the knight, clenching the hilt of his sword. "Who gives +you the right--" + +"Who gives me the right to speak so bitterly, you would ask?" +interrupted Peter Van der Werff, meeting the nobleman's eyes with a +gloomy glance. "Who gives me this right? I need not conceal it. It was +bestowed by the silent lips of my valiant father, beheaded for the +sake of his faith, by the arbitrary decree, that without form of law, +banished my brother and myself from the country--by the Spaniards' +broken vows, the torn charters of this land, the suffering of the poor, +ill-treated, worthy people that will perish if we do not save them." + +"You will not save them," replied Wibisma in a calmer tone. "You will +push those tottering on the verge of the abyss completely over the +precipice, and go to destruction with them." + +"We are pilots. Perhaps we shall bring deliverance, perhaps we shall go +to ruin with those for whom we are ready to die." + +"You say that, and yet a young, blooming wife binds you to life." + +"Baron, you have crossed this threshold as complainant to the +burgomaster, not as guest or friend." + +"Quite true, but I came with kind intentions, as monitor to the guiding +head of this beautiful, hapless city. You have escaped the storm once, +but new and far heavier ones are gathering above your heads." + +"We do not fear them." + +"Not even now?" + +"Now, with good reason, far less than ever." + +"Then you don't know the Prince's brother--" + +"Louis of Nassau was close upon the Spaniards on the 14th, and our cause +is doing well--" + +"It certainly did not fare ill at first." + +"The messenger, who yesterday evening--" + +"Ours came this morning." + +"This morning, you say? And what more--" + +"The Prince's army was defeated and utterly destroyed on Mook Heath. +Louis of Nassau himself was slain." + +Van der Werff pressed his fingers firmly on the wood of the +writing-table. The fresh color of his cheeks and lips had yielded to +a livid pallor, and his mouth quivered painfully as he asked in a low, +hollow tone, "Louis dead, really dead?" + +"Dead," replied the baron firmly, though sorrowfully. "We were enemies, +but Louis was a noble youth. I mourn him with you." + +"Dead, William's favorite dead!" murmured the burgomaster as if in a +dream. Then, controlling himself by a violent effort, he said, firmly: + +"Pardon me, noble sir. Time is flying. I must go to the town-hall." + +"And spite of my message, you will continue to uphold rebellion?" + +"Yes, my lord, as surely as I am a Hollander." + +"Do you remember the fate of Haarlem?" + +"I remember her citizens' resistance, and the rescued Alkmaar." + +"Man, man!" cried the baron. "By all that sacred, I implore you to be +circumspect." + +"Enough, baron, I must go to the town-hall." + +"No, only this one more word, this one word. I know you upbraid us +as 'Glippers,' deserters, but as truly as I hope for God's mercy, you +misjudge us. No, Herr Peter, no, I am no traitor! I love this country +and this brave, industrious people with the same love as yourself, for +its blood flows in my veins also. I signed the compromise. Here I stand, +sir. Look at me. Do I look like a Judas? Do I look like a Spaniard? Can +you blame me for faithfully keeping the oath I gave the king? When did +we of the Netherlands ever trifle with vows? You, the friend of Orange, +have just declared that you did not grudge any man the faith to which he +clung, and I will not doubt it. Well, I hold firmly to the old church, I +am a Catholic and shall remain one. But in this hour I frankly confess, +that I hate the inquisition and Alva's bloody deeds as much as you do. +They have as little connection with our religion as iconoclasm had with +yours Like you, I love the freedom of our home. To win it back is my +endeavor, as well as yours. But how can a little handful like us ever +succeed in finally resisting the most powerful kingdom in the world? +Though we conquer once, twice, thrice, two stronger armies will follow +each defeated one. We shall accomplish nothing by force, but may do much +by wise concession and prudent deeds. Philip's coffers are empty; he +needs his armies too in other countries. Well then, let us profit by +his difficulties, and force him to ratify some lost liberty for every +revolted city that returns to him. Let us buy from his hands, with +what remains of our old wealth, the rights he has wrested from us while +fighting against the rebels. You will find open hands with me and those +who share my opinions. Your voice weighs heavily in the council of this +city. You are the friend of Orange, and if you could induce him--" + +"To do what, noble sir?" + +"To enter into an alliance with us. We know that those in Madrid +understand how to estimate his importance and fear him. Let us +stipulate, as the first condition, a full pardon for him and his +faithful followers. King Philip, I know, will receive him into favor +again--" + +"In his arms to strangle him," replied the burgomaster resolutely. "Have +you forgotten the false promises of pardon made in former times, the +fate of Egmont and Horn, the noble Montigney and other lords? They +ventured it and entered the tiger's den. What we buy to-day will surely +be taken from us tomorrow, for what oath would be sacred to Philip? I am +no statesman, but I know this--if he would restore all our liberties, he +will never grant the one thing, without which life is valueless." + +"What is that, Herr Peter?" + +"The privilege of believing according to the dictates of our hearts. You +mean fairly, noble sir;--but you trust the Spaniard, we do not; if we +did, we should be deceived children. You have nothing to fear for your +religion, we everything; you believe that the number of troops and power +of gold will turn the scales in our conflict, we comfort ourselves +with the hope, that God will give victory to the good cause of a brave +people, ready to suffer a thousand deaths for liberty. This is my +opinion, and I shall defend it in the town-hall." + +"No, Meister Peter, no! You cannot, ought not." + +"What I can do is little, what I ought to do is written within, and I +shall act accordingly." + +"And thus obey the sorrowing heart rather than the prudent head, and be +able to give naught save evil counsel. Consider, man, Orange's last army +was destroyed on Mock Heath." + +"True, my lord, and for that very reason we will not use the moments for +words, but deeds." + +"I'll take the hint myself, Herr Van der Werf, for many friends of the +king still dwell in Leyden, who must be taught not to follow you blindly +to the shambles." + +At these words Van der Werff retreated from the nobleman, clenched his +moustache firmly in his right hand, and raising his deep voice to a +louder tone, said coldly and imperiously: + +"Then, as guardian of the safety of this city, I command you to quit +Leyden instantly. If you are found within these walls after noon +to-morrow, I will have you taken across the frontiers by the +city-guard." + +The baron withdrew without any form of leave-taking. + +As soon as the door had closed behind him, Van der Werff, threw himself +into his arm-chair and covered his face with his hands. When he again +sat erect, two large tear-drops sparkled on the paper which had lain +under his fingers. Smiling bitterly, he wiped them from the page with +the back of his hand. + +"Dead, dead," he murmured, and the image of the gallant youth, the +clever mediator, the favorite of William of Orange, rose before his +mind--he asked himself how this fresh stroke of fate would affect the +Prince, whom he revered as the providence of the country, admired and +loved as the wisest, most unselfish of men. + +William's affliction grieved him as sorely as if it had fallen upon +himself, and the blow that had struck the cause of freedom was a heavy +one, perhaps never to be overcome. + +Yet he only granted himself a short time to indulge in grief, for the +point in question now was to summon all the nation's strength to repair +what was lost, avert by vigorous acts the serious consequences which +threatened to follow Louis's defeat, and devise fresh means to carry on +the war. + +He paced up and down the room with frowning brow, inventing measures +and pondering over plans. His wife had opened the door, and now remained +standing on the threshold, but he did not notice her until she called +his name and advanced towards him. + +In her hand she held part of the flowers the boy had brought, another +portion adorned her bosom. + +"Take it," she said, offering him the bouquet. "Adrian, dear boy, +gathered them, and you surely know what they mean." + +He willingly took the messengers of spring, raised them to his face, +drew Maria to his breast, pressed a long kiss upon her brow, and then +said gloomily: + +"So this is the celebration of the first anniversary of our wedding-day. +Poor wife! The Glipper was not so far wrong; perhaps it would have been +wiser and better for me not to bind your fate to mine." + +"How can such thoughts enter your mind, Peter!" she exclaimed +reproachfully. + +"Louis of Nassau has fallen," he murmured in a hollow tone, "his army is +scattered." + +"Oh-oh!" cried Maria, clasping her hands in horror, but he continued: + +"It was our last body of troops. The coffers are empty, and where we +are to obtain new means, and what will happen now--this, this--Leave me, +Maria, I beg you. If we don't profit by the time now, if we don't find +the right paths now, we shall not, cannot prosper." + +With these words he threw the bouquet on the table, hastily seized a +paper, looked into it, and, without glancing at her, waved his right +hand. + +The young wife's heart had been full, wide open, when she entered the +room. She had expected so much that was beautiful from this hour, and +now stood alone in the apartment he still shared with her. Her arms had +fallen by her side; helpless, mortified, wounded, she gazed at him in +silence. + +Maria had grown up amid the battle for freedom, and knew how to estimate +the grave importance of the tidings her husband had received. During his +wooing he had told her that, by his side, she must expect a life full of +anxiety and peril, yet she had joyously gone to the altar with the brave +champion of the good cause, which had been her father's, for she had +hoped to become the sharer of his cares and struggles. And now? What was +she permitted to be to him? What did he receive from her? What had he +consented to share with her, who could not feel herself a feeble woman, +on this, the anniversary of their wedding-day. + +There she stood, her open heart slowly closing and struggling against +her longing to cry out to him, and say that she would as gladly bear his +cares with him and share every danger, as happiness and honor. + +The burgomaster, having now found what he sought, seized his hat and +again looked at his wife. + +How pale and disappointed she was! + +His heart ached; he would so gladly have given expression in words +to the great, warm love he felt for her, offered her joyous +congratulations; but in this hour, amid his grief, with such anxieties +burdening his breast, he could not do it, so he only held out both +hands, saying tenderly: + +"You surely know what you are to me, Maria, if you do not, I will +tell you this evening. I must meet the members of the council at the +town-hall, or a whole day will be lost, and at this time we must be +avaricious even of the moments. Well, Maria?" + +The young wife was gazing at the floor. She would gladly have flown to +his breast, but offended pride would not suffer her to do so, and some +mysterious power bound her hands and did not permit her to lay them in +his. + +"Farewell," she said in a hollow tone. + +"Maria!" he exclaimed reproachfully. "To-day is no well-chosen time for +pouting. Come and be my sensible wife." + +She did not move instantly; but he heard the bell ring for the fourth +hour, the time when the session of the council ended, and left the room +without looking back at her. + +The little bouquet still lay on the writing-table; the young wife saw +it, and with difficulty restrained her tears. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Countless citizens had flocked to the stately townhall. News of Louis of +Nassau's defeat had spread quickly through all the eighteen wards of the +city, and each wanted to learn farther particulars, express his grief +and fears to those who held the same views, and hear what measures the +council intended to adopt for the immediate future. + +Two messengers had only too thoroughly confirmed Baron Matanesse Van +Wibisma's communication. Louis was dead, his brother Henry missing, and +his army completely destroyed. + +Jan Van Hout, who had taught the boys that morning, now came to a +window, informed the citizens what a severe blow the liberty of the +country had received, and in vigorous words exhorted them to support the +good cause with body and soul. + +Loud cheers followed this speech. Gay caps and plumed hats were tossed +in the air, canes and swords were waved, and the women and children, who +had crowded among the men, fluttered their handkerchiefs, and with their +shriller voices drowned the shouts of the citizens. + +The members of the valiant city-guard assembled, to charge their captain +to give the council the assurance, that the "Schutterij" was ready to +support William of Orange to the last penny and drop of their blood, +and would rather die for the cause of Holland, than live under Spanish +tyranny. Among them was seen many a grave, deeply-troubled face; for +these men, who filled its ranks by their own choice, all loved William +of Orange: his sorrow hurt them--and their country's distress pierced +their hearts. As soon as the four burgomasters, the eight magistrates of +the city, and the members of the common council appeared at the windows, +hundreds of voices joined in the Geusenlied,--[Beggars' Song or Hymn. +Beggar was the name given to the patriots by those who sympathized with +Spain.]--which had long before been struck up by individuals, and when +at sunset the volatile populace scattered and, still singing, turned, +either singly or by twos or threes, towards the taverns, to strengthen +their confidence in better days and dispel many a well-justified anxiety +by drink, the market-place of Leyden and its adjoining streets presented +no different aspect, than if a message of victory had been read from the +town-hall. + +The cheers and Beggars' Song had sounded very powerful--but so many +hundreds of Dutch throats would doubtless have been capable of shaking +the air with far mightier tones. + +This very remark had been made by the three well-dressed citizens, +who were walking through the wide street, past the blue stone, and the +eldest said to his companions: + +"They boast and shout and seem large to themselves now, but we shall see +that things will soon be very different." + +"May God avert the worst!" replied the other, "but the Spaniards will +surely advance again, and I know many in my ward who won't vote for +resistance this time." + +"They are right, a thousand times right. Requesens is not Alva, and if +we voluntarily seek the king's pardon--" + +"There would be no blood shed and everything would take the best +course." + +"I have more love for Holland than for Spain," said the third. "But, +after Mook-Heath, resistance is a thing of the past. Orange may be an +excellent prince, but the shirt is closer than the coat." + +"And in fact we risk our lives and fortunes merely for him." + +"My wife said so yesterday." + +"He'll be the last man to help trade. Believe me, many think as we do, +if it were not so, the Beggars' Song would have sounded louder." + +"There will always be five fools to three wise men," said the older +citizen. "I took good care not to split my mouth." + +"And after all, what great thing is there behind this outcry for +freedom? Alva burnt the Bible-readers, De la Marck hangs the priests. +My wife likes to go to Mass, but always does so secretly, as if she were +committing a crime." + +"We, too, cling to the good old faith." + +"Never mind faith," said the third. "We are Calvinists, but I take no +pleasure in throwing my pennies into Orange's maw, nor can it gratify me +to again tear up the poles before the Cow-gate, ere the wind dries the +yarn." + +"Only let us hold together," advised the older man. "People don't +express their real opinions, and any poor ragged devil might play the +hero. But I tell you there will be sensible men enough in every ward, +every guild, nay, even in the council, and among the burgomasters." + +"Hush," whispered the second citizen, "there comes Van der Werff with +the city clerk and young Van der Does; they are the worst of all." + +The three persons named came down the broad street, talking eagerly +together, but in low tones. + +"My uncle is right, Meister Peter," said Jan Van der Does, the same +tall young noble, who, on the morning of that day, had sent Nicolas +Van Wibisma home with a kindly warning. "It's no use, you must seek the +Prince and consult with him." + +"I suppose I must," replied the burgomaster. "I'll go to-morrow +morning." + +"Not to-morrow," replied Van Hout. "The Prince rides fast, and if you +don't find him in Delft--" + +"Do you go first," urged the burgomaster, "you have the record of our +session." + +"I cannot; but to-day you, the Prince's friend, for the first time lack +good-will." + +"You are right, Jan," exclaimed the burgomaster, "and you shall know +what holds me back." + +"If it is anything a friend can do for you, here he stands," said von +Nordwyk. + +Van der Werff grasped the hand the young nobleman extended, and +answered, smiling: "No, my lord, no. You know my young wife. To-day we +should have celebrated the first anniversary of our marriage, and amid +all these anxieties I disgracefully forgot it." + +"Hard, hard," said Van Hout, softly. Then he drew himself up to his full +height, and added resolutely: "And yet, were I in your place, I would +go, in spite of her." + +"Would you go to-day?" + +"To-day, for to-morrow it may be too late. Who knows how soon egress +from the city may be stopped and, before again venturing the utmost, we +must know the Prince's opinion. You possess more of his confidence than +any of us." + +"And God knows how gladly I would bring him a cheering word in these +sorrowful hours; but it must not be to-day. The messenger has ridden off +on my bay." + +"Then take my chestnut, he is faster too," said Janus Dousa and Van der +Werff answered hastily. + +"Thanks, my lord. I'll send for him early tomorrow morning." + +The blood mounted to Van Hout's head and, thrusting his hand angrily +between his girdle and doublet, he exclaimed: "Send me the chestnut, if +the burgomaster will give me leave of absence." + +"No, send him to me," replied Peter calmly. "What must be, must be; I'll +go to-day." + +Van Hout's manly features quickly smoothed and, clasping the +burgomaster's right hand in both his, he said joyously: + +"Thanks, Herr Peter. And no offence; you know my hot temper. If the time +seems long to your young wife, send her to mine." + +"And mine," added Dousa. "It's a strange thing about those two little +words 'wish' and 'ought.' The freer and better a man becomes, the more +surely the first becomes the slave of the second. + +"And yet, Herr Peter, I'll wager that your wife will confound the +two words to-day, and think you have sorely transgressed against the +'ought.' These are bad times for the 'wish.'" + +Van der Werff nodded assent, then briefly and firmly explained to his +friends what he intended to disclose to the Prince. + +The three men separated before the burgomaster's house. + +"Tell the Prince," said Van Hout, on parting, "that we are prepared for +the worst, will endure and dare it." + +At these words Janus Dousa measured both his companions with his eyes, +his lips quivered as they always did when any strong emotion filled +his heart, and while his shrewd face beamed with joy and confidence, he +exclaimed: "We three will hold out, we three will stand firm, the tyrant +may break our necks, but he shall not bend them. Life, fortune, all that +is dear and precious and useful to man, we will resign for the highest +of blessings." + +"Ay," said Van der Werff, loudly and earnestly, while Van Hout +impetuously repeated: "Yes, yes, thrice yes." + +The three men, so united in feeling, grasped each other's hands firmly +for a moment. A silent vow bound them in this hour, and when Herr von +Nordwyk and Van Hout turned in opposite directions, the citizens who met +them thought their tall figures had grown taller still within the last +few hours. + +The burgomaster went to his wife's room without delay, but did not find +her there. + +She had gone out of the gate with his sister. + +The maid-servant carried a light into his chamber; he followed her, +examined the huge locks of his pistols, buckled on his old sword, put +what he needed into his saddle-bags, then, with his tall figure drawn up +to its full height, paced up and down the room, entirely absorbed in his +task. + +Herr von Nordwyk's chestnut horse was stamping on the pavement before +the door, and Hesperus was rising above the roofs. + +The door of the house now opened. + +He went into the entry and found, not his wife, but Adrian, who had just +returned home, told the boy to give his most loving remembrances to +his mother, and say that he was obliged to seek the Prince on important +business. + +Old Trautchen had already washed and undressed little Elizabeth, and now +brought him the child wrapped in a coverlet. He kissed the dear little +face, which smiled at him out of its queer disguise, pressed his lips +to Adrian's forehead, again told him to give his love to his mother, and +then rode down Marendorpstrasse. + +Two women, coming from the Rheinsburger gate, met him just as he reached +St. Stephen's cloister. He did not notice them, but the younger one +pushed the kerchief back from her head, hastily grasped her companion's +wrist, and exclaimed in a low tone: + +"That was Peter!" + +Barbara raised her head higher. + +"It's lucky I'm not timid. Let go of my arm. Do you mean the horseman +trotting past St. Ursula alley?" + +"Yes, it is Peter." + +"Nonsense, child! The bay has shorter legs than that tall camel; and +Peter never rides out at this hour." + +"But it was he." + +"God forbid! At night a linden looks like a beechtree. It would be a +pretty piece of business, if he didn't come home to-day." + +The last words had escaped Barbara's lips against her will; for until +then she had prudently feigned not to suspect that everything between +Maria and her husband was not exactly as it ought to be, though +she plainly perceived what was passing in the mind of her young +sister-in-law. + +She was a shrewd woman, with much experience of the world, who certainly +did not undervalue her brother and his importance to the cause of their +native land; nay, she went so far as to believe that, with the exception +of the Prince of Orange, no man on earth would be more skilful than +Peter in guiding the cause of freedom to a successful end; but she felt +that her brother was not treating Maria justly, and being a fair-minded +woman, silently took sides against the husband who neglected his wife. + +Both walked side by side for a time in silence. At last the widow +paused, saying: + +"Perhaps the Prince has sent a messenger for Peter. In such times, after +such blows, everything is possible. You might have seen correctly." + +"It was surely he," replied Maria positively. + +"Poor fellow!" said the other. "It must be a sad ride for him! Much +honor, much hardship! You've no reason to despond, for your husband +will return tomorrow or the day after; while I--look at me, Maria! I go +through life stiff and straight, do my duty cheerfully; my cheeks are +rosy, my food has a relish, yet I've been obliged to resign what was +dearest to me. I have endured my widowhood ten years; my daughter +Gretchen has married, and I sent Cornelius myself to the Beggars of the +Sea. Any hour may rob me of him, for his life is one of constant +peril. What has a widow except her only son? And I gave him up for our +country's cause! That is harder than to see a husband ride away for a +few hours on the anniversary of his wedding-day. He certainly doesn't do +it for his own pleasure!" + +"Here we are at home," said Maria, raising the knocker. + +Trautchen opened the door and, even before crossing the threshold, +Barbara exclaimed: + +"Is your master at home?" + +The reply was in the negative, as she too now expected. + +Adrian gave his message; Trautchen brought up the supper, but the +conversation would not extend beyond "yes" and "no." + +After Maria had hastily asked the blessing, she rose, and turning to +Barbara, said: + +"My head aches, I should like to go to bed." + +"Then go to rest," replied the widow. "I'll sleep in the next room and +leave the door open. In darkness and silence--whims come." + +Maria kissed her sister-in-law with sincere affection, and lay down in +bed; but she found no sleep, and tossed restlessly to and fro until near +midnight. + +Hearing Barbara cough in the next room, she sat up and asked: + +"Sister-in-law, are you asleep?" + +"No, child. Do you feel ill?" + +"Not exactly; but I'm so anxious--horrible thoughts torment me." + +Barbara instantly lighted a candle at the night-lamp, entered the +chamber with it, and sat down on the edge of the bed. + +Her heart ached as she gazed at the pretty young creature lying alone, +full of sorrow, in the wide bed, unable to sleep from bitter grief. + +Maria had never seemed to her so beautiful; resting in her white +night-robes on the snowy pillow, she looked like a sorrowing angel. + +Barbara could not refrain from smoothing the hair back from the narrow +forehead and kissing the flushed cheeks. + +Maria gazed gratefully into her small, light-blue eyes and said +beseechingly: + +"I should like to ask you something." + +"Well?" + +"But you must honestly tell me the truth." + +"That is asking a great deal!" + +"I know you are sincere, but it is--" + +"Speak freely." + +"Was Peter happy with his first wife?" + +"Yes, child, yes." + +"And do you know this not only from him, but also from his dead wife, +Eva?" + +"Yes, sister-in-law, yes." + +"And you can't be mistaken?" + +"Not in this case certainly! But what puts such thoughts into your head? +The Bible says: 'Let the dead bury their dead.' Now turn over and try to +sleep." + +Barbara went back to her room, but hours elapsed ere Maria found the +slumber she sought. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +The next morning two horsemen, dressed in neat livery, were waiting +before the door of a handsome House in Nobelstrasse, near the +market-place. A third was leading two sturdy roan steeds up and down, +and a stable-boy held by the bridle a gaily-bedizened, long maned pony. +This was intended for the young negro lad, who stood in the door-way +of the house and kept off the street-boys, who ventured to approach, by +rolling his eyes and gnashing his white teeth at them. + +"Where can they be?" said one of the mounted men: "The rain won't keep +off long to-day." + +"Certainly not," replied the other. "The sky is as grey as my old +felt-hat, and, by the time we reach the forest, it will be pouring." + +"It's misting already." + +"Such cold, damp weather is particularly disagreeable to me." + +"It was pleasant yesterday." + +"Button the flaps tighter over the pistol-holsters! The portmanteau +behind the young master's saddle isn't exactly even. There! Did the cook +fill the flask for you?" + +"With brown Spanish wine. There it is." + +"Then let it pour. When a fellow is wet inside, he can bear a great deal +of moisture without." + +"Lead the horses up to the door; I hear the gentlemen." + +The man was not mistaken; for before his companion had succeeded in +stopping the larger roan, the voices of his master, Herr Matanesse Van +Wibisma, and his son, Nicolas, were heard in the wide entry. + +Both were exchanging affectionate farewells with a young girl, whose +voice sounded deeper than the halfgrown boy's. + +As the older gentleman thrust his hand through the roan's mane and was +already lifting his foot to put it in the stirrup, the young girl, who +had remained in the entry, came out into the street, laid her hand on +Wibisma's arm, and said: + +"One word more, uncle, but to you alone." + +The baron still held his horse's mane in his hand, exclaiming with a +cordial smile: + +"If only it isn't too heavy for the roan. A secret from beautiful lips +has its weight." + +While speaking, he bent his ear towards his niece, but she did not seem +to have intended to whisper, for she approached no nearer and merely +lowered her tone, saying in the Italian language: + +"Please tell my father, that I won't stay here." + +"Why, Henrica!" + +"Tell him I won't do so under any circumstances." + +"Your aunt won't let you go." + +"In short, I won't stay." + +"I'll deliver the message, but in somewhat milder terms, if agreeable to +you." + +"As you choose. Tell him, too, that I beg him to send for me. If he +doesn't wish to enter this heretic's nest himself, for which I don't +blame him in the least, he need only send horses or the carriage for +me." + +"And your reasons?" + +"I won't weight your baggage still more heavily. Go, or the saddle will +be wet before you ride off." + +"Then I'm to tell Hoogstraten to expect a letter." + +"No. Such things can't be written. Besides, it won't be necessary. Tell +my father I won't stay with aunt, and want to go home. Good-bye, Nico. +Your riding-boots and green cloth doublet are much more becoming than +those silk fal-lals." + +The young lady kissed her hand to the youth, who had already swung +himself into the saddle, and hurried back to the house. Her uncle +shrugged his shoulders, mounted the roan, wrapped the dark cloak closer +around him, beckoned Nicolas to his side, and rode on with him in +advance of the servants. + +No word was exchanged between them, so long as their way led through the +city, but outside the gate, Wibisma said: + +"Henrica finds the time long in Leyden; she would like to go back to her +father." + +"It can't be very pleasant to stay with aunt," replied the youth. + +"She is old and sick, and her life has been a joyless one." + +"Yet she was beautiful. Few traces of it are visible, but her eyes are +still like those in the portrait, and besides she is so rich." + +"That doesn't give happiness." + +"But why has she remained unmarried?" The baron shrugged his shoulders, +and replied: "It certainly didn't suit the men." + +"Then why didn't she go into a convent?" + +"Who knows? Women's hearts are harder to understand than your Greek +books. You'll learn that later. What were you saying to your aunt as I +came up?" + +"Why, just see," replied the boy, putting the bridle in his mouth, +and drawing the glove from his left hand, "she slipped this ring on my +finger." + +"A splendid emerald! She doesn't usually like to part with such things." + +"She first offered me another, saying she would give it to me to make +amends for the thumps I received yesterday as a faithful follower of the +king. Isn't it comical?" + +"More than that, I should think." + +"It was contrary to my nature to accept gifts for my bruises, and I +hastily drew my hand back, saying the burgher lads had taken some home +from me, and I wouldn't have the ring as a reward for that." + +"Right, Nico, right." + +"So she said too, put the little ring back in the box, found this one, +and here it is." + +"A valuable gem!" murmured the baron, thinking: "This gift is a good +omen. The Hoogstratens and he are her nearest heirs, and if the silly +girl doesn't stay with her, it might happen--" + +But he found no time to finish these reflections, Nicolas interrupted +them by saying: + +"It's beginning to rain already. Don't the fogs on the meadows look like +clouds fallen from the skies? I am cold." + +"Draw your cloak closer." + +"How it rains and hails! One would think it was winter. The water in the +canals looks black, and yonder--see--what is that?" + +A tavern stood beside the road, and just in front of it a single lofty +elm towered towards the sky. Its trunk, bare as a mast, had grown +straight up without separating into branches until it attained the +height of a house. Spring had as yet lured no leaves from the boughs, +but there were many objects to be seen in the bare top of the tree. A +small flag, bearing the colors of the House of Orange, was fastened to +one branch, from another hung a large doll, which at a distance strongly +resembled a man dressed in black, an old hat dangled from a third, and a +fourth supported a piece of white pasteboard, on which might be read in +large black letters, which the rain was already beginning to efface: + + "Good luck to Orange, to the Spaniard death. + So Peter Quatgelat welcomes his guests." + +This tree, with its motley adornments, offered a by no means pleasant +spectacle, seen in the grey, cold, misty atmosphere of the rainy April +morning. + +Ravens had alighted beside the doll swaying to and fro in the wind, +probably mistaking it for a man. They must have been by no means +teachable birds, for during the years the Spaniards had ruled in +Holland, the places of execution were never empty. They were screeching +as if in anger, but still remained perched on the tree, which they +probably mistook for a gibbet. The rest of the comical ornaments and +the thought of the nimble adventurer, who must have climbed up to fasten +them, formed a glaring and offensive contrast to the caricature of the +gallows. + +Yet Nicolas laughed loudly, as he perceived the queer objects in the top +of the elm, and pointing upward, said: + +"What kind of fruits are hanging there?" + +But the next instant a chill ran down his back, for a raven perched on +the black doll and pecked so fiercely at it with its hard beak, that +bird and image swayed to and fro like a pendulum. + +"What does this nonsense mean?" asked the baron, turning to the servant, +a bold-looking fellow, who rode behind him. + +"It's something like a tavern-sign," replied the latter. +"Yesterday, when the sun was shining, it looked funny enough--but +to-day--b-r-r-r-it's horrible." + +The nobleman's eyes were not keen enough to read the inscription on the +placard. When Nicolas read it aloud to him, he muttered an oath, then +turned again to the servant, saying: + +"And does this nonsense bring guests to the rascally host's tavern?" + +"Yes, my lord, and 'pon my soul, it looked very comical yesterday, when +the ravens were not to be seen; a fellow couldn't look at it without +laughing. Half Leyden was there, and we went with the crowd. There +was such an uproar on the grass-plot yonder. Dudeldum--Hubutt, +Hubutt--Dudeldum--fiddles squeaking and bag-pipes droning as if they +never would stop. The crazy throng shouted amidst the din; the noise +still rings in my ears. There was no end to the games and dancing. The +lads tossed their brown, blue and red-stockinged legs in the air, just +as the fiddle played--the coat-tails flew and, holding a girl clasped +in the right arm and a mug of beer high over their heads till the foam +spattered, the throng of men whirled round and round. There was as much +screaming and rejoicing as if every butter-cup in the grass had been +changed into a gold florin. But to-day--holy Florian--this is a rain!" + +"It will do the things up there good," exclaimed the baron. "The tinder +grows damp in such a torrent, or I'd take out my pistols and shoot the +shabby liberty hat and motley tatters off the tree." + +"That was the dancing ground," said the man, pointing to a patch of +trampled grass. + +"The people are possessed, perfectly possessed," cried the baron, +"dancing and rejoicing to-day, and tomorrow the wind will blow the +felt-hat and flag from the tree, and instead of the black puppet they +themselves will come to the gallows. Steady roan, steady! The hail +frightens the beasts. Unbuckle the portmanteau, Gerrit, and give your +young master a blanket." + +"Yes, my lord. But wouldn't it be better for you to go in here until the +shower is over? Holy Florian! + +"Just see that piece of ice in your horse's mane! It's as large as +a pigeon's egg. Two horses are already standing under the shed, and +Quatgelat's beer isn't bad." The baron glanced inquiringly at his son. + +"Let us go in," replied Nicolas; "we shall get to the Hague early +enough. See how poor Balthasar is shivering! Henrica says he's a white +boy painted; but if she could see how well he keeps his color in this +weather, she would take it back." + +Herr Van Wibisma turned his dripping, smoking steed, frightened by +the hail-stones, towards the house, and in a few minutes crossed the +threshold of the inn with his son. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A current of warm air, redolent of beer and food, met the travellers +as they entered the large, low room, dimly lighted by the tiny windows, +scarcely more than loop-holes, pierced in two sides. The tap-room itself +looked like the cabin of a ship. Ceiling and floor, chairs and tables, +were made of the same dark-brown wood that covered the walls, along +which beds were ranged like berths. + +The host, with many bows, came forward to receive the aristocratic +guests, and led them to the fire-place, where huge pieces of peat were +glimmering. The heat they sent forth answered several purposes at the +same time. It warmed the air, lighted a portion of the room, which +was very dark in rainy weather, and served to cook three fowl that, +suspended from a thin iron bar over the fire, were already beginning to +brown. + +As the new guests approached the hearth, an old woman, who had been +turning the spit, pushed a white cat from her lap and rose. + +The landlord tossed on a bench several garments spread over the backs +of two chairs to dry, and hung in their place the dripping cloaks of the +baron and his son. + +While the elder Wibisma was ordering something hot to drink for himself +and servants, Nicolas led the black page to the fire. + +The shivering boy crouched on the floor beside the ashes, and stretched +now his soaked feet, shod in red morocco, and now his stiffened fingers +to the blaze. + +The father and son took their seats at a table, over which the +maid-servant had spread a cloth. The baron was inclined to enter into +conversation about the decorated tree with the landlord, an over-civil, +pock-marked dwarf, whose clothes were precisely the same shade of brown +as the wood in his tap-room; but refrained from doing so because two +citizens of Leyden, one of whom was well known to him, sat at a short +distance from his table, and he did not wish to be drawn into a quarrel +in a place like this. + +After Nicolas had also glanced around the tap-room, he touched his +father, saying in a low tone: + +"Did you notice the men yonder? The younger one--he's lifting the cover +of the tankard now--is the organist who released me from the boys and +gave me his cloak yesterday." + +"The one yonder?" asked the nobleman. "A handsome young fellow. He might +be taken for an artist or something of that kind. Here, landlord, who +is the gentleman with brown hair and large eyes, talking to Allertssohn, +the fencing-master?" + +"It's Herr Wilhelm, younger son of old Herr Cornelius, Receiver General, +a player or musician, as they call them." + +"Eh, eh," cried the baron. "His father is one of my old Leyden +acquaintances. He was a worthy, excellent man before the craze for +liberty turned people's heads. The youth, too, has a face pleasant to +look at. + +"There is something pure about it--something-it's hard to say, +something--what do you think, Nico? Doesn't he look like our Saint +Sebastian? Shall I speak to him and thank him for his kindness?" + +The baron, without waiting for his son, whom he treated as an equal, +to reply, rose to give expression to his friendly feelings towards the +musician, but this laudable intention met with an unexpected obstacle. + +The man, whom the baron had called the fencing-master Allertssohn, had +just perceived that the "Glippers" cloaks were hanging by the fire, +while his friend's and his own were flung on a bench. This fact seemed +to greatly irritate the Leyden burgher; for as the baron rose, he pushed +his own chair violently back, bent his muscular body forward, rested +both arms on the edge of the table opposite to him and, with a jerking +motion, turned his soldierly face sometimes towards the baron, and +sometimes towards the landlord. At last he shouted loudly: + +"Peter Quatgelat--you villain, you! What ails you, you, miserable +hunchback!--Who gives you a right to toss our cloaks into a corner?" + +"Yours, Captain," stammered the host, "were already--" + +"Hold your tongue, you fawning knave!" thundered the other in so loud a +tone and such excitement, that the long grey moustache on his upper lip +shook, and the thick beard on his chin trembled. "Hold your tongue! We +know better. Jove's thunder! Nobleman's cloaks are favored here. They're +of Spanish cut. That exactly suits the Glippers' faces. Good Dutch cloth +is thrown into the corner. Ho, ho, Brother Crooklegs, we'll put you on +parade." + +"Pray, most noble Captain--" + +"I'll blow away your most noble, you worthless scamp, you arrant rascal! +First come, first served, is the rule in Holland, and has been ever +since the days of Adam and Eve. Prick up your ears, Crooklegs! If my +'most noble' cloak, and Herr Wilhelm's too, are not hanging in their old +places before I count twenty, something will happen here that won't suit +you. One-two-three--" + +The landlord cast a timid, questioning glance at the nobleman, and as +the latter shrugged his shoulders and said audibly: "There is probably +room for more than two cloaks at the fire," Quatgelat took the Leyden +guests' wraps from the bench and hung them on two chairs, which he +pushed up to the mantel-piece. + +While this was being done, the fencing-master slowly continued to count. +By the time he reached twenty the landlord had finished his task, yet +the irate captain still gave him no peace, but said: + +"Now our reckoning, man. Wind and storm are far from pleasant, but +I know even worse company. There's room enough at the fire for four +cloaks, and in Holland for all the animals in Noah's ark, except +Spaniards and the allies of Spain. Deuce take it, all the bile in my +liver is stirred. Come to the horses with me, Herr Wilhelm, or there'll +be mischief." + +The fencing-master, while uttering the last words, stared angrily at +the nobleman with his prominent eyes, which even under ordinary +circumstances, always looked as keen as if they had something marvellous +to examine. + +Wibisma pretended not to hear the provoking words, and, as the +fencing-master left the room, walked calmly, with head erect, towards +the musician, bowed courteously, and thanked him for the kindness he had +shown his son the day before. + +"You are not in the least indebted to me," replied Wilhelm +Corneliussohn. "I helped the young nobleman, because it always has an +ill look when numbers attack one." + +"Then allow me to praise this opinion," replied the baron. + +"Opinion," repeated the musician with a subtle smile, drawing a few +notes on the table. + +The baron watched his fingers silently a short time, then advanced +nearer the young man, asking: + +"Must everything now relate to political dissensions?" + +"Yes," replied Wilhelm firmly, turning his face with a rapid movement +towards the older man. "In these times 'yes,' twenty times 'yes.' You +wouldn't do well to discuss opinions with me, Herr Matanesse." + +"Every man," replied the nobleman, shrugging his shoulders, "every +man of course believes his own opinion the right one, yet he ought to +respect the views of those who think differently." + +"No, my lord," cried the musician. "In these times there is but one +opinion for us. I wish to share nothing, not even a drink at the table, +with any man who has Holland blood, and feels differently. Excuse me, my +lord; my travelling companion, as you have unfortunately learned, has an +impatient temper and doesn't like to wait." + +Wilhelm bowed distantly, waved his hand to Nicolas, approached the +chimney-piece, took the half-dried cloaks on his arm, tossed a coin +on the table and, holding in his hands a covered cage in which several +birds were fluttering, left the room. + +The baron gazed after him in silence. The simple words and the young +man's departure aroused painful emotions. He believed he desired what +was right, yet at this moment a feeling stole over him that a stain +rested on the cause he supported. + +It is more endurable to be courted than avoided, and thus an expression +of deep annoyance rested on the nobleman's pleasant features as he +returned to his son. + +Nicolas had not lost a single word uttered by the organist, and the +blood left his ruddy cheeks as he was forced to see this man, whose +appearance had especially won his young heart, turn his back upon his +father as if he were a dishonorable man to be avoided. + +The words, with which Janus Dousa had left him the day before, returned +to his mind with great force, and when the baron again seated himself +opposite him, the boy raised his eyes and said hesitatingly, but with +touching earnestness and sincere anxiety: + +"Father, what does that mean? Father--are they so wholly wrong, if they +would rather be Hollanders than Spaniards?" + +Wibisma looked at his son with surprise and displeasure, and because he +felt his own firmness wavering, and a blustering word often does good +service where there is lack of possibility or inclination to contend +against reasons, he exclaimed more angrily than he had spoken to his son +for years: + +"Are you, too, beginning to relish the bait with which Orange lures +simpletons? Another word of that kind, and I'll show you how malapert +lads are treated. Here, landlord, what's the meaning of that nonsense on +yonder tree?" + +"The people, my lord, the Leyden fools are to blame for the mischief, +not I. They decked the tree out in that ridiculous way, when the troops +stationed in the city during the siege retired. I keep this house as a +tenant of old Herr Van der Does, and dare not have any opinions of my +own, for people must live, but, as truly as I hope for salvation, I'm +loyal to King Philip." + +"Until the Leyden burghers come out here again," replied Wibisma +bitterly. "Did you keep this inn during the siege?" + +"Yes, my lord, the Spaniards had no cause to complain of me, and if a +poor man's services are not too insignificant for you, they are at your +disposal." + +"Ah! ha!" muttered the baron, gazing attentively at the landlord's +disagreeable face, whose little eyes glittered very craftily, then +turning to Nicolas, said: + +"Go and watch the blackbirds in the window yonder a little while, my +son, I have something to say to the host." + +The youth instantly obeyed and as, instead of looking at the birds, he +gazed after the two enthusiastic supporters of Holland's liberty, who +were riding along the road leading to Delft, remembered the simile of +fetters that drag men down, and saw rising before his mental vision +the glitter of the gold chain King Philip had sent his father, Nicolas +involuntarily glanced towards him as he stood whispering eagerly with +the landlord. Now he even laid his hand on his shoulder. Was it right +for him to hold intercourse with a man whom he must despise at heart? +Or was he--he shuddered, for the word "traitor," which one of the +school-boys had shouted in his ears during the quarrel before the +church, returned to his memory. + +When the rain grew less violent, the travellers left the inn. The baron +allowed the hideous landlord to kiss his hand at parting, but Nicolas +would not suffer him to touch his. + +Few words were exchanged between father and son during the remainder of +their ride to the Hague, but the musician and the fencing-master were +less silent on the way to Delft. + +Wilhelm had modestly, as beseemed the younger man, suggested that his +companion had expressed his hostile feelings towards the nobleman too +openly. + +"True, perfectly true," replied Allertssohn, whom his friends called +"Allerts." "Very true! Temper oh! temper! You don't suspect, Herr +Wilhelm--But we'll let it pass." + +"No, speak, Meister." + +"You'll think no better of me, if I do." + +"Then let us talk of something else." + +"No, Wilhelm. I needn't be ashamed, no one will take me for a coward." + +The musician laughed, exclaiming: "You a coward! How many Spaniards has +your Brescian sword killed?" + +"Wounded, wounded, sir, far oftener than killed," replied the other. "If +the devil challenges me I shall ask: Foils, sir, or Spanish swords? But +there's one person I do fear, and that's my best and at the same time +my worst friend, a Netherlander, like yourself, the man who rides here +beside you. Yes, when rage seizes upon me, when my beard begins to +tremble, my small share of sense flies away as fast as your doves when +you let them go. You don't know me, Wilhelm." + +"Don't I? How often must one see you in command and visit you in the +fencing-room?" + +"Pooh, pooh--there I'm as quiet as the water in yonder ditch--but when +anything goes against the grain, when--how shall I explain it to you, +without similes?" + +"Go on." + +"For instance, when I am obliged to see a sycophant treated as if he +were Sir Upright--" + +"So that vexes you greatly?" + +"Vexes? No! Then I grow as savage as a tiger, and I ought not to be so, +I ought not. Roland, my foreman, probably likes--" + +"Meister, Meister, your beard is beginning to tremble already!" + +"What did the Glippers think, when their aristocratic cloaks--" + +"The landlord took yours and mine from the fire entirely on his own +responsibility." + +"I don't care! The crook-legged ape did it to honor the Spanish +sycophant. It enraged me, it was intolerable." + +"You didn't keep your wrath to yourself, and I was surprised to see how +patiently the baron bore your insults." + +"That's just it, that's it!" cried the fencing-master, while his beard +began to twitch violently. "That's what drove me out of the tavern, +that's why I took to my heels. That--that--Roland, my fore man." + +"I don't understand you." + +"Don't you, don't you? How should you; but I'll explain. When you're +as old as I am, young man, you'll experience it too. There are few +perfectly sound trees in the forest, few horses without a blemish, few +swords without a stain, and scarcely a man who has passed his fortieth +year that has not a worm in his breast. Some gnaw slightly, others +torture with sharp fangs, and mine--mine.--Do you want to cast a glance +in here?" + +The fencing-master struck his broad chest as he uttered these words and, +without waiting for his companion's reply, continued: + +"You know me and my life, Herr Wilhelm. What do I do, what do I +practise? Only chivalrous work. + +"My life is based upon the sword. Do you know a better blade or surer +hand than mine? Do my soldiers obey me? Have I spared my blood in +fighting before the red walls and towers yonder? No, by my fore man +Roland, no, no, a thousand times no." + +"Who denies it, Meister Allerts? But tell me, what do you mean by your +cry: Roland, my fore man?" + +"Another time, Wilhelm; you mustn't interrupt me now. Hear my story +about where the worm hides in me. So once more: What I do, the calling I +follow, is knightly work, yet when a Wibisma, who learned how to use his +sword from my father, treats me ill and stirs up my bile, if I should +presume to challenge him, as would be my just right, what would he do? +Laugh and ask: 'What will the passado cost, Fencing-master Allerts? Have +you polished rapiers?' Perhaps he wouldn't even answer at all, and we +saw just now how he acts. His glance slipped past me like an eel, and he +had wax in his ears. Whether I reproach, or a cur yelps at him, is all +the same to his lordship. If only a Renneberg or Brederode had been in +my place just now, how quickly Wibisma's sword would have flown from +its sheath, for he understands how to fight and is no coward. But I--I? +Nobody would willingly allow himself to be struck in the face, yet so +surely as my father was a brave man, even the worst insult could be more +easily borne, than the feeling of being held in too slight esteem to be +able to offer an affront. You see, Wilhelm, when the Glipper looked past +me--" + +"Your beard lost its calmness." + +"It's all very well for you to jest, you don't know--" + +"Yes, yes, Herr Allerts; I understand you perfectly." + +"And do you also understand, why I took myself and my sword out of doors +so quickly?" + +"Perfectly; but please stop a moment with me now. The doves are +fluttering so violently; they want air." The fencing-master stopped his +steed, and while Wilhelm was removing the dripping cloth from the little +cage that rested between him and his horse's neck, said: + +"How can a man trouble himself about such gentle little creatures? If +you want to diminish, in behalf of feathered folk, the time given to +music, tame falcons, that's a knightly craft, and I can teach you." + +"Let my doves alone," replied Wilhelm. "They are not so harmless as +people suppose, and have done good service in many a war, which is +certainly chivalrous pastime. Remember Haarlem. There, it's beginning +to pour again. If my cloak were only not so short; I would like to cover +the doves with it." + +"You certainly look like Goliath in David's garments." + +"It's my scholar's cloak; I put my other on young Wibisma's shoulders +yesterday." + +"The Spanish green-finch?" + +"I told you about the boys' brawl." + +"Yes, yes. And the monkey kept your cloak?" + +"You came for me and wouldn't wait. They probably sent it back soon +after our departure." + +"And their lordships expect thanks because the young nobleman accepted +it!" + +"No, no; the baron expressed his gratitude." + +"But that doesn't make your cape any longer. Take my cloak, Wilhelm. +I've no doves to shelter, and my skin is thicker than yours." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A second and third rainy day followed the first one. White mists and +grey fog hung over the meadows. The cold, damp north-west wind drove +heavy clouds together and darkened the sky. Rivulets dashed into the +streets from the gutters on the steep roofs of Leyden; the water in the +canals and ditches grew turbid and rose towards the edges of the banks. +Dripping, freezing men and women hurried past each other without any +form of greeting, while the pair of storks pressed closer to each other +in their nest, and thought of the warm south, lamenting their premature +return to the cold, damp, Netherland plain. + +In thoughtful minds the dread of what must inevitably come was +increasing. The rain made anxiety grow as rapidly in the hearts of many +citizens, as the young blades of grain in the fields. Conversations, +that sounded anything but hopeful, took place in many tap-rooms--in +others men were even heard declaring resistance folly, or loudly +demanding the desertion of the cause of the Prince of Orange and +liberty. + +Whoever in these days desired to see a happy face in Leyden might have +searched long in vain, and would probably have least expected to find it +in the house of Burgomaster Van der Werff. + +Three days had now elapsed since Peter's departure, nay the fourth +was drawing towards noon, yet the burgomaster had not returned, and no +message, no word of explanation, had reached his family. + +Maria had put on her light-blue cloth dress with Mechlin lace in the +square neck, for her husband particularly liked to see her in this gown +and he must surely return to-day. + +The spray of yellow wall-flowers on her breast had been cut from the +blooming plant in the window of her room, and Barbara had helped arrange +her thick hair. + +It lacked only an hour of noon, when the young wife's delicate, slender +figure, carrying a white duster in her hand, entered the burgomaster's +study. Here she stationed herself at the window, from which the pouring +rain streamed in numerous crooked serpentine lines, pressed her forehead +against the panes, and gazed down into the quiet street. + +The water was standing between the smooth red tiles of the pavement. A +porter clattered by in heavy wooden shoes, a maid-servant, with a shawl +wrapped around her head, hurried swiftly past, a shoemaker's boy, with +a pair of boots hanging on his back, jumped from puddle to puddle, +carefully avoiding the dry places;--no horseman appeared. + +It was almost unnaturally quiet in the house and street; she heard +nothing except the plashing of the rain. Maria could not expect her +husband until the beat of horses' hoofs was audible; she was not even +gazing into the distance--only dreamily watching the street and the +ceaseless rain. + +The room had been thoughtfully heated for the drenched man, whose return +was expected, but Maria felt the cold air through the chinks in the +windows. She shivered, and as she turned back into the dusky room, it +seemed as if this twilight atmosphere must always remain, as if no more +bright days could ever come. + +Minutes passed before she remembered for what purpose she had entered +the room and began to pass the dusting-cloth over the writing-table, the +piles of papers, and the rest of the contents of the apartment. At last +she approached the pistols, which Peter had not taken with him on his +journey. + +The portrait of her husband's first wife hung above the weapons and +sadly needed dusting, for until now Maria had always shrunk from +touching it. + +To-day she summoned up her courage, stood opposite to it, and gazed +steadily at the youthful features of the woman, with whom Peter had been +happy. She felt spellbound by the brown eyes that gazed at her from the +pleasant face. + +Yes, the woman up there looked happy, almost insolently happy. How much +more had Peter probably given to his first wife than to her? + +This thought cut her to the heart, and without moving her lips she +addressed a series of questions to the silent portrait, which still +gazed steadily and serenely at her from its plain frame. + +Once it seemed as if the full lips of the pictured face quivered, once +that the eyes moved. A chill ran through her veins, she began to be +afraid, yet could not leave the portrait, and stood gazing upward with +dilated eyes. + +She did not stir, but her breath came quicker and quicker, and her eyes +seemed to grow keener. + +A shadow rested on the dead Eva's high forehead. Had the artist intended +to depict some oppressive anxiety, or was what she saw only dust, that +had settled on the colors? + +She pushed a chair towards the portrait and put her foot on the seat, +pushing her dress away in doing so. Blushing, as if other eyes than +the painted ones were gazing down upon her, she drew it over the white +stocking, then with a rapid movement mounted the seat. She could now +look directly into the eyes of the portrait. The cloth in Maria's +trembling hand passed over Eva's brow, and wiped the shadow from +the rosy flesh. She now blew the dust from the frame and canvas, and +perceived the signature of the artist to whom the picture owed its +origin. "Artjen of Leyden," he called himself, and his careful hand had +finished even the unimportant parts of the work with minute accuracy. +She well knew the silver chain with the blue turquoises, that rested on +the plump neck. Peter had given it to her as a wedding present, and she +had worn it to the altar; but the little diamond cross suspended +from the middle she had never seen. The gold buckle at Eva's belt had +belonged to her since her last birthday--it was very badly bent, and the +dull points would scarcely pierce the thick ribbon. + +"She had everything when it was new," she said to herself. "Jewels? What +do I care for them! But the heart, the heart--how much love has she left +in Peter's heart?" + +She did not wish to do so, but constantly heard these words ringing in +her ears, and was obliged to summon up all her self-control, to save +herself from weeping. + +"If he would only come, if he would only come!" cried a voice in her +tortured soul. + +The door opened, but she did not notice it. + +Barbara crossed the threshold, and called her by her name in a tone of +kindly reproach. + +Maria started and blushing deeply, said, + +"Please give me your hand; I should like to get down. I have finished. +The dust was a disgrace." When she again stood on the floor, the widow +said, "What red cheeks you have! Listen, my dear sister-in-law, listen +to me, child--!" + +Barbara was interrupted in the midst of her admonition, for the knocker +fell heavily on the door, and Maria hurried to the window. + +The widow followed, and after a hasty glance into the street, exclaimed: + +"That's Wilhelm Cornieliussohn, the musician. He has been to Delft. I +heard it from his mother. Perhaps he brings news of Peter. I'll send him +up to you, but he must first tell me below what his tidings are. If you +want me, you'll find me with Bessie. She is feverish and her eyes ache; +she will have some eruption or a fever." + +Barbara left the room. Maria pressed her hands upon her burning cheeks, +and paced slowly to and fro till the musician knocked and entered. + +After the first greeting, the young wife asked eagerly: + +"Did you see my husband in Delft?" + +"Yes indeed," replied Wilhelm, "the evening of the day before +yesterday." + +"Then tell me--" + +"At once, at once. I bring you a whole pouch full of messages. First +from your mother." + +"Is she well?" + +"Well and bright. Worthy Doctor Groot too is hale and hearty." + +"And my husband?" + +"I found him with the doctor. Herr Groot sends the kindest remembrances +to you. We had musical entertainments at his home yesterday and the day +be fore. He always has the latest novelties from Italy, and when we try +this motet here--" + +"Afterwards, Herr Wilhelm! You must first tell me what my husband--" + +"The burgomaster came to the doctor on a message from the Prince. He was +in haste, and could not wait for the singing. It went off admirably. If +you, with your magnificent voice, will only--" + +"Pray, Meister Wilhelm?" + +"No, dear lady, you ought not to refuse. Doctor Groot says, that when a +girl in Delft, no one could support the tenor like you, and if you, Frau +von Nordwyk, and Herr Van Aken's oldest daughter--" + +"But, my dear Meister!" exclaimed the burgomaster's wife with increasing +impatience, "I'm not asking about your motets and tabulatures, but my +husband." + +Wilhelm gazed at the young wife's face with a half-startled, +half-astonished look. Then, smiling at his own awkwardness, he shook his +head, saying in a tone of good-natured repentance: + +"Pray forgive me, little things seem unduly important to us when they +completely fill our own souls. One word about your absent husband must +surely sound sweeter to your ears, than all my music. I ought to have +thought of that sooner. So--the burgomaster is well and has transacted +a great deal of business with the Prince. Before he went to Dortrecht +yesterday morning, he gave me this letter and charged me to place it in +your hands with the most loving greetings." + +With these words the musician gave Maria a letter. She hastily took it +from his hand, saying: + +"No offence, Herr Wilhelm, but we'll discuss your motet to-morrow, or +whenever you choose; to-day--" + +"To-day your time belongs to this letter," interrupted Wilhelm. "That +is only natural. The messenger has performed his commission, and the +music-master will try his fortune with you another time." + +As soon as the young man had gone, Maria went to her room, sat down at +the window, hurriedly opened her husband's letter and read: + + "MY DEAR AND FAITHFUL WIFE! + + "Meister Wilhelm Corneliussohn, of Leyden, will bring you this + letter. I am well, but it was hard for me to leave you on the + anniversary of our wedding-clay. The weather is very bad. I found + the Prince in sore affliction, but we don't give up hope, and if God + helps us and every man does his duty, all may yet be well. I am + obliged to ride to Dortrecht to-day. I have an important object to + accomplish there. Have patience, for several days must pass before + my return. + + "If the messenger from the council inquires, give him the papers + lying on the right-hand side of the writing-table under the smaller + leaden weight. Remember me to Barbara and the children. If money + is needed, ask Van Hout in my name for the rest of the sum due me; + he knows about it. If you feel lonely, visit his wife or Frail von + Nordwyk; they would be glad to see you. Buy as much meal, butter, + cheese, and smoked meat, as is possible. We don't know what may + happen. Take Barbara's advice! Relying upon your obedience, + + "Your faithful husband, + + "PETER ADRIANSSOHN VAN DER WERFF." + +Maria read this letter at first hastily, then slowly, sentence by +sentence, to the end. Disappointed, troubled, wounded, she folded it, +drew the wall-flowers from the bosom of her dress--she knew not why--and +flung them into the peat-box by the chimney-piece. Then she opened her +chest, took out a prettily-carved box, placed it on the table, and laid +her husband's letter inside. + +Long after it had found a place with other papers, Maria still stood +before the casket, gazing thoughtfully at its contents. + +At last she laid her hand on the lid to close it; but hesitated and took +up a packet of letters that had lain amid several gold and silver coins, +given by godmothers and godfathers, modest trinkets, and a withered +rose. + +Drawing a chair up to the table, the young wife seated herself and began +to read. She knew these letters well enough. A noble, promising youth +had addressed them to her sister, his betrothed bride. They were dated +from Jena, whither he had gone to complete his studies in jurisprudence. +Every word expressed the lover's ardent longing, every line was pervaded +by the passion that had filled the writer's heart. Often the prose of +the young scholar, who as a pupil of Doctor Groot had won his bride in +Delft, rose to a lofty flight. + +While reading, Maria saw in imagination Jacoba's pretty face, and the +handsome, enthusiastic countenance of her bridegroom. She remembered +their gay wedding, her brother-in-law's impetuous friend, so lavishly +endowed with every gift of nature, who had accompanied him to Holland to +be his groomsman, and at parting had given her the rose which lay before +her in the little casket. No voice had ever suited hers so well; she +had never heard language so poetical from any other lips, never had eyes +that sparkled like the young Thuringian noble's looked into hers. + +After the wedding Georg von Dornberg returned home and the young couple +went to Haarlem. She had heard nothing from the young foreigner, and +her sister and her husband were soon silenced forever. Like most of the +inhabitants of Haarlem, they were put to death by the Spanish destroyers +at the capture of the noble, hapless city. Nothing was left of her +beloved sister except a faithful memory of her, and her betrothed +bridegroom's letters, which she now held in her hand. + +They expressed love, the true, lofty love, that can speak with the +tongues of angels and move mountains. There lay her husband's letter. +Miserable scrawl! She shrank from opening it again, as she laid the +beloved mementoes back into the box, yet her breast heaved as she +thought of Peter. She knew too that she loved him, and that his faithful +heart belonged to her. But she was not satisfied, she was not happy, for +he showed her only tender affection or paternal kindness, and she wished +to be loved differently. The pupil, nay the friend of the learned Groot, +the young wife who had grown up in the society of highly educated men, +the enthusiastic patriot, felt that she was capable of being more, +far more to her husband, than he asked. She had never expected gushing +emotions or high-strung phrases from the grave man engaged in vigorous +action, but believed he would understand all the lofty, noble sentiments +stirring in her soul, permit her to share his struggles and become the +partner of his thoughts and feelings. The meagre letter received to-day +again taught her that her anticipations were not realized. + +He had been a faithful friend of her father, now numbered with the dead. +Her brother-in-law too had attached himself, with all the enthusiasm of +youth, to the older, fully-matured champion of liberty, Van der Werff. +When he had spoken of Peter to Maria, it was always with expressions of +the warmest admiration and love. Peter had come to Delft soon after her +father's death and the violent end of the young wedded pair, and when +he expressed his sympathy and strove to comfort her, did so in strong, +tender words, to which she could cling, as if to an anchor, in the +misery of her heart. The valiant citizen of Leyden came to Delft more +and more frequently, and was always a guest at Doctor Groot's house. +When the men were engaged in consultation, Maria was permitted to fill +their glasses and be present at their conferences. Words flew to and fro +and often seemed to her neither clear nor wise; but what Van der Werff +said was always sensible, and a child could understand his plain, +vigorous speech. He appeared to the young girl like an oak-tree among +swaying willows. She knew of many of his journeys, undertaken at the +peril of his life, in the service of the Prince and his native land, and +awaited their result with a throbbing heart. + +More than once in those days, the thought had entered her mind that it +would be delightful to be borne through life in the strong arms of this +steadfast man. Then he extended these arms, and she yielded to his wish +as proudly and happily as a squire summoned by the king to be made a +knight. She now remembered this by-gone time, and every hope with which +she had accompanied him to Leyden rose vividly before her soul. + +Her newly-wedded husband had promised her no spring, but a pleasant +summer and autumn by his side. She could not help thinking of this +comparison, and what entirely different things from those she had +anticipated, the union with him had offered to this day. Tumult, +anxiety, conflict, a perpetual alternation of hard work and excessive +fatigue, this was his life, the life he had summoned her to share at his +side, without even showing any desire to afford her a part in his cares +and labors. Matters ought not, should not go on so. Everything that had +seemed to her beautiful and pleasant in her parents' home--was being +destroyed here. Music and poetry, that had elevated her soul, clever +conversation, that had developed her mind, were not to be found here. +Barbara's kind feelings could never supply the place of these lost +possessions; for her husband's love she would have resigned them +all--but what had become of this love? + +With bitter emotions, she replaced the casket in the chest and obeyed +the summons to dinner, but found no one at the great table except Adrian +and the servants. Barbara was watching Bessie. + +Never had she seemed to herself so desolate, so lonely, so useless as +to-day. What could she do here? Barbara ruled in kitchen and cellar, and +she--she only stood in the way of her husband's fulfilling his duties to +the city and state. + +Such were her thoughts, when the knocker again struck the door. She +approached the window. It was the doctor. Bessie had grown worse and +she, her mother, had not even inquired for the little one. + +"The children, the children!" she murmured; her sorrowful features +brightened, and her heart grew lighter as she said to herself: + +"I promised Peter to treat them as if they were my own, and I will +fulfil the duties I have undertaken." Full of joyous excitement, she +entered the sick-room, hastily closing the door behind her. Doctor +Bontius looked at her with a reproving glance, and Barbara said: + +"Gently, gently! Bessie is just sleeping a little." Maria approached the +bed, but the physician waved her back, saying: + +"Have you had the purple-fever?" + +"No." + +"Then you ought not to enter this room again. No other help is needed +where Frau Barbara nurses." + +The burgomaster's wife made no reply, and returned to the entry. Her +heart was so heavy, so unutterably heavy. She felt like a stranger in +her husband's house. Some impulse urged her to go out of doors, and +as she wrapped her mantle around her and went downstairs, the smell of +leather rising from the bales piled in layers on the lower story, which +she had scarcely noticed before, seemed unendurable. She longed for +her mother, her friends in Delft, and her quiet, cheerful home. For +the first time she ventured to call herself unhappy and, while walking +through the streets with downcast eyes against the wind, struggled +vainly to resist some mysterious, gloomy power, that compelled her +to minutely recall everything that had resulted differently from her +expectations. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +After the musician had left the burgomaster's house, he went to young +Herr Matanesse Van Wibisma's aunt to get his cloak, which had not been +returned to him. He did not usually give much heed to his dress, yet he +was glad that the rain kept people in the house, for the outgrown wrap +on his shoulders was by no means pleasing in appearance. Wilhelm must +certainly have looked anything but well-clad, for as he stood in old +Fraulein Van Hoogstraten's spacious, stately hall, the steward Belotti +received him as patronizingly as if he were a beggar. + +But the Neopolitan, in whose mouth the vigorous Dutch sounded like the +rattling in the throat of a chilled singer, speedily took a different +tone when Wilhelm, in excellent Italian, quietly explained the object of +his visit. Nay, at the sweet accents of his native tongue, the servant's +repellent demeanor melted into friendly, eager welcome. He was beginning +to speak of his home to Wilhelm, but the musician made him curt replies +and asked him to get his cloak. + +Belotti now led him courteously into a small room at the side of the +great hall, took off his cloak, and then went upstairs. As minute after +minute passed, until at last a whole quarter of an hour elapsed, and +neither servant nor cloak appeared, the young man lost his patience, +though it was not easily disturbed, and when the door at last opened +serious peril threatened the leaden panes on which he was drumming +loudly with his fingers. Wilhelm doubtless heard it, yet he drummed with +redoubled vehemence, to show the Italian that the time was growing long +to him. But he hastily withdrew his fingers from the glass, for a girl's +musical voice said behind him in excellent Dutch: + +"Have you finished your war-song, sir? Belotti is bringing your cloak." + +Wilhelm had turned and was gazing in silent bewilderment into the face +of the young noblewoman, who stood directly in front of him. These +features were not unfamiliar, and yet--years do not make even a goddess +younger, and mortals increase in height and don't grow smaller; but the +lady whom he thought he saw before him, whom he had known well in the +eternal city and never forgotten, had been older and taller than the +young girl, who so strikingly resembled her and seemed to take little +pleasure in the young man's surprised yet inquiring glance. With a +haughty gesture she beckoned to the steward, saying in Italian: + +"Give the gentleman his cloak, Belotti, and tell him I came to beg him +to pardon your forgetfulness." + +With these words Henrica Van Hoogstraten turned towards the door, but +Wilhelm took two hasty strides after her, exclaiming: + +"Not yet, not yet, Fraulein! I am the one to apologize. But if you have +ever been amazed by a resemblance--" + +"Anything but looking like other people!" cried the girl with a +repellent gesture. + +"Ah, Fraulein, yet--" + +"Let that pass, let that pass," interrupted Henrica in so irritated a +tone that the musician looked at her in surprise. "One sheep looks just +like another, and among a hundred peasants twenty have the same face. +All wares sold by the dozen are cheap." + +As soon as Wilhelm heard reasons given, the quiet manner peculiar to him +returned, and he answered modestly: + +"But nature also forms the most beautiful things in pairs. Think of the +eyes in the Madonna's face." + +"Are you a Catholic?" + +"A Calvinist, Fraulein." + +"And devoted to the Prince's cause?" + +"Say rather, the cause of liberty." + +"That accounts for the drumming of the war-song." + +"It was first a gentle gavotte, but impatience quickened the time. I am +a musician, Fraulein." + +"But probably no drummer. The poor panes!" + +"They are an instrument like any other, and in playing we seek to +express what we feel." + +"Then accept my thanks for not breaking them to pieces." + +"That wouldn't have been beautiful, Fraulein, and art ceases when +ugliness begins." + +"Do you think the song in your cloak--it dropped on the ground and Nico +picked it up--beautiful or ugly?" + +"This one or the other?" + +"I mean the Beggar-song." + +"It is fierce, but no more ugly than the roaring of the storm." + +"It is repulsive, barbarous, revolting." + +"I call it strong, overmastering in its power." + +"And this other melody?" + +"Spare me an answer; I composed it myself. Can you read notes, +Fraulein?" + +"A little." + +"And did my attempt displease you?" + +"Not at all, but I find dolorous passages in this choral, as in all the +Calvinist hymns." + +"It depends upon how they are sung." + +"They are certainly intended for the voices of the shopkeepers' wives +and washerwomen in your churches." + +"Every hymn, if it is only sincerely felt, will lend wings to the souls +of the simple folk who sing it; and whatever ascends to Heaven from the +inmost depths of the heart, can hardly displease the dear God, to whom +it is addressed. And then--" + +"Well?" + +"If these notes are worth being preserved, it may happen that a +matchless choir--" + +"Will sing them to you, you think?" + +"No, Fraulein; they have fulfilled their destination if they are once +nobly rendered. I would fain not be absent, but that wish is far less +earnest than the other." + +"How modest!" + +"I think the best enjoyment in creating is had in anticipation." + +Henrica gazed at the artist with a look of sympathy, and said with a +softer tone in her musical voice: + +"I am sorry for you, Meister. Your music pleases me; why should I deny +it? In many passages it appeals to the heart, but how it will be spoiled +in your churches! Your heresy destroys every art. The works of the great +artists are a horror to you, and the noble music that has unfolded here +in the Netherlands will soon fare no better." + +"I think I may venture to believe the contrary." + +"Wrongly, Meister, wrongly, for if your cause triumphs, which may the +Virgin forbid, there will soon be nothing in Holland except piles +of goods, workshops, and bare churches, from which even singing and +organ-playing will soon be banished." + +"By no means, Fraulein. Little Athens first became the home of the arts, +after she had secured her liberty in the war against the Persians." + +"Athens and Leyden!" she answered scornfully. "True, there are owls on +the tower of Pancratius. But where shall we find the Minerva?" + +While Henrica rather laughed than spoke these words, her name was called +for the third time by a shrill female voice. She now interrupted herself +in the middle of a sentence, saying: + +"I must go. I will keep these notes." + +"You will honor me by accepting them; perhaps you will allow me to bring +you others." + +"Henrica!" the voice again called from the stairs, and the young lady +answered hastily: + +"Give Belotti whatever you choose, but soon, for I shan't stay here much +longer." + +Wilhelm gazed after her. She walked no less quickly and firmly through +the wide hall and up the stairs, than she had spoken, and again he was +vividly reminded of his friend in Rome. + +The old Italian had also followed Henrica with his eyes. As she vanished +at the last bend of the broad steps, he shrugged his shoulders, turned +to the musician and said, with an expression of honest sympathy: + +"The young lady isn't well. Always in a tumult; always like a loaded +pistol, and these terrible headaches too! She was different when she +came here." + +"Is she ill?" + +"My mistress won't see it," replied the servant. "But what the cameriera +and I see, we see. Now red--now pale, no rest at night, at table she +scarcely eats a chicken-wing and a leaf of salad." + +"Does the doctor share your anxiety?" + +"The doctor? Doctor Fleuriel isn't here. He moved to Ghent when the +Spaniards came, and since then my mistress will have nobody but the +barber who bleeds her. The doctors here are devoted to the Prince of +Orange and are all heretics. There, she is calling again. I'll send the +cloak to your house, and if you ever feel inclined to speak my language, +just knock here. That calling--that everlasting calling! The young lady +suffers from it too." + +When Wilhelm entered the street, it was only raining very slightly. The +clouds were beginning to scatter, and from a patch of blue sky the +sun was shining brightly down on Nobelstrasse. A rainbow shimmered in +variegated hues above the roofs, but to-day the musician had no eyes +for the beautiful spectacle. The bright light in the wet street did not +charm him. The hot rays of the day-star were not lasting, for "they drew +rain." All that surrounded him seemed confused and restless. Beside a +beautiful image which he treasured in the sanctuary of his memories, +only allowing his mind to dwell upon it in his happiest hours, sought to +intrude. His real diamond was in danger of being exchanged for a stone, +whose value he did not know. With the old, pure harmony blended another +similar one, but in a different key. How could he still think of +Isabella, without remembering Henrica! At least he had not heard the +young lady sing, so his recollection of Isabella's songs remained +unclouded. He blamed himself because, obeying an emotion of vanity, he +had promised to send new songs to the proud young girl, the friend of +Spain. He had treated Herr Matanesse Van Wibisma rudely on account of +his opinions, but sought to approach her, who laughed at what he prized +most highly, because she was a woman, and it was sweet to hear his work +praised by beautiful lips. "Hercules throws the club aside and sits down +at the distaff, when Omphale beckons, and the beautiful Esther and the +daughter of Herodias--" murmured Wilhelm indignantly. He felt sorely +troubled, and longed for his quiet attic chamber beside the dove-cote. + +"Something unpleasant has happened to him in Delft," thought his father. + +"Why doesn't he relish his fried flounders to-day?" asked his mother, +when he had left them after dinner. Each felt that something oppressed +the pride and favorite of the household, but did not attempt to discover +the cause; they knew the moods to which he was sometimes subject for +half a day. + +After Wilhelm had fed his doves, he went to his room, where he paced +restlessly to and fro. Then he seized his violin and wove all the +melodies be had heard from Isabella's lips into one. His music had +rarely sounded so soft, and then so fierce and passionate, and his +mother, who heard it in the kitchen, turned the twirling-stick faster +and faster, then thrust it into the firmly-tied dough, and rubbing her +hands on her apron, murmured: + +"How it wails and exults! If it relieves his heart, in God's name let +him do it, but cat-gut is dear and it will cost at least two strings." + +Towards evening Wilhelm was obliged to go to the drill of the military +corps to which he belonged. His company was ordered to mount guard at +the Hoogewoort Gate. As he marched through Nobelstrasse with it, he +heard the low, clear melody of a woman's voice issuing from an open +window of the Hoogstraten mansion. He listened, and noticing with a +shudder how much Henrica's voice--for the singer must be the young +lady--resembled Isabella's, ordered the drummer to beat the drum. + +The next morning a servant came from the Hoogstraten house and +gave Wilhelm a note, in which he was briefly requested to come to +Nobelstrasse at two o'clock in the afternoon, neither earlier nor later. + +He did not wish to say "yes"--he could not say "no," and went to the +house at the appointed hour. Henrica was awaiting him in the little room +adjoining the hall. She looked graver than the day before, while heavier +shadows under her eyes and the deep flush on her cheeks reminded Wilhelm +of Belotti's fears for her health. After returning his greeting, she +said without circumlocution, and very rapidly: + +"I must speak to you. Sit down. To be brief, the way you greeted me +yesterday awakened strange thoughts. I must strongly resemble some other +woman, and you met her in Italy. Perhaps you are reminded of some one +very near to me, of whom I have lost all trace. Answer me honestly, for +I do not ask from idle curiosity. Where did you meet her?" + +"In Lugano. We drove to Milan with the same vetturino, and afterwards I +found her again in Rome and saw her daily for months." + +"Then you know her intimately. Do you still think the resemblance +surprising, after having seen me for the second time?" + +"Very surprising." + +"Then I must have a double. Is she a native of this country?" + +"She called herself an Italian, but she understood Dutch, for she has +often turned the pages of my books and followed the conversation I had +with young artists from our home. I think she is a German lady of noble +family." + +"An adventuress then. And her name?" + +"Isabella--but I think no one would be justified in calling her an +adventuress." + +"Was she married?" + +"There was something matronly in her majestic appearance, yet she never +spoke of a husband. The old Italian woman, her duenna, always called her +Donna Isabella, but she possessed little more knowledge of her past than +I." + +"Is that good or evil?" + +"Nothing at all, Fraulein." + +"And what led her to Rome?" + +"She practised the art of singing, of which she was mistress; but did +not cease studying, and made great progress in Rome. I was permitted to +instruct her in counterpoint." + +"And did she appear in public as a singer?" + +"Yes and no. A distinguished foreign prelate was her patron, and his +recommendation opened every door, even the Palestrina's. So the church +music at aristocratic weddings was entrusted to her, and she did not +refuse to sing at noble houses, but never appeared for pay. I know that, +for she would not allow any one else to play her accompaniments. +She liked my music, and so through her I went into many aristocratic +houses." + +"Was she rich?" + +"No, Fraulein. She had beautiful dresses and brilliant jewels, but was +compelled to economize. Remittances of money came to her at times from +Florence, but the gold pieces slipped quickly through her fingers, for +though she lived plainly and eat scarcely enough for a bird, while her +delicate strength required stronger food, she was lavish to imprudence +if she saw poor artists in want, and she knew most of them, for she did +not shrink from sitting with them over their wine in my company." + +"With artists and musicians?" + +"Mere artists of noble sentiments. At times she surpassed them all in +her overflowing mirth." + +"At times?" + +"Yes, only at times, for she had also sorrowful, pitiably sorrowful +hours and days, but as sunshine and shower alternate in an April day, +despair and extravagant gayety ruled her nature by turns." + +"A strange character. Do you know her end?" + +"No, Fraulein. One evening she received a letter from Milan, which +must have contained bad news, and the next day vanished without any +farewell." + +"And you did not try to follow her?" + +Wilhelm blushed, and answered in an embarrassed tone: + +"I had no right to do so, and just after her departure I fell +sick--dangerously sick." + +"You loved her?" + +"Fraulein, I must beg you--" + +"You loved her! And did she return your affection?" + +"We have known each other only since yesterday, Fraulein von +Hoogstraten." + +"Pardon me! But if you value my desire, we shall not have seen each +other for the last time, though my double is undoubtedly a different +person from the one I supposed. Farewell till we meet again. You hear, +that calling never ends. You have aroused an interest in your strange +friend, and some other time must tell me more about her. Only this one +question: Can a modest maiden talk of her with you without disgrace?" + +"Certainly, if you do not shrink from speaking of a noble lady who had +no other protector than herself." + +"And you, don't forget yourself!" cried Henrica, leaving the room. + +The musician walked thoughtfully towards home. Was Isabella a relative +of this young girl? He had told Henrica almost all he knew of her +external circumstances, and this perhaps gave the former the same right +to call her an adventuress, that many in Rome had assumed. The word +wounded him, and Henrica's inquiry whether he loved the stranger +disturbed him, and appeared intrusive and unseemly. Yes, he had felt an +ardent love for her; ay, he had suffered deeply because he was no more +to her than a pleasant companion and reliable friend. It had cost him +struggles enough to conceal his feelings, and he knew, that but for the +dread of repulse and scorn, he would have yielded and revealed them to +her. Old wounds in his heart opened afresh, as he recalled the time she +suddenly left Rome without a word of farewell. After barely recovering +from a severe illness, he had returned home pale and dispirited, and +months elapsed ere he could again find genuine pleasure in his art. At +first, the remembrance of her contained nothing save bitterness, but +now, by quiet, persistent effort, he had succeeded, not in attaining +forgetfulness, but in being able to separate painful emotions from +the pure and exquisite joy of remembering her. To-day the old struggle +sought to begin afresh, but he was not disposed to yield, and did not +cease to summon Isabella's image, in all its beauty, before his soul. + +Henrica returned to her aunt in a deeply-agitated mood. Was the +adventuress of whom Wilhelm had spoken, the only creature whom she loved +with all the ardor of her passionate soul? Was Isabella her lost sister? +Many incidents were opposed to it, yet it was possible. She tortured +herself with questions, and the less peace her aunt gave her, the more +unendurable her headache became, the more plainly she felt that the +fever, against whose relaxing power she had struggled for days, would +conquer her. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +On the evening of the third day after Wilhelm's interview with Henrica, +his way led him through Nobelstrasse past the Hoogstraten mansion. + +Ere reaching it, he saw two gentlemen, preceded by a servant carrying a +lantern, cross the causeway towards it. + +Wilhelm's attention was attracted. The servant now seized the knocker, +and the light of his lantern fell on the men's faces. Neither was +unfamiliar to him. + +The small, delicate old man, with the peaked hat and short black velvet +cloak, was Abbe Picard, a gay Parisian, who had come to Leyden ten years +before and gave French lessons in the wealthy families of the city. +He had been Wilhelm's teacher too, but the musician's father, the +Receiver-General, would have nothing to do with the witty abbe; for he +was said to have left his beloved France on account of some questionable +transactions, and Herr Cornelius scented in him a Spanish spy. The other +gentleman, a grey-haired, unusually stout man, of middle height, who +required a great deal of cloth for his fur-bordered cloak, was Signor +Lamperi, the representative of the great Italian mercantile house of +Bonvisi in Antwerp, who was in the habit of annually coming to Leyden on +business for a few weeks with the storks and swallows, and was a welcome +guest in every tap-room as the inexhaustible narrator of funny stories. +Before these two men entered the house, they were joined by a third, +preceded by two servants carrying lanterns. A wide cloak enveloped +his tall figure; he too stood on the threshold of old age and was no +stranger to Wilhelm, for the Catholic Monseigneur Gloria, who often came +to Leyden from Haarlem, was a patron of the noble art of music, and when +the young man set out on his journey to Italy had provided him, spite of +his heretical faith, with valuable letters of introduction. + +Wilhelm, as the door closed behind the three gentlemen, continued his +way. Belotti had told him the day before that the young lady seemed +very ill, but since her aunt was receiving guests, Henrica was doubtless +better. + +The first story in the Hoogstraten mansion was brightly lighted, but in +the second a faint, steady glow streamed into Nobelstrasse from a single +window, while she for whom the lamp burned sat beside a table, her eyes +sparkling with a feverish glitter, as she pressed her forehead against +the marble top. Henrica was entirely alone in the wide, lofty room her +aunt had assigned her. Behind curtains of thick faded brocade was her +bedstead, a heavy structure of enormous width. The other articles of +furniture were large and shabby, but had once been splendid. Every +chair, every table looked as if it had been taken from some deserted +banqueting-hall. Nothing really necessary was lacking in the apartment, +but it was anything but home-like and cosey, and no one would ever have +supposed a young girl occupied it, had it not been for a large gilt harp +that leaned against the long, hard couch beside the fireplace. + +Henrica's head was burning but, though she had wrapped a shawl around +her lower limbs, her feet were freezing on the uncarpeted stone floor. + +A short time after the three gentlemen had entered her aunt's house, a +woman's figure ascended the stairs leading from the first to the second +story. Henrica's over-excited senses perceived the light tread of +the satin shoes and the rustle of the silk train, long before the +approaching form had reached the room, and with quickened breathing, she +sat erect. + +A thin hand, without any preliminary knock, now opened the door and old +Fraulein Van Hoogstraten walked up to her niece. + +The elderly dame had once been beautiful, now and at this hour she +presented a strange, unpleasing appearance. + +The thin, bent figure was attired in a long trailing robe of heavy pink +silk. The little head almost disappeared in the ruff, a large structure +of immense height and width. Long chains of pearls and glittering gems +hung on the sallow skin displayed by the open neck of her dress, and +on the false, reddish-yellow curls rested a roll of light-blue velvet +decked with ostrich plumes. A strong odor of various fragrant essences +preceded her. She herself probably found them somewhat overpowering, for +her large glittering fan was in constant motion and fluttered violently, +when in answer to her curt: "Quick, quick," Henrica returned a resolute +"no, 'ma tante.'" + +The old lady, however, was not at all disconcerted by the refusal, +but merely repeated her "Quick, quick," more positively, adding as an +important reason: + +"Monseigneur has come and wants to hear you." + +"He does me great honor," replied the young girl, "great honor, but how +often must I repeat: I will not come." + +"Is it allowable to ask why not, my fair one?" said the old lady. + +"Because I am not fit for your society," cried Henrica vehemently, +"because my head aches and my eyes burn, because I can't sing to-day, +and because--because--because--I entreat you, leave me in peace." + +Old Fraulein Van Hoogstraten let her fan sink by her side, and said +coolly: + +"Were you singing two hours ago--yes or no?" + +"Yes." + +"Then your headache can't be so very bad, and Denise will dress you." + +"If she comes, I'll send her away. When I just took the harp, I did so +to sing the pain away. It was relieved for a few minutes, but now my +temples are throbbing with twofold violence." + +"Excuses." + +"Believe what you choose. Besides--even if I felt better at this moment +than a squirrel in the woods. I wouldn't go down to see the gentlemen. I +shall stay here. I have given my word, and I am a Hoogstraten as well as +you." + +Henrica had risen, and her eyes flashed with a gloomy fire at her +oppressor. The old lady waved her fan faster, and her projecting chin +trembled. Then she said curtly: + +"Your word of honor! So you won't! You won't!" + +"Certainly not," cried the young girl with undutiful positiveness. + +"Everybody must have his way," replied the old lady, turning towards the +door. "What is too wilful is too wilful. Your father won't thank you for +this." With these words Fraulein Van Hoogstraten raised her long train +and approached the door. There she paused, and again glanced enquiringly +at Henrica. The latter doubtless noticed her aunt's hesitation, but +without heeding the implied threat intentionally turned her back. + +As soon as the door closed, the young girl sank back into her chair, +pressed her forehead against the marble slab and let it remain there +a long time. Then she rose as suddenly and hastily as if obeying some +urgent summons, raised the lid of her trunk, tossed the stockings, +bodices and shoes, that came into her way, out on the floor, and did +not rise until she had found a few sheets of writing-paper which she +had laid, before leaving her father's castle, among the rest of her +property. + +As she rose from her kneeling posture, she was seized with giddiness, +but still kept her feet, carried to the table first the white sheets and +a portfolio, then the large inkstand that had already stood several days +in her room, and seated herself beside it. + +Leaning far back in her chair, she began to write. The book that served +as a desk lay on her knee, the paper on the book. Creaking and pausing, +the goosequill made large, stiff letters on the white surface. Henrica +was not skilled in writing, but to-day it must have been unspeakably +difficult for her; her high forehead became covered with perspiration, +her mouth was distorted by pain, and whenever she had finished a few +lines, she closed her eyes or drank greedily from the water-pitcher that +stood beside her. + +The large room was perfectly still, but the peace that surrounded her +was often disturbed by strange noises and tones, that rose from the +dining-hall directly under her chamber. The clinking of glasses, shrill +tittering, loud, deep laughter, single bars of a dissolute love-song, +cheers, and then the sharp rattle of a shattered wine glass reached her +in mingled sounds. She did not wish to hear it, but could not escape +and clenched her white teeth indignantly. Yet meantime the pen did not +wholly stop. + +She wrote in broken, or long, disconnected sentences, almost +incoherently involved. Sometimes there were gaps, sometimes the same +word was twice or thrice repeated. The whole resembled a letter written +by a lunatic, yet every line, every stroke of the pen, expressed the +same desire uttered with passionate longing: "Take me away from here! +Take me away from this woman and this house!" + +The epistle was addressed to her father. She implored him to rescue +her from this place, come or send for her. "Her uncle, Matanesse Van +Wibisma," she said, "seemed to be a sluggish messenger; he had probably +enjoyed the evenings at her aunt's, which filled her, Henrica, with +loathing. She would go out into the world after her sister, if her +father compelled her to stay here." Then she began a description of her +aunt and her life. The picture of the days and nights she had now spent +for weeks with the old lady, presented in vivid characters a mixture of +great and petty troubles, external and mental humiliations. + +Only too often the same drinking and carousing had gone on below as +to-day-Henrica had always been compelled to join her aunt's guests, +elderly dissolute men of French or Italian origin and easy morals. While +describing these conventicles, the blood crimsoned her flushed cheeks +still more deeply, and the long strokes of the pen grew heavier and +heavier. What the abbe related and her aunt laughed at, what the Italian +screamed and Monseigneur smilingly condemned with a slight shake of +the head, was so shamelessly bold that she would have been defiled by +repeating the words. Was she a respectable girl or not? She would rather +hunger and thirst, than be present at such a banquet again. If the +dining-room was empty, other unprecedented demands were made upon +Henrica, for then her aunt, who could not endure to be alone a moment, +was sick and miserable, and she was obliged to nurse her. That she +gladly and readily served the suffering, she wrote, she had sufficiently +proved by her attendance on the village children when they had the +smallpox, but if her aunt could not sleep she was compelled to watch +beside her, hold her hand, and listen until morning as she moaned, +whined and prayed, sometimes cursing herself and sometimes the +treacherous world. She, Henrica, had come to the house strong and well, +but so much disgust and anger, such constant struggling to control +herself had robbed her of her health. + +The young girl had written until midnight. The letters became more and +more irregular and indistinct, the lines more crooked, and with the last +words: "My head, my poor head! You will see that I am losing my senses. +I beseech you, I beseech you, my dear, stern father, take me home. I +have again heard something about Anna--" her eyes grew dim, her pen +dropped from her hand, and she fell back in the chair unconscious. + +There she lay, until the last laugh and sound of rattling glass had died +away below, and her aunt's guests had left the house. + +Denise, the cameriera, noticed the light in the room, entered, and after +vainly endeavoring to rouse Henrica, called her mistress. + +The latter followed the maid, muttering as she ascended the stairs: + +"Fallen asleep, found the time hang heavy--that's all! She might have +been lively and laughed with us! Stupid race! 'Men of butter,' King +Philip says. That wild Lamperi was really impertinent to-night, and the +abbe said things--things--" + +The old lady's large eyes were sparkling vinously, and her fan waved +rapidly to and fro to cool the flush on her cheeks. + +She now stood opposite to Henrica, called her, shook her and sprinkled +her with perfumed water from the large shell, set in gold, which hung as +an essence bottle from her belt. When her niece only muttered incoherent +words, she ordered the maid to bring her medicine-chest. + +Denise had gone and Fraulein Van Hoogstraten now perceived Henrica's +letter, raised it close to her eyes, read page after page with +increasing indignation, and at last tossed it on the floor and tried to +shake her niece awake; but in vain. + +Meantime Belotti had been informed of Henrica's serious illness and, as +he liked the young girl, sent for a physician on his own responsibility, +and instead of the family priest summoned Father Damianus. Then he went +to the sick girl's chamber. + +Even before he crossed the threshold, the old lady in the utmost +excitement, exclaimed: + +"Belotti, what do you say now, Belotti? Sickness in the house, perhaps +contagious sickness, perhaps the plague." + +"It seems to be only a fever," replied the Italian soothingly. "Come, +Denise, we will carry the young lady to the bed. + +"The doctor will soon be here." + +"The doctor?" cried the old lady, striking her fan on the marble top of +the table. "Who permitted you, Belotti--" + +"We are Christians," interrupted the servant, not without dignity. + +"Very well, very well," she cried. "Do what you please, call whom you +choose, but Henrica can't stay here. Contagion in the house, the plague, +a black tablet." + +"Excellenza is disturbing herself unnecessarily. Let us first hear what +the doctor says." + +"I won't hear him; I can't bear the plague and the small-pox. Go down +at once, Belotti, and have the sedan-chair prepared. The old chevalier's +room in the rear building is empty." + +"But, Excellenza, it's gloomy, and so damp that the north wall is +covered with mould." + +"Then let it be aired and cleaned. What does this delay mean? You have +only to obey. Do you understand?" + +"The chevalier's room isn't fit for my mistress's sick niece," replied +Belotti civilly, but resolutely. + +"Isn't it? And you know exactly?" asked his mistress scornfully. "Go +down, Denise, and order the sedan-chair to be brought up. Have you +anything more to say, Belotti?" + +"Yes, Padrona," replied the Italian, in a trembling voice. "I beg your +excellenza to dismiss me." + +"Dismiss you from my service?" + +"With your excellenza's permission, yes--from your service." + +The old woman started, clasped her hands tightly upon her fan, and said: + +"You are irritable, Belotti." + +"No, Padrona, but I am old and dread the misfortune of being ill in this +house." + +Fraulein Van Hoogstraten shrugged her shoulders and turning to her maid, +cried: + +"The sedan-chair, Denise. You are dismissed, Belotti." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +The night, on which sorrow and sickness had entered the Hoogstraten +mansion, was followed by a beautiful morning. Holland again became +pleasant to the storks, that with a loud, joyous clatter flew clown into +the meadows on which the sun was shining. It was one of those days the +end of April often bestows on men, as if to show them that they render +her too little, her successor too much honor. April can boast that +in her house is born the spring, whose vigor is only strengthened and +beauty developed by her blooming heir. + +It was Sunday, and whoever on such a day, while the bells are ringing, +wanders in Holland over sunny paths, through flowery meadows where +countless cattle, woolly cheep, and idle horses are grazing, meeting +peasants in neat garments, peasant women with shining gold ornaments +under snow-white lace caps, citizens in gay attire and children released +from school, can easily fancy that even nature wears a holiday garb +and glitters in brighter green, more brilliant blue, and more varied +ornaments of flowers than on work-days. + +A joyous Sunday mood doubtless filled the minds of the burghers, who +to-day were out of doors on foot, in large over-crowded wooden wagons, +or gaily-painted boats on the Rhine, to enjoy the leisure hours of the +day of rest, eat country bread, yellow butter, and fresh cheese, or +drink milk and cool beer, with their wives and children. + +The organist, Wilhelm, had long since finished playing in the church, +but did not wander out into the fields with companions of his own age, +for he liked to use such days for longer excursions, in which walking +was out of the question. + +They bore him on the wings of the wind over his native plains, through +the mountains and valleys of Germany, across the Alps to Italy. A +spot propitious for such forgetfulness of the present and his daily +surroundings, in favor of the past and a distant land, was ready. +His brothers, Ulrich and Johannes, also musicians, but who recognized +Wilhelm's superior talent without envy and helped him develop it, had +arranged for him, during his stay in Italy, a prettily-furnished room +in the narrow side of the pointed roof of the house, from which a broad +door led to a little balcony. Here stood a wooden bench on which Wilhelm +liked to sit, watching the flight of his doves, gazing dreamily into +the distance or, when inclined to artistic creation, listening to the +melodies that echoed in his soul. + +This highest part of the house afforded a beautiful prospect; the view +was almost as extensive as the one from the top of the citadel, the old +Roman tower situated in the midst of Leyden. Like a spider in its web, +Wilhelm's native city lay in the midst of countless streams and canals +that intersected the meadows. The red brick masonry of the city wall, +with its towers and bastions, washed by a dark strip of water, encircled +the pretty place as a diadem surrounds a young girl's head; and like a +chaplet of loosely-bound thorns, forts and redoubts extended in wider, +frequently broken circles around the walls. The citizens' herds of +cattle grazed between the defensive fortifications and the city wall, +while beside and beyond them appeared villages and hamlets. + +On this clear April day, looking towards the north, Haarlem lake was +visible, and on the west, beyond the leafy coronals of the Hague woods, +must be the downs which nature had reared for the protection of the +country against the assaults of the waves. Their long chain of hillocks +offered a firmer and more unconquerable resistance to the pressure +of the sea, than the earthworks and redoubts of Alfen, Leyderdorp and +Valkenburg, the three forts situated close to the banks of the Rhine, +presented to hostile armies. The Rhine! Wilhelm gazed down at the +shallow, sluggish river, and compared it to a king deposed from his +throne, who has lost power and splendor and now kindly endeavors to +dispense benefits in little circles with the property that remains. The +musician was familiar with the noble, undivided German Rhine; and often +followed it in imagination towards the south but more often still his +dreams conveyed him with a mighty leap to Lake Lugano, the pearl of the +Western Alps, and when he thought of it and the Mediterranean, beheld +rising before his mental vision emerald green, azure blue, and golden +light; and in such hours all his thoughts were transformed within his +breast into harmonies and exquisite music. + +And his journey from Lugano to Milan! The conveyance that bore him +to Leonardo's city was plain and overcrowded, but in it he had found +Isabella. And Rome, Rome, eternal, never-to-be-forgotten Rome, where so +long as we dwell there, we grow out of ourselves, increase in strength +and intellectual power, and which makes us wretched with longing when it +lies behind us. + +By the Tiber Wilhelm had first thoroughly learned what art, his glorious +art was; here, near Isabella, a new world had opened to him, but a sharp +frost had passed over the blossoms of his heart that had unfolded in +Rome, and he knew they were blighted and could bear no fruit--yet to-day +he succeeded in recalling her in her youthful beauty, and instead of the +lost love, thinking of the kind friend Isabella and dreaming of a sky +blue as turquoise, of slender columns and bubbling fountains, olive +groves and marble statues, cool churches and gleaming villas, sparkling +eyes and fiery wine, magnificent choirs and Isabella's singing. + +The doves that cooed and clucked, flew away and returned to the cote +beside him, could now do as they chose, their guardian neither saw nor +heard them. + +Allertssohn, the fencing-master, ascended the ladder to his watch-tower, +but he did not notice him until he stood on the balcony by his side, +greeting him with his deep voice. + +"Where have we been, Herr Wilhelm?" asked the old man. "In this +cloth-weaving Leyden? No! Probably with the goddess of music on Olympus, +if she has her abode there." + +"Rightly guessed," replied Wilhelm, pushing the hair back from his +forehead with both hands. "I have been visiting her, and she sends you a +friendly greeting." + +"Then offer one from me in return," replied the other, "but she usually +belongs to the least familiar of my acquaintances. My throat is better +suited to drinking than singing. Will you allow me?" + +The fencing-master raised the jug of beer which Wilhelm's mother filled +freshly every day and placed in her darling's room, and took a long +pull. Then wiping his moustache, he said: + +"That did me good, and I needed it. The men wanted to go out pleasuring +and omit their drill, but we forced them to go through it, Junker von +Warmond, Duivenvoorde and I. Who knows how soon it may be necessary +to show what we can do. Roland, my fore man, such imprudence is like a +cudgel, against which one can do nothing with Florentine rapiers, clever +tierce and quarto. My wheat is destroyed by the hail." + +"Then let it be, and see if the barley and clover don't do better," +replied Wilhelm gaily, tossing vetches and grains of wheat to a large +dove that had alighted on the parapet of his tower. + +"It eats, and what use is it?" cried Allertssohn, looking at the dove. +"Herr von Warmond, a young man after God's own heart, has just brought +me two falcons; do you want to see how I tame them?" + +"No, Captain, I have enough to do with my music and my doves." + +"That is your affair. The long-necked one yonder is a queer-looking +fellow." + +"And of what country is he probably a native? There he goes to join the +others. Watch him a little while and then answer me." + +"Ask King Soloman that; he was on intimate terms with birds." + +"Only watch him, you'll find out presently." + +"The fellow has a stiff neck, and holds his head unusually high." + +"And his beak?" + +"Curved, almost like a hawk's! Zounds, why does the creature strut about +with its toes so far apart? Stop, bandit! He'll peck that little dove to +death. As true as I live, the saucy rascal must be a Spaniard!" + +"Right, it is a Spanish dove. It flew to me, but I can't endure it and +drive it away; for I keep only a few pairs of the same breed and try to +get the best birds possible. Whoever raises many different kinds in the +same cote, will accomplish nothing." + +"That gives food for thought. But I believe you haven't chosen the +handsomest species." + +"No, sir. What you see are a cross between the carrier and tumblers, +the Antwerp breed of carrier pigeons. Bluish, reddish, spotted birds. +I don't care for the colors, but they must have small bodies and large +wings, with broad quills on their flag-feathers, and above all ample +muscular strength. The one yonder stop, I'll catch him--is one of my +best flyers. Try to lift his pinions." + +"Heaven knows the little thing has marrow in its bones! How the tiny +wing pinches; the falcons are not much stronger." + +"It's a carrier-dove too, that finds its way alone." + +"Why do you keep no white tumblers? I should think they could be watched +farthest in their flight." + +"Because doves fare like men. Whoever shines very brightly and is seen +from a distance, is set upon by opponents and envious people, and birds +of prey pounce upon the white doves first. I tell you, Captain, whoever +has eyes in his head, can learn in a dove-cote how things come to pass +among Adam and Eve's posterity on earth." + +"There is quarrelling and kissing up here just as there is in Leyden." + +"Yes, exactly the same, Captain. If I mate an old dove with one much +younger, it rarely turns out well. When the male dove is in love, he +understands how to pay his fair one as many attentions, as the most +elegant gallant shows the mistress of his heart. And do you know what +the kissing means? The suitor feeds his darling, that is, seeks to win +her affection by beautiful gifts. Then the wedding comes, and they build +a nest. If there are young birds, they feed them together in perfect +harmony. The aristocratic doves brood badly, and we put their eggs under +birds of more ordinary breed." + +"Those are the noble ladies, who have nurses for their infants." + +"Unmated doves often make mischief among the mated ones." + +"Take warning, young man, and beware of being a bachelor. I'll say +nothing against the girls who remain unmarried, for I have found among +them many sweet, helpful souls." + +"So have I, but unfortunately some bad ones too, as well as here in the +dove-cote. On the whole my wards lead happy married lives, but if it +comes to a separation--" + +"Which of the two is to blame?" + +"Nine times out of ten the little wife." + +"Roland, my fore man, exactly as it is among human beings," cried the +fencing-master, clapping his hands. + +"What do you mean by your Roland, Herr Allerts? You promised me a short +time ago--but who is coming up the ladder?" + +"I hear your mother." + +"She is bringing me a visitor. I know that voice and yet. Wait. It's old +Fraulein Van Hoogstraten's steward." + +"From Nobelstrasse? Let me go, Wilhelm, for this Glipper crew--" + +"Wait a little while, there is only room for one on the ladder," said +the musician, holding out his hand to Belotti to guide him from the last +rung into his room. + +"Spaniards and the allies of Spain," muttered the fencing-master, opened +the door, and called while descending the ladder: "I'll wait down below +till the air is pure again." + +The steward's handsome face, usually smoothly shaven with the most +extreme care, was to-day covered with a stubbly beard, and the old man +looked sad and worn, as he began to tell Wilhelm what had occurred in +his mistress's house since the evening of the day before. + +"Years may make a hot-tempered person weaker, but not calmer," said the +Italian, continuing his story. "I can't look on and see the poor angel, +for she isn't far from the Virgin's throne, treated like a sick dog that +is flung out into the court-yard, so I got my discharge." + +"That does you honor, but was rather out of place just now. And has the +young lady really been carried to the damp room?" + +"No, sir. Father Damianus came and made the old excellenza understand +what the holy Virgin expected of a Christian, and when the padrona still +tried to carry out her will, the holy man spoke to her in words so +harsh and stern that she yielded. The signorina is now lying in bed with +burning cheeks, raving in delirium." + +"And who is attending the patient?" + +"I came to you about the physician, my dear sir, for Doctor de Bout, who +instantly obeyed my summons, was treated so badly by the old excellenza, +that he turned his back upon her and told me, at the door of the house, +he wouldn't come again." + +Wilhelm shook his head, and the Italian continued, "There are other +doctors in Leyden, but Father Damianus says de Bont or Bontius, as they +call him, is the most skilful and learned of them all, and as the old +excellenza herself had an attack of illness about noon, and certainly +won't leave her bed very speedily, the way is open, and Father Damianus +says he'll go to Doctor Bontius himself if necessary. But as you are a +native of the city and acquainted with the signorina, I wanted to spare +him the rebuff he would probably meet from the foe of our holy Church. +The poor man has enough to suffer from good-for-nothing boys and +scoffers, when he goes through the city with the sacrament." + +"You know people are strictly forbidden to disturb him in the exercise +of his calling." + +"Yet he can't show himself in the street without being jeered. We two +cannot change the world, sir. So long as the Church had the upper hand, +she burned and quartered you, now you have the power here, our priests +are persecuted and scorned." + +"Against the law and the orders of the magistrates." + +"You can't control the people, and Father Damianus is a lamb, who bears +everything patiently, as good a Christian as many saints before whom we +burn candles. Do you know the doctor?" + +"A little, by sight." + +"Oh, then go to him, sir, for the young lady's sake," cried the old man +earnestly. "It is in your power to save a human life, a beautiful young +life." + +The steward's eyes glittered with tears. As Wilhelm laid his hand on +his arm, saying kindly: "I will try," the fencing-master called: "Your +council is lasting too long for me. I'll come another time." + +"No, Meister, come up a minute, This gentleman is here on account of +a poor sick girl. The poor, helpless creature is now lying without any +care, for her aunt, old Fraulein Van Hoogstraten, has driven Doctor de +Bont from her bed because he is a Calvinist." + +"From the sick girl's bed?" + +"It's abominable enough, but the old lady is now ill herself." + +"Bravo, bravo!" cried the fencing-master, clapping his hands. "If the +devil himself isn't afraid of her and wants to fetch her, I'll pay for +his post-horses. But the girl, the sick girl?" + +"Herr Belotti begs me to persuade de Bont to visit her again. Are you on +friendly terms with the doctor?" + +"I was, Wilhelm, I was; but--last Friday we had some sharp words about +the new morions, and now the learned demi-god demands an apology from +me, but to sound a retreat isn't written here--" + +"Oh, my dear sir," cried Belotti, with touching earnestness. "The poor +child is lying helpless in a raging fever. If Heaven has blessed you +with children--" + +"Be calm, old man, be calm," replied the fencing master, stroking +Belotti's grey hair kindly. "My children are nothing to you, but +we'll do what we can for the young girl. Farewell till we meet again, +gentlemen. Roland, my fore man, what shall we live to see! Hemp is still +cheap in Holland, and yet such a monster has lived amongst us to be as +old as a raven." + +With these words he went down the ladder. On reaching the street, he +pondered over the words in which he should apologize to Doctor Bontius, +with a face as sour as if he had wormwood in his mouth; but his eyes and +bearded lips smiled. + +His learned friend made the apology easy for him, and when Belotti came +home, he found the doctor by the sick girl's bed. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +Frau Elizabeth von Nordwyk and Frau Van Bout had each asked the +burgomaster's wife to go into the country with them to enjoy the +beautiful spring day, but in spite of Barbara's persuasions, Maria could +not be induced to accept their invitation. + +A week had elapsed since her husband's departure, a week whose days had +run their course from morning to evening as slowly as the brackish +water in one of the canals, intersecting the meadows of Holland, flowed +towards the river. + +Sleep loves the couches of youth, and had again found hers, but with the +rising of the sun the dissatisfaction, anxiety and secret grief, that +slumber had kindly interrupted, once more returned. She felt that it was +not right, and her father would have blamed her if he had seen her thus. + +There are women who are ashamed of rosy cheeks, unrestrained joy in +life, to whom the emotion of sorrow affords a mournful pleasure. To this +class Maria certainly did not belong. She would fain have been happy, +and left untried no means of regaining the lost joy of her heart. +Honestly striving to do her duty, she returned to little Bessie; but +the child was rapidly recovering and called for Barbara, Adrian or +Trautchen, as soon as she was left alone with her. + +She tried to read, but the few books she had brought from Delft were +all familiar, and her thoughts, ere becoming fixed on the old volumes, +pursued their own course. + +Wilhelm brought her the new motet, and she endeavored to sing it; but +music demands whole hearts from those who desire to enjoy her gifts, and +therefore melody and song refused comfort as well as pleasure to her, +whose mind was engrossed by wholly different things. If she helped +Adrian in his work, her patience failed much sooner than usual. On the +first market-day, she went out with Trautchen to obey her husband's +directions and make purchases and, while shopping at the various +places where different wares were offered--here fish, yonder meat or +vegetables, amid the motley crowd, hailed on every side by cries +of: "Here, Frau Burgermeisterin! I have what you want, Frau +Burgermeisterin!" forgot the sorrow that oppressed her. + +With newly-animated self-reliance, she examined flour, pulse and dried +fish, making it a point of honor to bargain carefully; Barbara should +see that she knew how to buy. The crowd was very great everywhere, for +the city magistrates had issued a proclamation bidding every household, +in view of the threatened danger, to supply itself abundantly with +provisions on all the market-days; but the purchasers made way for the +burgomaster's pretty young wife, and this too pleased her. + +She returned home with a bright face, happy in having done her best, and +instantly went into the kitchen to see Barbara. + +Peter's good-natured sister had plainly perceived how sorely her young +sister-in-law's heart was troubled, and therefore gladly saw her go out +to make her purchases. Choosing and bargaining would surely dispel her +sorrows and bring other thoughts. True, the cautious house-keeper, +who expected everything good from Maria except the capacity of showing +herself an able, clever mistress of the house, had charged Trautchen to +warn her mistress against being cheated. But when in market the demand +is two or three times greater than the supply, prices rise, and so it +happened that when Maria told the widow how much she had paid for this +or that article, Barbara's "My child, that's perfectly unheard--of!" +or, "It's enough to drive us to beggary," followed each other in quick +succession. + +These exclamations, which under the circumstances were usually entirely +unjustifiable, vexed Maria; but she wished to be at peace with her +sister-in-law, and though it was hard to bear injustice, it was contrary +to her nature and would have caused her pain to express her indignation +in violent words. So she merely said with a little excitement: + +"Please ask what other ladies are paying, and then Scold, if you think +it right." + +With these words she left the kitchen. + +"My child, I'm not scolding at all," Barbara called after her, but Maria +would not hear, hastily ascended the stairs and locked herself into her +room. Her joyousness had again vanished. + +On Sunday she went to church. After dinner she filled a canvas-bag with +provisions for Adrian, who was going on a boating excursion with several +friends, and then sat at the window in her chamber. + +Stately men, among them many members of the council, passed by with +their gaily-dressed wives and children; young girls with flowers in +their bosoms moved arm in arm, by twos and threes, along the footpath +beside the canal, to dance in the village outside the Zyl-Gate. They +walked quietly forward with eyes discreetly downcast, but many a cheek +flushed and many an ill-suppressed smile hovered around rosy lips, when +the youths, who followed the girls moving so decorously along, as gaily +and swiftly as sea-gulls flutter around a ship, uttered teasing jests, +or whispered into their ears words that no third party need hear. + +All who were going towards the Zyl-Gate seemed gay and careless, every +face showed what joyous hours in the open air and sunny meadows were +anticipated. The object that attracted them appeared beautiful and +desirable to Maria also, but what should she do among the happy, how +could she be alone amid strangers with her troubled heart? The shadows +of the houses seemed especially dark to-day, the air of the city heavier +than usual, as if the spring had come to every human being, great and +small, old and young, except herself. + +The buildings and the trees that bordered the Achtergracht were already +casting longer shadows, and the golden mists hovering over the roofs +began to be mingled with a faint rosy light, when Maria heard a horseman +trotting up the street. She drew herself up rigidly and her heart +throbbed violently. She would not receive Peter any differently from +usual, she must be frank to him and show him how she felt, and that +matters could not go on so, nay she was already trying to find fitting +words for what she had to say to him. Just at that moment, the horse +stopped before the door. She went to the window; saw her husband swing +himself from the saddle and look joyously up to the window of her room +and, though she made no sign of greeting, her heart drew her towards +him. Every thought, every fancy was forgotten, and with winged steps she +flew down the corridor to the stairs. Meantime he had entered, and she +called his name. "Maria, child, are you there!" he shouted, rushed up +the steps as nimbly as a youth, met her on one of the upper stairs and +drew her with overflowing tenderness to his heart. + +"At last, at last, I have you again!" he cried joyously, pressing +his lips to her eyes and her fragrant hair. She had clasped her hands +closely around his neck, but he released himself, held them in his, and +asked: "Are Barbara and Adrian at home?" + +She shook her head. + +The burgomaster laughed, stooped, lifted her up like a child, and +carried her into his room. As a beautiful tree beside a burning house +is seized by the neighboring flames, although immediately protected with +cold water, Maria, in spite of her long-cherished resolve to receive +him coolly, was overwhelmed by the warmth of her husband's feelings. She +cordially rejoiced in having him once more, and willingly believed +him, as he told her in loving words how painfully he had felt their +separation, how sorely he had missed her, and how distinctly he, who +usually lacked the ability to remember an absent person, had had her +image before his eyes. + +How warmly, with what convincing tones he understood how to give +expression to his love to-day! She was still a happy wife, and showed +him that she was without reserve. + +Barbara and Adrian returned home, and there was now much to tell at the +evening meal. Peter had had many a strange experience on the journey, +and gained fresh hope, the boy had distinguished himself at school, and +Bessie's sickness might already be called a danger happily overcome. +Barbara was radiant with joy, for all seemed well between Maria and her +brother. + +The beautiful April night passed pleasantly away. When Maria was +braiding black velvet into her hair the next morning, she was full +of grateful emotion, for she had found courage to tell Peter that +she desired to have a larger share in his anxieties than before, and +received a kind assent. A worthier, richer life, she hoped, would +now begin. He was to tell her this very day what he had discussed and +accomplished with the Prince and at Dortrecht, for hitherto no word of +all this had escaped his lips. + +Barbara, who was moving about in the kitchen and just on the point of +catching three chickens to kill them, let them live a little longer, and +even tossed half a handful of barley into their coop, as she heard her +sister-in-law come singing down-stairs. The broken bars of Wilhelm's +last madrigal sounded as sweet and full of promise as the first notes of +the nightingale, which the gardener hears at the end of a long winter. +It was spring again in the house, and her pleasant round face, in its +large cap, looked as bright and unclouded as a sunflower amid its green +leaves, as she called to Maria: + +"This is a good day for you, child; we'll melt down the butter and salt +the hams." + +The words sounded as joyous as if she had offered her an invitation to +Paradise, and Maria willingly helped in the work, which began at once. +When the widow moved her hands, tongues could not remain silent, and the +conversation that had probably taken place between Peter and his wife +excited her curiosity not a little. + +She turned the conversation upon him cleverly enough, and, as if +accidentally, asked the question: + +"Did he apologize for his departure on the anniversary of your +wedding-day?" + +"I know the reason; he could not stay." + +"Of course not, of course not; but whoever is green the goats eat. We +mustn't allow the men to go too far. Give, but take also. An injustice +endured is a florin, for which in marriage a calf can be bought." + +"I will not bargain with Peter, and if anything weighed heavily on my +mind, I have willingly forgotten it after so long a separation." + +"Wet hay may destroy a barn, and any one to whom the hare runs can catch +him! People ought not to keep their troubles to themselves, but tell +them; that's why they have tongues, and yesterday was the right time to +make a clean breast of everything that grieves you." + +"He was in such a joyous mood when he came home, and then: Why do you +think I feel unhappy?" + +"Unhappy. Who said so?" + +Maria blushed, but the widow seized the knife and opened the hen-coop. + +Trautchen was helping the two ladies in the kitchen, but she was +frequently interrupted in her work, for this morning the knocker on +the door had no rest, and those who entered must have brought the +burgomaster no pleasant news, for his deep, angry voice was often +audible. + +His longest discussion was with Herr Van Hout, who had come to him, +not only to ask questions and tell what occurred, but also to make +complaints. + +It was no ordinary spectacle, when these two men, who, towering far +above their fellow-citizens, not only in stature, but moral earnestness +and enthusiastic devotion to the cause of liberty, declared their +opinions and expressed their wrath. The inflammable, restless Van Hout +took the first part, the slow, steadfast Van der Werff, with mighty +impressiveness, the second. + +A bad disposition ruled among the fathers of the city, the rich men of +old families, the great weavers and brewers, for to them property, life +and consideration were more than religion and liberty, while the poor +men, who laboriously supported their families by the sweat of their +brows, were joyously determined to sacrifice money and blood for the +good cause. + +There was obstacle after obstacle to conquer. The scaffolds and barns, +frames and all other wood-work that could serve to conceal a man, +were to be levelled to the earth, as all the country-houses and other +buildings near the city had formerly been. Much newly-erected woodwork +was already removed, but the rich longest resisted having the axe put +to theirs. New earthworks had been commenced at the important fort of +Valkenburg; but part of the land, where the workmen were obliged to dig, +belonged to a brewer, who demanded a large sum in compensation for his +damaged meadow. When the siege was raised in March, paper-money was +restored, round pieces of pasteboard, one side of which bore the +Netherland lion, with the inscription, "Haec libertatis ergo," while the +other had the coat-of-arms of the city and the motto "God guard Leyden." +These were intended to be exchanged for coin or provisions, but rich +speculators had obtained possession of many pieces, and were trying to +raise their value. Demands of every kind pressed upon him, and amid +all these claims the burgomaster was also compelled to think of his own +affairs, for all intercourse with the outside world would soon be cut +off, and it was necessary to settle many things with the representative +of his business in Hamburg. Great losses were threatening, but he left +no means untried to secure for his family what might yet be saved. + +He rarely saw wife or children; yet thought he was fulfilling the +promise Maria had obtained from him the evening after his return, when +he briefly answered her questions or voluntarily gave her such sentences +as "There was warm work at the town-hall to-day!" or, "It is more +difficult to circulate the paper-money than we expected!" He did not +feel the kindly necessity of having a confidante and expressing his +feelings, and his first wife had been perfectly contented and happy, if +he sat silently beside her during quiet hours, called her his treasure, +petted the children, or even praised her cracknels and Sunday roast. +Business and public affairs had been his concern, the kitchen and +nursery hers. What they had shared, was the consciousness of the love +one felt for the other, their children, the distinction, honors and +possessions of the household. + +Maria asked more and he was ready to grant it, but when in the evening +she pressed the wearied man with questions he was accustomed to hear +only from the lips of men, he put her off for the answers till less busy +times, or fell asleep in the midst of her inquiries. + +She saw how many burdens oppressed him, how unweariedly he toiled--but +why did he not move a portion of the load to other shoulders? + +Once, during the beautiful spring weather, he went out with her into the +country. She seized upon the opportunity to represent that it was his +duty to himself and her to gain more rest. + +He listened patiently, and when she had finished her entreaty and +warnings, took her hand in his, saying: + +"You have met Herr Marnix von St. Aldegonde and know what the cause of +liberty owes him. Do you know his motto?" + +She nodded and answered softly: "Repos ailleurs." + +"Where else can we rest," he repeated firmly. + +A slight shiver ran through her limbs, and as she withdrew her hands, +she could not help thinking: "Where else;-so not here. Rest and +happiness have no home here." She did not utter the words, but could not +drive them from her mind. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +During these May days the Hoogstraten mansion was the quietest of all +the houses in quiet Nobelstrasse. By the orders of Doctor Bontius +and the sick lady's attorney, a mixture of straw and sand lay on the +cause-way before it. The windows were closely curtained, and a piece +of felt hung between the door and the knocker. The door was ajar, but a +servant sat close behind it to answer those who sought admission. + +On a morning early in May the musician, Wilhelm Corneliussohn, and Janus +Dousa turned the corner of Nobelstrasse. Both men were engaged in eager +conversation, but as they approached the straw and sand, their voices +became lower and then ceased entirely. + +"The carpet we spread under the feet of the conqueror Death," said the +nobleman. "I hope he will lower the torch only once here and do honor to +age, little worthy of respect as it may be. Don't stay too long in the +infected house, Herr Wilhelm." + +The musician gently opened the door. The servant silently greeted him +and turned towards the stairs to call Belotti; for the "player-man" had +already enquired more than once for the steward. + +Wilhelm entered the little room where he usually waited, and for the +first time found another visitor there, but in a somewhat peculiar +attitude. Father Damianus sat bolt upright in an arm-chair, with his +head drooping on one side, sound asleep. The face of the priest, a man +approaching his fortieth year, was as pink and white as a child's, and +framed by a thin light-brown beard. A narrow circle of thin light hair +surrounded his large tonsure, and a heavy dark rosary of olive-wood +beads hung from the sleeper's hands. A gentle, kindly smile hovered +around his half-parted lips. + +"This mild saint in long woman's robes doesn't look as if he could grasp +anything strongly" thought Wilhelm, "yet his hands are callous and have +toiled hard." + +When Belotti entered the room and saw the sleeping priest, he carefully +pushed a pillow under his head and beckoned to Wilhelm to follow him +into the entry. + +"We won't grudge him a little rest," said the Italian. "He has sat +beside the padrona's bed from yesterday noon until two hours ago. +Usually she doesn't know what is going on around her, but as soon as +consciousness returns she wants religious consolation. She still refuses +to take the sacrament for the dying, for she won't admit that she +is approaching her end. Yet often, when the disease attacks her more +sharply, she asks in mortal terror if everything is ready, for she is +afraid to die without extreme unction." + +"And how is Fraulein Henrica?" + +"A very little better." + +The priest had now come out of the little room. Belotti reverently +kissed his hand and Wilhelm bowed respectfully. + +"I had fallen asleep," said Damianus simply and naturally, but in a +voice less deep and powerful than would have been expected from his +broad breast and tall figure. "I will read the mass, visit my sick, and +then return. Have you thought better of it, Belotti?" + +"It won't do sir, the Virgin knows it won't do. My dismissal was given +for the first of May, this is the eighth, and yet I'm still here--I +haven't left the house because I'm a Christian! Now the ladies have a +good physician, Sister Gonzaga is doing her duty, you yourself will +earn by your nursing a place among the martyrs in Paradise, so, without +making myself guilty of a sin, I can tie up my bundle." + +"You will not go, Belotti," said the priest firmly. "If you still insist +on having your own way, at least do not call yourself a Christian." + +"You will stay," cried Wilhelm, "if only for the sake of the young lady, +to whom you still feel kindly." Belotti shook his head, and answered +quietly: + +"You can add nothing, young sir, to what the holy Father represented +to me yesterday. But my mind is made up, I shall go; yet as I value the +holy Father's good opinion and yours, I beg you to do me the favor to +listen to me. I have passed my sixty-second birthday, and an old horse +or an old servant stands a long time in the market-place before any +one will buy them. There might probably be a place in Brussels for a +Catholic steward, who understands his business, but this old heart longs +to return to Naples--ardently, ardently, unutterably. You have seen our +blue sea and our sky, young sir, and I yearn for them, but even more for +other, smaller things. It now seems a joy that I can speak in my native +language to you, Herr Wilhelm, and you, holy Father. But there is a +country where every one uses the same tongue that I do. There is a +little village at the foot of Vesuvius--merciful Heavens! Many a person +would be afraid to stay there, even half an hour, when the mountain +quakes, the ashes fall in showers, and the glowing lava pours out in +a stream. The houses there are by no means so well built, and the +window-panes are not so clean as in this country. I almost fear that +there are few glass windows in Resina, but the children don't freeze, +any more than they do here. What would a Leyden house-keeper say to our +village streets? Poles with vines, boughs of fig-trees, and all sorts +of under-clothing on the roofs, at the windows, and the crooked, sloping +balconies; orange and lemon-trees with golden fruit grow in the little +gardens, which have neither straight paths nor symmetrical beds. +Everything there grows together topsy-turvy. The boys, who in rags that +no tailor has darned or mended, clamber over the white vineyard walls, +the little girls, whose mothers comb their hair before the doors of the +houses, are not so pink and white, nor so nicely washed as the Holland +children, but I should like to see again the brown-skinned, black-haired +little ones with the dark eyes, and end my days amid all the clatter in +the warm air, among my nephews, nieces and blood-relations." + +As he uttered these words, the old man's features had flushed and +his black eyes sparkled with a fire, that but a short time before +the northern air and his long years of servitude seemed to have +extinguished. Since neither the priest nor the musician answered +immediately, he continued more quietly: + +"Monseigneur Gloria is going to Italy now, and I can accompany him to +Rome as courier. From thence I can easily reach Naples, and live there +on the interest of my savings free from care. My future master will +leave on the 15th, and on the 12th I must be in Antwerp, where I am to +meet him." + +The eyes of the priest and the musician met. Wilhelm lacked courage to +seek to withhold the steward from carrying out his plan, but Damianus +summoned up his resolution, laid his hand on the old man's shoulder, and +said: + +"If you wait here a few weeks more, Belotti, you will find the true +rest, the peace of a good conscience. The crown of life is promised to +those, who are faithful, unto death. When these sad days are over, it +will be easy to smooth the way to your home. We shall meet again towards +noon, Belotti. If my assistance is necessary, send for me; old Ambrosius +knows where to find me. May God's blessing rest upon you, and if you +will accept it from me, on you also, Meister Wilhelm." + +After the priest had left the house, Belotti said, sighing: + +"He'll yet force me to yield to his will. He abuses his power over +souls. I'm no saint, and what he asks of me--" + +"Is right," said Wilhelm firmly. + +"But you don't know what it is to throw away, like a pair of worn-out +shoes, the dearest hope of a long, sad life. And for whom, I ask you, +for whom? Do you know my padrona? Oh! sir, I have experienced in this +house things, which your youth does not dream could be possible. The +young lady has wounded you. Am I right or wrong?" + +"You are mistaken, Belotti." + +"Really? I am glad for your sake, you are a modest artist, but the +signorina bears the Hoogstraten name, and that is saying everything. Do +you know her father?" + +"No, Belotti." + +"That's a race-a race! Have you never heard anything of the story of our +signorina's older sister?" + +"Has Henrica an older sister?" + +"Yes, sir, and when I think of her.--Imagine the signorina, exactly like +our signorina, only taller, more stately, more beautiful." + +"Isabella!" exclaimed the musician. A conjecture, which had been aroused +since his conversation with Henrica, appeared to be confirmed; he seized +the steward's arm so suddenly and unexpectedly, that the latter drew +back, and continued eagerly: "What do you know of her? I beseech you, +Belotti, tell me all." + +The servant looked up the stairs, then shaking his head, answered: + +"You are probably mistaken. There has never been an Isabella in this +house to my knowledge, but I will gladly place myself at your service. +Come again after sunset, but you must expect to hear no pleasant tale." + +Twilight had scarcely yielded to darkness, when the musician again +entered the Hoogstraten mansion. The little room was empty, but Belotti +did not keep him waiting long. + +The old man placed a dainty little waiter, bearing a jug of wine and a +goblet, on the table beside the lamp and, after informing Wilhelm of the +invalids' condition, courteously offered him a chair. When the musician +asked him why he had not brought a cup for himself too, he replied: + +"I drink nothing but water, but allow me to take the liberty to sit +down. The servant who attends to the chambers has left the house, and +I've done nothing but go up and down stairs all day. It tries my old +legs, and we can expect no quiet night." + +A single candle lighted the little room. Belotti, who had leaned far +back in his chair, opened his clenched hands and slowly began: + +"I spoke this morning of the Hoogstraten race. Children of the same +parents, it is true, are often very unlike, but in your little +country, which speaks its own language and has many things peculiar to +itself--you won't deny that--every old family has its special traits. I +know, for I have been in many a noble household in Holland. Every race +has its own peculiar blood and ways. Even where--by your leave--there is +a crack in the brain, it rarely happens to only one member of a family. +My mistress has more of her French mother's nature. But I intended to +speak only of the signorina, and am wandering too far from my subject." + +"No, Belotti, certainly not, we have plenty of time, and I shall be glad +to listen to you, but first you must answer one question." + +"Why, sir, how your cheeks glow! Did you meet the signorina in Italy?" + +"Perhaps so, Belotti." + +"Why, of course, of course! Whoever has once seen her, doesn't easily +forget. What is it you wish to know?" + +"First, the lady's name." + +"Anna." + +"And not Isabella also?" + +"No, sir, she was never called anything but Anna." + +"And when did she leave Holland?" + +"Wait; it was--four years ago last Easter." + +"Has she dark, brown or fair hair?" + +"I've said already that she looked just like Fraulein Henrica. But what +lady might not have fair, brown or dark hair? I think we shall reach +the goal sooner, if you will let me ask a question now. Had the lady +you mean a large semi-circular scar just under the hair, exactly in the +middle of her forehead?" + +"Enough," cried Wilhelm, rising hastily. "She fell on one of her +father's weapons when a child." + +"On the contrary, sir, the handle of Junker Van Hoogstraten's weapon +fell on the forehead of his own daughter. How horrified you look! Oh! I +have witnessed worse things in this house. Now it is your turn again: In +what city of my home did you meet the signorina?" + +"In Rome, alone and under an assumed name. Isabella--a Holland girl! +Pray go on with your story, Belotti; I won't interrupt you again. What +had the child done, that her own father--" + +"He is the wildest of all the wild Hoogstratens. Perhaps you may have +seen men like him in Italy--in this country you might seek long for such +a hurricane. You must not think him an evil-disposed man, but a word +that goes against the grain, a look askance will rob him of his senses, +and things are done which he repents as soon as they are over. The +signorina received her scar in the same way. She was a mere child, and +of course ought not to have touched fire-arms, nevertheless she did +whenever she could, and once a pistol went off and the bullet struck one +of the best hunting-dogs. Her father heard the report and, when he saw +the animal lying on the ground and the pistol at the little girl's feet, +he seized it and with the sharp-edged handle struck--" + +"A child, his own daughter!" exclaimed Wilhelm indignantly. + +"People are differently constituted," Belotti continued. "Some, the +class to which you probably belong, cautiously consider before they +speak or act; the second reflect a long time and, when they are ready, +pour forth a great many words, but rarely act at all; while the third, +and at their head the Hoogstraten family, heap deeds on deeds, and if +they ever think, it is only after the act is accomplished. If they then +find that they have committed an injustice, pride comes in and forbids +them to confess, atone for, or recall it. So one misfortune follows +another; but the gentlemen pay no heed and find forgetfulness in +drinking and gambling, carousing and hunting. There are plenty of debts, +but all anxiety concerning them is left to the creditors, and boys who +receive no inheritance are supplied with a place at court or in the +army; for the girls, thank God, there is no lack of convents, if they +confess our holy religion, and both have expectations from rich aunts +and other blood relations, who die without children." + +"You paint in vivid colors." + +"But they are true, and they all suit the Junker; though to be sure he +need not keep his property for sons, since his wife gave him none. He +met her at court in Brussels, and she came from Parma." + +"Did you know her?" + +"She died before I came to the padrona's house. The two young ladies +grew up without a mother. You have heard that their father would even +attack them, yet he doubtless loved them and would never resolve +to place them in a convent. True, he often felt--at least he freely +admitted it in conversations with her excellenza--that there were more +suitable places for young girls than his castle, where matters went +badly enough, and so he at last sent his oldest daughter to us. My +mistress usually could not endure the society of young girls, but +Fraulein Anna was one of her nearest relatives, and I know she invited +her of her own accord. I can still see in memory the signorina at +sixteen; a sweeter creature, Herr Wilhelm, my eyes have never beheld +before or since, and yet she never remained the same. I have seen her +as soft as Flemish velvet, but at other times she could rage like a +November storm in your country. She was always beautiful as a rose and, +as her mother's old cameriera--she was a native of Lugano--had +brought her up, and the priest who taught her came from Pisa and was +acknowledged to be an excellent musician, she spoke my language like +a child of Tuscany and was perfectly familiar with music. You have +doubtless heard her singing, her harp and lute-playing, but you should +know that all the ladies of the Hoogstraten family, with the exception +of my mistress, possess a special talent for your art. In summer we +lived in the beautiful country-house, that was torn down before the +siege by your friends--with little justice I think. Many a stately guest +rode out to visit us. We kept open house, and where there is a good +table and a beautiful young lady like our signorina, the gallants are +not far off. Among them was a very aristocratic gentleman of middle age, +the Marquis d'Avennes, whom her excellenza had expressly invited. We had +never received any prince with so much attention; but this was a matter +of course, for his mother was a relative of her excellenza. You must +know that my mistress; on her mother's side, is descended from a family +in Normandy. The Marquis d'Avennes was certainly an elegant cavalier, +but rather dainty than manly. He was soon madly in love with Fraulein +Anna, and asked in due form for her hand. Her excellenza favored the +match, and the father said simply: 'You will take him!' He would listen +to no opposition. Other gentlemen don't consult their daughters when a +suitable lover appears. So the signorina became the marquis's betrothed +wife, but the padrona said firmly that her niece was too young to be +married. She induced Junker Van Hoogstraten, whom she held as firmly as +a farrier holds a filly, to defer the wedding until Easter. The outfit +was to be provided during the winter. The condition that he must wait +six months was imposed on the marquis, and he went back to France with +the ring on his finger. His betrothed bride did not shed a single tear +for him, and as soon as he had gone, flung the engagement ring into the +jewel-cup on her dressing-table, before the eyes of the camariera, from +whom I heard the story. She did not venture to oppose her father, +but did not hesitate to express her opinion of the marquis to her +excellenza, and her aunt, though she had favored the Frenchman's suit, +allowed it. Yet there had often been fierce quarrels between the old and +young lady, and if the padrona had had reason to clip the wild falcon's +wings and teach her what is fitting for noble ladies, the signorina +would have been justified in complaining of many an exaction, by which +the padrona had spoiled her pleasure in life. I am sorry to destroy the +confidence of your youth, but whoever grows grey, with his eyes open, +will meet persons who rejoice, nay to whom it is a necessity to injure +others. Yet it is a consolation, that no one is wicked simply for +the sake of wickedness, and I have often found--how shall I express +it?--that the worst impulses arise from the perversion, or even the +excess of the noblest virtues, whose reverse or caricature they become. +I have seen base envy proceed from beautiful ambition, contemptible +avarice from honest emulation, fierce hate from tender love. My +mistress, when she was young, knew how to love truly and faithfully, but +she was shamefully deceived, and now rancor, not against an individual, +but against life, has taken possession of her, and her noble loyalty has +become tenacious adherence to bad wishes. How this has happened you will +learn, if you will continue to listen. + +"When winter came, I was ordered to go to Brussel, and establish the new +household in splendid style. The ladies were to follow me. It was four +years ago. The Duke of Alva then lived as viceroy in Brussels, and this +nobleman held my mistress in high esteem, nay had even twice paid us the +honor of a visit. His aristocratic officers also frequented our house, +among them Don Luis d'Avila, a nobleman of ancient family, who was one +of the duke's favorites. Like the Marquis d'Avennes, he was no longer in +his early youth, but was a man of totally different stamp; tall, strong +as if hammered from steel, a soldier of invincible strength and skill, +a most dreaded seeker of quarrels, but a man whose glowing eyes and +wonderful gift of song must have exerted a mysterious, bewitching power +over women. Dozens of adventures, in which he was said to have taken +part, were told in the servant's hall and half of them had some +foundation of truth, as I afterwards learned by experience. If you +suppose this heart-breaker bore any resemblance to the gay, curly-haired +minions of fortune, on whom young ladies lavish their love, you are +mistaken; Don Luis was a grave man with close-cut hair, who never wore +anything but dark clothes, and even carried a sword, whose hilt, instead +of gold and silver, consisted of blackened metal. He resembled +death much more than blooming love. Perhaps this very thing made him +irresistible, since we are all born for death and no suitor is so sure +of victory as he. + +"The padrona had not been favorably disposed to him at first, but +this mood soon changed, and at New Year's he too was admitted to small +evening receptions of intimate friends. He came whenever we invited him, +but had no word, no look, scarcely a greeting for our young lady. Only +when it pleased the signorina to sing, he went near her and sharply +criticised anything in her execution that chanced to displease him. +He often sang himself too, and then usually chose the same songs as +Fraulein Anna, as if to surpass her by his superior skill. + +"So things went on till the time of the carnival. On Shrove-Tuesday +the padrona gave a large entertainment, and when I led the servants and +stood behind the signorina and Don Luis, to whom her excellenza had long +been in the habit of assigning the seat beside her niece, I noticed that +their hands met under the table and rested in each other's clasp a long +time. My heart was so full of anxiety, that it was very hard for me +to keep the attention so necessary on that evening--and when the next +morning, the padrona summoned me to settle the accounts, I thought it +my duty to modestly remark that Don Luis d'Avila's wooing did not seem +disagreeable to the young lady in spite of her betrothal. She let me +speak, but when I ventured to repeat what people said of the Spaniard, +angrily started up and showed me to the door. A faithful servant often +hears and sees more than his employers suspect, and I had the confidence +of the padrona's foster-sister, who is now dead; but at that time +Susanna knew everything that concerned her mistress. + +"There was a bad prospect for the expectant bridegroom in France, for +whenever the padrona spoke of him, it was with a laugh we knew, and +which boded no good; but she still wrote frequently to the marquis and +his mother, and many a letter from Rochebrun reached our house. To be +sure, her excellenza also gave Don Luis more than one secret audience. + +"During Lent a messenger from Fraulein Van Hoogstraten's father arrived +with the news, that at Easter he, himself, would come to Brussels from +Haarlem, and the marquis from Castle Rochebrun, and on Maundy Thursday +I received orders to dress the private chapel with flowers, engage +posthorses, and do several other things. On Good Friday, the day of our +Lord's crucifixion--I wish I were telling lies--early in the morning of +Good Friday the signorina was dressed in all her bridal finery. Don Luis +appeared clad in black, proud and gloomy as usual, and by candle-light, +before sunrise on a cold, damp morning--it seems to me as if it were +only yesterday--the Castilian was married to our young mistress. The +padrona, a Spanish officer and I were the witnesses. At seven o'clock +the carriage drove up, and after it was packed Don Luis handed me a +little box to put in the vehicle. It was heavy and I knew it well; the +padrona was in the habit of keeping her gold coin in it. At Easter the +whole city learned that Don Luis d'Avila had eloped with the beautiful +Anna Van Hoogstraten, after killing her betrothed bridegroom in a duel +on Maundy-Thursday at Hals on his way to Brussels--scarcely twenty-four +hours before the wedding. + +"I shall never forget how Junker Van Hoogstraten raged. The padrona +refused to see him and pretended to be ill, but she was as well as only +she could be during these last few years." + +"And do you know how to interpret your mistress's mysterious conduct?" +asked Wilhelm. + +"Yes sir; her reasons are perfectly evident. But I must hasten, it is +growing late; besides I cannot tell you minute particulars, for I was +myself a child when the event happened, though Susanna has told me many +things that would probably be worth relating. Her excellenza's mother +was a Chevreaux, and my mistress spent the best years of her life with +her mother's sister, who during the winter lived in Paris. It was in the +reign of the late King Francis, and you doubtless know that this great +Prince was a very gallant gentleman, who was said to have broken as +many hearts as lances. My padrona, who in those days was very beautiful, +belonged to the ladies of his court, and King Francis especially +distinguished her. But the young lady knew how to guard her honor, for +she had early found in the gallant Marquis d'Avennes a knight to whom +she was loyally devoted, and for whom she had wept bitterly many a +night. Like master, like servant, and though the marquis had worn +the young lady's color for years and rendered her every service of an +obedient knight, his eyes and heart often wandered to the right and +left. Yet he always returned to his liege-lady, and when the sixth year +came, the Chevreaux's urged the marquis to put an end to his trifling +and think of marriage. My mistress began to make her preparations, and +Susanna was a witness of her consultation with the marquis about whether +she would keep or sell the Holland estates and castles. But the wedding +did not take place, for the marquis was obliged to go to Italy with the +army and her excellenza lived in perpetual anxiety about him; at that +time the French fared ill in my country, and he often left her whole +months without news. At last he returned and found in the Chevreaux's +house his betrothed wife's little cousin, who had grown up into a +charming young lady. + +"You can imagine the rest. The rose-bud Hortense now pleased the marquis +far better than the Holland flower of five and twenty. The Chevreaux's +were aristocratic but deeply in debt, and the suitor, while fighting in +Italy, had inherited the whole of his uncle's great estate, so they +did not suffer him to sue in vain. My mistress returned to Holland. Her +father challenged the marquis, but no blood was spilled in the duel, and +Monsieur d'Avennes led a happy wedded life with Hortense de Chevreaux. +Her son was the signorina's hapless lover. Do you understand, Herr +Wilhelm? She had nursed and fostered the old grudge for half a life +time; for its sake she had sacrificed her own kinswoman to Don Luis, but +in return she repaid by the death of the only son of a hated mother, the +sorrow she had suffered for years on her account." + +The musician had clenched the handkerchief, with which he had wiped the +perspiration from his brow, closely in his hand, and asked: + +"What more have you heard of Anna?" + +"Very little," replied Belotti. "Her father has torn her from his heart, +and calls Henrica his only daughter. Happiness abandons those who are +burdened by a father's curse, and she certainly did not find it. Don +Luis is said to have been degraded to the rank of ensign on account +of some wild escapades, and who knows what has become of the poor, +beautiful signorina. The padrona sometimes sent money to her in Italy, +by way of Florence, through Signor Lamperi--but I have heard nothing of +her during the last few months." + +"One more question, Belotti," said Wilhelm, "how could Henrica's father +trust her to your mistress, after what had befallen his older daughter +in her house?" + +"Money--miserable money! To keep his castle and not lose his +inheritance, he resigned his child. Yes, sir, the signorina was +bargained for, like a horse, and her father didn't sell her cheap. Drink +some wine, sir, you look ill." + +"It is nothing serious," said Wilhelm, "but the fresh air will probably +do me good. Thanks for your story, Belotti." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +On the afternoon of the sixteenth of May, Burgomaster Van der Werff's +wife was examining chests and boxes. Her husband was at the town-hall, +but had told her that towards evening, the Prince's commissioner, Herr +Dietrich Van Bronkhorst, the two Seigneurs von Nordwyk, the city clerk +Van Hout, and several other heads of municipal affairs and friends of +freedom would meet at his house for a confidential consultation. Maria +had the charge of providing the gentlemen with a nice collation, wine, +and many similar cares. + +This invitation had a very cheering influence on the young wife. It +pleased her to be able to play the hostess, according to the meaning +of the word in her parents' house. How long she had been debarred from +hearing any grave, earnest conversation. True, there had been no lack of +visitors: the friends and relatives of her husband's family, who called +upon her and talked with Barbara, often begged her to come to their +houses; among them were many who showed themselves kindly disposed +and could not help respecting her worth, but not one to whom she was +attracted by any warm affection. Maria, whose life was certainly not +crowded with amusements, dreaded their coming, and when they did call, +endured their presence as an unavoidable evil. The worthy matrons were +all much older than herself and, while sitting over their cakes, stewed +fruit, and hippocras, knitting, spinning or netting, talked of the hard +times during the siege, of the cares of children and servants, +washing and soap-making, or subjected to a rigid scrutiny the numerous +incomprehensible and reprehensible acts other women were said to have +committed, to be committing, or to desire to commit, until Maria's heart +grew heavy and her lonely room seemed to her a peaceful asylum. + +She could find words only when the conversation turned upon the misery +of the country and the sacred duty of bearing every privation a second +time, if necessary for the freedom of the nation, and then she gladly +listened to the sturdy women, who evidently meant what they said; but +when the hours were filled with idle gossip, it caused her actual pain. +Yet she dared not avoid it and was obliged to wait until the departure +of the last acquaintance; for after she had ventured to retire early +several times, Barbara kindly warned her against it, not concealing that +she had had great difficulty in defending her against the reproach of +pride and incivility. + +"Such chat," said the widow, "is pleasant and strengthens the courage, +and whoever leaves the visitors while they are together, can pray the +Lord for a favorable report." + +One lady in Leyden pleased the burgomaster's wife. This was the wife +of Herr Van Hout, the city clerk, but the latter rarely appeared in +company, for though a delicate, aristocratic-looking woman, she was +obliged to be busy from morning till night, to keep the children and +household in good order on a narrow income. + +Maria felt brighter and happier than she had done for many days, as +she stood before the shelf that contained the table-furniture and the +cupboard where the silver was kept. All the handsome dishes belonging to +the house were bright and shining, free from every grain of dust, so too +were the white linen cloths, trimmed with lace. She selected what she +needed, but many of the pewter, glass, and silver articles did not +please her; for they did not match, and she found scratches and cracks +on numerous pieces. + +When her mother had begun to prepare her wedding-outfit, Peter expressed +a desire that in these hard times the money should be kept and no +useless things purchased. There was an abundance of household articles +of every kind in his home, and he would have thought it wrong to buy +even a plate. In fact there was no lack of anything on the shelves +and cupboards, but she had not selected and bought them herself; +they belonged to her, but not entirely, and what was worse, her eyes, +accustomed to prettier things, could find no pleasure in these dull, +scratched pewter plates, these pitchers, cups and tankards painted in +coarse figures with glaring colors. The clumsy glass, too, did not suit +her taste, and, while looking it over and selecting what was necessary, +she could not help thinking of her recently-wedded friends, who, with +sparkling eyes, had showed her their spick-and-span new table-furniture +as proudly and happily, as if each piece had been their own work. But, +even with the articles she possessed, a table could be set very prettily +and daintily. + +She had gone out with Adrian before dinner to cut some flowers in the +garden by the city wall, and also gathered some delicate grasses in the +meadow before the gate. These gifts of May were now tastefully arranged, +mixed with peacock-feathers, and placed in vases, and she was delighted +to see even the clumsiest dishes win a graceful aspect from the garlands +she twined around them. Adrian watched her in astonishment. He would +not have marvelled if, under her hands, the dark dining-room had been +transformed into a hall of mother-of-pearl and crystal. + +When the table was laid, Peter returned home for a moment. He was going +to ride out to Valkenburg with Captain Allertssohn, Janus Dousa, +and other gentlemen, to inspect the fortifications before his guests +appeared. As he passed through the dining-room, he waved his hand to his +wife and glancing over the table, said: + +"This decoration was not necessary, least of all the flowers. We +expect to hold a serious consultation, and you have arranged a +wedding-banquet." + +Perceiving that Maria cast down her eyes, he exclaimed kindly: + +"But it can remain so for aught I care," and left the room. + +Maria stood irresolutely before her work. Bitter emotions were again +beginning to stir in her mind, and she was already extending her hand +defiantly towards one particularly beautiful vase, when Adrian raised +his large eyes to her face, exclaiming in a tone of earnest entreaty: + +"No, mother, you mustn't do that, it looks quite too pretty." + +Maria smiled, passed her hand over the boy's curls, took two cakes from +a dish, gave them to him, and said: + +"One for you, the other for Bessie; our flowers shall stay." + +Adrian hurried off with the sweet gifts, but Maria glanced over the +table once more, saying: + +"Peter never wants anything but what is absolutely necessary; yet +that surely isn't all, or God would have made all the birds with grey +feathers." + +After helping Barbara in the kitchen, she went to her own room. There +she arranged her hair, put a fresh, beautifully-starched ruff around her +neck and carefully-plaited lace in the open bosom of her dress, but wore +her every-day gown, for her husband did not wish to give the assembly at +his house a festal aspect. + +Just as she had put the last gold pin in her hair, and was considering +whether the place of honor at the table belonged to Herr Van Bronkhorst, +as representative of the Prince, or to the older Herr von Nordwyk, +Trautchen knocked at the door and informed her, that Doctor Bontius +wished to see the burgomaster on urgent business. The maid-servant had +told the physician that her master had ridden out, but he would not be +put off, and asked permission to see her mistress. + +Maria instantly went to Peter's room. The doctor seemed to be in haste. +His only greeting was to point with the gold head of his long staff +towards the peaked black hat, that never left his head, even beside the +sickbed, and asked in a curt, hurried tone: + +"When will Meister Peter come home?" + +"In an hour," replied Maria. "Sit down, Doctor." + +"Another time. It will keep me too long to wait for your husband. After +all, you can come with me even without his consent." + +"Certainly; but we are expecting visitors." + +"Yes. If I find time, I shall come too. The gentlemen can do without me, +but you are necessary to the sick person to whom I wish to take you." + +"I have no idea of whom you are speaking." + +"Haven't you? Then once more, it is of some one who is suffering, and +that will be enough for you at first." + +"And you think I could--" + +"You can do far more than you know. Barbara is attending to affairs in +the kitchen, and now I tell you again: You must help a sufferer." + +"But, Doctor--" + +"I must beg you to hurry, for my time is limited. Do you wish to make +yourself useful; yes or no?" The door of the dining-room had remained +open. Maria again glanced at the table, and all the pleasures she had +anticipated this evening passed through her mind. But as the doctor was +preparing to go, she stopped him, saying: + +"I will come." + +The manners of this blunt, but unselfish and clever man were familiar to +Maria who, without waiting for a reply, brought her shawl, and led +the way downstairs. As they passed by the kitchen, Bontius called to +Barbara: + +"Tell Meister Peter, I have taken his wife to see Fraulein Van +Hoogstraten in Nobelstrasse." + +Maria could scarcely keep up with the doctor's rapid strides and had +some difficulty in understanding him, as in broken sentences he told +her that all the Glipper friends of the Hoogstraten family had left the +city, the old Fraulein was dead, the servants had run away from fear of +the plague, which had no existence, and Henrica was now deserted. She +had been very ill with a severe fever, but was much better during the +past few days. "Misfortune has taken up its abode in the Glipper nest," +he added. "The scythe-man did the old lady a favor when he took her. The +French maid, a feeble nonentity, held out bravely, but after watching +a few nights broke down entirely and was to have been carried to St. +Catharine's hospital, but the Italian steward, who is not a bad fellow, +objected and had her taken to a Catholic laundress. He has followed to +nurse her. No one is left in the deserted house to attend to the young +lady, except Sister Gonzaga, a good little nun, one of the three who +were allowed to remain in the old convent near you, but early this +morning, to cap the climax of misfortune, the kind old woman scalded +her fingers while heating a bath. The Catholic priest has faithfully +remained at his post, but what can we men do in nursing the sick girl! +You doubtless now suspect why I brought you with me. You ought not and +cannot become the stranger's nurse permanently; but if the young lady is +not to sink after all, she must now have some face about her which she +can love, and God has blessed you with one. Look at the sick girl, talk +with her, and if you are what I believe you--but here we are." + +The air of the dark entrance hall of the Hoogstraten residence was +filled with a strong odor of musk. The old lady's death had been +instantly announced at the town-hall by Doctor Bontius' representative, +and an armed man was marching up and down in the hall, keeping guard, +who told the physician that Herr Van Hout had already been here with his +men and put seals on all the doors. + +On the staircase Maria seized her guide's arm in terror; for through an +open door-way of the second story, to which she was ascending with her +companion, she saw in the dusk a shapeless figure, moving strangely +hither and thither, up and down. Her tone was by no means confident as, +pointing towards it with her finger, she asked the doctor: + +"What is that?" + +The physician had paused with her, and seeing the strange object to +which the burgomaster's wife pointed, recoiled a step himself. But +the cool-headed man quickly perceived the real nature of the ghostly +apparition, and leading Maria forward exclaimed smiling: + +"What in the world are you doing there on the floor, Father Damianus?" + +"I am scouring the boards," replied the priest quietly. + +"Right is right," cried the doctor indignantly. "You are too good for +maid-servant's work, Father Damianus, especially when there is plenty +of money without an owner here in the house, and we can find as many +scrubbing-women as we want to-morrow." + +"But not to-day, doctor; and the young lady won't stay in yonder room +any longer. You ordered her to go to sleep yourself, and Sister Gonzaga +says she won't close her eyes so long as she is next door to the +corpse." + +"Then Van Hout's men ought to have carried her on her bed into the old +lady's beautiful sitting-room." + +"That's sealed, and so are all the other handsome chambers on this +story. The men were obliging and tried to find scrub-women, but the poor +things are afraid of the plague." + +"Such rumors grow like wire-grass," cried the doctor. "Nobody sows it, +yet who can uproot it when it is once here?" + +"Neither you nor I," replied the priest. "The young lady must be brought +into this room at once; but it looked neglected, so I've just set it to +rights. It will do the invalid good, and the exercise can't hurt me." +With these words Father Damianus rose, and seeing Maria, said: + +"You have brought a new nurse? That's right. I need not praise Sister +Gonzaga, for you know her; but I assure you Fraulein Henrica won't allow +her to remain with her long, and I shall leave this house as soon as the +funeral is over." + +"You have done your duty; but what does this news about the Sister +mean?" cried the physician angrily. "I'd rather have your old Gonzaga +with her burnt fingers than--what has happened?" + +The priest approached and, hastily casting a side glance at the +burgomaster's wife, exclaimed: + +"She speaks through her nose, and Fraulein Henrica said just now it made +her ache to hear her talk; I must keep her away." + +Doctor Bontius reflected a moment, and then said: "There are eyes that +cannot endure a glare of light, and perhaps certain tones may seem +unbearable to irritated ears. Frau Van der Werff, you have been kept +waiting a long time, please follow me." + +It had grown dark. The curtains of the sick-room were lowered and a +small lamp, burning behind a screen, shed but a feeble light. + +The doctor approached the bed, felt Henrica's pulse, said a few words in +a low tone to prepare her for her visitor, and then took the lamp to see +how the invalid looked. + +Maria now beheld a pale face with regular outline, whose dark eyes, +in their size and lustre, formed a striking contrast to the emaciated +cheeks and sunken features of the sick girl. + +After old Sister Gonzaga had restored the lamp to its former place, the +physician said: + +"Excellent! Now, Sister, go and change the bandage on your arm and lie +down." Then he beckoned Maria to approach. + +Henrica's face made a strange impression upon the burgomaster's wife. +She thought her beautiful, but the large eyes and firmly-shut lips +seemed peculiar, rather than attractive. Yet she instantly obeyed the +physician's summons, approached the bed, said kindly that she had been +glad to come to stay with her a short time, and asked what she desired. + +At these words, Henrica raised herself and with a sigh of relief, +exclaimed: + +"That does me good! Thanks, Doctor. That's a human voice again. If you +want to please me, Frau Van der Werff keep on talking, no matter what +you say. Please come and sit down here. With Sister Gonzaga's hands, +your voice, and the doctor's--yes, I will say with Doctor Bontius' +candor, it won't be difficult to recover entirely." + +"Good, good," murmured the physician. "Kind Sister Gonzaga's injuries +are not serious and she will stay with you, but when it is time for you +to sleep, you will be moved elsewhere. You can remain here an hour, Frau +Van der Werff, but that will be enough for to-day. I'll go to your house +and send the servant for you with a lantern." + +When the two ladies were left alone together, Maria said: + +"You set great value on the sound of voices; so do I, perhaps more than +is desirable. True, I have never had any serious illness--" + +"This is my first one too," replied Henrica, "but I know now what it +is to be compelled to submit to everything we don't like, and feel with +two-fold keenness everything that is repulsive. It is better to die than +suffer." + +"Your aunt is dead," said Maria sympathizingly. + +"She died early this morning. We had little in common save the tie of +blood." + +"Are your parents no longer living?" + +"Only my father; but what of that?" + +"He will rejoice over your recovery; Doctor Bontius says you will soon +be perfectly well." + +"I think so too," replied Henrica confidently, and then said softly, +without heeding Maria's presence: "There is one beautiful thing. When I +am well again, I shall once more--Do you practise music?" + +"Yes, dear Fraulein." + +"Not merely as a pastime, but because you feel you cannot live without +it?" + +"You must keep quiet, Fraulein. Music;--yes, I think my life would be +far poorer without it than it is." + +"Do you sing?" + +"Very seldom here; but when a girl in Delft we sung every day." + +"Of course you were the soprano?" + +"Yes, Fraulein." + +"Let the Fraulein drop, and call me Henrica." + +"With all my heart, if you will call me Maria, or Frau Maria." + +"I'll try. Don't you think we could practise many a song together?" + +Just as these words were uttered, Sister Gonzaga entered the room, +saying that the wife of Receiver General Cornelius had called to ask if +she could do anything for the sick lady. + +"What does that mean?" asked Henrica angrily. "I don't know the woman." + +"She is the mother of Herr Wilhelm, the musician," said the young wife. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Henrica. "Shall I admit her, Maria?" + +The latter shook her head and answered firmly "No, Fraulein Henrica. +It is not good for you to have more than one visitor at this hour, and +besides--" + +"Well?" + +"She is an excellent woman, but I fear her blunt manner, heavy step, and +loud voice would not benefit you just now. Let me go to her and ask what +she desires." + +"Receive her kindly, and tell her to remember me to her son. I am not +very delicate, but I see you understand me; such substantial fare would +hardly suit me just now." + +After Maria had performed her errand and talked with Henrica for a time, +Frau Van Hout was announced. Her husband, who had been present when the +doors of the house of death were sealed, had told her about the invalid +and she came to see if the poor girl needed anything. + +"You might receive her," said Maria, "for she would surely please you; +but the bell is ringing again, and you have talked enough for to-day. +Try to sleep now. I'll go home with Frau Van Hout and come again +tomorrow, if agreeable to you." + +"Come, pray come!" exclaimed the young girl. + +"Do you want to say anything more to me?" + +"I should like to do so, Fraulein Henrica. You ought not to stay in this +sad house. There is plenty of room in ours. Will you be our guest until +your father--" + +"Yes, take me home with you!" cried the invalid, tears sparkling in her +eyes. "Take me away from here, only take me away--and I will be grateful +to you all my life." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Maria had not mounted the stairs so joyously for weeks as she did +to-day. She would have sung, had it been seemly, though she felt a +little anxious; for perhaps her husband would not think she had done +right to invite, on her own authority, a stranger, especially a sick +stranger, who was a friend of Spain, to be their guest. + +As she passed the dining-room, she heard the gentlemen consulting +together. Then Peter began to speak. She noticed the pleasant depth of +his voice, and said to herself that Henrica would like to hear it. A few +minutes after she entered the apartment, to greet her husband's guests, +who were also hers. Joyous excitement and the rapid walk through the air +of the May evening, which, though the day had been warm, was still cool, +had flushed her cheeks and, as she modestly crossed the threshold with +a respectful greeting, which nevertheless plainly revealed the pleasure +afforded by the visit of such guests, she looked so winning and lovely, +that not a single person present remained unmoved by the sight. The +older Herr Van der Does clapped Peter on the shoulder and then struck +the palm of his hand with his fist, as if to say: "I won't question +that!" Janus Dousa whispered gaily to Van Hout, who was a good Latin +scholar: + +"Oculi sunt in amore duces." + +Captain Allertssohn started up and raised his hand to his hat with +a military salute; Van Bronkhorst, the Prince's Commissioner, gave +expression to his feelings in a courtly bow, Doctor Bontius smiled +contentedly, like a person who has successfully accomplished a hazardous +enterprise, and Peter proudly and happily strove to attract his wife's +attention to himself. But this was not to be, for as soon as Maria +perceived that she was the mark for so many glances, she lowered her +eyes with a deep blush, and then said far more firmly than would have +been expected from her timid manner: + +"Welcome, gentlemen! My greeting comes late, but I would have gladly +offered it earlier." + +"I can bear witness to that," cried Doctor Bontius, rising and shaking +hands with Maria more cordially than ever before. Then he motioned +towards Peter, and exclaimed to the assembled guests: "Will you excuse +the burgomaster for a moment?" + +As soon as he stood apart with the husband and wife at the door, he +began: + +"You have invited a new visitor to the house, Frau Van der Werff; I +won't drink another drop of Malmsey, if I'm mistaken." + +"How do you know?" asked Maria gaily. "I see it in your face." + +"And the young lady shall be cordially welcome to me," added Peter. + +"Then you know?" asked Maria. + +"The doctor did not conceal his conjecture from me." + +"Why yes, the sick girl will be glad to come to us, and to-morrow--" + +"No, I'll send for her to-day," interrupted Peter. "To-day? But dear +me! It's so late; perhaps she is asleep, the gentlemen are here, and our +spare bed--" exclaimed Maria, glancing disapprovingly and irresolutely +from the physician to her husband. + +"Calm yourself; child," replied Peter. "The doctor has ordered a covered +litter from St. Catharine's hospital, Jan and one of the city-guard will +carry her, and Barbara has nothing more to do in the kitchen and is now +preparing her own chamber for her." + +"And," chimed in the physician, "perhaps the sick girl may find sleep +here. Besides, it will be far more agreeable to her pride to be carried +through the streets unseen, under cover of the darkness." + +"Yes, yes," said Maria sadly, "that may be so; but I had been +thinking--People ought not to do anything too hastily." + +"Will you be glad to receive the young lady as a guest?" asked Peter. + +"Why, certainly." + +"Then we won't do things by halves, but show her all the kindness in our +power. There is Barbara beckoning; the litter has come, Doctor. Guide +the nocturnal procession in God's name, but don't keep us waiting too +long." + +The burgomaster returned to his seat, and Bontius left the room. + +Maria followed him. In the entry, he laid his hand on her arm and asked: + +"Will you know next time, what I expect from you?" + +"No," replied the burgomaster's wife, in a tone which sounded gay, +though it revealed the disappointment she felt; "no--but you have +taught me that you are a man who understands how to spoil one's best +pleasures." + +"I will procure you others," replied the doctor laughing and descended +the stairs. He was Peter's oldest friend, and had made many objections +to the burgomaster's marriage with a girl so many years his junior, in +these evil times, but to-day he showed himself satisfied with Van der +Werff's choice. + +Maria returned to the guests, filled and offered glasses of wine to +the gentlemen, and then went to her sister-in-law's room, to help her +prepare everything for the sick girl as well as possible. She did not do +so unwillingly, but it seemed as if she would have gone to the work with +far greater pleasure early the next morning. + +Barbara's spacious chamber looked out upon the court-yard. No sound +could be heard there of the conversation going on between the gentlemen +in the dining-room, yet it was by no means quiet among these men who, +though animated by the same purpose, differed widely about the ways and +means of bringing it to a successful issue. + +There they sat, the brave sons of a little nation, the stately leaders +of a small community, poor in numbers and means of defence, which had +undertaken to bid defiance to the mightiest power and finest armies of +its age. They knew that the storm-clouds, which had been threatening for +weeks on the horizon, would rise faster and faster, mass together, +and burst in a furious tempest over Leyden, for Herr Van der Werff had +summoned them to his house because a letter addressed to himself and +Commissioner Van Bronkhorst by the Prince, contained tidings, that the +Governor of King Philip of Spain had ordered Senor del Campo Valdez +to besiege Leyden a second time and reduce it to subjection. They were +aware, that William of Orange could not raise an army to divert the +hostile troops from their aim or relieve the city before the lapse of +several months; they had experienced how little aid was to be expected +from the Queen of England and the Protestant Princes of Germany, while +the horrible fate of Haarlem, a neighboring and more powerful city, +rose as a menacing example before their eyes. But they were conscious of +serving a good cause, relied upon the faith, courage and statesmanship +of Orange, were ready to die rather than allow themselves to be enslaved +body and soul by the Spanish tyrant. Their belief in God's justice was +deep and earnest, and each individual possessed a joyous confidence in +his own resolute, manly strength. + +In truth, the men who sat around the table, so daintily decked with +flowers by a woman's hand, understood how to empty the large fluted +goblets so nimbly, that jug after jug of Peter's Malmsey and Rhine wine +were brought up from the cellar, the men who made breaches in the round +pies and huge joints of meat, juicier and more nourishing than any +country except theirs can furnish--did not look as if pallid fear had +brought them together. + +The hat is the sign of liberty, and the free man keeps his hat on. So +some of the burgomaster's guests sat at the board with covered heads, +and how admirably the high plaited cap of dark-red velvet, with its rich +ornaments of plumes, suited the fresh old face of the senior Seigneur of +Nordwyk and the clever countenance of his nephew Janus Dousa; how well +the broad-brimmed hat with blue and orange ostrich-feathers--the colors +of the House of Orange--became the waving locks of the young Seigneur +of Warmond, Jan Van Duivenvoorde. How strongly marked and healthful were +the faces of the other men assembled here! Few countenances lacked ruddy +color, and strong vitality, clear intellect, immovable will and firm +resolution flashed from many blue eyes around the table. Even the +black-robed magistrates, whose plaited ruffs and high white collars +were very becoming, did not look as if the dust of documents had injured +their health. The moustaches and beards on the lips of each, gave them +also a manly appearance. They were all joyously ready to sacrifice +themselves and their property for a great spiritual prize, yet looked as +if they had a firm foothold in the midst of life; their hale, sensible +faces showed no traces of enthusiasm; only the young Seigneur of +Warmond's eyes sparkled with a touch of this feeling, while Janus +Dousa's glance often seemed turned within, to seek things hidden in +his own heart; and at such moments his sharply-cut, irregular features +possessed a strange charm. + +The broad, stout figure of Commissioner Van Bronkhorst occupied a +great deal of room. His body was by no means agile, but from the +round, closely shaven head looked forth a pair of prominent eyes, that +expressed unyielding resolution. + +The brightly-lighted table, around which such guests had gathered, +presented a gay, magnificent spectacle. The yellow leather of the +doublets worn by Junker von Warmond, Colonel Mulder, and Captain +Allertssohn, the colored silk scarfs that adorned them, and the scarlet +coat of brave Dirk Smaling contrasted admirably with the deep black +robes of Pastor Verstroot, the burgomaster, the city clerk, and their +associates! The violet of the commissioner's dress and the dark hues of +the fur-bordered surcoats worn by the elder Herr Van der Does and +Herr Van Montfort blended pleasantly and harmonized the light and dark +shades. Everything sorrowful seemed to have been banished far from +this brilliant, vigorous round table, so words flowed freely and voices +sounded full and strong enough. + +Danger was close at hand. The Spanish vanguard might appear before +Leyden any day. Many preparations were made. English auxiliaries were +to garrison the fortifications of Alfen and defend the Gouda lock. The +defensive works of Valkenburg had been strengthened and entrusted to +other British troops, the city soldiers, the militia and volunteers were +admirably drilled. They did not wish to admit foreign troops within the +walls, for during the first siege they had proved far more troublesome +than useful, and there was little reason to fear that a city guarded by +water, walls and trees would be taken by storm. + +What most excited the gentlemen was the news Van Hout had brought. Rich +Herr Baersdorp, one of the four burgomasters, who had the largest grain +business in Leyden, had undertaken to purchase considerable quantities +of bread-stuffs in the name of the city. Several ship loads of wheat +and rye had been delivered by him the day before, but he was still in +arrears with three-quarters of what was ordered. He openly said that +he had as yet given no positive orders for it, because owing to the +prospect of a good harvest, a fall in the price of grain was expected +in the exchanges of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, and he would still have +several weeks time before the commencement of the new blockade. + +Van Hout was full of indignation, especially as two out of the four +burgomasters sided with their colleague Baersdorp. + +The elder Herr von Nordwyk agreed with him, exclaiming: + +"With all due respect to your dignity, Herr Peter, your three companions +in office belong to the ranks of bad friends, who would willingly be +exchanged for open enemies." + +"Herr von Noyelles," said Colonel Mulder, "has written about them to the +Prince, the good and truthful words, that they ought to be sent to the +gallows." + +"And they will suit them," cried Captain Allertssohn, "so long as +hangmen's nooses and traitors' necks are made for each other." + +"Traitors--no," said Van der Werff resolutely. "Call them cowards, call +them selfish and base-minded--but not one of them is a Judas." + +"Right, Meister Peter, that they certainly are not, and perhaps even +cowardice has nothing to do with their conduct," added Herr von Nordwyk. +"Whoever has eyes to see and ears to hear, knows the views of the +gentlemen belonging to the old city families, who are reared from +infancy as future magistrates; and I speak not only of Leyden, but the +residents of Gouda and Delft, Rotterdam and Dortrecht. Among a hundred, +sixty would bear the Spanish yoke, even do violence to conscience, if +only their liberties and rights were guaranteed. The cities must rule +and they themselves in them; that is all they desire. Whether people +preach sermons or read mass in the church, whether a Spaniard or a +Hollander rules, is a matter of secondary importance to them. I except +the present company, for you would not be here, gentlemen, if your views +were similar to those of the men of whom I speak." + +"Thanks for those words," said Dirk Smaling, "but with all due honor to +your opinion, you have painted matters in too dark colors. May I ask if +the nobles do not also cling to their rights and liberties?" + +"Certainly, Herr Dirk; but they are commonly of longer date than yours," +replied Van Bronkhorst. "The nobleman needs a ruler. He is a lustreless +star, if the sun that lends him light is lacking. I, and with me all the +nobles who have sworn fealty to him, now believe that our sun must +and can be no other person than the Prince of Orange, who is one of +ourselves, knows, loves, and understands us; not Philip, who has no +comprehension of what is passing within and around us, is a foreigner +and detests us. We will uphold William with our fortunes and our lives +for, as I have already said, we need a sun, that is, a monarch--but the +cities think they have power to shine and wish to be admired as bright +stars themselves. True, they feel that, in these troublous times, the +country needs a leader, and that they can find no better, wiser and more +faithful one than Orange; but if it comes to pass--and may God grant +it--that the Spanish yoke is broken, the noble William's rule will seem +wearisome, because they enjoy playing sovereign themselves. In short: +the cities endure a ruler, the nobles gather round him and need him. +No real good will be accomplished until noble, burgher and peasant +cheerfully yield to him, and unite to battle under his leadership for +the highest blessings of life." + +"Right," said Van flout. "The well-disposed nobility may well serve as +an example to the governing classes here and in the other cities, but +the people, the poor hard-working people, know what is coming and, +thank God, have not yet lost a hearty love for what you call the highest +blessings of life. They wish to be and remain Hollanders, curse the +Spanish butchers with eloquent hatred, desire to serve God according +to the yearning of their own souls, and believe what their own hearts +dictate-and these men call the Prince their Father William. Wait a +little! As soon as trouble oppresses us, the poor and lowly will stand +firm, if the rich and great waver and deny the good cause." + +"They are to be trusted," said Van der Werff, "firmly trusted." + +"And because I know them," cried Van Hout, "we shall conquer, with God's +assistance, come what may." Janus Dousa had been looking into his glass. +Now he raised his head and with a hasty gesture, said: + +"Strange that those who toil for existence with their hands, and whose +uncultured brains only move when their daily needs require it, are most +ready to sacrifice the little they possess, for spiritual blessings." + +"Yes," said the pastor, "the kingdom of heaven stands open to the +simple-hearted. It is strange that the poor and unlearned value +religion, liberty and their native land far more than the perishable +gifts of this world, the golden calf around which the generations +throng." + +"My companions are not flattered to-day," replied Dirk Smaling; "but +I beg you to remember in our favor, that we are playing a great and +dangerous game, and property-holders must supply the lion's share of the +stake." + +"By no means," retorted Van Hout, "the highest stake for which the die +will be cast is life, and this has the same value to rich and poor. +Those who will hold back--I think I know them--have no plain motto or +sign, but a proud escutcheon over their doors. Let us wait." + +"Yes, let us wait," said Van der Werff; "but there are more important +matters to be considered now. Day after to-morrow will be Ascension +Day, when the bells will ring for the great fair. More than one foreign +trader and traveller has passed through the gates yesterday and the +day before. Shall we order the booths to be set up, or have the fair +deferred until some other time? If the enemy hastens his march, there +will be great confusion, and we shall perhaps throw a rich prize into +his hands. Pray give me your opinion, gentlemen." + +"The traders ought to be protected from loss and the fair postponed," +said Dirk Smaling. + +"No," replied Van Hout, "for if this prohibition is issued, we shall +deprive the small merchants of considerable profit and prematurely damp +their courage." + +"Let them have their festival," cried Janus Dousa. "We mustn't do coming +trouble the favor of spoiling the happy present on its account. If you +want to act wisely, follow the advice of Horace." + +"The Bible also teaches that 'sufficient unto the day is the evil +thereof,'" added the pastor, and Captain Allertssohn exclaimed: + +"On my life, yes! My soldiers, the city-guard and volunteers must have +their parade. Marching in full uniform, with all their weapons, while +beautiful eyes smile upon them, the old wave greetings, and children run +before with exultant shouts, a man learns to feel himself a soldier for +the first time." + +So it was determined to let the fair be held. While other questions were +being eagerly discussed, Henrica found a loving welcome in Barbara's +pleasant room. When she had fallen asleep, Maria went back to her +guests, but did not again approach the table; for the gentlemen's cheeks +were flushed and they were no longer speaking in regular order, but each +was talking about whatever he chose. The burgomaster was discussing with +Van Hout and Van Bronkhorst the means of procuring a supply of grain for +the city, Janus Dousa and Herr von Warmond were speaking of the poem the +city clerk had repeated at the last meeting of the poets' club, Herr Van +der Does senior and the pastor were arguing about the new rules of +the church, and stout Captain Allertssohn, before whom stood a huge +drinking-horn drained to the dregs, had leaned his forehead on Colonel +Mulder's shoulder and, as usual when he felt particularly happy over his +wine, was shedding tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +The next day after the meeting of the council, Burgomaster Van der +Werff, Herr Van Hout, and a notary, attended by two constables, went to +Nobelstrasse to set old Fraulein Van Hoogstraten's property in order. +The fathers of the city had determined to seize the Glippers' abandoned +dwellings and apply the property found in them to the benefit of the +common cause. + +The old lady's hostility to the patriots was known to all, and as her +nearest relatives, Herr Van Hoogstraten and Matanesse Van Wibisma, had +been banished from Leyden, the duty of representing the heirs fell upon +the city. It was to be expected that only notorious Glippers would +be remembered in the dead woman's will, and if this was the case, the +revenue from the personal and real estate would fall to the city, until +the deserters mended their ways, and adopted a course of conduct that +would permit the magistrates to again open their gates to them. Whoever +continued to cling to the Spaniards and oppose the cause of liberty, +would forfeit his share of the inheritance. This was no new procedure. +King Philip had taught its practice, nay not only the estates of +countless innocent persons who had been executed, banished or gone into +voluntary exile for the sake of the new religion, but also the property +of good Catholic patriots had been confiscated for his benefit. After +being anvil so many years, it is pleasant to play hammer; and if +that was not always done in a proper and moderate way, people excused +themselves on the ground of having experienced a hundred-fold harsher +and more cruel treatment from the Spaniards. It might have been +unchristian to repay in the same coin, but they dealt severe blows only +in mortal conflict, and did not seek the Glippers' lives. + +At the door of the house of death, the magistrates met the musician +Wilhelm Corneliussohn and his mother, who had come to offer Henrica +a hospitable reception in their house. The mother, who had at first +refused to extend her love for her neighbor to the young Glipper girl, +now found it hard to be deprived of the opportunity to do a good work, +and gave expression to these feelings in the sturdy fashion peculiar to +her. + +Belotti was standing in the entry, no longer attired in the silk hose +and satin-bordered cloth garments of the steward, but in a plain burgher +dress. He told the musician and Peter, that he remained in Leyden +principally because he could not bear to leave the sick maid, Denise, +in the lurch; but other matters also detained him, especially, though he +was reluctant to acknowledge it, the feeling, strengthened by long years +of service, that he belonged to the Hoogstraten house. The dead woman's +attorney had said that his account books were in good order, and +willingly paid the balance due him. His savings had been well invested, +and as he never touched the interest, but added to the capital, had +considerably increased. Nothing detained him in Leyden, yet he could not +leave it until everything was settled in the house where he had so long +ruled. + +He had daily inquired for the sick lady, and after her death, though +Denise began to recover, still lingered in Leyden; he thought it his +duty to show the last honors to the dead by attending her funeral. + +The magistrates were glad to find Belotti in the house. The notary had +managed his little property, and respected him as an honest man. He +now asked him to act as guide to his companions and himself. The most +important matter was to find the dead woman's will. Such a document must +be in existence, for up to the day after Henrica's illness it had been +in the lawyer's possession, but was then sent for by the old lady, who +desired to make some changes in it. He could give no information about +its contents, for his dead partner, whose business had fallen to him, +had assisted in drawing it up. + +The steward first conducted the visitors to the padrona's sitting-room +and boudoir, but though they searched the writing-tables, chests and +drawers, and discovered many letters, money and valuable jewels in boxes +and caskets, the document was not found. + +The gentlemen thought it was concealed in a secret drawer, and ordered +one of the constables to call a locksmith. Belotti allowed this to be +done, but meantime listened with special attention to the low chanting +that issued from the bedroom where the old lady's body lay. He knew that +the will would most probably be found there, but was anxious to have the +priest complete the consecration of his mistress undisturbed. As soon +as all was still in the death-chamber, he asked the gentlemen to follow +him. + +The lofty apartment into which he led them, was filled with the odor +of incense. A large bedstead, over which a pointed canopy of heavy silk +rose to the ceiling, stood at the back, the coffin in which the dead +woman lay had been placed in the middle of the room. A linen cloth, +trimmed with lace, covered the face. The delicate hands, still +unwrinkled, were folded, and lightly clasped a well-worn rosary. The +lifeless form was concealed beneath a costly coverlid, in the centre of +which lay an exquisitely-carved ivory crucifix. + +The visitors bowed mutely before the corpse. Belotti approached it and, +as he saw the padrona's well-known hands, a convulsive sob shook the old +man's breast. Then he knelt beside the coffin, pressed his lips, to the +cold, slender fingers, and a warm tear, the only one shed for this dead +form, fell on the hands now clasped forever. + +The burgomaster and his companion did not interrupt him, even when +he laid his forehead upon the wood of the coffin and uttered a brief, +silent prayer. After he had risen, and an elderly priest in the +sacerdotal robes had left the room, Father Damianus beckoned to the +acolytes, with whom he had lingered in the background, and aided by +them and Belotti put the lid on the coffin, then turned to Peter Van der +Werff, saying: + +"We intend to bury Fraulein Van Hoogstraten at midnight, that no offence +may be given." + +"Very well, sir!" replied the burgomaster. "Whatever may happen, we +shall not expel you from the city. Of course, if you prefer to go to the +Spaniards--" + +Damianus shook his head and, interrupting the burgomaster, answered +modestly: + +"No, sir; I am a native of Utrecht and will gladly pray for the liberty +of Holland." + +"There, there!" exclaimed Van Hout. "Those were good words, admirable +words! Your hand, Father." + +"There it is; and, so long as you don't change the 'haec libertatis +ergo' on your coins to 'haec religionis ergo,' not one of those words +need be altered." + +"A free country and in it religious liberty for each individual, even +for you and your followers," said the burgomaster, "is what we desire. +Doctor Bontius has spoken of you, worthy man; you have cared well for +this dead woman. Bury her according to the customs of your church; we +have come to arrange the earthly possessions she leaves behind. Perhaps +this casket may contain the will." + +"No, sir," replied the priest. "She opened the sealed paper in my +presence, when she was first taken sick, and wrote a few words whenever +she felt stronger. An hour before her end, she ordered the notary to +be sent for, but when he came life had departed. I could not remain +constantly beside the corpse, so I locked up the paper in the linen +chest. There is the key." + +The opened will was soon found. The burgomaster quietly unfolded it, +and, while reading its contents aloud, the notary and city clerk looked +over his shoulder. + +The property was to be divided among various churches and convents, +where masses were to be read for her soul, and her nearest blood +relations. Belotti and Denise received small legacies. + +"It is fortunate," exclaimed Van Hout, "that this paper is a piece of +paper and nothing more." + +"The document has no legal value whatever," added the notary, "for it +was taken from me and opened with the explicit statement, that changes +were to be made. Here is a great deal to be read on the back." + +The task, that the gentlemen now undertook, was no easy one, for the +sick woman had scrawled short notes above and below, hither and thither, +on the blank back of the document, probably to assist her memory while +composing a new will. + +At the very top a crucifix was sketched with an unsteady hand, and +below it the words: "Pray for us! Everything shall belong to holy Mother +Church." + +Farther down they read: "Nico, I like the lad. The castle on the downs. +Ten thousand gold florins in money. To be secured exclusively to him. +His father is not to touch it. Make the reason for disinheriting him +conspicuous. Van Vliet of Haarlem was the gentleman whose daughter my +cousin secretly wedded. On some pitiful pretext he deserted her, to form +another marriage. If he has forgotten it, I have remembered and would +fain impress it upon him. Let Nico pay heed: False love is poison. My +life has been ruined by it--ruined." + +The second "ruined" was followed by numerous repetitions of the same +word. The last one, at the very end of the sentence, had been ornamented +with numerous curves and spirals by the sick woman's pen. + +On the right-hand margin of the sheet stood a series of short notes + +"Ten thousand florins to Anna. To be secured to herself. Otherwise they +will fall into the clutches of that foot-pad, d'Avila. + +"Three times as much to Henrica. Her father will pay her the money--from +the sum he owes me. Where he gets it is his affair. Thus the account +with him would be settled. + +"Belotti has behaved badly. He shall be passed over. + +"Denise may keep what was given her." + +In the middle of the paper, written in large characters, twice and +thrice underlined, was the sentence: "The ebony-casket with the +Hoogstraten and d'Avila arms on the lid is to be sent to the widow of +the Marquis d'Avennes. Forward it to Chateau Rochebrun in Normandy." + +The men, who had mutually deciphered these words, looked at each other +silently, until Van Hout exclaimed: + +"What a confused mixture of malice and feminine weakness. Let a woman's +heart seem ever so cold; glacier flowers will always be found in it." + +"I'm sorry for the young lady in your house, Herr Peter," cried the +notary, "it would be easier to get sparks from rye-bread, than such +a sum from the debt-laden poor devil. The daughter's portion will +be curtailed by the father; that's what I call bargaining between +relations." + +"What can be in the casket?" asked the notary. + +"There it is," cried Van Hout. + +"Bring it here, Belotti." + +"We must open it," said the lawyer, "perhaps she is trying to convey her +most valuable property across the frontiers." + +"Open it? Contrary to the dead woman's express desire?" asked Van der +Werff. + +"Certainly!" cried the notary. "We were sent here to ascertain the +amount of the inheritance. The lid is fastened. Take the picklock, +Meister. There, it is open." The city magistrates found no valuables +in the casket, merely letters of different dates. There were not many. +Those at the bottom, yellow with age, contained vows of love from the +Marquis d'Avennes, the more recent ones were brief and, signed Don Louis +d'Avila. Van Hout, who understood the Castilian language in which they +were written, hastily read them. As he was approaching the end of the +last one, he exclaimed with lively indignation: + +"We have here the key of a rascally trick in our hands! Do you remember +the excitement aroused four years ago by the duel, in which the Marquis +d'Avennes fell a victim to a Spanish brawler? The miserable bravo +writes in this letter that he has.... It will be worth the trouble; I'll +translate it for you. The first part of the note is of no importance; +but now comes the point: 'And now, after having succeeded in crossing +swords with the marquis and killing him, not without personal danger, +a fate he has doubtless deserved, since he aroused your displeasure +to such a degree, the condition you imposed upon me is fulfilled, and +to-morrow I hope through your favor to receive the sweetest reward. Tell +Donna Anna, my adored betrothed, that I would fain lead her to the +altar early to-morrow morning, for the d'Avennes are influential and the +following day my safety will perhaps be imperilled. As for the rest, I +hope I may be permitted to rely upon the fairness and generosity of my +patroness." + +Van Hout flung the letter on the table, exclaiming "See, what a dainty +hand the bravo writes. And, Jove's thunder, the lady to whom this +plotted murder was to have been sent, is doubtless the mother of the +unfortunate marquis, whom the Spanish assassin slew." + +"Yes, Herr Van Hout," said Belotti, "I can confirm your supposition. The +marquise was the wife of the man, who broke his plighted faith to the +young Fraulein Van Hoogstraten. She, who lies there, saw many suns rise +and set, ere her vengeance ripened." + +"Throw the scrawl into the fire!" cried Van Hout impetuously. + +"No," replied Peter. "We will not send the letters, but you must keep +them in the archives. God's mills grind slowly, and who knows what good +purpose these sheets may yet serve." + +The city clerk nodded assent and folding the papers, said: "I think the +dead woman's property will be an advantage to the city." + +"The Prince will dispose of it," replied Van der Werff. "How long have +you served this lady, Belotti?" + +"Fifteen years." + +"Then remain in Leyden for a time. I think you may expect the legacy she +originally left you. I will urge your claim." + +A few hours before the nocturnal burial of old Fraulein Van Hoogstraten, +Herr Matanesse Van Wibisma and his son Nicolas appeared before the city, +but were refused admittance by the men who guarded the gates, although +both appealed to their relative's death. Henrica's father did not come, +he had gone several days before to attend a tourney at Cologne. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +Between twelve and one o'clock on the 26th of May, Ascension-Day, +the ringing of bells announced the opening of the great fair. The old +circuit of the boundaries of the fields had long since given place to +a church festival, but the name of "Ommegang" remained interwoven with +that of the fair, and even after the new religion had obtained the +mastery, all sorts of processions took place at the commencement of the +fair. + +In the days of Catholic rule the cross had been borne through the +streets in a soleum procession, in which all Leyden took part, now the +banners of the city and standards bearing the colors of the House of +Orange headed the train, followed by the nobles on horseback, the city +magistrates in festal array, the clergy in black robes, the volunteers +in magnificent uniforms, the guilds with their emblems, and long joyous +ranks of school-children. Even the poorest people bought some thing new +for their little ones on this day. Never did mothers braid their young +daughters' hair more carefully, than for the procession at the opening +of the fair. Spite of the hard times, many a stiver was taken from +slender purses for fresh ribbons and new shoes, becoming caps and +bright-hued stockings. The spring sunshine could be reflected from the +little girls' shining, smoothly-combed hair, and the big boys and little +children looked even gayer than the flowers in Herr Van Montfort's +garden, by which the procession was obliged to pass. Each wore a sprig +of green leaves in his cap beside the plume, and the smaller the boy, +the larger the branch. There was no lack of loud talk and merry shouts, +for every child that passed its home called to its mother, grandparents, +and the servants, and when one raised its voice many others instantly +followed. The grown people too were not silent, and as the procession +approached the town-hall, head-quarters of military companies, +guild-halls or residences of popular men, loud cheers arose, mingled +with the ringing of bells, the shouts of the sailors on both arms of the +Rhine and on the canals, the playing of the city musicians at the street +corners, and the rattle of guns and roar of cannon fired by the gunners +and their assistants from the citadel. It was a joyous tumult in jocund +spring! These merry mortals seemed to lull themselves carelessly in the +secure enjoyment of peace and prosperity, and how blue the sky was, how +warmly and brightly the sun shone! The only grave, anxious faces were +among the magistrates; but the guilds and the children behind did not +see them, so the rejoicings continued without interruption until the +churches received the procession, and words so earnest and full of +warning echoed from the pulpits, that many grew thoughtful. + +All three phases of time belong to man, the past to the graybeard, the +future to youth, and the present to childhood. What cared the little +boys and girls of Leyden, released from school during the fair, for +the peril close at hand? Whoever, on the first day and during the great +linen-fair on Friday and the following days, received spending money +from parents or godparents, or whoever had eyes to see, ears to hear, +and a nose to smell, passed through the rows of booths with his or her +companions, stopped before the camels and dancing-bears, gazed into +the open taverns, where not only lads and lasses, but merry old +people whirled in the dance to the music of bagpipes, clarionets and +violins--examined gingerbread and other dainties with the attention +of an expert, or obeyed the blasts of the trumpet, by which the quack +doctor's negro summoned the crowd. + +Adrian, the burgomaster's son, also strolled day after day, alone or +with his companions, through the splendors of the fair, often grasping +with the secure sense of wealth the leather purse that hung at his +belt, for it contained several stivers, which had flowed in from various +sources; his father, his mother, Barbara and his godmother. Captain Van +Duivenvoorde, his particular friend, on whose noble horse he had often +ridden, had taken him three times into a wafer booth, where he eat till +he was satisfied, and thus, even on the Tuesday after Ascension-Day, his +little fortune was but slightly diminished. He intended to buy something +very big and sensible: a knight's sword or a cross-bow; perhaps +even--but this thought seemed like an evil temptation--the ginger-cake +covered with almonds, which was exhibited in the booth of a Delft +confectioner. He and Bessie could surely nibble for weeks upon this +giant cake, if they were economical, and economy is an admirable virtue. +Something must at any rate be spared for "little brothers,"--[A kind +of griddle or pancake.]--the nice spiced cakes which were baked in many +booths before the eyes of the passers-by. + +On Tuesday afternoon his way led him past the famous Rotterdam +cake-shop. Before the door of the building, made of boards lightly +joined together and decked with mirrors and gay pictures, a stout, +pretty woman, in the bloom of youth, sat in a high arm-chair, pouring +rapidly, with remarkable skill, liquid dough into the hot iron plate, +provided with numerous indentations, that stood just on a level with her +comfortably outspread lap. Her assistant hastily turned with a fork +the little cakes, browning rapidly in the hollows of the iron, and when +baked, laid them neatly on small plates. The waiter prepared them for +purchasers by putting a large piece of yellow butter on the smoking +pile. A tempting odor, that only too vividly recalled former enjoyment, +rose from the fireplace, and Adrian's fingers were already examining the +contents of his purse, when the negro's trumpet sounded and the quack +doctor's cart stopped directly in front of the booth. + +The famous Doctor Morpurgo was a fine-looking man, dressed in bright +scarlet, who had a thin, coalblack beard hanging over his breast. His +movements were measured and haughty, the bows and gestures with which he +saluted the assembled crowd, patronizing and affable. After a sufficient +number of curious persons had gathered around his cart, which was +stocked with boxes and vials, he began to address them in broken Dutch, +spiced with numerous foreign words. + +He praised the goodness of the Providence which had created the marvel +of human organism. Everything, he said, was arranged and formed wisely +and in the best possible manner, but in one respect nature fared badly +in the presence of adepts. + +"Do you know where the error is, ladies and gentlemen?" he asked. + +"In the purse," cried a merry barber's clerk, "it grows prematurely thin +every day." + +"Right, my son," answered the quack graciously. "But nature also +provides it with the great door from which your answer has come. Your +teeth are a bungling piece of workmanship. They appear with pain, +decay with time, and so long as they last torture those who do not +industriously attend to them. But art will correct nature. See this +box--" and he now began to praise the tooth-powder and cure for +toothache he had invented. Next he passed to the head, and described in +vivid colors, its various pains. But they too were to be cured, people +need only buy his arcanum. It was to be had for a trifle, and whoever +bought it could sweep away every headache, even the worst, as with a +broom. + +Adrian listened to the famous doctor with mouth wide open. Specially +sweet odors floated over to him from the hot surface of the stove before +the booth, and he would have gladly allowed himself a plate of fresh +cakes. The baker's stout wife even beckoned to him with a spoon, but he +closed his hand around the purse and again turned his eyes towards the +quack, whose cart was now surrounded by men and women buying tinctures +and medicines. + +Henrica lay ill in his father's house. He had been taken into her room +twice, and the beautiful pale face, with its large dark eyes, had filled +his heart with pity. The clear, deep voice in which she addressed a few +words to him, also seemed wonderful and penetrated the inmost depths +of his soul: He was told one morning that she was there, and since that +time his mother rarely appeared and the house was far more quiet than +usual; for everybody walked lightly, spoke in subdued tones, rapped +cautiously at a window instead of using the knocker, and whenever Bessie +or he laughed aloud or ran up or down-stairs, Barbara, his mother, or +Trautchen appeared and whispered: "Gently, children, the young lady has +a headache." + +There were many bottles in the cart which were warranted to cure the +ailment, and the famous Morpurgo seemed to be a very sensible man, +no buffoon like the other mountebanks. The wife of the baker, Wilhelm +Peterssohn, who stood beside him, a woman he knew well, said to her +companion that the doctor's remedies were good, they had quickly cured +her godmother of a bad attack of erysipelas. + +The words matured the boy's resolution. Fleeting visions of the sword, +the cross-bow, the gingerbread and the nice little brothers once more +rose before his mind, but with a powerful effort of the will he thrust +them aside, held his breath that he might not smell the alluring odor of +the cakes, and hastily approached the cart. Here he unfastened his purse +from his belt, poured its contents into his hand, showed the coins to +the doctor, who had fixed his black eyes kindly on the odd customer, and +asked: "Will this be enough?" + +"For what?" + +"For the medicine to cure headache." + +The quack separated the little coins in Adrian's hand with his +forefinger, and answered gravely: "No, my son, but I am always glad to +advance the cause of knowledge. There is still a great deal for you to +learn at school, and the headache will prevent it. Here are the drops +and, as it's you, I'll give this prescription for another arcanum into +the bargain." + +Adrian hastily wrapped the little vial the quack handed him in the piece +of printed paper, received his dearly-bought treasure, and ran home. On +the way he was stopped by Captain Allertssohn, who came towards him with +the musician Wilhelm. + +"Have you seen my Andreas, Master Good-for-nothing?" he asked. + +"He was standing listening to the musicians," replied Adrian, released +himself from the captain's grasp, and vanished among the crowd. + +"A nimble lad," said the fencing-master. "My boy is standing with the +musicians again. He has nothing but your art in his mind. He would +rather blow on a comb than comb his hair with it, he's always tooting +on every leaf and pipe, makes triangles of broken sword-blades, and not +even a kitchen pot is safe from his drumming; in short there's nothing +but singsong in the good-for-nothing fellow's head; he wants to be a +musician or something of the sort." + +"Right, right!" replied Wilhelm eagerly; "he has a fine ear and the best +voice in the choir." + +"The matter must be duly considered," replied the captain, "and you, if +anybody, are the person to tell us what he can accomplish in your art. +If you have time this evening, Herr Wilhelm, come to me at the watch +house, I should like to speak to you. To be sure, you'll hardly find me +before ten o'clock. I have a stricture in my throat again, and on such +days--Roland, my fore man!" + +The captain cleared his throat loudly and vehemently. "I am at your +service," said Wilhelm, "for the night is long, but I won't let you go +now until I know what you mean by your fore man Roland." + +"Very well, it's not much of a story, and perhaps you won't understand. +Come in here; I can tell it better over a mug of beer, and the legs +rebel if they're deprived of rest four nights in succession." + +When the two men were seated opposite to each other in the tap-room, the +fencing-master pushed his moustache away from his lips, and began: "How +long ago is it-? We'll say fifteen years, since I was riding to Haarlem +with the innkeeper Aquarius, who as you know, is a learned man and has +all sorts of old stuff and Latin manuscripts. He talks well, and when +the conversation turned upon our meeting with many things in life +that we fancy we have already seen, remarked that this could be easily +explained, for the human soul was an indestructible thing, a bird that +never dies. So long as we live it remains with us, and when we die flies +away and is rewarded or punished according to its deserts; but after +centuries, which are no more to the Lord than the minutes in which I +empty this fresh mug--one more, bar-maid--the merciful Father releases +it again, and it nestles in some new born child. This made me laugh; +but he was not at all disturbed and told the story of an old Pagan, a +wonderfully wise chap, who knew positively that his soul had formerly +lodged in the body of a mighty hero. This same hero also remembered +exactly where, during his former life, he had hung his shield, and told +his associates. They searched and found the piece of armor, with +the initials of the Christian and surname which had belonged to the +philosopher in his life as a soldier, centuries before. This puzzled me, +for you see--now don't laugh--something had formerly happened to me very +much like the Pagan's experience. I don't care much for books, and +from a child have always read the same one. I inherited it from my dead +father and the work is not printed, but written. I'll show it to you +some time--it contains the history of the brave Roland. Often, when +absorbed in these beautiful and true stories, my cheeks have grown +as red as fire, and I'll confess to you, as I did to my +travelling-companion: If I'm not mistaken, I've sat with King Charles +at the board, or I've worn Roland's chain armor in battle and in the +tourney. I believe I have seen the Moorish king, Marsilia, and once +when reading how the dying Roland wound his horn in the valley of the +Roncesvalles, I felt such a pain in my throat, that it seemed as if it +would burst, and fancied I had felt the same pain before. When I frankly +acknowledged all this, my companion exclaimed that there was no doubt +my soul had once inhabited Roland's body, or in other words, that in a +former life I had been the Knight Roland." + +The musician looked at the fencing-master in amazement and asked: "Could +you really believe that, Captain?" + +"Why not," replied the other. "Nothing is impossible to the Highest. At +first I laughed in the man's face, but his words followed me; and when I +read the old stories--I needn't strain my eyes much, for at every line I +know beforehand what the next will be--I couldn't help asking myself--In +short, sir, my soul probably once inhabited Roland's body, and that's +why I call him my 'fore man.' In the course of years, it has become a +habit to swear by him. Folly, you will think, but I know what I know, +and now I must go. We will have another talk this evening, but about +other matters. Yes, everybody in this world is a little crackbrained, +but at least I don't bore other people. I only show my craze to intimate +friends, and strangers who ask me once about the fore man Roland rarely +do so a second time. The score, bar-maid--There it is again. We must see +whether the towers are properly garrisoned, and charge the sentinels +to keep their eyes open. If you come prepared for battle, you may save +yourself a walk, I'll answer for nothing to-day. You will probably pass +the new Rhine. Just step into my house, and tell my wife she needn't +wait supper for me. Or, no, I'll attend to that myself; there's +something in the air, you'll see it, for I have the Roncesvalles throat +again." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +In the big watch-house that had been erected beside the citadel, +during the siege of the city, raised ten months before, city-guards and +volunteers sat together in groups after sunset, talking over their beer +or passing the time in playing cards by the feeble light of thin tallow +candles. + +The embrasure where the officers' table stood was somewhat better +lighted. Wilhelm, who, according to his friend's advice, appeared in +the uniform of an ensign of the city-guards, seated himself at the empty +board just after the clock in the steeple had struck ten. While ordering +the waiter to bring him a mug of beer, Captain Allertssohn appeared with +Junker von Warmond, who had taken part in the consultation at Peter Van +der Werff's, and bravely earned his captain's sash two years before +at the capture of Brill. As this son of one of the richest and most +aristocratic families in Holland, a youth whose mother had borne the +name of Egmont, entered, he drew his hand, encased in a fencing glove, +from the captain's arm and said, countermanding the musician's order: + +"Nothing of that sort, waiter! The little keg from the Wurzburger Stein +can't be empty yet. We'll find the bottom of it this evening. What do +you say, Captain?" + +"Such an arrangement will lighten the keg and not specially burden us," +replied the other. "Good-evening, Herr Wilhelm, punctuality adorns the +soldier. People are beginning to understand how much depends upon it. +I have posted the men, so that they can overlook the country in +every direction. I shall have them relieved from time to time, and at +intervals look after them myself. This is good liquor, Junker. All honor +to the man who melts his gold into such a fluid. The first glass must be +a toast to the Prince." + +The three men touched their glasses, and soon after drank to the liberty +of Holland and the prosperity of the good city of Leyden. Then the +conversation took a lively turn, but duty was not forgotten, for at the +end of half an hour the captain rose to survey the horizon himself and +urge the sentinels to vigilant watchfulness. + +When he returned, Wilhelm and Junker von Warmond were so engaged in +eager conversation, that they did not notice his entrance. The musician +was speaking of Italy, and Allertssohn heard him exclaim impetuously: + +"Whoever has once seen that country can never forget it, and when I am +sitting on the house-top with my doves, my thoughts only too often fly +far away with them, and my eyes no longer see our broad, monotonous +plains and grey, misty sky." + +"Oh! ho! Meister Wilhelm," interrupted the captain, throwing himself +into the arm-chair and stretching out his booted legs. "Oh! ho! This +time I've discovered the crack in your brain. Italy, always Italy! +I know Italy too, for I've been in Brescia, looking for good steel +sword-blades for the Prince and other nobles, I crossed the rugged +Apennines and went to Florence to see fine pieces of armor. From Livorno +I went by sea to Genoa, where I obtained chased gold and silverwork for +shoulder-belts and sheaths. Truth is truth the brown-skinned rascals can +do fine work. But the country--the country! Roland, my fore man--how any +sensible man can prefer it to ours is more than I understand." + +"Holland is our mother," replied von Warmond. "As good sons we believe +her the best of women; yet we can admit, without shame, that there are +more beautiful ones in the world." + +"Do you blow that trumpet too?" exclaimed the fencing-master, pushing +his glass angrily further upon the table. "Did you ever cross the Alps?" + +"No, but--" + +"But you believe the color-daubers of the artist guild, whose eyes are +caught by the blue of the sky and sea, or the musical gentry who allow +themselves to be deluded by the soft voices and touching melodies there, +but you would do well to listen to a quiet man too for once." + +"Go on, Captain." + +"Very well. And if anybody can get an untruthful word out of me, I'll +pay his score till the Day of Judgment. I'll begin the story at the +commencement. First you must cross the horrible Alps. There you see +barren, dreary rocks, cold snow, wild glacier torrents on which no boat +can be used. Instead of watering meadows, the mad waves fling stones on +their banks. Then we reach the plains, where it is true many kinds +of plants grow. I was there in June, and made my jokes about the tiny +fields, where small trees stood, serving as props for the vines. It +didn't look amiss, but the heat, Junker, the heat spoiled all pleasure. +And the dirt in the taverns, the vermin, and the talk about bravos, +who shed the blood of honest Christians in the dark for a little paltry +money. If your tongue dries up in your mouth, you'll find nothing but +hot wine, not a sip of cool beer. And the dust, gentlemen, the frightful +dust. As for the steel in Brescia--it's worthy of all honor. But the +feather was stolen from my hat in the tavern, and the landlord devoured +onions as if they were white bread. May God punish me if a single piece +of honest beef, such as my wife can set before me every day--and we +don't live like princes--ever came between my teeth. + +"And the butter, Junker, the butter! We burn oil in lamps, and grease +door-hinges with it, when they creak, but the Italians use it to fry +chickens and fish. Confound such doings!" + +"Beware, Captain," cried Wilhelm, "or I shall take you at your word and +you'll be obliged to pay my score for life. Olive-oil is a pure, savory +seasoning." + +"For a man that likes it. I commend Holland butter. Olive-oil has its +value for polishing steel, but butter is the right thing for roasting +and frying; so that's enough! But I beg you to hear me farther. From +Lombardy I went to Bologna, and then crossed the Apennines. Sometimes +the road ascended, then suddenly plunged downward again, and it's a +queer pleasure, which, thank God, we are spared in this country, to sit +in the saddle going down a mountain. On the right and left, lofty +cliffs tower like walls. Your breathing becomes oppressed in the narrow +valleys, and if you want to get a distant view--there's nothing to +be seen, for everywhere some good-for-nothing mountain thrusts itself +directly before your nose. I believe the Lord created those humps for +a punishment to men after Adam's fall. On the sixth day of creation the +earth was level. It was in August, and when the noon sun was reflected +from the rocks, the heat was enough to kill one; it's a miracle, that +I'm not sitting beside you dried up and baked. The famous blue of the +Italian sky! Always the same! We have it here in this country too, but +it alternates with beautiful clouds. There are few things in Holland I +like better than our clouds. When the rough Apennines at last lay behind +me, I reached the renowned city of Florence." + +"And can you deny it your approval?" asked the musician. + +"No, sir, there are many proud, stately palaces and beautiful churches +and no lack of silk and velvet everywhere, the trade of cloth-weaving +too is flourishing; but my health, my health was not good in your +Florence, principally on account of the heat, and besides I found many +things different from what I expected. In the first place, there's the +river Arno! The stream is a puddle, nothing but a puddle! Do you know +what the water looks like? Like the pools that stand between the broken +fragments and square blocks in a stonecutter's yard, after a heavy +thunder-shower." + +"The score, Captain, the score!" + +"I mean the yard of a stone-cutter, who does a large business, and pools +of tolerable width. Will you still contradict me if I maintain--the +Arno is a shallow, narrow stream, just fit to sail a boy's bark-boat. +It spreads over a wide surface of grey pebbles, very much as the gold +fringe straggles over the top of Junker von Warmond's fencing-glove." + +"You saw it at the end of a hot summer," replied Wilhelm, "it's very +different in spring." + +"Perhaps so; but I beg you to remember the Rhine, the Meuse, and our +other rivers, even the Marne, Drecht and whatever the smaller streams +are called. They remain full and bear stately ships at all seasons of +the year. Uniform and reliable is the custom of this country; to-day one +way, to-morrow another, is the Italian habit. It's just the same with +the blades in the fencing-school." + +"The Italians wield dangerous weapons," said von Warmond. + +"Very true, but they bend to and fro and lack firmness. I know what +I'm talking about, for I lodged with my colleague Torelli, the best +fencing-master in the city. I'll say nothing of the meals he set +before me. To-day macaroni, to-morrow macaroni with a couple of chicken +drumsticks to boot, and so on. I've often drawn my belt tighter after +dinner. As for the art of fencing, Torelli is certainly no bungler, but +he too has the skipping fashion in his method. You must keep your eyes +open in a passado with him, but if I can once get to my quarte, tierce, +and side-thrust, I have him." + +"An excellent series," said Junker von Warmond. "It has been useful to +me." + +"I know, I know," replied the captain eagerly. "You silenced the +French brawler with it at Namur. There's the catch in my throat again. +Something will happen to-day, gentlemen, something will surely happen." + +The fencing-master grasped the front of his ruff with his left hand and +set the glass on the table with his right. He had often done so far more +carelessly, but to-day the glass shattered into many fragments. + +"That's nothing," cried the young nobleman. "Waiter, another glass for +Captain Allertssohn." + +The fencing-master pushed his chair back from the table, and looking +at the broken pieces of greenish glass, said in an altered tone, as if +speaking to himself rather than his companions: + +"Yes, yes, something serious will happen to-day. Shattered into a +thousand pieces. As God wills! I know where my place is." + +Von Warmond filled a fresh glass, saying with a slight shade of reproof +in his tone: "Why, Captain, Captain, what whims are these? Before the +battle of Brill I fell in jumping out of the boat and broke my sword. +I soon found another, but the idea came into my head: 'you'll meet your +death to-day.' Yet here I sit, and hope to empty many a beaker with +you." + +"It has passed already," said the fencing-master, raising his hat and +wiping the perspiration from his forehead with the back of his hand. +"Every one must meet his death-hour, and if mine is approaching +to-day--be it as God wills! My family won't starve. The house on the new +Rhine is free from mortgage, and though they don't inherit much else, I +shall leave my children an honest name and trustworthy friends. I know +you won't lose sight of my second boy, the musician, Wilhelm. Nobody is +indispensable, and if Heaven wishes to call me from this command, Junker +von Nordwyk, Jan Van der Does, can fill my place. You, Herr von Warmond, +are in just the right spot, and the good cause will reach a successful +end even without me." + +The musician listened with surprise to the softened tone of the strange +man's voice, but the young nobleman raised his drinking-cup, exclaiming: + +"Such heavy thoughts for a light glass! You make too much of the matter, +Captain. Take your bumper again, and pledge me: Long live the noble art +of fencing, and your series: quarte, tierce and side-thrust!" + +"They'll live," replied Allertssohn, "ay, they'll live. Many hundreds of +noble gentlemen use the sword in this country, and the man who sits here +has taught them to wield it according to the rules. My series has served +many in duelling, and I, Andreas, their master, have made tierce follow +quarte and side-thrust tierce thousands of times, but always with +buttons on the foils and against padded doublets. Outside the walls, in +the battle-field, no one, often as I have pressed upon the leaders, has +ever stood against me in single combat. This Brescian sword-blade has +more than once pierced a Spanish jerkin, but the art I teach, gentlemen, +the art I love, to which my life has been devoted, I have never +practised in earnest. That is hard to bear, gentlemen, and if Heaven is +disposed, before calling him away from earth, to grant a poor man, who +is no worse than his neighbors, one favor, I shall be permitted to cross +blades once in a true, genuine duel, and try my series against an able +champion in a mortal struggle. If God would grant Andreas this--" + +Before the fencing-master had finished the last sentence, an armed man +dashed the door open, shouting: "The light is raised at Leyderdorp!" + +At these words Allertssohn sprang from his chair as nimbly as a youth, +drew himself up to his full height, adjusted his shoulder-belt and drew +down his sash, exclaiming: + +"To the citadel, Hornist, and sound the call for assembling the troops. +To your volunteers, Captain Van Duivenvoorde. Post yourself with four +companies at the Hohenort Gate, to be ready to take part, if the battle +approaches the city-walls. The gunners must provide matches. Let the +garrisons in the towers be doubled. Klaas, go to the sexton of St. +Pancratius and tell him to ring the alarm-bell, to warn the people at +the fair. Your hand, Junker. I know you will be at your post, and you, +Meister Wilhelm." + +"I'll go with you," said the musician resolutely. "Don't reject me. I +have remained quiet long enough; I shall stifle here." + +Wilhelm's cheeks flushed, and his eyes sparkled with a lustre so bright +and angry, that Junker von Warmond looked at his phlegmatic friend in +astonishment, while the captain called: + +"Then station yourself in the first company beside my ensign. You don't +look as if you felt like jesting, and the work will be in earnest now, +bloody earnest." + +Allertssohn walked out of doors with a steady step, addressed his men +in a few curt, vigorous words, ordered the drummers to beat their drums, +while marching through the city, to rouse the people at the fair, placed +himself at the head of his trusty little band, and led them towards the +new Rhine. + +The moon shone brightly down into the quiet streets, was reflected from +the black surface of the river, and surrounded the tall peaked gables of +the narrow houses with a silvery lustre. The rapid tramp of the soldiers +was echoed loudly back from the houses through the silence of the night, +and the vibration of the air, shaken by the beating of the drums, made +the panes rattle. + +This time no merry children with paper flags and wooden swords preceded +the warriors, this time no gay girls and proud mothers followed them, +not even an old man, who remembered former days, when he himself bore +arms. As the silent troops reached the neighborhood of Allertssohn's +house, the clock in the church-steeple slowly struck twelve, and +directly after the alarm-bell began to sound from the tower of +Pancratius. + +A window in the second story of the fencing-toaster's house was thrown +open, and his wife's face appeared. An anxious married life with her +strange husband had prematurely aged pretty little Eva's countenance, +but the mild moonlight transfigured her faded features. The beat of her +husband's drums was familiar to her, and when she saw him at midnight +marching past to the horrible call of the alarm-bell, a terrible dread +overpowered her and would scarcely allow her to call: "Husband, husband! +What is the matter, Andreas?" + +He did not hear, for the roll of the drums, the tramp of the soldiers' +feet on the pavement and the ringing of the alarm-bell drowned her +voice; but he saw her distinctly, and a strange feeling stole over him. +Her face, framed in a white kerchief and illumined by the moonlight, +seemed to him fairer than he had ever seen it since the days of his +wooing, and he felt so youthful and full of chivalrous daring, on his +way to the field of danger, that he drew himself up to his full height +and marched by, keeping most perfect time to the beat of the drums, +as in lover-like fashion he threw her a kiss with his left hand, while +waving his sword in the right. + +The beating of drums and waving of banners had banished every gloomy +thought from his mind. So he marched on to the Gansort. There stood a +cart, the home of travelling traders, who had been roused from sleep by +the alarm-bell, and were hastily collecting their goods. An old woman, +amid bitter lamentations, was just harnessing a thin horse to the +shafts, and from a tiny window a child's wailing voice was heard +calling, "mother, mother," and then, "father, father." + +The fencing-master heard the cry. The smile faded from his lips, and his +step grew heavier. Then he turned and shouted a loud "Forward" to +his men. Wilhelm was marching close behind him and at a sign from the +captain approached; but Allertssohn, quickening his pace, seized the +musician's arm, saying in a low tone: + +"You'll take the boy to teach?" + +"Yes, Captain." + +"Good; you'll be rewarded for it some day," replied the fencing-master, +and waving his sword, shouted: "Liberty to Holland, death to the +Spaniard, long live Orange!" + +The soldiers joyously joined in the shout, and marched rapidly with him +through the Hohenort Gate into the open country and towards Leyderdorp. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +Adrian hurried home with his vial, and in his joy at bringing the +sick lady relief, forgot her headache and struck the knocker violently +against the door. Barbara received him with a by no means flattering +greeting, but he was so full of the happiness of possessing the +dearly-bought treasure, that he fearlessly interrupted his aunt's +reproving words, by exclaiming eagerly, in the consciousness of his good +cause: + +"You'll see; I have something here for the young lady; where is mother?" + +Barbara perceived that the boy was the bearer of some good tidings, +which engrossed his whole attention, and the fresh happy face pleased +her so much, that she forgot to scold and said smiling: + +"You make me very curious; what is the need of so much hurry?" + +"I've bought something; is mother up-stairs?" + +"Yes, show me what you have bought." + +"A remedy. Infallible, I tell you; a remedy for headache." + +"A remedy for headache?" asked the widow in astonishment. "Who told you +that fib?" + +"Fib?" repeated the boy, laughing. "I got it below cost." + +"Show it to me, boy," said Barbara authoritatively, snatching at the +vial, but Adrian stepped back, hid the medicine behind him, and replied: + +"No, aunt; I shall take it to mother myself." + +"Did one ever hear of such a thing!" cried the widow. "Donkeys dance +on ropes, school-boys dabble in doctor's business! Show me the thing at +once! We want no quack wares." + +"Quack wares!" replied Adrian eagerly. "It cost all my fair money, and +it's good medicine." + +During this little discussion Doctor Bontius came down-stairs with the +burgomaster's wife. He had heard the boy's last words and asked sternly: + +"Where did you get the stuff?" + +With these words, he seized the hand of the lad, who did not venture to +resist the stern man, took the little vial and printed directions from +him and, after Adrian had curtly answered: "From Doctor Morpurgo!" +continued angrily: + +"The brew is good to be thrown away; only we must take care not to +poison the fishes with it, and the thing cost half a florin. You're +a rich young man, Meister Adrian! If you have any superfluous capital +again, you can lend it to me." + +These words spoiled the boy's pleasure, but did not convince him, and he +defiantly turned half away from the physician. Barbara understood what +was passing in his mind, and whispered compassionately to the doctor and +her sister-in-law: + +"All his fair money to help the young lady." + +Maria instantly approached the disappointed child, drew his curly head +towards her and silently kissed his forehead, while the doctor read the +printed label, then without moving a muscle, said as gravely as ever: + +"Morpurgo isn't the worst of quacks, the remedy he prescribes here may +do the young lady good after all." Adrian had been nearer crying than +laughing. Now he uttered a sigh of relief, but still clasped Maria's +hand firmly, as he again turned his face towards the doctor, listening +intently while the latter continued: + +"Two parts buckbeans, one part pepper-wort, and half a part valerian. +The latter specially for women. Let it steep in boiling water and drink +a cupful cold every morning and evening! Not bad--really not bad. You +have found a good remedy, my worthy colleague. + +"I had something else to say to you, Adrian. My boys are going to the +English riders this evening, and would be glad to have you accompany +them. You can begin with the decoction to-day." + +The physician bowed to the ladies and went on; Barbara followed him into +the street, asking: + +"Are you in earnest about the prescription?" + +"Of course, of course," replied the doctor, "my grandmother used this +remedy for headache, and she was a sensible woman. Evening and morning, +and the proper amount of sleep." + +Henrica occupied a pretty, tastefully-furnished room. The windows +looked out upon the quiet court-yard, planted with trees, adjoining the +chamois-leather work shops. She was allowed to sit up part of the day +in a cushioned arm-chair, supported by pillows. Her healthy constitution +was rapidly rallying. True, she was still weak, and the headache spoiled +whole days and nights. Maria's gentle and thoughtful nature exerted a +beneficial influence upon her, and she cheerfully welcomed Barbara, with +her fresh face and simple, careful, helpful ways. + +When Maria told her about the purchase Adrian had made for her, she was +moved to tears; but to the boy she concealed her grateful emotion under +jesting words, and greeted him with the exclamation: + +"Come nearer, my preserver, and give me your hand." + +Afterwards, she always called him "my preserver" or, as she liked to +mingle Italian words with her Dutch, "Salvatore" or "Signor Salvatore." +She was particularly fond of giving the people, with whom she +associated, names of her own, and so called Barbara, whose Christian +name she thought frightful, "Babetta," and little slender, pretty +Bessie, whose company she specially enjoyed, "the elf." The +burgomaster's wife only remained "Frau Maria," and when the latter once +jestingly asked the cause of such neglect, Henrica replied that she +suited her name and her name her; had she been called Martha, she would +probably have named her "Maria." + +The invalid had passed a pleasant, painless day, and when towards +evening Adrian went to see the English riders and the fragrance of the +blooming lindens and the moonlight found their way through the open +windows of her room, she begged Barbara not to bring a light, and +invited Maria to sit down and talk with her. + +From Adrian and Bessie the conversation turned upon their own childhood. +Henrica had grown up among her father's boon companions, amid the +clinking of glasses and hunting-shouts, Maria in a grave burgher +household, and what they told each other seemed like tidings from a +strange world. + +"It was easy for you to become the tall, white lily you are now," said +Henrica, "but I must thank the saints, that I came off as well as I +did, for we really grew up like weeds, and if I hadn't had a taste for +singing and the family priest hadn't been such an admirable musician, I +might stand before you in a still worse guise. When will the doctor let +me hear you sing?" + +"Next week; but you musn't expect too much. You have too high an opinion +of me. Remember the proverb about still waters. Here in the depths it +often looks far less peaceful, than you probably suppose." + +"But you have learned to keep the surface calm when it storms; I +haven't. A strange stillness has stolen over me here. Whether I owe it +to illness or to the atmosphere that pervades this house, I can't tell, +but how long will it last? My soul used to be like the sea, when the +hissing waves plunge into black gulfs, the seagulls scream, and the +fishermen's wives pray on the shore. Now the sea is calm. Don't be too +much frightened, if it begins to rage again." + +At these words Maria clasped the excited girl's hands, saying +beseechingly: + +"Be quiet, be quiet, Henrica. You must think only of your recovery now. +And shall I confess something? I believe everything hard can be more +easily borne, if we can cast it impatiently forth like the sea of which +you speak; with me one thing is piled on another and remains lying +there, as if buried under the sand." + +"Until the hurricane comes, that sweeps it away. I don't want to be an +evil prophet, but you surely remember these words. What a wild, careless +thing I was! Then a day came, that made a complete revolution in my +whole nature." + +"Did a false love wound you?" asked Maria modestly. + +"No, except the false love of another," replied Henrica bitterly. "When +I was a child this fluttering heart often throbbed more quickly, I +don't know how often. First I felt something more than reverence for +the one-eyed chaplain, our music-teacher, and every morning placed fresh +flowers on his window, which he never noticed. Then--I was probably +fifteen--I returned the ardent glances of Count Brederode's pretty page. +Once he tried to be tender, and received a blow from my riding-whip. +Next came a handsome young nobleman, who wanted to marry me when I was +barely sixteen, but he was even more heavily in debt than my father, so +he was sent home. I shed no tears for him, and when, two months after, +at a tournament in Brussels, I saw Don Frederic, the son of the great +Duke of Alva, fancied myself as much in love with him as ever any lady +worshipped her Amadis, though the affair never went beyond looks. Then +the storm, of which I have already spoken, burst, and that put an end to +love-making. I will tell you more about this at some future time; I need +not conceal it, for it has been no secret. Have you ever heard of my +sister? No? She was older than I, a creature-God never created +anything more perfect. And her singing! She came to my dead aunt's, and +there--But I won't excite myself uselessly--in short, the man whom she +loved with all the strength of her heart thrust her into misery, and +my father cursed and would not stretch out a finger to aid her. I never +knew my mother, but through Anna I never missed her. My sister's fate +opened my eyes to men. During the last few years many have wanted me, +but I lacked confidence and, still more, love, for I shall never have +anything to do with that." + +"Until it finds you," replied Maria. "It was wrong to speak of such +things with you, it excites you, and that is bad." + +"Never mind; it will do me good to relieve my heart. Did you love no one +before your husband?" + +"Love? No, Henrica, I never really loved any one except him." + +"And your heart waited for the burgomaster, ere it beat faster?" + +"No, it had not always remained quiet before; I grew up among social +people, old and young, and of course liked some better than others." + +"And surely one best of all." + +"I won't deny it. At my sister's wedding, my brother-in-law's friend, a +young nobleman, came from Germany and remained several weeks with us. I +liked him, and remember him kindly even now." + +"Have you never heard from him again?" + +"No; who knows what has become of him. My brother-in-law expected great +things from him, and he possessed many rare gifts, but was reckless, +fool-hardy, and a source of constant anxiety to his mother." + +"You must tell me more about him." + +"What is the use, Henrica?" + +"I don't want to talk any more, but I should like to be still, inhale +the fragrance of the lindens, and listen, only listen." + +"No, you must go to bed now. I'll help you undress and, when you have +been alone an hour, come back again." + +"One learns obedience in your house, but when my preserver comes home, +bring him here. He must tell me about the English riders. There +comes Frau Babetta with his decoction. You shall see that I take it +punctually." + +The boy returned home late, for he had enjoyed all the glories of the +fair with the doctor's children. He was permitted to pay only a short +visit to Henrica, and did not see his father at all, the latter having +gone to a night council at Herr Van Bronkhorst's. + +The next morning the fair holidays were to end, school would begin and +Adrian had intended to finish his tasks this evening; but the visit +to the English riders had interfered, and he could not possibly appear +before the rector without his exercise. He frankly told Maria so, and +she cleared a place for him at the table where she was sewing, and +helped the young scholar with many a word and rule she had learned with +her dead brother. + +When it lacked only half an hour of midnight, Barbara entered, saying: + +"That's enough now. You can finish the rest early to-morrow morning +before school." + +Without waiting for Maria's reply, she closed the boy's books and pushed +them together. + +While thus occupied, the room shook with rude blows on the door of the +house. Maria threw down her sewing and started from her seat, while +Barbara exclaimed: + +"For Heaven's sake, what is it?" Adrian rushed into his father's room +and opened the window. + +The ladies had hurried after him, and before they could question the +disturber of the peace, a deep voice called: + +"Open, I must come in." + +"What is it?" asked Barbara, who recognized a soldier in the moonlight. +"We can't hear our own voices; stop that knocking." + +"Call the burgomaster!" shouted the messenger, who had been constantly +using the knocker. "Quick, woman; the Spaniards are coming." + +Barbara shrieked aloud and beat her hands. Maria turned pale, but +without losing her composure, replied: "The burgomaster is not at home, +but I'll send for him. Quick, Adrian, call your father." + +The boy rushed down-stairs, meeting in the entry the man-servant +and Trautchen, who had jumped hastily out of bed, throwing on an +under-petticoat, and was now trying, with trembling hands, to unlock the +door. The man pushed her aside, and as soon as the door creaked on its +hinges, Adrian darted out and ran, as if in a race, down the street +to the commissioner's. Arriving before any other messenger, he pressed +through the open door into the dining-hall and called breathlessly to +the men, who were holding a council over their wine: + +"The Spaniards are here!" + +The gentlemen hastily rose from their seats. One wanted to rush to the +citadel, another to the town-hall and, in the excitement of the moment, +no sensible reflection was made. Peter Van der Werff alone maintained +his composure and, after Allertssohn's messenger had appeared and +reported that the captain and his men were on the way to Leyderdorp, the +burgomaster pointed out that the leaders' care should now be devoted +to the people who had come to the fair. He and Van Hout undertook to +provide for them, and Adrian was soon standing with his father and the +city clerk among the crowds of people, who had been roused from sleep by +the wailing iron voice from the Tower or Pancratius. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +Adrian's activity for this night was not yet over, for his father did +not prevent his accompanying him to the town-hall. There he directed him +to tell his mother, that he should be busy until morning and the servant +might send all persons, who desired to speak to him after one o'clock, +to the timber-market on the Rhine. Maria sent the boy back to the +town-hall, to ask his father if he did not want his cloak, wine, a lunch +or anything of the sort. + +The boy fulfilled this commission with great zeal, for he never had +felt so important as while forcing his way through the crowds that +had gathered in the narrower streets; he had a duty to perform, and +at night, the time when other boys were asleep, especially his +school-mates, who certainly would not be allowed to leave the house now. +Besides, an eventful period, full of the beating of drums, the blare of +trumpets, the rattle of musketry and roar of cannon might be expected. +It seemed as if the game "Holland against Spain" was to be continued in +earnest, and on a grand scale. All the vivacity of his years seized +upon him, and when he had forced a way with his elbows to less crowded +places, he dashed hurriedly along, shouting as merrily as if spreading +some joyful news in the darkness: + +"They are coming!" "the Spaniards!" or "Hannibal ante portas." + +After learning on his return to the town-hall, that his father wanted +nothing and would send a constable if there was need of anything, he +considered his errand done and felt entitled to satisfy his curiosity. + +This drew him first to the English riders. The tent where they had given +their performances had disappeared from the earth, and screaming men +and women were rolling up large pieces of canvas, fastening packs, +and swearing while they harnessed horses. The gloomy light of torches +mingled with the moonbeams and showed him on the narrow steps, that led +to a large four-wheeled cart, a little girl in shabby clothes, weeping +bitterly. Could this be the rosy-cheeked angel who, floating along on +the snow-white pony, had seemed to him like a happy creature from more +beautiful worlds? A scolding old woman now lifted the child into the +cart, but he followed the crowd and saw Doctor Morpurgo, no longer clad +in scarlet, but in plain dark cloth, mounted on a lean horse, riding +beside his cart. The negro was furiously urging the mule forward, but +his master seemed to have remained in full possession of the calmness +peculiar to him. His wares were of small value, and the Spaniards had +no reason to take his head and tongue, by which he gained more than he +needed. + +Adrian followed him to the long row of booths in the wide street, and +there saw things, which put an end to his thoughtlessness and made him +realize, that the point in question now concerned serious, heart-rending +matters. He had still been able to laugh as he saw the ginger-bread +bakers and cotton-sellers fighting hand to hand, because in the first +fright they had tossed their packages of wares hap-hazard into each +other's open chests, and were now unable to separate their property; +but he felt sincerely sorry for the Delft crockery-dealer on the corner, +whose light booth had been demolished by a large wagon from Gouda, +loaded with bales, and who now stood beside her broken wares, by means +of which she supported herself and children, wringing her hands, while +the driver, taking no notice of her, urged on his horses with loud +cracks of his whip. A little girl, who had lost her parents and was +being carried away by a compassionate burgher woman, was weeping +piteously. A poor rope-dancer, who had been robbed by a thief in the +crowd, of the little tin box containing the pennies he had collected, +was running about, ringing his hands and looking for the watchman. +A shoemaker was pounding riding-boots and women's shoes in motley +confusion into a wooden chest with rope handles, while his wife, instead +of helping him, tore her hair and shrieked: "I told you so, you fool, +you simpleton, you blockhead! They'll come and rob us of everything." + +At the entrance of the street that led past the Assendelft house to the +Leibfrau Bridge, several loaded wagons had become entangled, and the +drivers, instead of getting down and procuring help, struck at each +other in their terror, hitting the women and children seated among the +bales. Their cries and shrieks echoed a long distance, but were destined +to be drowned, for a dancing-bear had broken loose and was putting every +one near him to flight. The people, who were frightened by the beast, +rushed down the street, screaming and yelling, dragging with them others +who did not know the cause of the alarm, and misled by the most imminent +fear, roared: "The Spaniards! The Spaniards!" Whatever came in the +way of the terrified throngs was overthrown. A sieve-dealer's child, +standing beside its father's upset cart, fell beneath the mob close +beside Adrian, who had stationed himself in the door-way of a house. But +the lad was crowded so closely into his hiding-place, that he could not +spring to the little one's aid, and his attention was attracted to a +new sight, as Janus Dousa appeared on horseback. In answer to the cry +of "The Spaniards! The Spaniards!" he shouted loudly: "Quiet, people, +quiet! The enemy hasn't come yet! To the Rhine! Vessels are waiting +there for all strangers. To the Rhine! There are no Spaniards there, do +you hear, no Spaniards!" + +The nobleman stopped just before Adrian, for his horse could go no +farther and stood snorting and trembling under his rider. The advice +bore little fruit, and not until hundreds had rushed past him, did the +frightened crowd diminish. The bear, from which they fled, had been +caught by a brewer's apprentice and taken back to its owner long before. +The city constables now appeared, led by Adrian's father, and the boy +followed them unobserved to the timber-market on the southern bank of +the Rhine. There another crowd met him, for many dealers had hurried +thither to save their property in the ships. Men and women pressed past +bales and wares, that were being rolled down the narrow wooden bridges +to the vessels. A woman, a child, and a rope-maker's cart had been +pushed into the water, and the wildest confusion prevailed around the +spot. But the burgomaster reached the place just at the right time, +gave directions for rescuing the drowning people, and then made every +exertion to bring order out of the confusion. + +The constables were commanded to admit fugitives only on board the +vessels bound for the places where they belonged; two planks were laid +to every ship, One for goods, the other for passengers; the constables +loudly shouted that--as the law directed when the alarm-bell rang--all +citizens of Leyden must enter their houses and the streets be cleared, +on pain of a heavy penalty. All the city gates were opened for the +passage of wheeled vehicles, except the Hohenort Gate, which led to +Leyderdorp, where egress was refused. Thus the crowd in the streets +was lessened, order appeared amid the tumult, and when, in the dawn of +morning, Adrian turned his steps towards home, there was little more +bustle in the streets than on ordinary nights. + +His mother and Barbara had been anxious, but he told them about his +father and in what manner he had put a stop to the confusion. + +While talking, the rattle of musketry was heard in the distance, awaking +such excitement in Adrian's mind, that he wanted to rush out again; but +his mother stopped him and he was obliged to mount the stairs to his +room. He did not go to sleep, but climbed to the upper loft in the gable +of the rear building and gazed through the window, to which the bales of +leather were raised by pulleys, towards the east, from whence the sound +of firing was still audible. But he saw nothing except the dawn and +light clouds of smoke, that assumed a rosy hue as they floated upward. +As nothing new appeared, his eyes closed, and he fell asleep beside the +open window where he dreamed of a bloody battle and the English riders. +His slumber was so sound, that he did not hear the rumble of wheels in +the quiet courtyard below him. The carts from which the noise proceeded +belonged to traders from neighboring cities, who preferred to leave +their goods in the threatened town, rather than carry them towards the +advancing Spaniards. Meister Peter had allowed some of them to store +their property with him. The carts were obliged to pass through the +back-building with the workshops, and the goods liable to be injured +by the weather, were to be placed in the course of the day in the large +garrets of his house. + +The burgomaster's wife had gone to Henrica at midnight to soothe her +fears, but the sick girl seemed free from all anxiety, and when she +heard that the Spaniards were on the march, her eyes sparkled joyously. +Maria noticed it and turned away from her guest, but she repressed the +harsh words that sprang to her lips, wished her good-night, and left the +chamber. + +Henrica gazed thoughtfully after her and then rose, for no sleep was +possible that night. The alarm-bell in the Tower of Pancratius rang +incessantly, and more than once doors opened, voices and shots were +heard. Many tones and noises, whose origin and nature she could not +understand, reached her ears, and when morning dawned, the court-yard +under her windows, usually so quiet, was full of bustle. Carts rattled, +loud tones mingled excitedly, and a deep masculine voice seemed to be +directing what was going on. Her curiosity and restlessness increased +every moment. She listened so intently that her head began to ache +again, but could hear only separate words and those very indistinctly. +Had the city been surrendered to the Spaniards, had King Philip's +soldiers found quarters in the burgomaster's house? Her blood boiled +indignantly, when she thought of the Castilians' triumph and the +humiliation of her native land, but soon her former joyous excitement +again filled her mind, as she beheld in imagination art re-enter the +bare walls of the Leyden churches, now robbed of all their ornaments, +chanting processions move through the streets, and priests in rich robes +celebrating mass in the newly-decorated tabernacles, amid beautiful +music, the odor of incense, and the ringing of bells. She expected to +receive from the Spaniards a place where she could pray and free her +soul by confession. Amid her former surroundings nothing had afforded +her any support, except her religion. A worthy priest, who was also her +instructor, had zealously striven to prove to her, that the new religion +threatened to destroy the mystical consecration of life, the yearning +for the beautiful, every ideal emotion of the human soul, and with +them art also; so Henrica preferred to see her native land Spanish +and Catholic, rather than free from the foreigners whom she hated and +Calvinistical. + +The court-yard gradually became less noisy, but when the first rays of +morning light streamed into her windows, the bustle again commenced and +grew louder. Heavy soles tramped upon the pavement, and amid the voices +that now mingled with those she had formerly heard, she fancied she +distinguished Maria's and Barbara's. Yes, she was not mistaken. That +cry of terror must proceed from her friend's mouth, and was followed by +exclamations of grief from bearded lips and loud sobs. + +Evil tidings must have reached her host's house, and the woman weeping +so impetuously below was probably kind "Babetta." + +Anxiety drove her from her bed. On the little table beside it, amid +several bottles and glasses, the lamp and the box of matches, stood the +tiny bell, at whose faint sound one of her nurses invariably hastened +in. Henrica rang it three times, then again and again, but nobody +appeared. Then her hot blood boiled, and half from impatience and +vexation, half from curiosity and sympathy, she slipped into her shoes, +threw on a morning dress, went to the chair which stood on the platform +in the niche, opened the window, and looked down at the groups gathered +below. + +No one noticed her, for the men who stood there sorrowing, and the +weeping women, among whom were Maria and Barbara, were listening with +many tokens of sympathy to the eager words of a young man, and had eyes +and ears for him alone. Henrica recognized in the speaker the musician +Wilhelm, but only by his voice, for the morion on his curls and the +blood-stained coat of mail gave the unassuming artist a martial, nay +heroic air. + +He had advanced a long way in his story, when Henrica unseen became a +listener. + +"Yes, sir," he replied, in answer to a question from the burgomaster, +"we followed them, but they disappeared in the village and all remained +still. To risk storming the houses, would have been madness. So we +kept quiet, but towards two o'clock heard firing in the neighborhood +of Leyderdorp. 'Junker von Warmond has made a sally,' said the captain, +leading us in the direction of the firing. This was what the Spaniards +had wanted, for long before we reached the goal, a company of +Castilians, with white sheets over their armor, climbed out of a +ditch in the dim light, threw themselves on their knees, murmured a +'Pater-noster,' shouted their San Jago and pressed forward upon us. We +had seen them in time for the halberdiers to extend their pikes, and +the musketeers to be down amid the grass. So the Spaniards had a warm +reception, and four of them fell in this attack. We were superior in +numbers, and their captain led them back to the ditch in good order. +There they halted, for their duty was probably to detain us and then +have us cut down by a larger body. We were too weak to drive them from +their position, but when the east began to brighten and they still did +not come forward, the captain advanced towards them with the drummer, +bearing a white flag, and shouted to them in Italian, which he had +learned to speak a little in Italy, that he wished the Castilian +gentlemen good-morning, and if there was any officer with a sense of +honor among them, let him come forth and meet a captain who wished to +cross swords with him. He pledged his word, that his men would look on +at the duel without taking any share in it, no matter what the result +might be. Just at that moment two shots were fired from the ditch and +the bullets whizzed close by the poor captain. We called to him to save +his life, but he did not stir, and shouted that they were cowards and +assassins, like their king. + +"Meantime it had grown tolerably light--we heard them calling to and +fro from the ditch, and just as Allertssohn was turning away, an officer +sprang into the meadow, exclaiming: 'Stand, braggart, and draw your +blade.' + +"The captain drew his Brescian sword, bowed to his enemy as if he were +in the fencing-school, bent the steel and closed with the Castilian. The +latter was a thin man of stately figure and aristocratic bearing, and +as it soon appeared, a dangerous foe. He circled like a whirlwind, round +the captain with bounds, thrusts and feints, but Allertssohn maintained +his composure, and at first confined himself to skilful parrying. Then +he dealt a magnificent quarte, and when the other parried it, followed +with the tierce, and this being warded off, gave with the speed of +lightning a side-thrust such as only he can deal. The Castilian fell on +his knees, for the Brescian blade had pierced his lungs. His death was +speedy. + +"As soon as he lay on the turf, the Spaniards again rushed upon us, but +we repulsed them and took the officer's body in our midst. Never have I +seen the captain so proud and happy. You, Junker von Warmond, can easily +guess the cause. He had now done honor to his series in a genuine +duel against an enemy of equal rank, and told me this was the happiest +morning of his life. Then he ordered us to march round the ditch and +attack the enemy on the flank. But scarcely had we begun to move, when +the expected troops from Leyderdorp pressed forward, their loud San Jago +resounding far and wide, while at the same time the old enemy rose from +the ditch and attacked us. Allertssohn rushed forward, but did not reach +them--oh, gentlemen! I shall never forget it, a bullet struck him down +at my side. It probably pierced his heart, for he said: nothing but: +'Remember the boy!' stretched out his powerful frame and died. We wanted +to bear his body away with us, but were pressed by superior numbers, +and it was hard enough to come within range of Junker von Warmond's +volunteers. The Spaniards did not venture so far. Here we are. The +Castilian's body is lying in the tower at the Hohenort Gate. These are +the papers we found in the dead man's doublet, and this is his ring; he +has a proud escutcheon." + +Peter Van der Werff took the dead man's letter-case in his hand, looked +through it and said: "His name was Don Luis d'Avila." + +He said no more, for his wife had seen Henrica's head stretched far out +of the window, and cried loudly in terror: "Fraulein, for Heaven's sake, +Fraulein--what are you doing?" + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +The burgomaster's wife had been anxious about Henrica, but the latter +greeted her with special cheerfulness and met her gentle reproaches with +the assurance that this morning had done her good. Fate, she said, +was just, and if it were true that confidence of recovery helped the +physician, Doctor Bontius would have an easy task with her. The dead +Castilian must be the wretch, who had plunged her sister Anna into +misery. Maria, surprised, but entirely relieved, left her and sought her +husband to tell him how she had found the invalid, and in what relation +the Spanish officer, slain by Allertssohn, seemed to have stood to +Henrica and her sister. Peter only half listened to her, and when +Barbara brought him a freshly-ironed ruff, interrupted his wife in the +middle of her story, gave her the dead man's letter-case, and said: + +"There, let her satisfy herself, and bring it to me again in the +evening, I shall hardly be able to come to dinner; I suppose you'll see +poor Allertssohn's widow in the course of the day." + +"Certainly," she answered eagerly. "Whom will you appoint in his place?" + +"That is for the Prince to decide." + +"Have you thought of any means of keeping the communication with Delft +free from the enemy?" + +"On your mother's account?" + +"Not solely. Rotterdam also lies to the south. We can expect nothing +from Haarlem and Amsterdam, that is, from the north, for everything +there is in the hands of the Spaniards." + +"I'll get you a place in the council of war. Where do you learn your +wisdom?" + +"We have our thoughts, and isn't it natural that I should rather follow +you into the future with my eyes open, than blindly? Has the English +troop been used to secure the fortifications on the old canal? Kaak too +is an important point." + +Peter gazed at his wife in amazement, and the sense of discomfort +experienced by an unskilful writer, when some one looks over his +shoulder, stole over him. She had pointed out a bad, momentous error, +which, it is true, did not burden him alone, and as he certainly did not +wish to defend it to her, and moreover might have found justification +difficult, he made no reply, saying nothing but: "Men's affairs! +Good-bye until evening." With these words he walked past Barbara, +towards the door. + +Maria did not know how it happened, but before he laid his hand on the +latch she gained sufficient self-command to call after him: + +"Are you going so, Peter! Is that right? What did you promise me on your +return from the journey to the Prince?" + +"I know, I know," he answered impatiently. "We cannot serve two masters, +and in these times I beg you not to trouble me with questions and +matters that don't concern you. To direct the business of the city is +my affair; you have your invalid, the children, the poor; let that +suffice." + +Without waiting for her reply he left the room, while she stood +motionless, gazing after him. + +Barbara watched her anxiously for several minutes, then busied herself +with the papers on her brother's writing-table, saying as if to herself, +though turning slightly towards her sister-in-law: + +"Evil times! Let every one, who is not oppressed with such burdens as +Peter, thank the Lord. He has to bear the responsibility of everything, +and people can't dance lightly with hundred-pound weights on their +legs. Nobody has a better heart, and nobody means more honestly. How the +traders at the fair praised his caution! In the storm people know the +pilot, and Peter was always greatest, when things were going worst. +He knows what he is undertaking, but the last few weeks have aged him +years." + +Maria nodded. Barbara left the room, but returning after a few minutes, +said beseechingly: + +"You look ill, child, come and lie down. An hour's sleep is better than +three meals. At your age, such a night as this last one doesn't pass +without leaving traces. The sun is shining so brightly, that I've drawn +your window-curtains. I've made your bed, too. Be sensible and come." + +While uttering the last words, she took Maria's hand and drew her away. +The young wife made no resistance, and though her eyes did not remain +dry when she was alone, sleep soon overpowered her. + +Towards noon, refreshed by slumber, and newly dressed, she went to the +captain's house. Her own heart was heavy, and compassion for herself +and her own fate again had the mastery. Eva Peterstochter, the +fencing-master's widow, a quiet, modest woman, whom she scarcely knew by +sight, did not appear. She was sitting alone in her room, weeping, +but Maria found in her house the musician, Wilhelm, who had spoken +comforting words to his old friend's son, and promised to take charge of +him and make him a good performer. + +The burgomaster's wife sent a message to the widow, begging to see her +the next day, and then went out into the street with Wilhelm. Everywhere +groups of citizens, women, and journeymen were standing together, +talking about what had happened and the coming trouble. While Maria +was telling the musician who the dead Castilian was, and that Henrica +desired to speak with him, Wilhelm, as soon as possible, she was +interrupted more than once; for sometimes a company of volunteers +or city guards, relieved from duty in the towers and on the walls, +sometimes a cannon barred their way. Was it the anticipation of coming +events, or the beat of drums and blare of trumpets, which so excited her +companion, that he often pressed his hand to his forehead and she +was obliged to request him to slacken his pace. There was a strange, +constrained tone in his voice as, in accordance with her request, he +told her that the Spaniards had come by ship up the Amstel, the Drecht, +and the Brasem See to the Rhine and landed at Leyderdorp. + +A mounted messenger wearing the Prince's colors, and followed not only +by children, but by grown persons, who ran after him eager to reach +the town-hall at the same time, interrupted Wilhelm, and as soon as +the crowd had passed, the burgomaster's wife asked her companion one +question after another. The noise of war, the firing audible in the +distance, the gay military costumes everywhere to be seen in place of +the darker citizens' dress, also aroused her eager interest, and what +she learned from Wilhelm was little calculated to diminish it. The main +body of the Spanish troops was on the way to the Hague. The environment +of the city had commenced, but the enemy could hardly succeed in +his purpose; for the English auxiliaries, who were to defend the new +fortifications of Valkenburg, the village of Alfen, and the Gouda +sluice might be trusted. Wilhelm had seen the British soldiers, their +commander, Colonel Chester, and Captain Gensfort, and praised their +superb equipments and stately bearing. + +On reaching her own house, Maria attempted to take leave of her +companion, but the latter earnestly entreated permission to have an +interview with Henrica at once, and could scarcely be convinced that he +must have patience until the doctor had given his consent. + +At dinner Adrian, who when his father was not present, talked freely +enough, related all sorts of things he had seen himself, as well as news +and rumors heard at school and in the street, his eloquence being no +little encouraged by his step-mother's eager questions. + +Intense anxiety had taken possession of the burgomaster's wife. Her +enthusiasm for the cause of liberty, to which her most beloved relatives +had fallen victims, blazed brightly, and wrath against the oppressors +of her native land seethed passionately in her breast. The delicate, +maidenly, reserved woman, who was utterly incapable of any loud or rude +expression of feeling in ordinary life, would now have rushed to the +walls, like Kanau Hasselaer of Haarlem, to fight the foe among the men. + +Offended pride, and everything that an hour ago had oppressed her +heart, yielded to sympathy for her country's cause. Animated with fresh +courage, she went to Henrica and, as evening had closed in, sat down by +the lamp to write to her mother; for she had neglected to do so since +the invalid's arrival, and communication with Delft might soon be +interrupted. + +When she read over the completed letter, she was satisfied with it and +herself, for it breathed firm confidence in the victory of the good +cause, and also distinctly and unconstrainedly expressed her cheerful +willingness to bear the worst. + +Barbara had retired when Peter at last appeared, so weary that he could +scarcely touch the meal that had been kept ready for him. While raising +the food to his lips, he confirmed the news Maria had already heard from +the musician, and was gentle and kind, but his appearance saddened her, +for it recalled Barbara's allusion to the heavy burden he had assumed. +To-day, for the first time, she noticed two deep lines that anxiety had +furrowed between his eyes and lips, and full of tender compassion, went +behind him, laid her hands on his cheeks and kissed him on the forehead. +He trembled slightly, seized her slender right hand so impetuously that +she shrank back, raised it first to his lips, then to his eyes, and held +it there for several minutes. + +At last he rose, passed before her into his sleeping-room, bade her an +affectionate good-night, and lay down to rest. When she too sought her +bed, he was breathing heavily. Extreme fatigue had quickly overpowered +him. The slumber of both was destined to be frequently interrupted +during this night, and whenever Maria woke, she heard her husband sigh +and moan. She did not stir, that she might not disturb the sleep he +sought and needed, and twice held her breath, for he was talking to +himself. First he murmured softly: "Heavy, too heavy," and then: "If I +can only bear it." + +When she awoke next morning, he had already left the room and gone to +the town-hall. At noon he returned home, saying that the Spaniards had +taken the Hague and been hailed with delight by the pitiful adherents +of the king. Fortunately, the well-disposed citizens and Beggars had had +time to escape to Delft, for brave Nicolas Ruichhaver had held the +foe in check for a time at Geestburg. The west was still open, and the +newly-fortified fort of Valkenburg, garrisoned by the English soldiers, +would not be so easy to storm. On the east, other British auxiliaries +were posted at Alfen in the Spaniards' rear. + +The burgomaster told all this unasked, but did not speak as freely and +naturally as when conversing with men. While talking, he often looked +into his plate and hesitated. It seemed as if he were obliged to impose +a certain restraint upon himself, in order to speak before women, +servants, and children, of matters he was in the habit of discussing +only with men of his own position. Maria listened attentively, but +maintained a modest reserve, urging him only by loving looks and +sympathizing exclamations, while Barbara boldly asked one question after +another. + +The meal was approaching an end, when Junker von Warmond entered +unannounced, and requested the burgomaster to accompany him at once, for +Colonel Chester was standing before the White Gate with a portion of his +troops, asking admittance to the city. + +At these tidings, Peter dashed his mug of beer angrily on the table, +sprang from his seat, and left the room before the nobleman. + +During the late hours of the afternoon, the Van der Werff house was +crowded with people. The gossips came to talk over with Barbara the +events occurring at the White Gate. Burgomaster Van Swieten's wife had +heard from her own husband, that the Englishmen, without making any +resistance, had surrendered the beautiful new fort of Valkenburg and +taken to their heels, at the mere sight of the Spaniards. The enemy had +marched out from Haarlem through the downs above Nordwyk, and it would +have been an easy matter for the Britons to hold the strong position. + +"Fine aid such helpers give!" cried Barbara indignantly. "Let Queen +Elizabeth keep the men on her island for herself, and send us the +women." + +"Yet they are real sons of Anak, and bear themselves like trim +soldiers," said the wife of the magistrate Heemskerk. "High boots, +doublets of fine leather, gay plumes in their morions and hats, large +coats of mail, halberds that would kill half a dozen--and all like new." + +"They probably didn't want to spoil them, and so found a place of safety +as soon as possible, the windy cowards," cried the wife of Church-warden +de Haes, whose sharp tongue was well known. "You seem to have looked at +them very closely, Frau Margret." + +"From the wind-mill at the gate," replied the other. "The envoy stopped +on the bridge directly under us. A handsome man on a stately horse. His +trumpeter too was mounted, and the velvet cloth on his trumpet bristled +with beautiful embroidery in gold thread and jewels. They earnestly +entreated admittance, but the gate remained closed." + +"Right, right!" cried Frau Heemskerk. "I don't like the Prince's +commissioner, Van Bronkhorst. What does he care for us, if only the +Queen doesn't get angry and withdraw the subsidies? I've heard he wants +to accommodate Chester and grant him admission." + +"He would like to do so," added Frau Van Hout. "But your husband, Frau +Maria, and mine--I was talking with him on the way here--will make every +effort to prevent it. The two Seigneurs of Nordwyk are of their opinion, +so perhaps the commissioner will be out-voted." + +"May God grant it!" cried the resolute voice of Wilhelm's mother. "By +to-morrow or the day after, not even a cat will be allowed to leave the +gates, and my husband says we must begin to save provisions at once." + +"Five hundred more consumers in the city, to lessen our children's +morsels; that would be fine business!" cried Frau de Haes, throwing +herself back in her chair so violently, that it creaked, and beating her +knees with her hands. + +"And they are Englishmen, Frau Margret, Englishmen," said the +Receiver-General's wife. "They don't eat, they don't consume, they +devour. We supply our troops; but Herr von Nordwyk--I mean the younger +one, who has been at the Queen's court as the Prince's ambassador, told +my Wilhelm what a British glutton can gobble. They'll clear off your +beef like cheese, and our beer is dish-water compared with their black +malt brew." + +"All that might be borne," replied Barbara, "if they were stout +soldiers. We needn't mind a hundred head of cattle more or less, and +the glutton becomes temperate, when a niggard rules the house. But I +wouldn't take one of our Adrian's grey rabbits for these runaways." + +"It would be a pity," said Frau de Haes. "I shall go home now, and if +I find my husband, he'll learn what sensible people think of the +Englishmen." + +"Gently, my friend, gently," said Burgomaster Van Swieten's wife, who +had hitherto been playing quietly with the cat. "Believe me, it will be +just the same on the whole, whether we admit the auxiliaries or not, for +before the gooseberries in our gardens are ripe, all resistance will be +over." + +Maria, who was passing cakes and hippocras, set her waiter on the table +and asked: + +"Do you wish that, Frau Magtelt?" + +"I do," replied the latter positively, "and many sensible people wish +it too. No resistance is possible against such superior force, and +the sooner we appeal to the King's mercy, the more surely it will be +granted." + +The other women listened to the bold speaker in silence, but Maria +approached and answered indignantly: + +"Whoever says that, can go to the Spaniards at once; whoever says that, +desires the disgrace of the city and country; whoever says that--" + +Frau Magtelt interrupted Maria with a forced laugh, saying: + +"Do you want to school experienced women, Madam Early-Wise? Is it +customary to attack a visitor?" + +"Customary or not," replied the other, "I will never permit such words +in our house, and if they crossed the lips of my own sister I would say +to her Go, you are my friend no longer!" + +Maria's voice trembled, and she pointed with outstretched arm towards +the door. + +Frau Magtelt struggled for composure, but as she left the room found +nothing to say, except: "Don't be troubled, don't be troubled--you won't +see me again." + +Barbara followed the offended woman, and while those who remained fixed +their eyes in embarrassment upon their laps, Wilhelm's mother exclaimed: + +"Well said, little woman, well said!" + +Herr Van Hout's kind wife threw her arm around Maria, kissed her +forehead, and whispered: + +"Turn away from the other women and dry your eyes." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +A story is told of a condemned man, whom his cruel executioner cast into +a prison of ingenious structure. Each day the walls of this cage grew +narrower and narrower, each day they pressed nearer and nearer to the +unfortunate prisoner, until in despair he died and the dungeon became +his coffin. Even so, league by league, the iron barriers of the Spanish +regiments drew nearer and nearer Leyden, and, if they succeeded in +destroying the resistance of their victim, the latter was threatened +with a still more cruel and pitiless end than that of the unhappy +prisoner. The girdle Valdez, King Philip's commander, and his skilful +lieutenant, Don Ayala, had drawn around the city in less than two days, +was already nearly closed, the fort of Valkenburg, strengthened with +the utmost care, belonged to the enemy, and the danger had advanced +more rapidly and with far more irresistible strength, than even the most +timid citizens had feared. If Leyden fell, its houses would be delivered +to fire and pillage, its men to death, its women to disgrace--this was +guaranteed by the fate of other conquered cities and the Spanish nature. + +Who could imagine the guardian angel of the busy city, except under a +sullen sky, with clouded brow and anxious eyes, and yet it looked as gay +and bright at the White Gate as if a spring festival was drawing to +a close with a brilliant exhibition. Wherever the walls, as far as +Catherine's Tower, afforded a foothold, they were crowded with men, +women, and children. The old masonry looked like the spectators' seats +in an arena, and the buzzing of the many-headed, curious crowd was heard +for a long distance in the city. + +It is a kind dispensation of Providence, that enables men to enjoy a +brief glimpse of sunshine amid terrible storms, and thus the journeymen +and apprentices, women and children, forgot the impending danger and +feasted their eyes on the beautifully-dressed English soldiers, who were +looking up at them, nodding and laughing saucily to the young girls, +though part of them, it is true, were awaiting with thoughtful faces the +results of the negotiations going on within the walls. + +The doors of the White Gate now opened; Commissioner Van Bronkhorst, Van +der Werff, Van Hout and other leaders of the community accompanied the +British colonel and his trumpeter to the bridge. The former seemed to be +filled with passionate indignation and several times struck his hand on +the hilt of his sword, the Leyden magistrates were talking to him, and +at last took leave with low bows, which he answered only with a haughty +wave of the hand. The citizens returned, the portals of the gate closed, +the old lock creaked, the iron-shod beams fell back into their places, +the chains of the drawbridge rattled audibly, and the assembled throng +now knew that the Englishmen had been refused admittance to the city. + +Loud cheers, mingled with many an expression of displeasure, were heard. +"Long live Orange!" shouted the boys, among whom were Adrian and the +son of the dead fencing-master Allertssohn; the women waved their +handkerchiefs, and all eyes were fixed on the Britons. A loud flourish +of trumpets was heard, the English mounted officers dashed towards the +colonel and held a short council of war with him, interrupted by hasty +words from several individuals, and soon after a signal was sounded. The +soldiers hurriedly, formed in marching array, many of them shaking their +fists at the city. Halberds and muskets, which had been stacked, were +seized by their owners and, amid the beating of drums and blare of +trumpets, order arose out of the confusion. Individuals fell into ranks, +ranks into companies, gay flags were unfurled and flung to the evening +breeze, and with loud hurrahs the troops marched along the Rhine towards +the south-west, where the Spanish outposts were stationed. + +The Leyden boys joined loudly in the Englishmen's cheer. + +Even Andreas, the fencing-master's son, had begun to shout with them; +but when he saw a tall captain marching proudly before his company, his +voice failed and, covering his eyes with his hands, he ran home to his +mother. + +The other lads did not notice him, for the setting sun flashed so +brightly on the coats of mail and helmets of the soldiers, the trumpets +sounded so merrily, the officers' steeds caracoled so proudly under +their riders, the gay plumes and banners and the smoke of the glimmering +matches gained such beautiful hues in the roseate light of sunset, that +eyes and ears seemed spellbound by the spectacle. But a fresh incident +now attracted the attention of great and small. + +Thirty-six Englishmen, among them several officers, lingered behind the +others and approached the gate. Again the lock creaked and the chains +rattled. The little band was admitted to the city and welcomed at +the first houses of the northern end by Herr Van Bronkhorst and the +burgomaster. + +Every one on the walls had expected, that a skirmish between the +retreating Englishmen and Castilians would now take place before their +eyes. But they were greatly mistaken. Before the first ranks reached +the enemy, the matches for lighting the cannon flew through the air, the +banners were lowered, and when darkness came and the curious spectators +dispersed, they knew that the Englishmen had deserted the good cause and +gone over to the Spaniards. + +The thirty-six men, who had been admitted through the gates, were the +only ones who refused to be accessory to this treason. + +The task of providing quarters for Captain Cromwell and the other +Englishmen and Netherlanders, who had remained faithful, was assigned +to Van Hout. Burgomaster Van der Werff went home with Commissioner +Van Bronkhorst. Many a low-voiced but violent word had been exchanged +between them. The commissioner protested that the Prince would be highly +incensed at the refusal to admit the Englishmen, for with good reason he +set great value on Queen Elizabeth's favorable disposition to the cause +of freedom, to which the burgomaster and his friends had rendered bad +service that day. Van der Werff denied this, for everything depended +upon holding Leyden. After the fall of this city, Delft, Rotterdam and +Gouda would also be lost, and all farther efforts to battle for the +liberty of Holland useless. Five hundred consumers would prematurely +exhaust the already insufficient stock of provisions. Everything had +been done to soften their refusal to admit the Englishmen, nay they had +had free choice to encamp beneath the protection of the walls under the +cannon of the city. + +When the two men parted, neither had convinced the other, but each felt +sure of his comrade's loyalty. As Peter took leave, he said: + +"Van Hout shall explain the reasons for our conduct to the Prince, in +a letter as clear and convincing as only he can make it, and his +excellency will finally approve of it. Rely upon that." + +"We will wait," replied the commissioner, "but don't forget that we +shall soon be shut within these walls behind bolts and bars, like +prisoners, and perhaps day after to-morrow no messenger will be able to +get to him." + +"Van Hout is swift with his pen." + +"And let a proclamation be read aloud, early tomorrow morning, advising +the women, old men and children, in short, all who will diminish the +stock of provisions and add no strength to the defence, to leave the +city. They can reach Delft without danger, for the roads leading to it +are still open." + +"Very well," replied Peter. "It's said that many girls and women have +gone to-day in advance of the others." + +"That's right," cried the commissioner. "We are driving in a fragile +vessel on the high seas. If I had a daughter in the house, I know what +I should do. Farewell till we meet again, Meister. How are matters at +Alfen? The firing is no longer heard." + +"Darkness has probably interrupted the battle." + +"We'll hope for the best news to-morrow, and even if all the men outside +succumb, we within the walls will not flinch or yield." + +"We will hold out firmly to the end," replied Peter resolutely. + +"To the end, and, if God so wills it, a successful end." + +"Amen," cried Peter, pressed the commissioner's hand and pursued his way +home. + +Barbara met him on the steps and wanted to call Maria, who was with +Henrica; but he forbade it and paced thoughtfully to and fro, his lips +often quivering as if he were suffering great pain. When, after some +time, he heard his wife's voice in the dining-room, he controlled +himself by a violent effort, went to the door, and slowly opened it. + +"You are at home already, and I sitting quietly here spinning!" she +exclaimed in surprise. + +"Yes, child. Please come in here, I have something to say to you." + +"For Heaven's sake! Peter, tell me what has happened. How your voice +sounds, and how pale you look!" + +"I'm not ill, but matters are serious, terribly serious, Maria." + +"Then it is true that the enemy--" + +"They gained great advantage to-day and yesterday, but I beg you, if you +love me, don't interrupt me now; what I have to say is no easy thing, it +is hard to force the lips to utter it. Where shall I begin? How shall +I speak, that you may not misunderstand me? You know, child, I took you +into my house from a warm nest. What we could offer was very little, +and you had doubtless expected to find more. I know you have not been +happy." + +"But it would be so easy for you to make me so." + +"You are mistaken, Maria. In these troublous times but one thing claims +my thoughts, and whatever diverts them from it is evil. But just now +one thing paralyzes my courage and will-anxiety about your fate; for who +knows what is impending over us, and therefore it must be said, I must +take my heart to the shambles and express a wish.--A wish? Oh, merciful +Heaven, is there no other word for what I mean!" + +"Speak, Peter, speak, and do not torture me!" cried Maria, gazing +anxiously into her husband's face. It could be no small matter, that +induced the clear-headed, resolute man to utter such confused language. + +The burgomaster summoned up his courage and began again: + +"You are right, it is useless to keep back what must be said. We have +determined at the town-hall to-day, to request the women and girls to +leave the city. The road to Delft is still open; day after to-morrow +it may no longer be so, afterwards--who can predict what will happen +afterwards? If no relief comes and the provisions are consumed, we shall +be forced to open the gates to the enemy, and then, Maria, imagine what +will happen! The Rhine and the canals will grow crimson, for much blood +will flow into them and they will mirror an unequalled conflagration. +Woe betide the men, tenfold woe betide the women, against whom the +conqueror's fury will then be directed. And you, you--the wife of the +man who has induced thousands to desert King Philip, the wife of the +exile, who directs the resistance within these walls." + +At the last words Maria had opened her large eyes wider and wider, and +now interrupted her husband with the question: "Do you wish to try how +high my courage will rise?" + +"No, Maria. I know you will hold out loyally and would look death in the +face as fearlessly as your sister did in Haarlem; but I, I cannot endure +the thought of seeing you fall into the hands of our butchers. Fear for +you, terrible fear, will destroy my vigorous strength in the decisive +hours, so the words must be uttered--" + +Maria had hitherto listened to her husband quietly; she knew what he +desired. Now she advanced nearer and interrupted him by exclaiming +firmly, nay imperiously: + +"No more, no more, do you hear! I will not endure another word!" + +"Maria!" + +"Silence it is my turn now. To escape fear, you will thrust your wife +from the house; fear, you say, would undermine your strength. But will +longing strengthen it? If you love me, it will not fail to come--" + +"If I love you, Maria!" + +"Well, well! But you have forgotten to consider how I shall feel in +exile, if I also love you. I am your wife. We vowed at the altar, that +nothing save death should part us. Have you forgotten it? Have your +children become mine? Have I taught them, rejoiced to call myself their +mother? Yes, or no?" + +"Yes, Maria, yes, yes, a hundred times yes!" + +"And you have the heart to throw me into the arms of this wasting +longing! You wish to prevent me from keeping the most sacred of vows? +You can bring yourself to tear me from the children? You think me too +shallow and feeble, to endure suffering and death for the sacred cause, +which is mine as well as yours! You are fond of calling me your child, +but I can be strong, and whatever may come, will not weep. You are the +husband and have the right to command, I am only the wife and shall +obey. Shall I go? Shall I stay? I await your answer." + +She had uttered the last words in a trembling voice, but the burgomaster +exclaimed with deep emotion: + +"Stay, stay, Maria! Come, come, and forgive me!" Peter seized her hand, +exclaiming again: + +"Come, come!" + +But the young wife released herself, retreated a step and said +beseechingly: + +"Let me go, Peter, I cannot; I need time to overcome this." + +He let his arms fall and gazed mournfully into her face, but she turned +away and silently left the room. Peter Van der Werff did not follow her, +but went quietly into his study and strove to reflect upon many things, +that concerned his office, but his thoughts constantly reverted to +Maria. His love oppressed him as if it were a crime, and he seemed to +himself like a courier, who gathers flowers by the way-side and in this +idling squanders time and forgets the object of his mission. His heart +felt unspeakably heavy and sad, and it seemed almost like a deliverance +when, just before midnight, the bell in the Tower of Pancratius raised +its evilboding voice. In danger, he knew, he would feel and think of +nothing except what duty required of him, so with renewed strength he +took his hat from the hook and left the house with a steady step. + +In the street he met Junker Van Duivenvoorde, who summoned him to the +Hohenort Gate, before which a body of Englishmen had again appeared; a +few brave soldiers who, in a fierce, bloody combat, had held Alfen and +the Gouda sluice against the Spaniards until their powder was exhausted +and necessity compelled them to yield or seek safety in flight. The +burgomaster followed the officer and ordered the gates to be opened +to the brave soldiers. They were twenty in number, among them the +Netherland Captain Van der Iaen, and a Young German officer. Peter +commanded, that they should have shelter for the night in the town-hall +and the guard-house at the gate. The next morning suitable quarters +would be found for them in the houses of the citizens. Janus Dousa +invited the captain to lodge with him, the German went to Aquanus's +tavern. All were ordered to report to the burgomaster at noon the next +day, to be assigned to quarters and enrolled among the volunteer troops. + +The ringing of the alarm-bell in the tower also disturbed the night's +rest of the ladies in the Van der Werff household. Barbara sought Maria, +and neither returned to their rooms until they had learned the cause of +the ringing and soothed Henrica. + +Maria could not sleep. Her husband's purpose of separating from her +during the impending danger, had stirred her whole soul, wounded her +to the inmost depths of her heart. She felt humiliated, and, if not +misunderstood, at least unappreciated by the man for whose sake she +rejoiced, whenever she perceived a lofty aspiration or noble emotion in +her own soul. What avail is personal loveliness to the beautiful wife of +a blind man; of what avail to Maria was the rich treasure buried in her +bosom, if her husband would not see and bring it to the surface! "Show +him, tell him how lofty are your feelings," urged love; but womanly +pride exclaimed: "Do not force upon him what he disdains to seek." + +So the hours passed, bringing her neither sleep, peace, nor the desire +to forget the humiliation inflicted upon her. + +At last Peter entered the room, stepping lightly and cautiously, in +order not to wake her. She pretended to be asleep, but with half-closed +eyes could see him distinctly. The lamp-light fell upon his face, and +the lines she had formerly perceived looked like deep shadows between +his eyes and mouth. They impressed upon his features the stamp of heavy, +sorrowful anxiety, and reminded Maria of the "too hard" and "if I can +only bear it," he had murmured in his sleep the night before. Then he +approached her bed and stood there a long time; she no longer saw him, +for she kept her eyes tightly closed, but the first loving glance, with +which he gazed down upon her, had not escaped her notice. It continued +to beam before her mental vision, and she thought she felt that he was +watching and praying for her as if she were a child. + +Sleep had long since overpowered her husband, while Maria lay gazing at +the glimmering dawn, as wakeful as if it were broad day. For the sake +of his love she would forgive much, but she could not forget the +humiliation she had experienced. "A toy," she said to herself, "a work +of art which we enjoy, is placed in security when danger threatens the +house; the axe and the bread, the sword and the talisman that protects +us, in short whatever we cannot dispense with while we live, we do +not release from our hands till death comes. She was not necessary, +indispensable to him. If she had obeyed his wish and left him, +then--yes, then--" + +Here the current of her thoughts was checked, for the first time she +asked herself the question: "Would he have really missed your helping +hand, your cheering word?" + +She turned restlessly, and her heart throbbed anxiously, as she told +herself that she had done little to smooth his rugged pathway. The vague +feeling, that he had not been entirely to blame, if she had not found +perfect happiness by his side, alarmed her. Did not her former conduct +justify him in expecting hindrance rather than support and help in +impending days of severest peril? + +Filled with deep longing to obtain a clear view of her own heart, she +raised herself on her pillows and reviewed her whole former life. + +Her mother had been a Catholic in her youth, and had often told her how +free and light-hearted she had felt, when she confided everything that +can trouble a woman's heart to a silent third person, and received from +the lips of God's servant the assurance that she might now begin a new +life, secure of forgiveness. "It is harder for us now," her mother +said before her first communion, "for we of the Reformed religion are +referred to ourselves and our God, and must be wholly at peace with +ourselves before we approach the Lord's table. True, that is enough, for +if we frankly and honestly confess to the judge within our own breasts +all that troubles our consciences, whether in thought or deed, and +sincerely repent, we shall be sure of forgiveness for the sake of the +Saviour's wounds." + +Maria now prepared for this silent confession, and sternly and +pitilessly examined her conduct. Yes, she had fixed her gaze far too +steadily upon herself, asked much and given little. The fault was +recognized, and now the amendment should begin. + +After this self-inspection, her heart grew lighter, and when she at last +turned away from the morning-light to seek sleep, she looked forward +with pleasure to the affectionate greeting she meant to offer Peter in +the morning; but she soon fell asleep and when she woke, her husband had +long since left the house. + +As usual, she set Peter's study in order before proceeding to any other +task, and while doing so, cast a friendly glance at the dead Eva's +picture. On the writing-table lay the bible, the only book not connected +with his business affairs, that her husband ever read. Barbara sometimes +drew comfort and support from the volume, but also used it as an oracle, +for when undecided how to act she opened it and pointed with her finger +to a certain passage. This usually had a definite meaning and she +generally, though not always, acted as it directed. To-day she had been +disobedient, for in response to her question whether she might venture +to send a bag of all sorts of dainties to her son, a Beggar of the Sea, +in spite of the Spaniards encircling the city, she had received the +words of Jeremiah: "Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: +they shall take to themselves their curtains and all their vessels and +their camels," and yet the bag had been entrusted early that morning +to a widow, who intended to make her escape to Delft with her young +daughter, according to the request of the magistrates. The gift might +perhaps reach Rotterdam; a mother always hopes for a miracle in behalf +of her child. + +Before Maria restored the bible to its old place, she opened it at the +thirteenth chapter of the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, +which speaks of love, and was specially dear to her. There were the +words: "Charity suffereth long and is kind, charity is not easily +provoked;" and "Charity beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth +all things, endureth all things." + +To be kind and patient, to hope and endure all things, was the duty love +imposed upon her. + +When she had closed the bible and was preparing to go to Henrica, +Barbara ushered Janus Dousa into the room. The young nobleman to-day +wore armor and gorget, and looked far more like a soldier than a +scientist or poet. He had sought Peter in vain at the town-hall, and +hoped to find him at home. One of the messengers sent to the Prince +had returned from Dortrecht with a letter, which conferred on Dousa the +office made vacant by Allertssohn's death. He was to command not only +the city-guard, but all the armed force. He had accepted the appointment +with cheerful alacrity, and requested Maria to inform her husband. + +"Accept my congratulations," said the burgomaster's wife. "But what will +now become of your motto: 'Ante omnia Musae?'" + +"I shall change the words a little and say: 'Omnia ante Musas." + +"Do you understand that jargon, child?" asked Barbara. + +"A passport will be given the Muses," replied Maria gaily. + +Janus was pleased with the ready repartee and exclaimed: "How bright and +happy you look! Faces free from care are rare birds in these days." + +Maria blushed, for she did not know how to interpret the words of +the nobleman, who understood how to reprove with subtle mockery, +and answered naively: "Don't think me frivolous, Junker. I know the +seriousness of the times, but I have just finished a silent confession +and discovered many bad traits in my character, but also the desire to +replace them with more praiseworthy ones." + +"There, there," replied Janus. "I knew long ago that you had formed a +friendship in the Delft school with my old sage. 'Know thyself,' was +the Greek's principal lesson, and you wisely obey it. Every silent +confession, every desire for inward purification, must begin with +the purpose of knowing ourselves and, if in so doing we unexpectedly +encounter things which tend to make our beloved selves uncomely, +and have the courage to find them just as hideous in ourselves as in +others--" + +"Abhorrence will come, and we shall have taken the first step towards +improvement." + +"No, dear lady, we shall then stand on one of the higher steps. After +hours of long, deep thought, Socrates perceived--do you know what?" + +"That he knew nothing at all. I shall arrive at this perception more +speedily." + +"And the Christian learns it at school," said Barbara, to join in the +conversation. "All knowledge is botchwork." + +"And we are all sinners," added Janus. "That's easily said, dear madam, +and easily understood, when others are concerned. 'He is a sinner' +is quickly uttered, but 'I am a sinner' escapes the lips with more +difficulty, and whoever does exclaim it with sorrow, in the stillness of +his own quiet room, mingles the white feathers of angels' wings with the +black pinions of the devil. Pardon me! In these times everything thought +and said is transformed into solemn earnest. Mars is here, and the +cheerful Muses are silent. Remember me to your husband, and tell him, +that Captain Allertssohn's body has been brought in and to-morrow is +appointed for the funeral." + +The nobleman took his leave, and Maria, after visiting her patient and +finding her well and bright, sent Adrian and Bessie into the garden +outside the city-wall to gather flowers and foliage, which she intended +to help them weave into wreaths for the coffin of the brave soldier. She +herself went to the captain's widow. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +The burgomaster's wife returned home just before dinner, and found a +motley throng of bearded warriors assembled in front of the house, they +were trying to make themselves intelligible in the English language to +some of the constables, and when the latter respectfully saluted Maria, +raised their hands to their morions also. + +She pleasantly returned the greeting and passed into the entry, where +the full light of noon streamed in through the open door. + +Peter had assigned quarters to the English soldiers outside, and after +a consultation with the new commandant, Jan Van der Does, gave them +officers. They were probably waiting for their comrades, for when the +young wife had ascended the first steps of the staircase and looked +upward, she found the top of the narrow flight barred by the tall figure +of a soldier. The latter had his back towards her and was showing +Bessie his dark velvet cap, surrounded by rectangular teeth, above which +floated a beautiful light-blue ostrich-plume. The child seemed to have +formed a close friendship with the soldier, for, although the latter was +refusing her something, the little girl laughed gaily. + +Maria paused irresolutely a moment; but when the child snatched the +gay cap and put it on her own curls, she thought she must check her and +exclaimed warningly: "Why, Bessie, that is no plaything for children." + +The soldier turned, stood still a moment in astonishment, raised his +hand to his forehead, and then, with a few hurried bounds, sprang down +the stairs and rushed up to the burgomaster's wife. Maria had started +back in surprise; but he gave her no time to think, for stretching out +both hands he exclaimed in an eager, joyous tone, with sparkling eyes: +"Maria! Jungfrau Maria! You here! This is what I call a lucky day!" The +young wife had instantly recognized the soldier and willingly laid her +right hand in his, though not without a shade of embarrassment. + +The officer's clear, blue eyes sought hers, but she fixed her gaze on +the floor, saying: "I am no longer what I was, the young girl has become +a housewife." + +"A housewife!" he exclaimed. "How dignified that sounds! And yet! Yet! +You are still Jungfrau Maria! You haven't changed a hair. That's just +the way you bent your head at the wedding in Delft, the way you raised +your hands, lowered your eyes--you blushed too, just as prettily." + +There was a rare melody in the voice which uttered these words with +joyous, almost childlike freedom, which pleased Maria no less than the +officer's familiar manner annoyed her. With a hasty movement she raised +her head, looked steadily into the young man's handsome face and said +with dignity: + +"You see only the exterior, Junker von Dornburg; three years have made +many changes within." + +"Junker von Dornburg," he repeated, shaking his waving locks. "I was +Junker Georg in Delft. Very different things have happened to us, dear +lady, very different things. You see I have grown a tolerable, though +not huge moustache, am stouter, and the sun has bronzed my pink and +white boyish face--in short: my outer man has changed for the worse, but +within I am just the same as I was three years ago." + +Maria felt the blood again mounting into her cheeks, but she did not +wish to blush and answered hastily: "Standing still is retrograding, so +you have lost three beautiful years, Herr von Dornburg." + +The officer looked at Maria in perplexity, and then said more gravely +than before: + +"Your jest is more opportune, than you probably suppose; I had hoped to +find you again in Delft, but powder was short in Alfen, so the Spaniard +will probably reach your native city sooner than we. Now a kind fate +brings me to you here; but let me be honest--What I hope and desire +stands clearly before my eyes, echoes in my soul, and when I thought of +our meeting, I dreamed you would lay both hands in mine and, instead of +greeting me with witty words, ask the old companion of happy hours, your +brother Leonhard's best friend: 'Do you still remember our dead?' And +when I had told you: 'Yes, yes, yes, I have never forgotten him,' then I +thought the mild lustre of your eyes--Oh, oh, how I thank you! The dear +orbs are floating in a mist of tears. You are not so wholly changed as +you supposed, Frau Maria, and if I loyally remember the past, will you +blame me for it?" + +"Certainly not," she answered cordially. "And now that you speak to me +so, I will with pleasure again call you Junker Georg, and as Leonhard's +friend and mine, invite you to our house." + +"That will be delightful," he cried cordially. "I have so much to ask +you and, as for myself--alas, I wish I had less to tell." + +"Have you seen my husband?" asked Maria. + +"I know nobody in Leyden," he replied, "except my learned, hospitable +host, and the doge of this miniature Venice, so rich in water and +bridges." + +Georg pointed up the stair-case. Maria blushed again as she said: + +"Burgomaster Van der Werff is my husband." + +The nobleman was silent for a short time, then he said quickly: + +"He received me kindly. And the pretty elf up yonder?" + +"His child by his first marriage, but now mine also. How do you happen +to call her the elf?" + +"Because she looks as if she had been born among white flowers in the +moonlight, and because the afterglow of the sunrise, from which the +elves flee, crimsoned her cheeks when I caught her." + +"She has already received the name once," said Maria. "May I take you to +my husband?" + +"Not now, Frau Van der Werff, for I must attend to my men outside, but +to-morrow, if you will allow me." + +Maria found the dishes smoking on the dining-table. Her family had +waited for her, and, heated by the rapid walk at noon, excited by her +unexpected meeting with the young German, she opened the door of the +study and called to her husband: + +"Excuse me! I was detained. It is very late." + +"We were very willing to wait," he answered kindly, approaching her. +Then all she had resolved to do returned to her memory and, for the +first time since her marriage, she raised her husband's hand to her +lips. He smilingly withdrew it, kissed her on the forehead, and said: + +"It is delightful to have you here." + +"Isn't it?" she asked, gently shaking her finger at him. + +"But we are all here now, and dinner is waiting." + +"Come then," she answered gaily. "Do you know whom I met on the stairs?" + +"English soldiers." + +"Of course, but among them Junker von Dornburg." + +"He called on me. A handsome fellow, whose gayety is very attractive, a +German from the evangelical countries." + +"Leonhard's best friend. Don't you know? Surely I've told you about him. +Our guest at Jacoba's wedding." + +"Oh! yes. Junker Georg. He tamed the chestnut horse for the Prince's +equerry." + +"That was a daring act," said Maria, drawing a long breath. + +"The chestnut is still an excellent horse," replied Peter. "Leonhard +thought the Junker, with his gifts and talents, would lift the world out +of its grooves; I remember it well, and now the poor fellow must remain +quietly here and be fed by us. How did he happen to join the Englishmen +and take part in the war?" + +"I don't know; he only told me that he had had many experiences." + +"I can easily believe it. He is living at the tavern; but perhaps we can +find a room for him in the side wing, looking out upon the court-yard." + +"No, Peter," cried the young wife eagerly. "There is no room in order +there." + +"That can be arranged later. At any rate we'll invite him to dinner +to-morrow, he may have something to tell us. There is good marrow in the +young man. He begged me not to let him remain idle, but make him of use +in the service. Jan Van der Does has already put him in the right place, +the new commandant looks into people's hearts." + +Barbara mingled in the conversation, Peter, though it was a week-day, +ordered a jug of wine to be brought instead of the beer, and an event +that had not occurred for weeks happened: the master of the house sat at +least fifteen minutes with his family after the food had been removed, +and told them of the rapid advance of the Spaniards, the sad fate of the +fugitive Englishmen, who had been disarmed and led away in sections, the +brave defence the Britons, to whose corps Georg belonged, had made at +Alfen, and of another hot combat in which Don Gaytan, the right-hand and +best officer of Valdez, was said to have fallen. Messengers still went +and came on the roads leading to Delft, but to-morrow these also would +probably be blocked by the enemy. + +He always addressed everything he said to Maria, unless Barbara +expressly questioned him, and when he at last rose from the table, +ordered a good roast to be prepared the next day for the guest he +intended to invite. Scarcely had the door of his room closed behind him, +when little Bessie ran up to Maria, threw her arms around her and asked: + +"Mother, isn't Junker Georg the tall captain with the blue feather, who +ran down-stairs so fast to meet you?" + +"Yes, child." + +"And he's coming to dinner to-morrow! He's coming, Adrian." + +The child clapped her hands in delight and then ran to Barbara to +exclaim once more: + +"Aunt Barbel, did you hear? He's coming!" + +"With the blue feather," replied the widow. + +"And he has curls, curls as long as Assendelft's little Clara. May I go +with you to see Cousin Henrica?" + +"Afterwards, perhaps," replied Maria. "Go now, children, get the flowers +and separate them carefully from the leaves. Trautchen will bring some +hoops and strings, and then we'll bind the wreaths." + +Junker Georg's remark, that this was a lucky day, seemed to be verified; +for the young wife found Henrica bright and free from pain. With the +doctor's permission, she had walked up and down her room several times, +sat a longer time at the open window, relished her chicken, and when +Maria entered, was seated in the softly-cushioned arm-chair, rejoicing +in the consciousness of increasing strength. + +Maria was delighted at her improved appearance, and told her how well +she looked that day. + +"I can return the compliment," replied Henrica. "You look very happy. +What has happened to you?" + +"To me? Oh! my husband was more cheerful than usual, and there was a +great deal to tell at dinner. I've only come to enquire for your health. +I will see you later. Now I must go with the children to a sorrowful +task." + +"With the children? What have the little elf and Signor Salvatore to do +with sorrow?" + +"Captain Allertssohn will be buried to-morrow, and we are going to make +some wreaths for the coffin." + +"Make wreaths!" cried Henrica, "I can teach you that! There, Trautchen, +take the plate and call the little ones." + +The servant went away, but Maria said anxiously: "You will exert +yourself too much again, Henrica." + +"I? I shall be singing again to-morrow. My preserver's potion does +wonders, I assure you. Have you flowers and oak-leaves enough?" + +"I should think so." + +At the last words the door opened and Bessie cautiously entered the +room, walking on tiptoe as she had been told, went up to Henrica, +received a kiss from her, and then asked eagerly: + +"Cousin Henrica, do you know? Junker Georg, with the blue feather, is +coming again to-morrow and will dine with us." + +"Junker Georg?" asked the young lady. + +Maria interrupted the child's reply, and answered in an embarrassed +tone: + +"Herr von Domburg, an officer who came to the city with the Englishmen, +of whom I spoke to you--a German--an old acquaintance. Go and arrange +the flowers with Adrian, Bessie, then I'll come and help you." + +"Here, with Cousin Henrica," pleaded the child. + +"Yes, little elf, here; and we'll both make the loveliest wreath you +ever saw." + +The child ran out, and this time, in her delight, forgot to shut the +door gently. + +The young wife gazed out of the window. Henrica watched her silently for +a time and then exclaimed: + +"One word, Frau Maria. What is going on in the court-yard? Nothing? +And what has become of the happy light in your eyes? Your house isn't +swarming with guests; why did you wait for Bessie to tell me about +Junker Georg, the German, the old acquaintance?" + +"Let that subject drop, Henrica." + +"No, no! Do you know what I think? The storm of war has blown to your +house the young madcap, with whom you spent such happy hours at your +sister's wedding. Am I right or wrong? You needn't blush so deeply." + +"It is he," replied Maria gravely. "But if you love me, forget what I +told you about him, or deny yourself the idle amusement of alluding to +it, for if you should still do so, it would offend me." + +"Why should I! You are the wife of another." + +"Of another whom I honor and love, who trusts me and himself invited the +Junker to his house. I have liked the young man, admired his talents, +been anxious when he trifled with his life as if it were a paltry leaf, +which is flung into the river." + +"And now that you have seen him again, Maria?" + +"Now I know, what my duty is. Do you see, that my peace here is not +disturbed by idle gossip." + +"Certainly not, Maria; yet I am still curious about this Chevalier Georg +and his singing. Unfortunately we shan't be long together. I want to go +home." + +"The doctor will not allow you to travel yet." + +"No matter. I shall go as soon as I feel well enough. My father is +refused admittance, but your husband can do much, and I must speak with +him." + +"Will you receive him to-morrow?" + +"The sooner the better, for he is your husband and, I repeat, the ground +is burning under my feet." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Maria. + +"That sounds very sad," cried Henrica. "Do you want to hear, that I +shall find it hard to leave you? I shouldn't go yet; but my sister +Anna, she is now a widow--Thank God, I should like to say, but she is +suffering want and utterly deserted. I must speak to my father about +her, and go forth from the quiet haven into the storm once more." + +"My husband will come to you," said Maria. + +"That's right, that's right! Come in, children! Put the flowers on the +table yonder. You, little elf, sit down on the stool and you, Salvatore, +shall give me the flowers. What does this mean? I really believe the +scamp has been putting perfumed oil on his curly head. In honor of me, +Salvatore? Thank you!--We shall need the hoops later. First we'll make +bouquets, and then bind them with the leaves to the wood. Sing me a song +while we are working, Maria. The first one! I can bear it to-day." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +Half Leyden had followed the brave captain's coffin, and among the other +soldiers, who rendered the last honors to the departed, was Georg von +Dornburg. After the funeral, the musician Wilhelm led the son of the +kind comrade, whom so many mourned, to his house. Van der Werff found +many things to be done after the burial, but reserved the noon hour; for +he expected the German to dine. + +The burgomaster, as usual, sat at the head of the table; the Junker +had taken his place between him and Maria, opposite to Barbara and the +children. + +The widow never wearied of gazing at the young man's fresh, bright face, +for although her son could not compare with him in beauty, there was +an honest expression in the Junker's eyes, which reminded her of her +Wilhelm. + +Many a question and answer had already been exchanged between those +assembled round the board, many a pleasant memory recalled, when Peter, +after the dishes had been removed and a new jug with better wine placed +on the table, filled the young nobleman's glass again, and raised his +own. + +"Let us drink this bumper," he cried, gazing at Georg with sincere +pleasure in his eyes, "let us drink to the victory of the good cause, +for which you too voluntarily draw your sword. Thanks for the vigorous +pledge. Drinking is also an art, and the Germans are masters of it." + +"We learn it in various places, and not worst at the University of +Jena." + +"All honor to the doctors and professors, who bring their pupils up to +the standard of my dead brother-in-law, and judging from this sample +drink, you also." + +"Leonhard was my teacher in the 'ars bibendi.' How long ago it is!" + +"Youth is not usually content," replied Peter, "but when the point +in question concerns years, readily calls 'much,' what seems to older +people 'little.' True, many experiences may have been crowded into the +last few years of your life. I can still spare an hour, and as we are +all sitting so cosily together here, you can tell us, unless you wish to +keep silence on the subject, how you chanced to leave your distant home +for Holland, and your German and Latin books to enlist under the English +standard." + +"Yes," added Maria, without any trace of embarrassment. "You still owe +me the story. Give thanks, children, and then go." + +Adrian gazed beseechingly first at his mother and then at his father, +and as neither forbade him to stay, moved his chair close to his sister, +and both leaned their heads together and listened with wide open eyes, +while the Junker first quietly, then with increasing vivacity, related +the following story: + +"You know that I am a native of Thuringia, a mountainous country in the +heart of Germany. Our castle is situated in a pleasant valley, through +which a clear river flows in countless windings. Wooded mountains, not +so high as the giants in Switzerland, yet by no means contemptible, +border the narrow boundaries of the valley. At their feet the fields +and meadows, at a greater height rise pine forests, which, like the +huntsman, wear green robes at all seasons of the year. In winter, it +is true, the snow cover them with a glimmering white sheet. When spring +comes, the pines put forth new shoots, as fresh and full of sap as the +budding foliage of your oaks and beeches, and in the meadows by the +river it begins to snow in the warm breezes, for then one fruit-tree +blooms beside another, and when the wind rises, the delicate white +petals flutter through the air and fall among the bright blossoms in the +grass, and on the clear surface of the river. There are also numerous +barren cliffs on the higher portions of the mountains, and where they +towered in the most rugged, inaccessible ridges, our ancestors built +their fastnesses, to secure themselves from the attacks of their +enemies. Our castle stands on a mountain-ridge in the midst of the +valley of the Saale. There I was born, there I sported through the years +of my boyhood, learned to read and guide the pen. There was plenty of +hunting in the forests, we had spirited horses in the stable, and, wild +lad that I was, I rarely went voluntarily into the school-room, the +grey-haired teacher, Lorenz, had to catch me, if he wanted to get +possession of me. My sisters and Hans, our youngest child, the boy was +only three years younger than I, kept quiet--I had an older brother too, +yet did not have him. When his beard was first beginning to grow, he was +given by our gracious Duke to Chevalier von Brand as his esquire, and +sent to Spain, to buy Andalusian horses. John Frederick's father had +learned their value in Madrid after the battle of Muhlburg. Louis was +a merry fellow when he went away, and knew how to tame the wildest +stallion. It was hard for our parents to believe him dead, but years +elapsed, and as neither he nor Chevalier von Brand appeared, we were +obliged to give him up for lost. My mother alone could not do this, and +constantly expected his return. My father called me the future heir +and lord of the castle. When I had passed beyond boyhood and understood +Cicero tolerably well, I was sent to the University of Jena to study +law, as my uncle, the chancellor, wished me to become a counsellor of +state. + +"Oh Jena, beloved Jena! There are blissful days in May and June, when +only light clouds float in the sky, and all the leaves and flowers +are so fresh and green, that one would think--they probably think so +themselves--that they could never fade and wither; such days in human +existence are the period of joyous German student life. You can believe +it. Leonhard has told you enough of Jena. He understood how to unite +work and pleasure; I, on the contrary, learned little on the wooden +benches, for I rarely occupied them, and the dust of books certainly +didn't spoil my lungs. But I read Ariosto again and again, devoted +myself to singing, and when a storm of feeling seethed within my breast, +composed many songs for my own pleasure. We learned to wield the sword +too in Jena, and I would gladly have crossed blades with the sturdy +fencing-master Allertssohn, of whom you have just told me. Leonhard was +older than I, and when he graduated with honor, I was still very weak +in the pandects. But we were always one in heart and soul, so I went +to Holland with him to attend his wedding. Ah, those were days! The +theologians in Jena have actively disputed about the part of the earth, +in which the little garden of Paradise should be sought. I considered +them all fools, and thought: 'There is only one Eden, and that lies in +Holland, and the fairest roses the dew waked on the first sunny morning, +bloom in Delft!'" + +At these words Georg shook back his waving locks and hesitated in great +embarrassment, but as no one interrupted him and he saw Barbara's eager +face and the children's glowing cheeks, quietly continued: + +"So I came home, and was to learn for the first time, that in life also +beautiful sunny days often end with storms. I found my father ill, and +a few days after my return he closed his eyes in death. I had never seen +any human being die, and the first, the very first, was he, my father." + +Georg paused, and deeply moved, passed his hand over his eyes. + +"Your father!" cried Barbara, in a tone of cordial sympathy, breaking +the silence. "If we can judge the tree by the apple, he was surely a +splendid man." + +The Junker again raised his head, exclaiming with sparkling eyes: + +"Unite every good and noble quality, and embody them in the form of a +tall, handsome man, then you will have the image of my father;--and I +might tell you of my mother--" + +"Is she still alive?" asked Peter. + +"God grant it!" exclaimed the young man. "I have heard nothing from my +family for two months. That is hard. Pleasures smile along every path, +and I like my profession of soldier, but it often grieves me sorely to +hear so little from home. Oh! if one were only a bird, a sunbeam, or a +shooting-star, one might, if only for the twinkling of an eye, learn +how matters go at home and fill the soul with fresh gratitude, or, if it +must be--but I will not think of that. In the valley of the Saale, the +trees are blossoming and a thousand flowers deck all the meadows, just +as they do here, and did there two years ago, when I left home for the +second time. + +"After my father's death I was the heir, but neither hunting nor riding +to court, neither singing nor the clinking of beakers could please me. +I went about like a sleep-walker, and it seemed as if I had no right to +live without my father. Then--it is now just two years ago--a messenger +brought from Weimar a letter which had come from Italy with several +others, addressed to our most gracious sovereign; it contained the news +that our lost brother was still alive, lying sick and wretched in the +hospital at Bergamo. A kind nun had written for him, and we now learned +that on the journey from Valencia to Livorno Louis had been captured by +corsairs and dragged to Tunis. How much suffering he endured there, with +what danger he at last succeeded in obtaining his liberty, you shall +learn later. He escaped to Italy on a Genoese galley. His feet carried +him as far as Bergamo, but he could go no farther, and now lay ill, +perhaps dying, among sympathizing strangers. I set out at once and did +not spare horseflesh on the way to Bergamo, but though there were many +strange and beautiful things to be seen on my way, they afforded me +little pleasure, the thought of Louis, so dangerously ill, saddened my +joyous spirits. Every running brook urged me to hasten, and the lofty +mountains seemed like jealous barriers. When once beyond St. Gotthard +I felt less anxious, and as I rode down from Bellinzona to Lake Lugano, +and the sparkling surface of the water beyond the city smiled at me like +a blue eye, forgot my grief for a time, waved my hat, and sung a song. +In Bergamo I found my brother, alive, but enfeebled in mind and body, +weak, and without any desire to take up the burden of life again. He +had been in good hands, and after a few weeks we were able to travel +homeward--this time I went through beautiful Tyrol. Louis's strength +daily increased, but the wings of his soul had been paralyzed by +suffering. Alas, for long years he had dug and carried heavy loads, with +chains on his feet, beneath a broiling sun. Chevalier von Brand could +not long endure this hard fate, but Louis, while in Tunis, forgot both +how to laugh and weep, and which of the two can be most easily spared? + +"Even when he saw my mother again, he could not shed a tear, yet his +whole body--and surely his heart also--trembled with emotion. Now he +lives quietly at the castle. In the prime of manhood he is an old man, +but he is beginning to accommodate himself to life, only he can't bear +the sight of a strange face. I had a hard battle with him, for as the +eldest son, the castle and estate, according to the law, belong to him, +but he wanted to resign his rights and put me in his place. Even when +he had brought my mother over to his side, and my uncle and brothers and +sisters tried to persuade me to yield to his wish, I remained resolute. +I would not touch what did not belong to me, and our youngest boy, +Wolfgang, has grown up, and can fill my place wherever it is necessary. +When the entreaties and persuasions became too strong for me, I saddled +my horse and went away again. It was hard for my mother to let me go, +but I had tasted the delight of travelling, and rode off as if to a +wedding. If I must be perfectly frank, I'll confess that I resigned +castle and estates like a troublesome restraint. Free as the wind and +clouds, I followed the same road over which I had ridden with Leonhard, +for in your country a war after my own heart was going on, and my future +fortune was to be based upon my sword. In Cologne I enlisted under the +banner of Louis of Nassau, and fought with him at Mook Heath till every +one retreated. My horse had fallen, my doublet was torn, there was +little left save good spirits and the hope of better days. These were +soon found, for Captain Gensfort asked me to join the English troops. I +became his ensign, and at Alfen held out beside him till the last grain +of powder was exhausted. What happened there, you know." + +"And Captain Van der Laen told us," said Peter, "that he owes his life +to you. You fought like a lion." + +"It was wild work enough at the fortifications, yet neither I nor my +horse had a hair ruffled, and this time I even saved my knapsack and +a full purse. Fate, like mothers, loves troublesome children best, and +therefore led me to you and your family, Herr Burgomaster." + +"And I beg you to consider yourself one of them," replied Peter. "We +have two pleasant rooms looking out upon the court-yard; they shall be +put in order for you, if you would like to occupy them." + +"With pleasure," replied the Junker, and Peter, offering him his hand, +said: + +"The duties of my office call me away, but you can tell the ladies what +you need, and when you mean to move in. The sooner, the better we shall +be pleased. Shall we not, Maria?" + +"You will be welcome, Junker Georg. Now I must look after the invalid we +are nursing here. Barbara will ascertain your wishes." + +The young wife took her husband's hand and left the room with him. + +The widow was left alone with the young nobleman and tried to learn +everything he desired. Then she followed her sister-in-law, and finding +her in Henrica's room, clapped her hands, exclaiming: + +"That is a man! Fraulein, I assure you that, though I'm an old woman, I +never met so fine a young fellow in all my life. So much heart, and so +handsome too! 'To whom fortune gives once, it gives by bushels, and unto +him that hath, shall be given!' Those are precious words!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +Peter had promised Henrica, to request the council to give her +permission to leave the city. + +It was hard for her to part from the burgomaster's household. Maria's +frank nature exerted a beneficial influence; it seemed as if her respect +for her own sex increased in her society. The day before she had heard +her sing. The young wife's voice was like her character. Every note +flawless and clear as a bell, and Henrica grieved that she should be +forbidden to mingle her own voice with her hostess's. She was very sorry +to leave the children too. Yet she was obliged to go, on Anna's account, +for her father could not be persuaded by letters to do anything. Had +she appealed to him in writing to forgive his rejected child, he would +hardly have read the epistle to the end. Something might more easily be +won from him through words, by taking advantage of a favorable moment. +She must have speech with him, yet she dreaded the life in his castle, +especially as she was forced to acknowledge, that she too was by no +means necessary to her father. To secure the inheritance, he had sent +her to a terrible existence with her aunt; while she lay dangerously +ill, he had gone to a tournament, and the letter received from him the +day before, contained nothing but the information that he was refused +admittance to the city, and a summons for her to go to Junker de +Heuter's house at the Hague. Enclosed was a pass from Valdez, enjoining +all King Philip's soldiers to provide for her safety. + +The burgomaster had intended to have her conveyed in a litter, +accompanied by a flag of truce, as far as the Spanish lines, and the +doctor no longer opposed her wish to travel. She hoped to leave that +day. + +Lost in thought, she stationed herself in the baywindow and gazed out +into the court-yard. Several windows in the building on the eastern side +stood open. Trautchen must have risen early, for she came out of the +rooms arranged for Georg's occupation, followed by a young assistant +carrying various scrubbing utensils. Next Jan appeared with a large +arm-chair on his head. Bessie ran after the Frieselander, calling: + +"Aunt Barbel's grandfather's chair; where will she take her afternoon +nap?" + +Henrica had heard the words, and thought first of good old "Babetta," +who could also feel tenderly, then of Maria and the man who was to lodge +in the rooms opposite. Were there not some loose threads still remaining +of the old tie, that had united the burgomaster's wife to the handsome +nobleman? A feeling of dread overpowered her. Poor Meister Peter, poor +Maria! + +Was it right to abandon the young wife, who had held out a saving +hand in her distress? Yet how much nearer was her own sister than this +stranger! Each day that she allowed herself to linger in this peaceful +asylum, seemed like a theft from Anna--since she had read in a letter +from her to her husband, the only one the dead man's pouch contained, +that she was ill and sunk in poverty with her child. + +Help was needed here, and no one save herself could offer it. + +With aid from Barbara and Maria, she packed her clothes. At noon +everything was ready for her departure, and she would not be withheld +from eating in the dining-room with the family. Peter was prevented from +coming to dinner, Henrica took his seat and, under the mask of loud, +forced mirth, concealed the grief and anxieties that filled her heart. +At twilight Maria and the children followed her into her room, and she +now had the harp brought and sang. At first her voice failed to reach +many a note, but as the snow falling from the mountain peaks to the +plains at first slides slowly, then rapidly increases in bulk and power, +her tones gradually gained fulness and irresistible might and, when +at last she rested the harp against the wall and walked to the chair +exhausted, Maria clasped her hand and said with deep emotion: + +"Stay with us, Henrica." + +"I ought not," replied the girl. + +"You are enough for each other. Shall I take you with me, children?" +Adrian lowered his eyes in embarrassment, but Bessie jumped into her +lap, exclaiming. + +"Where are you going? Stay with us." + +Just at that moment some one knocked at the door, and Peter entered. +It was evident that he brought no good tidings. His request had been +refused. The council had almost unanimously voted an assent to Van +Bronkhorst's proposition, that the young lady, as a relation of +prominent friends of Spain among the Netherland nobility, should be kept +in the city. Peter's representations were unheeded; he now frankly told +Henrica what a conflict he had had, and entreated her to have patience +and be content to remain in his house as a welcome guest. + +The young girl interrupted him with many a passionate exclamation of +indignation, and when she grew calmer, cried: + +"Oh, you men, you men! I would gladly stay with you, but you know from +what this base deed of violence detains me. And then: to be a prisoner, +to live weeks, months, without mass and without confession. Yet first +and last-merciful Heavens, what will become of my unfortunate sister?" + +Maria gazed beseechingly at Peter, and the latter said: + +"If you desire the consolations of your religion, I will send Father +Damianus to you, and you can hear mass with the Grey Sisters, who live +beside us, as often as you desire. We are not fighting against your +religion, but for the free exercise of every faith, and the whole city +stands open to you. My wife will help you bear your anxiety about your +sister far better than I could do, but let me say this: wherever and +however I can help you, it shall be done, and not merely in words." + +So saying, he held out his hand to Henrica. She gave him hers, +exclaiming: + +"I have cause to thank you, I know, but please leave me now and give me +time to think until tomorrow." + +"Is there no way of changing the decision of the council?" Maria asked +her husband. + +"No, certainly not." + +"Well, then," said the young wife earnestly, "you must remain our guest. +Anxiety for your sister does not cloud your pleasure alone, but saddens +me too. Let us first of all provide for her. How are the roads to +Delft?" + +"They are cut, and no one will be able to pass after to-morrow or the +day after." + +"Then calm yourself, Henrica, and let us consider what is to be done." + +The questions and counter-questions began, and Henrica gazed in +astonishment at the delicate young wife, for with unerring resolution +and keenness, she held the first voice in the consultation. The surest +means of gaining information was to seek that very day a reliable +messenger, by whom to send Anna d'Avila money, and if possible bring her +to Holland. The burgomaster declared himself ready to advance from his +own property, a portion of the legacy bequeathed Henrica's sister +by Fraulein Van Hoogstraten, and accepted his guest's thanks without +constraint. + +"But whom could they send?" + +Henrica thought of Wilhelm; he was her sister's friend. + +"But he is in the military service," replied the burgomaster. "I know +him. He will not desert the city in these times of trouble, not even for +his mother." + +"But I know the right messenger," said Maria. "We'll send Junker Georg." + +"That's a good suggestion," said Peter. "We shall find him in his +lodgings. I must go to Van Hout, who lives close by, and will send the +German to you. But my time is limited, and with such gentlemen, fair +women can accomplish more than bearded men. Farewell, dear Fraulein, +once more--we rejoice to have you for our guest." + +When the burgomaster had left the room, Henrica said: + +"How quickly, and how differently from what I expected, all this +has happened. I love you. I am under obligations to you, but to be +imprisoned, imprisoned. The walls will press upon me, the ceiling will +seem like a weight. I don't know whether I ought to rejoice or despair. +You have great influence with the Junker. Tell him about Anna, touch his +heart, and if he would go, it would really be best for us both." + +"You mean for you and your sister," replied Maria with a repellent +gesture of the hand. "There is the lamp. When the Junker comes, we shall +see each other again." + +Maria went to her room and threw herself on the couch, but soon rose and +paced restlessly to and fro. Then stretching out her clasped hands, she +exclaimed: + +"Oh, if he would only go, if he would only go! Merciful God! Kind, +gracious Father in Heaven, grant him every happiness, every blessing, +but save my peace of mind; let him go, and lead him far, far away from +here." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +The tavern where Georg von Dornburg lodged stood on the "broad street," +and was a fine building with a large court-yard, in which were numerous +vehicles. On the left of the entrance was a large open room entered +through a lofty archway. Here the drivers and other folk sat over their +beer and wine, suffering the innkeeper's hens to fly on the benches and +even sometimes on the table, here vegetables were cleaned, boiled and +fried, here the stout landlady was frequently obliged to call her +sturdy maid and men servants to her aid, when her guests came to actual +fighting, or some one drank more than was good for him. Here the new +custom of tobacco-smoking was practised, though only by a few sailors +who had served on Spanish ships--but Frau Van Aken could not endure +the acrid smoke and opened the windows, which were filled with blooming +pinks, slender stalks of balsam, and cages containing bright-plumaged +goldfinches. On the side opposite to the entrance were two closed +rooms. Above the door of one, neatly carved in wood, were the lines from +Horace: + + "Ille terrarum mihi praeter omnes. + Angulus ridet." + + [Of all the corners of the world, + There is none that so charms me.] + +Only a few chosen guests found admittance into this long, narrow +apartment. It was completely wainscoted with wood, and from the centre +of the richly-carved ceiling a strange picture gleamed in brilliant +hues. This represented the landlord. The worthy man with the smooth +face, firmly-closed lips, and long nose, which offered an excellent +straight line to its owner's burin, sat on a throne in the costume of +a Roman general, while Vulcan and Bacchus, Minerva and Poinona, offered +him gifts. Klaus Van Aken, or as he preferred to be called, Nicolaus +Aquanus, was a singular man, who had received good gifts from more than +one of the Olympians; for besides his business he zealously devoted +himself to science and several of the arts. He was an excellent +silver-smith, a die-cutter and engraver of great skill, had a remarkable +knowledge of coins, was an industrious student and collector of +antiquities. His little tap-room was also a museum; for on the shelves, +that surrounded it, stood rare objects of every description, in rich +abundance and regular order; old jugs and tankards, large and small +coins, gems in carefully-sealed glass-cases, antique lamps of clay +and bronze, stones with ancient Roman inscriptions, Roman and Greek +terra-cotta, polished fragments of marble which he had found in Italy +among the ruins, the head of a faun, an arm, a foot and other bits of +Pagan works of art, a beautifully-enamelled casket of Byzantine work, +and another with enamelled ornamentation from Limoges. Even half a Roman +coat of mail and a bit of mosaic from a Roman bath were to be seen here. +Amid these antiquities, stood beautiful Venetian glasses, pine-cones and +ostrich-eggs. Such another tap-room could scarcely be found in Holland, +and even the liquor, which a neatly-dressed maid poured for the guests +from oddly-shaped tankards into exquisitely-wrought goblets, was +exceptionally fine. In this room Herr Aquanus himself was in the habit +of appearing among his guests; in the other, opposite to the entrance, +his wife held sway. + +On this day, the "Angulus," as the beautiful taproom was called, was but +thinly occupied, for the sun had just set, though the lamps were already +lighted. These rested in three-branched iron chandeliers, every portion +of which, from the slender central shaft to the intricately-carved and +twisted ornaments, had been carefully wrought by Aquanus with his own +hand. + +Several elderly gentlemen were at one table enjoying their wine, +while at another were Captain Van der Laen, a brave Hollander, who was +receiving English pay and had come to the city with the other defenders +of Alfen, the Musician Wilhelm, Junker Georg, and the landlord. + +"It's a pleasure to meet people like you, Junker," said Aquanus. "You've +travelled with your eyes open, and what you tell me about Brescia +excites my curiosity. I Should have liked to see the inscription." + +"I'll get it for you," replied the young man; "for if the Spaniards +don't send me into another world, I shall certainly cross the Alps +again. Did you find any of these Roman antiquities in your own country?" + +"Yes. At the Roomburg Canal, perhaps the site of the old Praetorium, and +at Katwyk. The forum Hadriani was probably located near Voorburg. The +coat of mail, I showed you, came from there." + +"An old, green, half-corroded thing," cried Georg. "And yet! What +memories the sight of it awakens! Did not some Roman armorer forge it +for the wandering emperor? When I look at this coat of mail, Rome +and her legions appear before my eyes. Who would not, like you, Herr +Wilhelna, go to the Tiber to increase the short span of the present by +the long centuries of the past!" + +"I should be glad to go to Italy once more with you," replied Wilhelm. + +"And I with you." + +"Let us first secure our liberty," said the musician. "When that is +accomplished, each individual will belong to himself, and then: why +should I conceal it, nothing will keep me in Leyden." + +"And the organ? Your father?" asked Aquanus. + +"My brothers will remain here, snug in their own nest," answered +Wilhelm. "But something urges, impels me--" + +"There are still waters and rivers on earth," interrupted Georg, "and in +the sky the fixed stars remain quiet and the planets cannot cease from +wandering. So among human beings, there are contented persons, who like +their own places, and birds of passage like us. To be sure, you needn't +go to Italy to hear fine singing. I just heard a voice, a voice--" + +"Where? You make me eager." + +"In the court-yard of Herr Van der Werff's house." + +"That was his wife." + +"Oh, no! Her voice sounds differently." + +During this conversation, Captain Van der Laen had risen and examined +the landlord's singular treasures. He was now standing before a board, +on which the head of an ox was sketched in charcoal, freely, boldly and +with perfect fidelity to nature. + +"What magnificent piece of beef is this?" he asked the landlord. + +"No less a personage than Frank Floris sketched it," replied Aquanus. +"He once came here from Brussels and called on Meister Artjen. The old +man had gone out, so Floris took a bit of charcoal and drew these lines +with it. When Artjen came home and found the ox's head, he stood before +it a long time and finally exclaimed: 'Frank Floris, or the devil!' This +story--But there comes the burgomaster. Welcome, Meister Peter. A rare +honor." + +All the guests rose and respectfully greated Van der Werff; Georg +started up to offer him his chair. Peter sat down for a short time and +drank a glass of wine, but soon beckoned to the Junker and went out with +him into the street. + +There he briefly requested him to go to his house, for they had an +important communication to make, and then went to Van Hout's residence, +which was close beside the inn. + +Georg walked thoughtfully towards the burgomaster's. + +The "they" could scarcely have referred to any one except Maria. What +could she want of him at so late an hour? Had his friend regretted +having offered him lodgings in her own house? He was to move into his +new quarters early next morning; perhaps she wished to inform him +of this change of mind, before it was too late. Maria treated him +differently from before, there was no doubt of that, but surely this was +natural! He had dreamed of a different, far different meeting! He +had come to Holland to support the good cause of Orange, yet he would +certainly have turned his steed towards his beloved Italy, where a good +sword was always in demand, instead of to the north, had he not hoped to +find in Holland her, whom he had never forgotten, for whom he had never +ceased to long--Now she was the wife of another, a man who had shown him +kindness, given him his confidence. To tear his love from his heart +was impossible; but he owed it to her husband and his own honor to be +strong, to resolutely repress every thought of possessing her, and only +rejoice in seeing her; and this he must try to accomplish. + +He had told himself all these things more than once, but realized that +he was walking with unsteady steps, upon a narrow pathway, when she met +him outside the dining-room and he felt how cold and tremulous was the +hand she laid in his. + +Maria led the way, and he silently followed her into Henrica's room. The +latter greeted him with a friendly gesture, but both ladies hesitated to +utter the first word. The young man turned hastily, noticed that he was +in the room overlooking the court-yard, and said, eagerly: "I was +down below just before twilight, to look at my new quarters, and heard +singing from this room, and such singing! At first I didn't know +what was coming, for the tones were husky, weak, and broken, but +afterwards--afterwards the melody burst forth like a stream of lava +through the ashes. We ought to wish many sorrows to one, who can lament +thus." + +"You shall make the singer's acquaintance," said Maria, motioning +towards the young girl. "Fraulein Henrica Van Hoogstraten, a beloved +guest in our house." + +"Were you the songstress?" asked Georg. + +"Does that surprise you?" replied Henrica. "My voice has certainly +retained its strength better than my body, wasted by long continued +suffering. I feel how deeply my eyes are sunken and how pale I must +be. Singing certainly lightens pain, and I have been deprived of the +comforter long enough. Not a note has passed my lips for weeks, and +now my heart aches so, that I would far rather weep than sing. 'What +troubles me?' you will ask, and yet Maria gives me courage to request a +chivalrous service, almost without parallel, at your hands." + +"Speak, speak," Georg eagerly exclaimed. "If Frau Maria summons me and I +can serve you, dear lady: here I am, dispose of me." + +Henrica did not avoid his frank glance, as she replied: + +"First hear what a great service we ask of you. You must prepare +yourself to hear a short story. I am still weak and have put my strength +to a severe test to-day, Maria must speak for me." + +The young wife fulfilled this task quietly and clearly, closing with the +words: + +"The messenger we need, I have found myself. You must be he, Junker +Georg." + +Henrica had not interrupted the burgomaster's wife; but now said warmly + +"I have only made your acquaintance to-day, but I trust you entirely. +A few hours ago, black would have been my color, but if you will be my +knight, I'll choose cheerful green, for I now begin to hope again. Will +you venture to take the ride for me?" + +Hitherto Georg had gazed silently at the floor. Now he raised his head, +saying: + +"If I can obtain leave of absence, I will place myself at your +disposal;--but my lady's color is blue, and I am permitted to wear no +other." + +Henrica's lips quivered slightly, but the young nobleman continued: + +"Captain Van der Laen is my superior officer. I'll speak to him at +once." + +"And if he says no?" asked Maria. + +Henrica interrupted her and answered haughtily: "Then I beg you to send +me Herr Wilhelm, the musician." + +Georg bowed and went to the tavern. + +As soon as the ladies were alone, the young girl asked: + +"Do you know Herr von Dornburg's lady?" + +"How should I?" replied Maria. "Give yourself a little rest, Fraulein. +As soon as the Junker comes back, I'll bring him to you." + +The young wife left the room and seated herself at the spinning-wheel +with Barbara. Georg kept them waiting a long time, but at midnight again +appeared, accompanied by two companions. It was not within the limits +of the captain's authority to grant him a leave of absence for several +weeks--the journey to Italy would have required that length of time--but +the Junker had consulted the musician, and the latter had found the +right man, with whom Wilhelm speedily made the necessary arrangements, +and brought him without delay: it was the old steward, Belotti. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +On the morning of the following day the spacious shooting-grounds, +situated not far from the White Gate, between the Rapenburg and the +city-wall, presented a busy scene, for by a decree of the council the +citizens and inhabitants, without exception, no matter whether they were +poor or rich, of noble or plebeian birth, were to take a solemn oath to +be loyal to the Prince and the good cause. + +Commissioner Van Bronkhorst, Burgomaster Van der Werff, and two other +magistrates, clad in festal attire, stood under a group of beautiful +linden-trees to receive the oaths of the men and youths, who flocked to +the spot. The solemn ceremonial had not yet commenced. Janus Dousa, in +full uniform, a coat of mail over his doublet and a helmet on his head, +arm-in-arm with Van Hout, approached Meister Peter and the commissioner, +saying: "Here it is again! Not one of the humbler citizens and +workmen is absent, but the gentlemen in velvet and fur are but thinly +represented." + +"They shall come yet!" cried the city clerk menacingly. + +"What will formal vows avail?" replied the burgomaster. "Whoever desires +liberty, must grant it. Besides, this hour will teach us on whom we can +depend." + +"Not a single man of the militia is absent," said the commissioner. + +"There is comfort in that. What is stirring yonder in the linden?" + +The men looked up and perceived Adrian, who was swaying in the top +of the tree, as a concealed listener. "The boy must be everywhere," +exclaimed Peter. "Come down, saucy lad. You appear at a convenient +time." + +The boy clung to a limb with his hands, let himself drop to the ground +and stood before his father with a penitent face, which he knew how to +assume when occasion required. The burgomaster uttered no further words +of reproof, but bade him go home and tell his mother, that he saw no +possibility of getting Belotti through the Spanish lines in safety, and +also that Father Damianus had promised to call on the young lady in the +course of the day. + +"Hurry, Adrian, and you, constables, keep all unbidden persons away +from these trees, for any place where an oath is taken becomes sacred +ground--The clergymen have seated themselves yonder near the target. +They have the precedence. Have the kindness to summon them, Herr Van +Hout. Dominie Verstroot wishes to make an address, and then I would like +to utter a few words of admonition to the citizens myself." + +Van Hout withdrew, but before he had reached the preachers Junker von +Warmond appeared, and reported that a messenger, a handsome young lad, +had come as an envoy. He was standing before the White Gate and had a +letter. + +"From Valdez?" + +"I don't know; but the young fellow is a Hollander and his face is +familiar to me." + +"Conduct him here; but don't interrupt us until the ceremony of taking +the oath is over. The messenger can tell Valdez what he has seen and +heard here. It will do the Castilian good, to know in advance what we +intend." + +The Junker withdrew, and when he returned with Nicolas Van Wibisma, who +was the messenger, Dominie Verstroot had finished his stirring speech. +Van der Werff was still speaking. The sacred fire of enthusiasm +sparkled in his eyes, and though the few words he addressed to his +fellow-combatants in the deepest chest tones of his powerful voice were +plain and unadorned, they found their way to the souls of his auditors. + +Nicolas also followed the speech with a throbbing heart; it seemed as if +the tall, earnest man under the linden were speaking directly to him +and to him alone, when at the close he raised his voice once more and +exclaimed enthusiastically: + +"And now let what will, come! A brave man from your midst has said +to-day: 'We will not yield, so long as an arm is left on our bodies, to +raise food to our lips and wield a sword!' If we all think thus, twenty +Spanish armies will find their graves before these walls. On Leyden +depends the liberty of Holland. If we waver and fall, to escape the +misery that only threatens us to-day, but will pitilessly oppress and +torture us later, our children will say: 'The men of Leyden were blind +cowards; it is their fault, that the name of Hollander is held in no +higher esteem, than that of a useless slave.' But if we faithfully +hold out and resist the gloomy foreigner to the last man and the +last mouthful of bread, they will remember us with tears and joyfully +exclaim: 'We owe it to them, that our noble, industrious, happy people +is permitted to place itself proudly beside the other nations, and need +no longer tolerate the miserable cuckoo in its own nest. Let whoever +loves honor, whoever is no degenerate wretch, that betrays his parents' +house, whoever would rather be a free man than a slave, ere raising +his hand before God to take the oath, exclaim with me: 'Long live our +shield, Orange, and a free Holland!'" + +"They shall live!" shouted hundreds of powerful voices, five, ten, +twenty times. The gunner discharged the cannon planted near the target, +drums beat, one flourish of trumpets after another filled the air, the +ringing of bells from all the towers of the city echoed over the +heads of the enthusiastic crowd, and the cheering continued until the +commissioner waved his hand and the swearing fealty began. + +The guilds and the armed defenders of the city pressed forward in bands +under the linden. Now impetuously, now with dignified calmness, now +with devout exaltation, hands were raised to take the oath, and whoever +clasped hands did so with fervent warmth. Two hours elapsed before all +had sworn loyalty, and many a group that had passed under the linden +together, warmly grasped each other's hands on the grounds in pledge of +a second silent vow. + +Nicolas Van Wibisma sat silently, with his letter in his lap, beside a +target opposite the spot where the oath was taken, but sorrowful, bitter +emotions were seething in his breast. How gladly he would have wept +aloud and torn his father's letter! How gladly, when he saw the +venerable Herr Van Montfort come hand in hand with the grey-haired Van +der Does to be sworn, he would have rushed to their side to take the +oath, and call to the earnest man beneath the linden: + +"I am no degenerate wretch, who betrays his parents' house; I desire to +be no slave, no Spaniard; I am a Netherlander, like yourself." + +But he did not go, did not speak, he remained sitting motionless till +the ceremony was over and Junker von Warmond conducted him under the +linden. Van Hout and both the Van der Does had joined the magistrates +who had administered the oath. Bowing silently, Nicolas delivered his +father's letter to the burgomaster. + +Van der Werff broke the seal, and after reading it, handed it to the +other gentlemen, then turning to Nicolas, said: + +"Wait here, Junker. Your father counsels us to yield the city to the +Spaniards, and promises a pardon from the King. You cannot doubt the +answer, after what you have heard in this place." + +"There is but one," cried Van Hout, in the midst of reading the letter. +"Tear the thing up and make no reply." + +"Ride home, in God's name," added Janus Dousa. "But wait, I'll give you +something more for Valdez." + +"Then you will vouchsafe no reply to my father's letter?" asked Nicolas. + +"No, Junker. We wish to hold no intercourse with Baron Matanesse," +replied the commissioner. "As for you, you can return home or wait here; +just as you choose." + +"Go to your cousin, Junker," said Janus Dousa kindly; "it will probably +be an hour before I can find paper, pen and sealing wax. Fraulein Van +Hoogstraten will be glad to hear, through you, from her father." + +"If agreeable to you, young sir," added the burgomaster; "my house +stands open to you." + +Nicolas hesitated a moment, then said quickly: "Yes, take me to her." + +When the youth had reached the north end of the city with Herr von +Warmond, who had undertaken to accompany him, he asked the latter: + +"Are you Junker Van Duivenvoorde, Herr von Warmond?" + +"I am." + +"And you captured Brill, with the Beggars, from the Spaniards?" + +"I had that good fortune." + +"And yet, you are of a good old family. And were there not other +noblemen with the Beggars also?" + +"Certainly. Do you suppose it ill-beseems us, to have a heart for our +ancestors' home? My forefathers, as well as yours, were noble before a +Spaniard ever entered the land." + +"But King Philip rules us as the lawful sovereign." + +"Unhappily. And therefore we obey his Stadtholder, the Prince, who +reigns in his name. The perjured hangman needs a guardian. Ask on; I'll +answer willingly." + +Nicolas did not heed the request, but walked silently beside his +companion until they reached the Achtergracht. There he stood still, +seized the captain's arm in great excitement, and said hastily in low, +broken sentences: + +"It weighs on my heart. I must tell some one. I want to be Dutch. I hate +the Castilians. I have learned to know them in Leyderdorp and at the +Hague. They don't heed me, because I am young, and they are not aware +that I understand their language. So my eyes were opened. When they +speak of us, it is with contempt and scorn. I know all that has been +done by Alva and Vargas. I have heard from the Spaniards' own lips, that +they would like to root us out, exterminate us. If I could only do as I +pleased, and were it not for my father, I know what I would do. My head +is so confused. The burgomaster's speech is driving me out of my wits. +Tell him, Junker, I beseech you, tell him I hate the Spaniards and it +would be my pride to be a Netherlander." + +Both had continued their walk, and as they approached the burgomaster's +house, the captain, who had listened to the youth with joyful surprise, +said: + +"You're cut from good timber, Junker, and on the way to the right goal. +Only keep Herr Peter's speech in your mind, and remember what you have +learned in history. To whom belong the shining purple pages in the great +book of national history? To the tyrants, their slaves and eye-servants, +or the men who lived and died for liberty? Hold up your head. This +conflict will perhaps outlast both our lives, and you still have a long +time to put yourself on the right side. The nobleman must serve his +Prince, but he need be no slave of a ruler, least of all a foreigner, +an enemy of his nation. Here we are; I'll come for you again in an hour. +Give me your hand. I should like to call you by your Christian name in +future, my brave Nico." + +"Call me so," exclaimed the youth, "and--you'll send no one else? I +should like to talk with you again." + +The Junker was received in the burgomaster's house by Barbara. Henrica +could not see him immediately, Father Damianus was with her, so he was +obliged to wait in the dining-room until the priest appeared. Nicolas +knew him well, and had even confessed to him once the year before. After +greeting the estimable man and answering his inquiry how he had come +there, he said frankly and hastily: + +"Forgive me, Father, but something weighs upon my heart. You are a holy +man, and must know. Is it a crime, if a Hollander fights against the +Spaniards, is it a sin, if a Hollander wishes to be and remain what God +made him? I can't believe it." + +"Nor do I," replied Damianus in his simple manner. "Whoever clings +firmly to our holy church, whoever loves his neighbor and strives to +do right, may confidently favor the Dutch, and pray and fight for the +freedom of his native land." + +"Ah!" exclaimed Nicolas, with sparkling eyes. + +"For," continued Damianus more eagerly, "for you see, before the +Spaniards came into the country, they were good Catholics here and led +devout lives, pleasing in the sight of God. Why should it not be so +again? The most High has separated men into nations, because He wills, +that they should lead their own lives and shape them for their salvation +and His honor; but not to give the stronger nation the right to torture +and oppress another. Suppose your father went out to walk and a Spanish +grandee should jump on his shoulders and make him taste whip and spur, +as if he were a horse. It would be bad for the Castilian. Now substitute +Holland for Herr Matanesse, and Spain for the grandee, and you will know +what I mean. There is nothing left for us to do, except cast off the +oppressor. Our holy church will sustain no loss. God appointed it, and +it will stand whether King Philip or another rules. Now you know my +opinion. Do I err or not, in thinking that the name of Glipper no longer +pleases you, dear Junker?" + +"No, Father Damianus!--You are right, a thousand times right. It is no +sin, to desire a free Holland." + +"Who told you it was one?" + +"Canon Bermont and our chaplain." + +"Then we are of a different opinion concerning this temporal matter. +Give to God the things that are God's, and remain where the Lord placed +you. When your beard grows, if you wish to fight for the liberty of +Holland, do so confidently. That is a sin for which I will gladly grant +you absolution." + +Henrica was greatly delighted to see the fresh, happy-looking youth +again. Nicolas was obliged to tell her about her father and his, and +inform her how he had come to Leyden. When she heard that he intended +to return in an hour, a bright idea entered her mind, which was wholly +engrossed by Belotti's mission. She told Nicolas what she meant to +do, and begged him to take the steward through the Spanish army to the +Hague. The Junker was not only ready to fulfil her request, but promised +that, if the old man wanted to return, he would apprize her of it in +some way. + +At the end of an hour she bade the boy farewell, and when again walking +towards the Achtergracht with Herr von Warmond, he asked joyously: + +"How shall I get to the Beggars?" + +"You?" asked the captain in astonishment. + +"Yes, I!" replied the Junker eagerly. "I shall soon be seventeen, and +when I am--Wait, just wait--you'll hear of me yet." + +"Right, Nicolas, right," replied the other. "Let us be Holland nobles +and noble Hollanders." + +Three hours later, Junker Matanesse Van Wibisma rode into the Hague with +Belotti, whom he had loved from childhood. He brought his father nothing +but a carefully-folded and sealed letter, which Janus Dousa, with a +mischievous smile, had given him on behalf of the citizens of Leyden +for General Valdez, and which contained, daintily inscribed on a large +sheet, the following lines from Dionysius Cato: + + "Fistula dulce canit volucrem dum decipit auceps." + + ["Sweet are the notes of the flute, when the fowler lures the bird + to his nest."] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +The first week in June and half the second had passed, the beautiful +sunny days had drawn to a close, and numerous guests sought the +"Angulus" in Aquarius's tavern during the evening hours. It was so cosy +there when the sea-breeze whistled, the rain poured, and the water fell +plashing on the pavements. The Spanish besieging army encompassed +the city like an iron wall. Each individual felt that he was a +fellow-prisoner of his neighbor, and drew closer to companions of his +own rank and opinions. Business was stagnant, idleness and anxiety +weighed like lead on the minds of all, and whoever wished to make time +pass rapidly and relieve his oppressed soul, went to the tavern to give +utterance to his own hopes and fears, and hear what others were thinking +and feeling in the common distress. + +All the tables in the Angulus were occupied, and whoever wanted to be +understood by a distant neighbor was forced to raise his voice very +loud, for special conversations were being carried on at every table. +Here, there, and everywhere, people were shouting to the busy bar-maid, +glasses clinked together, and pewter lids fell on the tops of hard +stone-ware jugs. + +The talk at a round table in the end of the long room was louder than +anywhere else. Six officers had seated themselves at it, among them +Georg von Dornburg. Captain Van der Laen, his superior officer, whose +past career had been a truly heroic one, was loudly relating in his deep +voice, strange and amusing tales of his travels by sea and land, Colonel +Mulder often interrupted him, and at every somewhat incredible story, +smilingly told a similar, but perfectly impossible adventure of his own. +Captain Van Duivenvoorde soothingly interposed, when Van der Laen, who +was conscious of never deviating far from the truth, angrily repelled +the old man's jesting insinuations. Captain Cromwell, a grave man with +a round head and smooth long hair, who had come to Holland to fight for +the faith, rarely mingled in the conversation, and then only with a few +words of scarcely intelligible Dutch. Georg, leaning far back in his +chair, stretched his feet out before him and stared silently into +vacancy. + +Herr Aquanus, the host, walked from one table to another, and when he +at last reached the one where the officers sat, paused opposite to the +Thuringian, saying: + +"Where are your thoughts, Junker? One would scarcely know you during the +last few days. What has come over you?" + +Georg hastily sat erect, stretched himself like a person roused from +sleep, and answered pleasantly: + +"Dreams come in idleness." + +"The cage is getting too narrow for him," said Captain Van der Laen. "If +this state of things lasts long, we shall all get dizzy like the sheep." + +"And as stiff as the brazen Pagan god on the shelf yonder," added +Colonel Mulder. + +"There was the same complaint during the first siege," replied the host, +"but Herr von Noyelles drowned his discontent and emptied many a cask of +my best liquor." + +"Tell the gentlemen how he paid you," cried Colonel Mulder. + +"There hangs the paper framed," laughed Aquarius. "Instead of sending +money, he wrote this: + + 'Full many a favor, dear friend, hast thou done me, + For which good hard coin glad wouldst thou be to see + There's none in my pockets; so for the debt + In place of dirty coin, + This written sheet so fine; + Paper money in Leyden is easy to get.'" + +"Excellent!" cried Junker von Warmond, "and besides you made the die for +the pasteboard coins yourself." + +"Of course! Herr von Noyelles' sitting still, cost me dear. You have +already made two expeditions." + +"Hush, hush, for God's sake say nothing about the first sally!" +cried the captain. "A well-planned enterprise, which was shamefully +frustrated, because the leader lay down like a mole to sleep! Where has +such a thing happened a second time?" + +"But the other ended more fortunately," said the host. "Three hundred +hams, one hundred casks of beer, butter, ammunition, and the most +worthless of all spies into the bargain; always an excellent prize." + +"And yet a failure!" cried Captain Van der Laen, "We ought to have +captured and brought in all the provision ships on the Leyden Lake! And +the Kaag! To think that this fort on the island should be in the hands +of the enemy." + +"But the people have held out bravely," said von Warmond. + +"There are real devils among them," replied Van der Laen, laughing. "One +struck a Spaniard down and, in the midst of the battle, took off his red +breeches and pulled them on his own legs." + +"I know the man," added the landlord, "his name is Van Keulen; there +he sits yonder over his beer, telling the people all sorts of queer +stories. A fellow with a face like a satyr. We have no lack of comfort +yet! Remember Chevraux' defeat, and the Beggars' victory at Vlissingen +on the Scheldt." + +"To brave Admiral Boisot and the gallant Beggar troops!" cried Captain +Van der Laen, touching glasses with Colonel Mulder. The latter turned +with upraised beaker towards the Thuringian and, as the Junker who +had relapsed into his reverie, did not notice the movement, irritably +exclaimed: + +"Well, Herr Dornburg, you require a long time to pledge a man." + +Georg started and answered hastily: + +"Pledge? Oh! yes. Pledge. I pledge you, Colonel!" With these words he +raised the goblet, drained it at a single draught, made the nail test +and replaced it on the table. + +"Well done!" cried the old man; and Herr Aquanus said: + +"He learned that at the University; studying makes people thirsty." + +As he uttered the words, he cast a friendly glance of anxiety at the +young German, and then looked towards the door, through which Wilhelm +had just entered the Angulus. The landlord went to meet him and +whispered: + +"I don't like the German nobleman's appearance. The singing lark has +become a mousing night-bird. What ails him?" + +"Home-sickness, no news from his family, and the snare into which the +war has drawn him in his pursuit of glory and honor. He'll soon be his +old self again." + +"I hope so," replied the host. "Such a succulent little tree will +quickly rebound, when it is pressed to the earth; help the fine young +fellow." + +A guest summoned the landlord, but the musician joined the officers and +began a low conversation with Georg, which was drowned by the confused +mingling of loud voices. + +Wilhelm came from the Van der Werff house, where he had learned that the +next day but one, June fourteenth, would be the burgomaster's birthday. +Adrian had told Henrica, and the latter informed him. The master of the +house was to be surprised with a song on the morning of his birthday +festival. + +"Excellent," said Georg, interrupting his friend, "she will manage the +matter admirably." + +"Not she alone; we can depend upon Frau Van der Werff too. At first she +wanted to decline, but when I proposed a pretty madrigal, yielded and +took the soprano." + +"The soprano?" asked the Junker excitedly. "Of course I'm at your +service. Let us go; have you the notes at home?" + +"No, Herr von Dornburg, I have just taken them to the ladies; but early +to-morrow morning--" + +"There will be a rehearsal early to-morrow morning! The jug is for me, +Jungfer Dortchen! Your health, Colonel Mulder! Captain Huivenvoorde, +I drain this goblet to your new standard and hope to have many a jolly +ride by your side." + +The German's eyes again sparkled with an eager light, and when Captain +Van der Laen, continuing his conversation, cried enthusiastically: "The +Beggars of the Sea will yet sink the Spanish power. The sea, gentlemen. +the sea! To base one's cause on nothing, is the best way! To exult, leap +and grapple in the storm! To fight and struggle man to man and breast to +breast on the deck of the enemy's ship! To fight and conquer, or perish +with the foe!" + +"To your health, Junker!" exclaimed the colonel. "Zounds, we need such +youths!" + +"Now you are your old self again," said Wilhelm, turning to his friend. +"Touch glasses to your dear ones at home." + +"Two glasses for one," cried Georg. "To the dear ones at home--to +the joys and sorrows of the heart, to the fair woman we love! War is +rapture, love is life! Let the wounds bleed, let the heart break into +a thousand pieces. Laurels grow green on the battle-field, love twines +garlands of roses-roses with thorns, yet beautiful roses! Go, beaker! No +other lips shall drink from you." + +Georg's cheeks glowed as he flung the glass goblet into a corner of +the room, where it shattered into fragments. His comrades at the table +cheered loudly, but Captain Cromwell rose quietly to leave the room, and +the landlord shook his wise head doubtfully. + +It seemed as if fire had poured into Georg's soul and his spirit had +gained wings. The thick waving locks curled in dishevelled masses around +his handsome head, as leaning far back in his chair with unfastened +collar, he mingled clever sallies and brilliant similes with the quiet +conversation of the others. Wilhelm listened to his words sometimes with +admiration, sometimes with anxiety. It was long past midnight, when the +musician left the tavern with his friend. Colonel Mulder looked after +him and exclaimed to those left behind: + +"The fellow is possessed with a devil." + +The next morning the madrigal was practised at the burgomaster's house, +while its master was presiding over a meeting at the town-hall. Georg +stood between Henrica and Maria. So long as the musician found it +necessary to correct errors and order repetitions, a cheerful mood +pervaded the little choir, and Barbara, in the adjoining room, often +heard the sound of innocent laughter; but when each had mastered his or +her part and the madrigal was faultlessly executed, the ladies grew more +and more grave. Maria gazed fixedly at the sheet of music, and rarely +had her voice sounded so faultlessly pure, so full of feeling. Georg +adapted his singing to hers and his eyes, whenever they were raised +from the notes, rested on her face. Henrica sought to meet the Junker's +glance, but always in vain, yet she wished to divert his attention from +the young wife, and it tortured her to remain unnoticed. Some impulse +urged her to surpass Maria, and the whole passionate wealth of her +nature rang out in her singing. Her fervor swept the others along. +Maria's treble rose exultantly above the German's musical voice, and +Henrica's tones blended angrily yet triumphantly in the strain. The +delighted and inspired musician beat the time and, borne away by the +liquid melody of Henrica's voice, revelled in sweet recollections of her +sister. + +When the serenade was finished, he eagerly cried: + +"Again!" The rivalry between the singers commenced with fresh vigor, +and this time the Junker's beaming gaze met the young wife's eyes. She +hastily lowered the notes, stepped out of the semicircle, and said: + +"We know the madrigal. Early to-morrow morning, Meister Wilhelm; my time +is limited." + +"Oh, oh!" cried the musician regretfully. "It was going on so +splendidly, and there were only a few bars more." But Maria was already +standing at the door and made no reply, except: + +"To-morrow." + +The musician enthusiastically thanked Henrica for her singing; Georg +courteously expressed his gratitude. When both had taken leave, Henrica +paced rapidly to and fro, passionately striking her clenched fist in the +palm of her other hand. + +The singers were ready early on the birthday morning, but Peter had +risen before sunrise, for there was a proposition to be arranged with +the city clerk, which must be completed before the meeting of the +council. Nothing was farther from his thoughts than his birthday, and +when the singers in the dining-room commenced their madrigal, he rapped +on the door, exclaiming: + +"We are busy; find another place for your singing." The melody was +interrupted for a moment, and Barbara said: + +"People picking apples don't think of fishing-nets. He has no idea it is +his birthday. Let the children go in first." + +Maria now entered the study with Adrian and Bessie. They carried +bouquets in their hands, and the young wife had dressed the little girl +so prettily that, in her white frock, she really looked like a dainty +fairy. + +Peter now knew the meaning of the singing, warmly embraced the three +well-wishers, and when the madrigal began again, stood opposite to the +performers to listen. True, the execution was not nearly so good as +at the rehearsal, for Maria sang in a low and somewhat muffled voice, +while, spite of Wilhelm's vehement beating of time, the warmth and verve +of the day before would not return. + +"Admirable, admirable," cried Peter, when the singers ceased. "Well +planned and executed, a beautiful birthday surprise." Then he shook +hands with each, saying a few cordial words and, as he grasped the +Junker's right hand, remarked warmly: "You have dropped down on us from +the skies during these bad days, just at the right time. It is always +something to have a home in a foreign land, and you have found one with +us." + +Georg had bent his eyes on the floor, but at the last words raised them +and met the burgomaster's. How honestly, how kindly and frankly they +looked at him! Deep emotion overpowered him, and without knowing what +he was doing, he laid his hands on Peter's arms and hid his face on his +shoulder. + +Van der Werff suffered him to do so, stroked the youth's hair, and said +smiling: + +"Like Leonhard, wife, just like our Leonhard. We will dine together +to-day. You, too, Van Hout; and don't forget your wife." + +Maria assigned the seats at the table, so that she was not obliged to +look at Georg. His place was beside Frau Van Hout and opposite Henrica +and the musician. At first he was silent and embarrassed, but Henrica +gave him no rest, and when he had once begun to answer her questions +he was soon carried away by her glowing vivacity, and gave free, joyous +play to his wit. Henrica did not remain in his debt, her eyes sparkled, +and in the increasing pleasure of trying the power of her intellect +against his, she sought to surpass every jest and repartee made by +the Junker. She drank no wine, but was intoxicated by her own flow of +language and so completely engrossed Georg's attention, that he found +no time to address a word to the other guests. If he attempted to do so, +she quickly interrupted him and compelled him to turn to her again. This +constraint annoyed the young man; while struggling against it his +spirit of wantonness awoke, and he began to irritate Henrica into making +unprecedented assertions, which he opposed with equally unwarrantable +ones of his own. + +Maria sometimes listened to the young lady in surprise, and there was +something in Georg's manner that vexed her. Peter took little notice +of Henrica; he was talking with Van Hout about the letters from the +Glippers asking a surrender, three of which had already been brought +into the city, of the uncertain disposition of some members of the +council and the execution of the captured spy. + +Wilhelm, who had scarcely vouchsafed his neighbor an answer, was now +following the conversation of the older men and remarked, that he had +known the traitor. He was a tavern-keeper, in whose inn he had once met +Herr Matanesse Van Wibisma. + +"There we have it," said Van Hout. "A note was found in Quatgelat's +pouch, and the writing bore a mysterious resemblance to the baron's +hand. Quatgelat was to enquire about the quantity of provisions in +Leyden." "All alike!" exclaimed the burgomaster. "Unhappily he could +have brought tidings only too welcome to Valdez. Little that is cheering +has resulted from the investigation; though the exact amount has not yet +been ascertained." + +"We must place it during the next few days in charge of the ladies." + +"Give it to the women?" asked Peter in astonishment. + +"Yes, to us!" cried Van Hout's wife. "Why should we sit idle, when we +might be of use." + +"Give us the work!" exclaimed Maria. "We are as eager as you, to render +the great cause some service." + +"And believe me," added Frau Van Hout, "we shall find admittance to +store-rooms and cellars much more quickly than constables and guards, +whom the housewives fear." + +"Women in the service of the city," said Peter thoughtfully. "To be +honest--but your proposal shall be considered.--The young lady is in +good spirits today." + +Maria glanced indignantly at Henrica, who had leaned far across the +table. She was showing Georg a ring, and laughingly exclaimed: + +"Don't you wish to know what the device means? Look, a serpent biting +its own tail." + +"Aha!" replied the Junker, "the symbol of self-torment." + +"Good, good! But it has another meaning, which you would do well to +notice, Sir Knight. Do you know the signification of eternity and +eternal faith?" + +"No, Fraulein, I wasn't taught to think so deeply at Jena." + +"Of course. Your teachers were men. Men and faith, eternal faith!" + +"Was Delilah, who betrayed Samson to the Philistines, a man or a woman?" +asked Van Hout. + +"She was a woman. The exception, that proves the rule. Isn't that so, +Maria?" + +The burgomaster's wife made no reply except a silent nod; then +indignantly pushed back her chair, and the meal was over. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +Days and weeks had passed, July was followed by sultry August, and that, +too, was drawing to a close. The Spaniards still surrounded Leyden, +and the city now completely resembled a prison. The soldiers and armed +citizens did their duty wearily and sullenly, there was business enough +at the town-hall, but the magistrates' work was sad and disagreeable; +for no message of hope came from the Prince or the Estates, and +everything to be considered referred to the increasing distress and +the terrible follower of war, the plague, which had made its entry +into Leyden with the famine. Moreover the number of malcontents weekly +increased. The friends of the old order of affairs now raised their +voices more and more loudly, and many a friend of liberty, who saw +his family sickening, joined the Spanish sympathizers and demanded +the surrender of the city. The children went to school and met in +the playgrounds as before, but there was rarely a flash of the merry +pertness of former days, and what had become of the boys' red cheeks and +the round arms of the little girls? The poor drew their belts tighter, +and the morsel of bread, distributed by the city to each individual, was +no longer enough to quiet hunger and support life. + +Junker Georg had long been living in Burgomaster Van der Werff's house. + +On the morning of August 29th he returned home from an expedition, +carrying a cross-bow in his hand, while a pouch hung over his shoulder. +This time he did not go up-stairs, but sought Barbara in the kitchen. +The widow received him with a friendly nod; her grey eyes sparkled as +brightly as ever, but her round face had grown narrower and there was a +sorrowful quiver about the sunken mouth. + +"What do you bring to-day?" she asked the Junker. Georg thrust his hand +into his game-bag and answered, smiling: "A fat snipe and four larks; +you know." + +"Poor sparrows! But what sort of a creature can this be? Headless, +legless, and carefully plucked! Junker, Junker, that's suspicious." + +"It will do for the pan, and the name is of no consequence." + +"Yet, yet; true, nobody knows on what he fattens, but the Lord didn't +create every animal for the human stomach." + +"That's just what I said. It's a short-billed snipe, a corvus, a real +corvus." + +"Corvus! Nonsense, I'm afraid of the thing--the little feathers under +the wings. Good heavens! surely it isn't a raven?" + +"It's a corvus, as I said. Put the bird in vinegar, roast it with +seasoning and it will taste like a real snipe. Wild ducks are not to be +found every day, as they were a short time ago, and sparrows are +getting as scarce as roses in winter. Every boy is standing about with a +cross-bow, and in the court-yards people are trying to catch them under +sieves and with lime-twigs. They are going to be exterminated, but one +or another is still spared. How is the little elf?" + +"Don't call her that!" exclaimed the widow. "Give her her Christian +name. She looks like this cloth, and since yesterday has refused to take +the milk we daily procure for her at a heavy cost. Heaven knows what +the end will be. Look at that cabbage-stalk. Half a stiver! and that +miserable piece of bone! Once I should have thought it too poor for the +dogs--and now! The whole household must be satisfied with it. For supper +I shall boil ham-rind with wine and add a little porridge to it. And +this for a giant like Peter! God only knows where he gets his strength; +but he looks like his own shadow. Maria doesn't need anything more than +a bird, but Adrian, poor fellow, often leaves the table with tears in +his eyes, yet I know he has broken many a bit of bread from his thin +slice for Bessie. It is pitiable. Yet the proverb says: 'Stretch +yourself towards the ceiling, or your feet will freeze--'Necessity knows +no law,' and 'Reserve to preserve.' Day before yesterday, like the rest, +we again gave of the little we still possessed. To-morrow, everything +beyond what is needed for the next fortnight, must be delivered up, and +Peter won't allow us to keep even a bag of flour, but what will come +then--merciful Heaven!--" + +The widow sobbed aloud as she uttered the last words and continued, +weeping: "Where do you get your strength? At your age this miserable +scrap of meat is a mere drop of water on a red-hot stone." + +"Herr Van Aken gives me what he can, in addition to my ration. I shall +get through; but I witnessed a terrible sight to-day at the tailor's, +who mends my clothes." + +"Well?" + +"Two of his children have starved to death." + +"And the weaver's family opposite," added Barbara, weeping. "Such nice +people! The young wife was confined four days ago, and this morning +mother and child expired of weakness, expired, I tell you, like a +lamp that has consumed its oil and must go out. At the cloth-maker +Peterssohn's, the father and all five children have died of the plague. +If that isn't pitiful!" + +"Stop, stop!" said Georg, shuddering. "I must go to the court-yard to +drill." + +"What's the use of that! The Spaniards don't attack; they leave the +work to the skeleton death. Your fencing gives an appetite, and the poor +hollow herrings can scarcely stir their own limbs." + +"Wrong, Frau Barbara, wrong," replied the young man. "The exercise and +motion sustains them. Herr von Nordwyk knew what he was doing, when he +asked me to drill them in the dead fencing-master's place." + +"You're thinking of the ploughshare that doesn't rust. Perhaps you are +right; but before you go to work, take a sip of this. Our wine is still +the best. When people have something to do, at least they don't mutiny, +like those poor fellows among the volunteers day before yesterday. Thank +God, they are gone!" + +While the widow was filling a glass, Wilhelm's mother came into the +kitchen and greeted Barbara and the young nobleman. She carried under +her shawl a small package clasped tightly to her bosom. Her breadth was +still considerable, but the flesh, with which she had moved about +so briskly a few months ago, now seemed to have become an oppressive +burden. + +She took the little bundle in her right hand, saying "I have something +for your Bessie. My Wilhelm, good fellow--" + +Here she paused and restored her gift to its old place. She had seen +the Junker's plucked present, and continued in an altered tone: "So you +already have a pigeon--so much the better! The city clerk's little girl +is beginning to droop too. I'll see you to-morrow, if God wills." + +She was about to go, but Georg stopped her, saying: "You are mistaken, +my good lady. I shot that bird to-day, I'll confess now, Frau Barbara; +my corvus is a wretched crow." + +"I thought so," cried the widow. "Such an abomination!" + +Yet she thrust her finger into the bird's breast, saying: "But there's +meat on the creature." + +"A crow!" cried Wilhelm's mother, clasping her hands. "True, dogs and +cats are already hanging on many a spit and have wandered into many a +pan. There is the pigeon." + +Barbara unwrapped the bird as carefully, as if it might crumble under +her fingers, gazing tenderly at it as she weighed it carefully in her +hand; but the musician's mother said: + +"It's the fourth one Wilhelm has killed, and he said it would have been +a good flier. He intended it specially for your Bessie. Stuff it nicely +with yellow paste, not too solid and a little sweetened. That is what +children like, and it will agree with her, for it is cheerfully given. +Put the little thing away. When we have known any creature, we feel +sorry to see it dead." + +"May God reward you!" cried Barbara, pressing the kind old hand. "Oh! +these terrible times!" + +"Yet there is still something to be thankful for." + +"Of course, for it will be even worse in hell," replied the widow. + +"Don't fall into sin," said the aged matron: "You have only one sick +person in the house. Can I see Frau Maria?" + +"She is in the workshops, taking the people a little meat from our +store. Are you too so short of flour? Cows are still to be seen in the +pastures, but the grain seems to have been actually swept away; there +wasn't a peck in the market. Will you take a sip of wine too? Shall I +call my sister-in-law?" + +"I will seek her myself. The usury in the market is no longer to be +endured. We can do nothing more there, but she is already bringing +people to reason." + +"The traders in the market?" asked Georg. + +"Yes, Herr von Dornburg, yes. One wouldn't believe how much that +delicate woman can accomplish. Day before yesterday, when we went about +to learn how large a stock of provisions every house contains, people +treated me and the others very rudely, many even turned us out of doors. +But she went to the roughest, and the cellars and store-rooms opened +before her, as the waves of the sea divided before the people of Israel. +How she does it, Heaven knows, but the people can't refuse her." + +Georg drew a long breath and left the kitchen. In the court-yard he +found several city soldiers, volunteers and militia-men, with whom +he went through exercises in fencing. Van der Werff placed it at his +disposal for this purpose, and there certainly was no man in Leyden more +capable than the German of supplying worthy Allertssohn's place. + +Barbara was not wrong. His pupils looked emaciated and miserable enough, +but many of them had learned, in the dead man's school, to wield the +sword well, and were heartily devoted to the profession. + +In the centre of the court-yard stood a human figure, stuffed with tow +and covered with leather, which bore on the left breast a bit of red +paper in the shape of a heart. The more unskilful were obliged to thrust +at this figure to train the hand and eye; the others stood face to face +in pairs and fought under Georg's direction with blunt foils. + +The Junker had felt very weak when he entered the kitchen, for the +larger half of his ration of bread had been left at the unfortunate +tailor's; but Barbara's wine had revived him and, rousing himself, he +stepped briskly forth to meet his fencers. His doublet was quickly +flung on a bench, his belt drawn tighter, and he soon stood in his white +shirt-sleeves before the soldiers. + +As soon as his first word of command was heard, Henrica's window closed +with a bang. Formerly it had often been opened when the fencing drill +began, and she had not even shrunk from occasionally clapping her hands +and calling "bravo." This time had long since passed, it was weeks since +she had bestowed a word or glance on the young noble. She had never +made such advances to any man, would not have striven so hard to win a +prince's favor! And he? At first he had been distant, then more and more +assiduously avoided her. Her pride was deeply wounded. Her purpose of +diverting his attention from Maria had long been forgotten, and moreover +something--she knew not what had come between her and the young wife. +Not a day elapsed in which he did not meet her, and this was a source of +pleasure to Henrica, because she could show him that his presence was +a matter of indifference, nay even unpleasant. Her imprisonment greatly +depressed her, and she longed unutterably for the open country, the +fields and the forest. Yet she never expressed a wish to leave the city, +for--Georg was in Leyden, and every waking and dreaming thought was +associated with him. She loved him to-day, loathed him tomorrow, and did +both with all the ardor of her passionate heart. She often thought of +her sister too, and uttered many prayers for her. To win the favor of +Heaven by good works and escape ennui, she helped the Grey Sisters, who +lived in a little old convent next to Herr Van der Werff's house, nurse +the sick whole they had lovingly received, and even went with Sister +Gonzaga to the houses of the Catholic citizens, to collect alms for the +little hospital. But all this was done without joyous self-devotion, +sometimes with extravagant zeal, sometimes lazily, and for days not at +all. She had become excessively irritable, but after being unbearably +arrogant one day, would seem sorrowful and ill at ease the next, though +without asking the offended person's pardon. + +The young girl now stood behind the closed window, watching Georg, who +with a bold spring dashed at the leathern figure and ran the sword in +his right hand through the phantom's red heart. + +The soldiers loudly expressed their admiration. Henrica's eye, also +sparkled approvingly, but suddenly they lost their light, and she +stepped farther back into the room, for Maria came out of the workshops +in the court-yard and, with her gaze fixed on the ground, walked past +the fencers. + +The young wife had grown paler, but her clear blue eyes had gained a +more confident, resolute expression. She had learned to go her own way, +and sought and found arduous duties in the service of the city and the +poor. She had remained conqueror in many a severe conflict of the heart, +but the struggle was not yet over; she felt this whenever Georg's +path crossed hers. As far as possible she avoided him, for she did not +conceal from herself, that the attempt to live with him on the footing +of a friend and brother, would mean nothing but the first step on the +road to ruin for him and herself. That he was honestly aiding her by a +strong effort at self-control, she gratefully felt, for she stood heart +to heart with her husband on the ship of life. She wished no other +guide; nay the thought of going to destruction with Peter had no +terror to her. And yet, yet! Georg was like the magnetic mountain, that +attracted her, and which she must avoid to save the vessel from sinking. + +To-day she had been asking the different workmen how they fared, and +witnessed scenes of the deepest misery. + +The brave men knew that the surrender of the city might put an end to +their distress, but wished to hold out for the sake of liberty and their +religion, and endured their suffering as an inevitable misfortune. + +In the entry of the house Maria met Wilhelm's mother, and promised +her she would consult with Frau Van Hout that very day, concerning the +extortion practised by the market-men. Then she went to poor Bessie, who +sat, pale and weak, in a little chair. Her prettiest doll had been lying +an hour in the same position on her lap. The child's little hands and +will were too feeble to move the toy. Trautchen brought in a cup of new +milk. The citizens were not yet wholly destitute of this, for a goodly +number of cows still grazed outside the city walls under the protection +of the cannon, but the child refused to drink and could only be induced, +amid tears, to swallow a few drops. + +While Maria was affectionately coaxing the little one, Peter entered +the room. The tall man, the very model of a stately burgher, who paid +careful heed to his outward appearance, now looked careless of +his person. His brown hair hung over his forehead, his thick, +closely-trimmed moustache straggled in thin lines over his cheeks, his +doublet had grown too large, and his stockings did not fit snugly as +usual, but hung in wrinkles on his powerful legs. + +Greeting his wife with a careless wave of the hand, he approached the +child and gazed silently at it a long time with tender affection. Bessie +turned her pretty little face towards him and tried to welcome him, but +the smile died on her lips, and she again gazed listlessly at her doll, +Peter stooped, raised her in his arms, called her by name and pressed +his lips to her pale cheeks. The child gently stroked his beard and then +said feebly: + +"Put me down, dear father, I feel dizzy up here." The burgomaster, with +tears in his eyes, put his darling carefully back in her little chair, +then left the room and went to his study. Maria followed him and asked +"Is there no message yet from the Prince or the estates?" + +He silently shrugged his shoulders. + +"But they will not, dare not forget us?" cried the young wife eagerly. + +"We are perishing and they leave us to die," he answered in a hollow +tone. + +"No, no, they have pierced the dykes; I know they will help us." + +"When it is too late. One thing follows another, misfortune is heaped +on misfortune, and on whom do the curses of the starving people fall? On +me, me, me alone." + +"You are acting with the Prince's commissioner." + +Peter smiled bitterly, saying: "He took to his bed yesterday. Bontius +says it is the plague. I, I alone bear everything." + +"We bear it with you," cried Maria. "First poverty, then hunger, as we +promised." + +"Better than that. The last grain was baked today. The bread is +exhausted." + +"We still have oxen and horses." + +"We shall come to them day after to-morrow. It was determined: Two +pounds with the bones to every four persons. Bread gone, cows gone, milk +gone. And what will happen then? Mothers, infants, sick people! And our +Bessie!" + +The burgomaster pressed his hands on his temples and groaned aloud. But +Maria said: "Courage, Peter, courage. Hold fast to one thing, don't let +one thing go--hope." + +"Hope, hope," he answered scornfully. + +"To hope no longer," cried Maria, "means to despair. To despair means in +our case to open the gates, to open the gates means--" + +"Who is thinking of opening the gates? Who talks of surrender?" he +vehemently interrupted. "We will still hold firm, still, still----There +is the portfolio, take it to the messenger." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +Bessie had eaten a piece of roast pigeon, the first morsel for several +days, and there was as much rejoicing over it in the Van der Werff +household, as if some great piece of good fortune had befallen the +family. Adrian ran to the workshops and told the men, Peter went to the +town-hall with a more upright bearing, and Maria, who was obliged to go +out, undertook to tell Wilhelm's mother of the good results produced by +her son's gift. + +Tears ran down the old lady's flabby cheeks at the story and, kissing +the burgomaster's wife, she exclaimed: + +"Yes, Wilhelm, Wilhelm! If he were only at home now. But I'll call his +father. Dear me, he is probably at the town-hall too. Hark, Frau Maria, +hark--what's that?" + +The ringing of bells and firing of cannon had interrupted her words; she +hastily threw open the window, crying: + +"From the Tower of Pancratius! No alarm-bell, firing and merry-ringing. +Some joyful tidings have come. We need them! Ulrich, Ulrich! Come back +at once and bring us the news. Dear Father in Heaven! + +"Merciful God! Send the relief. If it were only that!" + +The two women waited in great suspense. At last Wilhelm's brother Ulrich +returned, saying that the messengers sent to Delft had succeeded in +passing the enemy's ranks and brought with them a letter from the +estates, which the city-clerk had read from the window of the town-hall. +The representatives of the country praised the conduct and endurance +of the citizens, and informed them that, in spite of the damage done to +thousands of people, the dykes would be cut. + +In fact, the water was already pouring over the land, and the messengers +had seen the vessels appointed to bring relief. The country surrounding +Leyden must soon be inundated, and the rising flood would force the +Spanish army to retreat, "Better a drowned land than a lost land," was +a saying that had been decisive in the execution of the violent measure +proposed, and those who had risked so much might be expected to shrink +from no sacrifice to save Leyden. + +The two women joyously shook hands with each other; the bells continued +to ring merrily, and report after report of cannon made the window-panes +rattle. + +As twilight approached, Maria turned her steps towards home. It was +long since her heart had been so light. The black tablets on the +houses containing cases of plague did not look so sorrowful to-day, the +emaciated faces seemed less pitiful than usual, for to them also help +was approaching. The faithful endurance was to be rewarded, the cause of +freedom would conquer. + +She entered the "broad street" with winged steps. Thousands of citizens +had flocked into it to see, hear, and learn what might be hoped, or what +still gave cause for fear. Musicians had been stationed at the corners +to play lively airs; the Beggars' song mingled with the pipes and +trumpets and the cheers of enthusiastic men. But there were also throngs +of well-dressed citizens and women, who loudly and fearlessly mocked +at the gay music and exulting simpletons, who allowed themselves to be +cajoled by empty promises. Where was the relief? What could the handful +of Beggars--which at the utmost were all the troops the Prince could +bring--do against King Philip's terrible military power, that surrounded +Leyden? And the inundation of the country? The ground on which the city +stood was too high for the water ever to reach it. The peasants had been +injured, without benefitting the citizens. There was only one means of +escape--to trust to the King's mercy. + +"What is liberty to us?" shouted a brewer, who, like all his companions +in business, had long since been deprived of his grain and forbidden to +manufacture any fresh beer. "What will liberty be to us, when we're cold +in death? Let whoever means well go the town-hall and demand a surrender +before it is too late." + +"Surrender! The mercy of the King!" shouted the citizens. + +"Life comes first, and then the question whether it shall be free or +under Spanish rule, Calvanistical or Popish!" screamed a master-weaver. +"I'll march to the town-hall with you." + +"You are right, good people," said Burgomaster Baersdorp, who, clad in +his costly fur-bordered cloak, was coming from the town-hall and had +heard the last speaker's words. "But let me set you right. To-day the +credulous are beginning to hope again, and the time for pressing your +just desire is ill-chosen. Wait a few days and then, if the relief does +not appear, urge your views. I'll speak for you, and with me many a +good man in the magistracy. We have nothing to expect from Valdez, but +gentleness and kindness. To rise against the King was from the first a +wicked deed--to fight against famine, the plague and death is sin and +madness. May God be with you, men!" + +"The burgomaster is sensible," cried a cloth-dyer. + +"Van Swieten and Norden think as he does, but Meister Peter rules +through the Prince's favor. If the Spaniards rescue us, his neck will be +in danger, when they make their entrance into the city So no matter who +dies; he and his are living on the fat of the land and have plenty." + +"There goes his wife," said a master-weaver, pointing to Maria. "How +happy she looks! The leather business must be doing well. Holloa--Frau +Van der Werff! Holloa! Remember me to your husband and tell him, his +life may be valuable; but ours are not wisps of straw." + +"Tell him, too," cried a cattle-dealer, who did not yet seem to have +been specially injured by the general distress, "tell him oxen can be +slaughtered, the more the better; but Leyden citizens--" + +The cattle-dealer did not finish his sentence, for Herr Aquanus had seen +from the Angulus what was happening to the burgomaster's wife, came +out of the tavern into the street, and stepped into the midst of the +malcontents. + +"For shame!" he cried. "To assail a respectable lady in the street! Are +these Leyden manners? Give me your hand, Frau Maria, and if I hear a +single reviling word, I'll call the constables. I know you. The gallows +Herr Van Bronkhorst had erected for men like you, is still standing by +the Blue Stone. Which of you wants to inaugurate them?" + +The men, to whom these words were addressed, were not the bravest of +mortals, and not a syllable was heard, as Aquanus led the young wife +into the tavern. The landlord's wife and daughter received her in their +own rooms, which were separated from those occupied by guests of the +inn, and begged her to make herself comfortable there until the crowd +had dispersed. But Maria longed to reach home, and when she said she +must go, Aquanus offered his company. + +Georg von Dornburg was standing in the entry and stepped back with a +respectful bow, but the innkeeper called to him, saying: + +"There is much to be done to-day, for many a man will doubtless indulge +himself in a glass of liquor after the good news. No offence, Frau Van +der Werft; but the Junker will escort you home as safely as I--and you, +Herr von Dornburg--" + +"I am at your service," replied Georg, and went out into the street with +the young wife. + +For a time both walked side by side in silence, each fancying he or she +could hear the beating of the other's heart. At last Georg, drawing a +long breath, said: + +"Three long, long months have passed since my arrival here. Have I been +brave, Maria?" + +"Yes, Georg." + +"But you cannot imagine what it has cost me to fetter this poor heart, +stifle my words, and blind my eyes. Maria, it must once be said--" + +"Never, never," she interrupted in a tone of earnest entreaty. "I know +that you have struggled honestly, do not rob yourself of the victory +now." + +"Oh! hear me, Maria, this once hear me." + +"What will it avail, if you oppress my soul with ardent words? I must +not hear from any man that he loves me, and what I must not hear, you +must not speak." + +"Must not?" he asked in a tone of gentle reproach, then in a gloomy, +bitter mood, continued: "You are right, perfectly right. Even speech is +denied me. So life may run on like a leaden stream, and everything that +grows and blossoms on its banks remain scentless and grey. The golden +sunshine has hidden itself behind a mist, joy lies fainting in my heart, +and all that once pleased me has grown stale and charmless. Do you +recognize the happy youth of former days?" + +"Seek cheerfulness again, seek it for my sake." + +"Gone, gone," he murmured sadly. "You saw me in Delft, but you did not +know me thoroughly. These eyes were like two mirrors of fortune in which +every object was charmingly transfigured, and they were rewarded; for +wherever they looked they met only friendly glances. This heart then +embraced the whole world, and beat so quickly and joyously! I often did +not know what to do with myself from sheer mirth and vivacity, and it +seemed as if I must burst into a thousand pieces like an over-loaded +firelock, only instead of scattering far and wide, mount straight up to +Heaven. Those days were so happy, and yet so sad--I felt it ten times +as much in Delft, when you were kind to me. And now, now? I still have +wings, I still might fly, but here I creep like a snail--because it is +your will." + +"It is not my wish," replied Maria. "You are dear to me, that I may +be permitted to confess--and to see you thus fills me with grief. But +now--if I am dear to you, and I know you care for me--cease to torture +me so cruelly. You are dear to me. I have said it, and it must be +spoken, that everything may be clearly understood between us. You are +dear to me, like the beautiful by-gone days of my youth, like pleasant +dreams, like a noble song, in which we take delight, and which refreshes +our souls, whenever we hear or remember it--but more you are not, more +you can never be. You are dear to me, and I wish you to remain so, but +that you can only do by not breaking the oath you have sworn." + +"Sworn?" asked Georg. "Sworn?" + +"Yes, sworn," interrupted Maria, checking her steps. "On Peter's breast, +on the morning of his birthday--after the singing. You remember it well. +At the time you took a solemn vow; I know it, know it no less surely, +than that I myself swore faith to my husband at the altar. If you can +give me the lie, do so." + +Georg shook his head, and answered with increasing warmth: + +"You read my soul. Our hearts know each other like two faithful friends, +as the earth knows her moon, the moon her earth. What is one without +the other? Why must they be separated? Did you ever walk along a forest +path? The tracks of two wheels run side by side and never touch. The +axle holds them asunder, as our oath parts us." + +"Say rather--our honor." + +"As our honor parts us. But often in the woods we find a place where the +road ends in a field or hill, and there the tracks cross and intersect +each other, and in this hour I feel that my path has come to an end. I +can go no farther, I cannot, or the horses will plunge into the thicket +and the vehicle be shattered on the roots and stones." + +"And honor with it. Not a word more. Let us walk faster. See the lights +in the windows. Everyone wants to show that he rejoices in the good +news. Our house mustn't remain dark either." + +"Don't hurry so. Barbara will attend to it, and how soon we must part! +Yet you said that I was dear to you." + +"Don't torture me," cried the young wife, with pathetic entreaty. + +"I will not torture you, Maria, but you must hear me. I was in earnest, +terrible earnest in the mute vow I swore, and have sought to release +myself from it by death. You have heard how I rushed like a madman among +the Spaniards, at the storming of the Boschhuizen fortification in July. +Your bow, the blue bow from Delft, the knot of ribbons the color of the +sky, fluttered on my left shoulder as I dashed upon swords and lances. I +was not to die, and came out of the confusion uninjured. Oh! Maria, for +the sake of this oath I have suffered unequalled torments. Release me +from it, Maria, let me once, only once, freely confess--" + +"Stop, Georg, stop," pleaded the young wife. "I will not, must not hear +you-neither to-day, nor tomorrow, never, never, to all eternity!" + +"Once, only once, I will, I must say to you, that I love you, that life +and happiness, peace and honor--" + +"Not one word more, Junker von Dornburg. There is our house. You are +our guest, and if you address a single word like the last ones to your +friend's wife--" + +"Maria, Maria--oh, don't touch the knocker. How can you so unfeelingly +destroy the whole happiness of a human being--" + +The door had opened, and the burgomaster's wife crossed the threshold. +Georg stood opposite to her, held out his hand as if beseeching aid, and +murmured in a hollow tone: + +"Cast forth to death and despair! Maria, Maria, why do you treat me +thus?" + +She laid her right hand in his, saying: + +"That we may remain worthy of each other, Georg." + +She forcibly withdrew her icy hand and entered the house; but he +wandered for hours through the lighted streets like a drunken man, and +at last threw himself, with a burning brain, upon his couch. A small +volume, lightly stitched together, lay on a little table beside the bed. +He seized it, and with trembling fingers wrote on its pages. The pencil +often paused, and he frequently drew a long breath and gazed with +dilated eyes into vacancy. At last he threw the book aside and watched +anxiously for the morning. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +Just before sunrise Georg sprang from his couch, drew out his knapsack, +and filled it with his few possessions; but this time the little book +found no place with the other articles. + +The musician Wilhelm also entered the court-yard at a very early-hour, +just as the first workmen were going to the shops. The Junker saw him +coming, and met him at the door. + +The artist's face revealed few traces of the want he had endured, but +his whole frame was trembling with excitement and his face changed color +every moment, as he instantly, and in the utmost haste, told Georg the +purpose of his early visit. + +Shortly after the arrival of the city messengers, a Spanish envoy had +brought Burgomaster Van der Werff a letter written by Junker Nicolas +Matanesse, containing nothing but the tidings, that Henrica's sister +had reached Leyderdorp with Belotti and found shelter in the elder Baron +Matanesse's farm-house. She was very ill, and longed to see her sister. +The burgomaster had given this letter to the young lady, and Henrica +hastened to the musician without delay, to entreat him to help her +escape from the city and guide her to the Spanish lines. Wilhelm was +undergoing a severe struggle. No sacrifice seemed too great to see Anna +again, and what the messenger had accomplished, he too might succeed +in doing. But ought he to aid the flight of the young girl detained as +hostage by the council, deceive the sentinels at the gate, desert his +post? + +Since Henrica's request that Georg would escort her sister from Lugano +to Holland, the young man had known everything that concerned the +latter, and was also aware of the state of the musician's heart. + +"I must, and yet I ought not," cried Wilhelm. "I have passed a terrible +night; imagine yourself in my place, in the young lady's." + +"Get a leave of absence until to-morrow," said Georg resolutely. "When +it grows dark, I'll accompany Henrica with you. She must swear to return +to the city in case of a surrender. As for me, I am no longer bound by +any oath to serve the English flag. A month ago we received permission +to enter the service of the Netherlands. It will only cost me a word +with Captain Van der Laen, to be my own master." + +"Thanks, thanks; but the young lady forbade me to ask your assistance." + +"Folly, I shall go with you, and when our goal is reached, fight my way +through to the Beggars. Our departure will not trouble the council, for, +when Henrica and I are outside, there will be two eaters less in +Leyden. The sky is grey; I hope we shall have a dark night. Captain Van +Duivenvoorde commands the guard at the Hohenort Gate. He knows us both, +and will let us pass. I'll speak to him. Is the farm-house far inside +the village?" + +"No, outside on the road to Leyden." + +"Well then, we'll meet at Aquanus's tavern at four o'clock." + +"But the young lady--" + +"It will be time enough, if she learns at the gate who is to accompany +her." + +When Georg came to the tavern at the appointed hour, he learned that +Henrica had received another letter from Nicolas. It had been given to +the outposts by the Junker himself, and contained only the words "Until +midnight, the Spanish watch-word is 'Lepanto.' Your father shall know +to-day, that Anna is here." + +After the departure from the Hohenort Gate had been fixed for nine +o'clock in the evening, Georg went to Captain Van der Laen and the +commandant Van der Does, received from the former the discharge he +requested, and from Janus a letter to his friend, Admiral Boisot. When +he informed his men, that he intended to leave the city and make his way +to the Beggars, they declared they would follow, and live or die with +him. It was with difficulty that he succeeded in restraining them. +Before the town-hall he slackened his pace. The burgomaster was always +to be found there at this hour. Should he quit the city without taking +leave of him? No, no! And yet--since yesterday he had forfeited the +right to look frankly into his eyes. He was afraid to meet him, it +seemed as if he were completely estranged from him. So Georg rushed +past the town-hall, and said defiantly: "Even if I leave him without a +farewell, I owe him nothing; for I must pay for his kindness with cruel +suffering, perhaps death. Maria loved me first, and what she is, and +was, and ever will be to me, she shall know before I go." + +He returned to his room at twilight, asked the manservant to carry his +knapsack to Captain Van Duivenvoorde at the Hohenort Gate, and then +went, with his little book in his doublet, to the main building to take +leave of Maria. He ascended the staircase slowly and paused in the upper +entry. + +The beating of his heart almost stopped his breath. He did not know at +which door to knock, and a torturing dread overpowered him, so that +he stood for several minutes as if paralyzed. Then he summoned up his +courage, shook himself, and muttered: "Have I become a coward!" With +these words he opened the door leading into the dining-room and entered. +Adrian was sitting at the empty table, beside a burning torch, with some +books. Georg asked for his mother. + +"She is probably spinning in her room," replied the boy. + +"Call her, I have something important to tell her." Adrian went away, +returning with the answer that the Junker might wait in his father's +study. + +"Where is Barbara?" asked Georg. + +"With Bessie." + +The German nodded, and while pacing up and down beside the dining-room, +thought, "I can't go so. It must come from the heart; once, once more +I will hear her say, that she loves me, I will--I will--Let it be +dishonorable, let it be worthy of execration, I will atone for it; I +will atone for it with my life!" + +While Georg was pacing up and down the room, Adrian gathered his books +together, saying: "B-r-r-r, Junker, how you look to-day! One might be +afraid of you. Mother is in there already. The tinder-box is rattling; +she is probably lighting the lamp." + +"Are you busy?" asked Georg. "I've finished." + +"Then run over to Wilhelm Corneliussohn and tell him it is settled: +we'll meet at nine, punctually at nine." + +"At Aquarius's tavern?" asked the boy. + +"No, no, he knows; make haste, my lad." + +Adrian was going, but Georg beckoned to him, and said in a low tone: +"Can you be silent?" + +"As a fried sole." + +"I shall slip out of the city to-day, and perhaps may never return." + +"You, Junker? To-day?" asked the boy. + +"Yes, dear lad. Come here, give me a farewell kiss. You must keep this +little ring to remember me." The boy submitted to the kiss, put the ring +on his finger, and said with tearful eyes: "Are you in earnest? Yes, +the famine! God knows I'd run after you, if it were not for Bessie and +mother. When will you come back again?" + +"Who knows, my lad! Remember me kindly, do you hear? Kindly! And now +run." + +Adrian rushed down the stairs, and a few minutes after the Junker was +standing in Peter's study, face to face with Maria. The shutters were +closed, and the sconce on the table had two lighted candles. + +"Thanks, a thousand thanks for coming," said Georg. "You pronounced my +sentence yesterday, and to-day--" + +"I know what brings you to me," she answered gently. "Henrica has bidden +me farewell, and I must not keep her. She doesn't wish to have you +accompany her, but Meister Wilhelm betrayed the secret to me. You have +come to say farewell." + +"Yes, Maria, farewell forever." + +"If it is God's will, we shall see each other again. I know what is +driving you away from here. You are good and noble, Georg, and if there +is one thing that lightens the parting, it is this: We can now think of +each other without sorrow and anger. You will not forget us, and--you +know that the remembrance of you will be cherished here by old and +young--in the hearts of all--" + +"And in yours also, Maria?" + +"In mine also." + +"Hold it firmly. And when the storm has blown out of your path the poor +dust, which to-day lives and breathes, loves and despairs, grant it a +place in your memory." + +Maria shuddered, for deep despair looked forth with a sullen glow +from the eyes that met hers. Seized with an anxious foreboding, she +exclaimed: "What are you thinking of, Georg? for Christ's sake! tell me +what is in your mind." + +"Nothing wrong, Maria, nothing wrong. We birds now sing differently. +Whoever can saunter, with lukewarm blood and lukewarm pleasures, from +one decade to another in peace and honor, is fortunate. My blood flows +in a swifter course, and what my eager soul has once clasped with its +polyp arms, it will never release until the death-hour comes. I am +going, never to return; but I shall take you and my love with me to +battle, to the grave.--I go, I go--" + +"Not so, Georg, you must not part from me thus." Then cry: 'Stay!' Then +say: 'I am here and pity you!' But don't expect the miserable wretch, +whom you have blinded, to open his eyes, behold and enjoy the beauties +of the world. "Here you stand, trembling and shaking, without a word for +him who loves you, for him--him--" + +The youth's voice faltered with emotion and sighing heavily, he pressed +his hand to his brow. Then he seemed to recollect himself and continued +in a low, sad tone: "Here I stand, to tell you for the last time the +state of my heart. You should hear sweet words, but grief and pain will +pour bitter drops into everything I say. I have uttered in the language +of poetry, when my heart impelled me, that for which dry prose possesses +no power of expression. Read these pages, Maria, and if they wake an +echo in your soul, oh! treasure it. The honeysuckle in your garden needs +a support, that it may grow and put forth flowers; let these poor songs +be the espalier around which your memory of the absent one can twine +its tendrils and cling lovingly. Read, oh! read, and then say once more: +'You are dear to me,' or send me from you." + +"Give it to me," said Maria, opening the volume with a throbbing heart. + +He stepped back from her, but his breath came quickly and his eyes +followed hers while she was reading. She began with the last poem but +one. It had been written just after Georg's return the day before, and +ran as follows: + + "Joyously they march along, + Lights are flashing through the panes, + In the streets a busy throng + Curiosity enchains. + Oh! the merry festal night; + Would that it might last for aye! + For aye! Alas! Love, splendor, light, + All, all have passed away." + +The last lines Georg had written with a rapid pen the night before. In +them he bewailed his hard fate. She must hear him once, then he would +sing her a peerless song. Maria had followed the first verses silently +with her eyes, but now her lips began to move and in a low, rapid tone, +but audibly she read: + + "Sometimes it echoes like the thunder's peal, + Then soft and low through the May night doth steal; + Sometimes, on joyous wing, to Heaven it soars, + Sometimes, like Philomel, its woes deplores. + For, oh! this a song that ne'er can die, + It seeks the heart of all humanity. + In the deep cavern and the darksome lair, + The sea of ether o'er the realm of air, + In every nook my song shall still be heard, + And all creation, with sad yearning stirred, + United in a full, exultant choir, + Pray thee to grant the singer's fond desire. + E'en when the ivy o'er my grave hath grown, + Still will ring on each sweet, enchanting tone, + Through the whole world and every earthly zone, + Resounding on in aeons yet to come." + +Maria read on, her heart beating more and more violently, her breath +coming quicker and quicker, and when she had reached the last verse, +tears burst from her eyes, and she raised the book with both hands to +hurl it from her and throw her arms around the writer's neck. + +He had been standing opposite to her, as if spellbound, listening +blissfully to the lofty flight of his own words. Trembling with +passionate emotion, he yet restrained himself until she had raised her +eyes from his lines and lifted the book, then his power of resistance +flew to the winds and, fairly beside himself, he exclaimed: "Maria, my +sweet wife!" + +"Wife?" echoed in her breast like a cry of warning, and it seemed as if +an icy hand clutched her heart. The intoxication passed away, and as she +saw him standing before her with out-stretched arms and sparkling +eyes, she shrank back, a feeling of intense loathing of him and her own +weakness seized upon her and, instead of throwing the book aside and +rushing to meet him, she tore it in halves, saying proudly: "Here are +your verses, Junker von Dornburg; take them with you." Then, maintaining +her dignity by a strong effort, she continued in a lower, more gentle +tone, "I shall remember you without this book. We have both dreamed; let +us now wake. Farewell! I will pray that God may guard you. Give me your +hand, Georg, and when you return, we will bid you welcome to our house +as a friend." + +With these words Maria turned away from the Junker and only nodded +silently, when he exclaimed: "Past! All past!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +Georg descended the stairs in a state of bewilderment. Both halves of +the book, in which ever since the wedding at Delft he had written a +succession of verses to Maria, lay in his hand. + +The light of the kitchen-fire streamed into the entry. He followed it, +and before answering Barbara's kind greeting, went to the hearth +and flung into the fire the sheets, which contained the pure, sweet +fragrance of a beautiful flower of youth. + +"Oho! Junker!" cried the widow. "A quick fire doesn't suit every kind of +food. What is burning there?" + +"Foolish paper!" he answered. "Have no fear. At the utmost it might weep +and put out the flames. It will be ashes directly. There go the sparks, +flying in regular rows through the black, charred pages. How pretty it +looks! They appear, leap forth and vanish--like a funeral +procession with torches in a pitch-dark night. Good-night, poor +children--good-night, dear songs! Look, Frau Barbara! They are rolling +themselves up tightly, convulsively, as if it hurt them to burn." + +"What sort of talk is that?" replied Barbara, thrusting the charred book +deeper into the fire with the tongs. Then pointing to her own forehead, +she continued: "One often feels anxious about you. High-sounding words, +such as we find in the Psalms, are not meant for every-day life and our +kitchen. If you were my own son, you'd often have something to listen +to. People who travel at a steady pace reach their goal soonest." + +"That's good advice for a journey," replied Georg, holding out his hand +to the widow. "Farewell, dear mother. I can't bear it here any longer. +In half an hour I shall turn my back on this good city." + +"Go then--just as you choose--Or is the young lady taking you in tow? +Nobleman's son and nobleman's daughter! Like to like--Yet, no; there +has been nothing between you. Her heart is good, but I should wish you +another wife than that Popish Everyday-different." + +"So Henrica has told you--" + +"She has just gone. Dear me-she has her relatives outside; and we--it's +hard to divide a plum into twelve pieces. I said farewell to her +cheerfully; but you, Georg, you--" + +"I shall take her out of the city, and then--you won't blame me for +it--then I shall make my way through to the Beggars." + +"The Beggars! That's a different matter, that's right. You'll be in your +proper place there! Cheer up, Junker, and go forth boldly? Give me your +hand, and if you meet my boy--he commands a ship of his own.--Dear me, I +remember something. You can wait a moment longer. Come here, Trautchen. +The woollen stockings I knit for him are up in the painted chest. Make +haste and fetch them. He may need them on the water in the damp autumn +weather. You'll take them with you?" + +"Willingly, most willingly; and now let me thank you for all your +kindness. You have been like an own mother to me." Georg clasped the +widow's hand, and neither attempted to conceal how dear each had become +to the other and how hard it was to part. Trautchen had given Barbara +the stockings, and many tears fell upon them, while the widow was +bidding the Junker farewell. When she noticed they were actually wet, +she waved them in the air and handed them to the young man. + +The night was dark but still, even sultry. The travellers were received +at the Hohenort Gate by Captain Van Duivenvoorde, preceded by an old +sergeant, carrying a lantern, who opened the gate. The captain +embraced his brave, beloved comrade, Dornburg; a few farewell words +and god-speeds echoed softly from the fortification walls, and the trio +stepped forth into the open country. + +For a time they walked silently through the darkness. Wilhelm knew the +way and strode in front of Henrica; the Junker kept close at her side. + +All was still, except from time to time they heard a word of command +from the walls, the striking of a clock, or the barking of a dog. + +Henrica had recognized Georg by the light of the lantern, and when +Wilhelm stopped to ascertain whether there was any water in the ditch +over which he intended to guide his companions, she said, under her +breath: + +"I did not expect your escort, Junker." + +"I know it, but I, too, desired to leave the city." + +"And wish to avail yourself of our knowledge of the watchword. Then stay +with us." + +"Until I know you are safe, Fraulein." + +"The walls of Leyden already lie between you and the peril from which +you fly." + +"I don't understand you." + +"So much the better." + +Wilhelm turned and, in a muffled voice, requested his companions to keep +silence. They now walked noiselessly on, until just outside the camp +they reached the broad road around which they had made a circuit. A +Spanish sentinel challenged them. + +"Lepanto!" was the answer, and they passed on through the camp +unmolested. A coach drawn by four horses, a mere box hung between two +tiny fore-wheels and a pair of gigantic hind-wheels, drove slowly past +them. It was conveying Magdalena Moons, the daughter of an aristocratic +Holland family, distinguished among the magistracy, back to the Hague +from a visit to her lover and future husband, Valdez. No one noticed +Henrica, for there were plenty of women in the camp. Several poorly-clad +ones sat before the tents, mending the soldiers' clothes. Some +gaily-bedizened wenches were drinking wine and throwing dice with their +male companions in front of an officer's tent. A brighter light glowed +from behind the general's quarters, where, under a sort of shed, several +confessionals and an altar had been erected. Upon this altar candles +were burning, and over it hung a silver lamp; a dark, motionless stream +pressed towards it; Castilian soldiers, among whom individuals could be +recognized only when the candle-light flashed upon a helmet or coat of +mail. + +The loud singing of carousing German mercenaries, the neighing and +stamping of the horses, and the laughter of the officers and girls, +drowned the low chanting of the priests and the murmur of the penitents, +but the shrill sounding of the bell calling to mass from time to time +pierced, with its swift vibrations, through the noise of the camp. Just +outside the village the watch-word was again used, and they reached the +first house unmolested. + +"Here we are," said Wilhelm, with a sigh of relief. "Profit by the +darkness, Junker, and keep on till you have the Spaniards behind you." + +"No, my friend; you will remain here. I wish to share your danger. I +shall return with you to Leyden and from thence try to reach Delft; +meantime I'll keep watch and give you warning, if necessary." + +"Let us bid each other farewell now, Georg; hours may pass before I +return." + +"I have time, a horrible amount of time. I'll wait. There goes the +door." + +The Junker grasped his sword, but soon removed his hand from the hilt, +for it was Belotti, who came out and greeted the signorina. + +Henrica followed him into the house and there talked with him in a low +tone, until Georg called her, saying: + +"Fraulein Van Hoogstraten, may I ask for a word of farewell?" + +"Farewell, Herr von Dornburg!" she answered distantly, but advanced a +step towards him. + +Georg had also approached, and now held out his hand. She hesitated a +moment, then placed hers in it, and said so softly, that only he could +hear: + +"Do you love Maria?" + +"So I am to confess?" + +"Don't refuse my last request, as you did the first. If you can be +generous, answer me fearlessly. I'll not betray your secret to any one. +Do you love Frau Van der Werff?" + +"Yes, Fraulein." + +Henrica drew a long breath, then continued: "And now you are rushing out +into the world to forget her?" + +"No, Fraulein." + +"Then tell me why you have fled from Leyden?" + +"To find an end that becomes a soldier." + +Henrica advanced close to his side, exclaiming so scornfully, that it +cut Georg to the heart: + +"So it has grasped you too! It seizes all: Knights, maidens, wives and +widows; not one is spared. Never ending sorrow! Farewell, Georg! We can +laugh at or pity each other, just as we choose. A heart pierced with +seven swords: what an exquisite picture! Let us wear blood-red knots of +ribbon, instead of green and blue ones. Give me your hand once more, now +farewell." + +Henrica beckoned to the musician and both followed Belotti up the steep, +narrow stairs. Wilhelm remained behind in a little room, adjoining a +second one, where a beautiful boy, about three years old, was being +tended by an Italian woman. In a third chamber, which like all the other +rooms in the farm-house, was so low that a tall man could scarcely stand +erect, Henrica's sister lay on a wide bedstead, over which a screen, +supported by four columns, spread like a canopy. Links dimly lighted +the long narrow room. The reddish-yellow rays of their broad flames were +darkened by the canopy, and scarcely revealed the invalid's face. + +Henrica had given the Italian woman and the child in the second room but +a hasty greeting, and now impetuously pressed forward into the third, +rushed to the bed, threw herself on her knees, clasped her arms +passionately around her sister, and covered her face with owing kisses. + +She said nothing but "Anna," and the sick woman and no other word than +"Henrica." Minutes elapsed, then the young girl started up, seized one +of the torches and cast its light on her regained sister's face. How +pale, how emaciated it looked! But it was still beautiful, still +the same as before. Strangely-blended emotions of joy and grief took +possession of Henrica's soul. Her cold hard feelings grew warm and +melted, and in this hour the comfort of tears, of which she had been so +long deprived, once more became hers. + +Gradually the flood tide of emotion began to ebb, and the confusion of +loving exclamations and incoherent words gained some order and separated +into question and answer. When Anna learned that the musician had +accompanied her sister, she wished to see him, and when he entered, held +out both hands, exclaiming: + +"Meister, Meister, in what a condition you find me again! Henrica, this +is the best of men; the only unselfish friend I have found on earth." + +The succeeding hours were full of sorrowful agitation. + +Belotti and the old Italian woman often undertook to speak for the +invalid, and gradually the image of a basely-destroyed life, that had +been worthy of a better fate, appeared before Henrica and Wilhelm. Fear, +anxiety and torturing doubt had from the first saddened Anna's existence +with the unprincipled adventurer and gambler, who had succeeded in +beguiling her young, experienced heart. A short period of intoxication +was followed by an unexampled awakening. She was clasping her first +child to her breast, when the unprecedented outrage occurred--Don Luis +demanded that she should move with him into the house of a notorious +Marchesa, in whose ill-famed gambling-rooms he had spent his evenings +and nights for months. She indignantly refused, but he coldly and +threateningly persisted in having his will. Then the Hoogstraten blood +asserted itself, and without a word of farewell she fled with her +child to Lugano. There the boy was received by his mother's former +waiting-maid, while she herself went to Rome, not as an adventuress, but +with a fixed, praiseworthy object in view. She intended to fully perfect +her musical talents in the new schools of Palestrina and Nanini, and +thus obtain the ability, by means of her art, to support her child +independently of his father and hers. She risked much, but very definite +hopes hovered before her eyes, for a distinguished prelate and lover of +music, to whom she had letters of introduction from Brussels, and who +knew her voice, had promised that after her return from her musical +studies he would give her the place of singing-mistress to a young girl +of noble birth, who had been educated in a convent at Milan. She was +under his guardianship, and the worthy man took care to provide Anna, +before her departure, with letters to his friends in the eternal city. + +Her hasty flight from Rome had been caused by the news, that Don Luis +had found and abducted his son. She could not lose her child, and when +she did not find the boy in Milan, followed and at last discovered him +in Naples. There d'Avila restored the child, after she had declared her +willingness to make over to him the income she still received from her +aunt. The long journey, so full of excitement and fatigue, exhausted her +strength, and she returned to Milan feeble and broken in health. + +Her patron had been anxious to keep the place of singing-mistress open +for her, but she could only fulfil for a short time the duties to which +the superior of the convent kindly summoned her, for her sickness was +increasing and a terrible cough spoiled her voice. She now returned to +Lugano, and there sought to compensate her poor honest friend by the +sale of her ornaments, but the time soon came when the generous artist +was forced to submit to be supported by the charity of a servant. Until +the last six months she had not suffered actual want, but when her +maid's husband died, anxiety about the means of procuring daily bread +arose, and now maternal love broke down Anna's pride: she wrote to her +father as a repentant daughter, bowed down by misfortune, but received +no reply. At last, reduced to starvation with her child, she undertook +the hardest possible task, and besought the man, of whom she could only +think with contempt and loathing, not to let his son grow up like a +beggar's child. The letter, which contained this cry of distress, had +reached Don Luis just before his death. No help was to come to her from +him. But Belotti appeared, and now she was once more at home, her friend +and sister were standing beside her bed, and Henrica encouraged her to +hope for her father's forgiveness. + +It was past midnight, yet Georg still awaited his friend's return. The +noise and bustle of the camp began to die away and the lantern, which at +first had but feebly lighted the spacious lower-room of the farmhouse, +burned still more dimly. The German shared this apartment with +agricultural implements, harnesses, and many kinds of grain and +vegetables heaped in piles against the walls, but he lacked inclination +to cast even a glance at his motley surroundings. There was nothing +pleasant to him in the present or future. He felt humiliated, guilty, +weary of life. His self-respect was trampled under foot, love and +happiness were forfeited, there was naught before him save a colorless, +charmless future, full of bitterness and mental anguish. Nothing seemed +desirable save a speedy death. At times the fair image of his home +rose before his memory--but it vanished as soon as he recalled the +burgomaster's dignified figure, his own miserable weakness and the +repulse he had experienced. He was full of fierce indignation against +himself, and longed with passionate impatience for the clash of swords +and roar of cannon, the savage struggle man to man. + +Time passed without his perceiving it, but a torturing desire for food +began to torment the starving man. There were plenty of turnips piled +against the wall, and he eat one after another, until he experienced +the feeling of satiety he had so long lacked. Then he sat down on a +kneading-trough and considered how he could best get to the Beggars. He +did not know his way, but woe betide those who ventured to oppose him. +His arm and sword were good, and there were Spaniards enough at hand +whom he could make feel the weight of both. His impatience began to +rise, and it seemed like a welcome diversion, when he heard steps +approaching and a man's figure entered the house. He had stationed +himself by the wall with his sword between his folded arms, and now +shouted a loud "halt" to the new-comer. + +The latter instantly drew his sword, and when Georg imperiously demanded +what he wanted, replied in a boyish voice, but a proud, resolute tone: + +"I ask you that question! I am in my father's house." + +"Indeed!" replied the German smiling, for he had now recognized the +speaker's figure by the dim light. "Put up your sword. If you are young +Matanesse Van Wibisma, you have nothing to fear from me." + +"I am. But what are you doing on our premises at night, sword in hand?" + +"I'm warming the wall to my own satisfaction, or, if you want to know +the truth, mounting guard." + +"In our house?" + +"Yes, Junker. There is some one up-stairs with your cousins, who +wouldn't like to be surprised by the Spaniards. Go up. I know from +Captain Van Duivenvoorde what a gallant young fellow you are." + +"From Herr von Warmond?" asked Nicolas eagerly. "Tell me! what brings +you here, and who are you?" + +"One who is fighting for your liberty, a German, Georg von Dornburg." + +"Oh, wait here, I entreat you. I'll come back directly. Do you know +whether Fraulein Van Hoogstraten--" + +"Up there," replied Georg, pointing towards the ceiling. + +Nicolas sprang up the stairs in two or three bounds, called his cousin, +and hastily told her that her father had had a severe fall from his +horse while hunting, and was lying dangerously ill. When Nicolas spoke +of Anna he had at first burst into a furious passion, but afterwards +voluntarily requested him to tell him about her, and attempted to +leave his bed to accompany him. He succeeded in doing so, but fell back +fainting. When his father came early the next morning, she might tell +him that he, Nicolas, begged his forgiveness; he was about to do what he +believed to be his duty. + +He evaded Henrica's questions, and merely hastily enquired about Anna's +health and the Leyden citizen, whom Georg had mentioned. + +When he heard the name of the musician Wilhelm, he begged her to warn +him to depart in good time, and if possible in his company, then bade +her a hurried farewell and ran down-stairs. + +Wilhelm soon followed. Henrica accompanied him to the stairs to see +Georg once more, but as soon as she heard his voice, turned defiantly +away and went back to her sister. + +The musician found Junker von Dornburg engaged in an eager conversation +with Nicolas. + +"No, no, my boy," said the German cordially, "my way cannot be yours." + +"I am seventeen years old." + +"That's not it; you've just confronted me bravely, and you have a man's +strength of will--but life ought still to bear flowers for you, if +such is God's will--you are going forth to fight sword-in-hand to win +a worthy destiny of peace and prosperity, for yourself and your native +land, in freedom--but I, I--give me your hand and promise--" + +"My hand? There it is; but I must refuse the promise. With or without +you--I shall go to the Beggars!" + +Georg gazed at the brave boy in delight, and asked gently: + +"Is your mother living?" + +"No." + +"Then come. We shall probably both find what we seek with the Beggars." + +Nicolas clasped the hand Georg offered, but Wilhelm approached the +Junker, saying: + +"I expected this from you, after what I saw at St. Peter's church and +Quatgelat's tavern." + +"You first opened my eyes," replied Nicolas. "Now come, we'll go +directly through the camp; they all know me." + +In the road the boy pressed close to Georg, and in answer to his remark +that he would be in a hard position towards his father, replied: + +"I know it, and it causes me such pain--such pain.--But I can't help it. +I won't suffer the word 'traitor' to cling to our name." + +"Your cousin Matanesse, Herr von Riviere, is also devoted to the good +cause." + +"But my father thinks differently. He has the courage to expect good +deeds from the Spaniards. From the Spaniards! I've learned to know +them during the last few months. A brave lad from Leyden, you knew him +probably by his nickname, Lowing, which he really deserved, was captured +by them in fair fight, and then--it makes me shudder even now when I +think of it--they hung him up head downward, and tortured him to death. +I was present, and not one word of theirs escaped my ears. Such ought +to be the fate of all Holland, country and people, that was what they +wanted. And remarks like these can be heard every day. No abuse of us +is too bad for them, and the King thinks like his soldiers. Let some one +else endure to be the slave of a master, who tortures and despises us! +My holy religion is eternal and indestructible. Even if it is hateful to +many of the Beggars, that shall not trouble me--if only they will help +break the Spanish chains." Amid such conversation they walked through +the Castilian camp, where all lay buried in sleep. Then they reached +that of the German troops, and here gay carousing was going on under +many a tent. At the end of the encampment a sutler and his wife were +collecting together the wares that remained unsold. + +Wilhelm had walked silently behind the other two, for his heart was +deeply stirred, joy and sorrow were striving for the mastery. He felt +intoxicated with lofty, pure emotions, but suddenly checked his +steps before the sutler's stand and pointed to the pastry gradually +disappearing in a chest. + +Hunger had become a serious, nay only too serious and mighty power, +in the city beyond, and it was not at all surprising that Wilhelm +approached the venders, and with sparkling eyes bought their last ham +and as much bread as they had left. + +Nicolas laughed at the bundle he carried under his arm, but Georg said: + +"You haven't yet looked want in the face, Junker. This bread is a remedy +for the most terrible disease." At the Hohenort Gate Georg ordered +Captain von Warmond to be waked, and introduced Nicolas to him as a +future Beggar. The captain congratulated the boy and offered him money +to supply himself in Delft with whatever he needed, and defray his +expenses during the first few weeks; but Nicolas rejected his wealthy +friend's offer, for a purse filled with gold coins hung at his girdle. +A jeweller in the Hague had given them to him yesterday in payment for +Fraulein Van Hoogstraten's emerald ring. + +Nicolas showed the captain his treasure, and then exclaimed: + +"Now forward, Junker von Dornburg, I know where we shall find them; and +you, Captain Van Duivenvoorde, tell the burgomaster and Janus Dousa what +has become of me." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +A week had elapsed since Henrica's flight, and with it a series of days +of severe privation. Maria knew from the musician, that young Matanesse +had accompanied Georg, and that the latter was on his way to the +Beggars. This was the right plan. The bubbling brook belonged to +the wild, rushing, mighty river. She wished him happiness, life and +pleasure; but--strange--since the hour that she tore his verses, the +remembrance of him had receded as far as in the day: before the approach +of the Spaniards. Nay, after her hard-won conquest of herself and his +departure, a rare sense of happiness, amid all her cares and troubles, +had taken possession of the young wife's heart. She had been cruel to +herself, and the inner light of the clear diamond first gleams +forth with the right brilliancy, after it has endured the torture of +polishing. She now felt with joyous gratitude, that she could look Peter +frankly in the eye, grant him love, and ask love in return. He scarcely +seemed to notice her and her management under the burden of his cares, +but she felt, that many things she said and could do for him pleased +him. The young wife did not suffer specially from the long famine, while +it caused Barbara pain and unstrung her vigorous frame. Amid so much +suffering, she often sunk into despair before the cold hearth and empty +pots, and no longer thought it worth while to plait her large cap and +ruffs. It was now Maria's turn to speak words of comfort, and remind her +of her son, the Beggar captain, who would soon enter Leyden. + +On the sixth of September the burgomaster's wife was returning home from +an early walk. Autumn mists darkened the air, and the sea-breeze drove +a fine, drizzling spray through the streets. The dripping trees had +long since been robbed of their leaves, not by wind and storm, but by +children and adults, who had carried the caterpillars' food to their +kitchens as precious vegetables. + +At the Schagensteg Maria saw Adrian, and overtook him. The boy was +sauntering idly along, counting aloud. The burgomaster's wife called to +him, and asked why he was not at school and what he was doing there. + +"I'm counting," was the reply. "Now there are nine." + +"Nine?" + +"I've met nine dead bodies so far; the rector sent us home. Master +Dirks is dead, and there were only thirteen of us to-day. There are some +people bringing another one." + +Maria drew her kerchief tighter and walked on. At her left hand stood a +tall, narrow house, in which lived a cobbler, a jovial man, over whose +door were two inscriptions. One ran as follows: + + "Here are shoes for sale, + Round above and flat below; + If David's foot they will not fit, + Goliath's sure they'll suit, I know." + +The other was: + + "When through the desert roved the Jews, + Their shoes for forty years they wore, + Were the same custom now in use, + 'Prentice would ne'er seek cobbler's door." + +On the ridge of the lofty house was the stork's nest, now empty. The +red-billed guests did not usually set out on their journey to the south +so early, and some were still in Leyden, standing on the roofs as +if lost in thought. What could have become of the cobbler's beloved +lodgers? At noon the day before, their host, who in March usually +fastened the luck-bringing nest firmly with his own hands, had stolen up +to the roof, and with his cross-bow shot first the little wife and then +the husband. It was a hard task, and his wife sat weeping in the kitchen +while the evil deed was done, but whoever is tormented by the fierce +pangs of hunger and sees his dear ones dying of want, doesn't think +of old affection and future good fortune, but seeks deliverance at the +present time. + +The storks had been sacrificed too late, for the cobbler's son, his +growing apprentice, had closed his eyes the night before for his eternal +sleep. Loud lamentations reached Maria's ear from the open door of the +shop, and Adrian said: "Jacob is dead, and Mabel is very sick. This +morning their father cursed me on father's account, saying it was his +fault that everything was going to destruction. Will there be no bread +again to-day, mother? Barbara has some biscuit, and I feel so sick. I +can't swallow the everlasting meal any longer." + +"Perhaps there will be a slice. We must save the baked food, child." + +In the entry of her house Maria found a man-servant, clad in black. He +had come to announce the death of Commissioner Dietrich Van Bronkhorst. +The plague had ended the strong man's life on the evening of the day +before, Sunday. + +Maria already knew of this heavy loss, which threw the whole +responsibility of everything, that now happened, upon her husband's +shoulders. She had also learned that a letter had been received from +Valdez, in which he had pledged his word of honor as a nobleman, to +spare the city, if it would surrender itself to the king's "mercy," and +especially to grant Burgomaster Van der Werff, Herr Van der Does, and +the other supporters of the rebellion, free passage through the Spanish +lines. The Castilians would retire and Leyden should be garrisoned only +by a few German troops. He invited Van der Werff and Herr von Nordwyk +to come to Leyderdorp as ambassadors, and in any case, even if the +negotiations failed, agreed to send them home uninjured under a safe +escort. Maria knew that her husband had appointed that day for a great +assembly of the council, the magistrates, and all the principal men in +the city, as well as the captains of the city-guard--but not a word of +all this had reached her ears from Peter. She had heard the news from +Frail Van Hout and the wives of other citizens. + +During the last few days a great change had taken place in her husband. +He went out and returned with a pallid, gloomy face. Taciturn and +wasting away with anxiety, he withdrew from the members of his family +even when at home, repelling his wife curtly and impatiently when, +yielding to the impulse of her heart, she approached him with +encouraging words. Night brought him no sleep, and he left his couch +before morning dawned, to pace restlessly to and fro, or gaze at Bessie, +who to him alone still tried to show recognition by a faint smile. + +When Maria returned home, she instantly went to the child and found +Doctor Bontius with her. The physician shook his head at her appearance, +and said the delicate little creature's life would soon be over. Her +stomach had been injured during the first months of want; now it refused +to do its office, and to hope for recovery would be folly. + +"She must live, she must not die!" cried Maria, frantic with grief and +yet full of hope, like a true mother, who cannot grasp the thought +that she is condemned to lose her child, even when the little heart is +already ceasing to beat and the bright eyes are growing dim and closing. +"Bessie, Bessie, look at me! Bessie, take this nice milk. Only a few +drops! Bessie, Bessie, you must not die." + +Peter had entered the room unobserved and heard the last words. Holding +his breath, he gazed down at his darling, his broad shoulders shook, and +in a stifled, faltering voice he asked the physician: "Must she die?" + +"Yes, old friend; I think so! Hold up your head! You have much still +left you. All five of Van Loo's children have died of the plague." + +Peter shuddered, and without taking any notice of Maria, passed from the +room with drooping head. Bontius followed him into his study, laid his +hand on his arm, and said: + +"Our little remnant of life is made bitter to us, Peter. Barbara says a +corpse was laid before your door early this morning." + +"Yes. When I went out, the livid face offered me a morning greeting. +It was a young person. All whom death mows down, the people lay to my +charge. Wherever one looks--corpses! Whatever one hears--curses! Have I +authority over so many lives? Day and night nothing but sorrow and death +before my eyes;--and yet, yet, yet--oh God! save me from madness!" + +Peter clasped both hands over his brow; but Bontius found no word of +comfort, and merely exclaimed: "And I, and I? My wife and child ill with +a fever, day and night on my feet, not to cure, but to see people die. +What has been learned by hard study becomes childish folly in these +days, and yet the poor creatures utter a sigh of hope when I feel their +pulses. But this can't go on, this can't go on. Day before yesterday +seventy, yesterday eighty-six deaths, and among them two of my +colleagues." + +"And no prospect of improvement?" + +"To-morrow the ninety will become a hundred--the one hundred will become +two, three, four, five, until at last one individual will be left, for +whom there will be no grave-digger." + +"The pest-houses are closed, and we still have cattle and horses." + +"But the pestilence creeps through the joints, and since the last loaf +of bread and the last malt-cake have been divided, and there is nothing +for the people to eat except meat, meat, and nothing else--one tiny +piece for the whole day--disease is piled on disease in forms utterly +unprecedented, of which no book speaks, for which no remedy has yet been +discovered. This drawing water with a bottomless pitcher is beginning to +be too much for me. My brain is no stronger than yours. Farewell until +to-morrow." + +"To-day, to-day! You are coming to the meeting at the town-hall?" + +"Certainly not! Do what you can justify; I shall practise my profession, +which now means the same thing as saying: 'I shall continue to close +eyes and hold coroner's inquests.' If things go on so, there will soon +be an end to practice." + +"Once for all: if you were in my place, you would treat with Valdez?" + +"In your place? I am not you; I am a physician, one who has nothing +to do except to take the field against suffering and death. You, since +Bronkhorst's death, are the providence of the city. Supply a bit of +bread, if only as large as my hand, in addition to the meat, or--I love +my native land and liberty as well as any one--or--" + +"Or?" + +"Or--leave Death to reap his harvest, you are no physician." + +Bontius bade his friend farewell and left him, but Peter thrust his +hand through his hair and stood gazing out of the window, until Barbara +entered, laid his official costume on a chair and asked with feigned +carelessness: + +"May I give Adrian some of the last biscuit? Meat is repulsive to him. +He's lying on the bed, writhing in pain." + +Peter turned pale, and said in a hollow tone: "Give it to him and call +the doctor. Maria and Bontius are already with him." The burgomaster +changed his clothing, feeling a thrill of fierce indignation against +every article he put on. To-day the superb costume was as hateful to him +as the office, which gave him the right to wear it, and which, until +a few weeks ago, he had occupied with a joyous sense of confidence in +himself. + +Before leaving the house, he sought Adrian. The boy was lying in +Barbara's room, complaining of violent pains, and asking if he must die +too. + +Peter shook his head, but Maria kissed him, exclaiming: + +"No, certainly not." + +The burgomaster's time was limited. His wife stopped him in the entry, +but he hurried down-stairs without hearing what she called after him. + +The young wife returned to Adrian's bedside, thinking anxiously of the +speedy death of many comrades of the dear boy, whose damp hand rested +in hers. She thought of Bessie, followed Peter in imagination to the +town-hall, and heard his powerful voice contending for resistance to the +last man and the last pound of meat; nay, she could place herself by +his side, for she knew what was to come: To stand fast, stand fast for +liberty, and if God so willed, die a martyr's death for it like Jacoba, +Leonhard, and Peter's noble father. + +One anxious hour followed another. + +When Adrian began to feel better, she went to Bessie, who pale and +inanimate, seemed to be gently fading away, and only now and then raised +her little finger to play with her dry lips. + +Oh, the pretty, withering human flower! How closely the little girl +had grown into her heart, how impossible it seemed to give her up! +With tearful eyes, she pressed her forehead on her clasped hands, which +rested on the head-board of the little bed, and fervently implored God +to spare and save this child. Again and again she repeated the prayer, +but when Bessie's dim eyes no longer met hers and her hands fell into +her lap, she could not help thinking of Peter, the assembly, the fate of +the city, and the words: "Leyden saved, Holland saved! Leyden lost, all +is lost!" + +So the hours passed until the gloomy day were away into twilight, and +twilight was followed by evening. Trautchen brought in the lamp, and at +last Peter's step was heard on the stairs. + +It must be he, and yet it was not, for he never came up with such slow +and dragging feet. + +Then the study door opened. + +It was he! + +What could have happened, what had the citizens determined? + +With an anxious heart, she told Trautchen to stay with the child, and +then went to her husband. + +Peter sat at the writing-table in full official uniform, with his hat +still on his head. His face lay buried on his folded arms, beside the +sconce. + +He saw nothing, heard nothing, and when she at last called him, started, +sprang up and flung his hat violently on the table. His hair was +dishevelled, his glance restless, and in the faint light of the +glimmering candles his cheeks looked deadly pale. + +"What do you want?" he asked curtly, in a harsh voice; but for a time +Maria made no reply, fear paralyzed her tongue. + +At last she found words, and deep anxiety was apparent in her question: + +"What has happened?" + +"The beginning of the end," he answered in a hollow tone. + +"They have out-voted you?" cried the young wife. "Baersdorp and the +other cowards want to negotiate?" + +Peter drew himself up to his full height, and exclaimed in a loud, +threatening tone: + +"Guard your tongue! He who remains steadfast until his children die +and corpses bar the way in front of his own house, he who bears the +responsibility of a thousand deaths, endures curses and imprecations +through long weeks, and has vainly hoped for deliverance during more +than a third of a year--he who, wherever he looks, sees nothing save +unprecedented, constantly increasing misery and then no longer repels +the saving hand of the foe--" + +"Is a coward, a traitor, who breaks the sacred oath he has sworn." + +"Maria," cried Peter angrily, approaching with a threatening gesture. + +She drew her slender figure up to its full height and with quickened +breath awaited him, pointing her finger at him, as she exclaimed with a +sharp tone perceptible through the slight tremor in her voice: + +"You, you have voted with the Baersdorps, you, Peter Van der Werff! +You have done this thing, you, the friend of the Prince, the shield and +providence of this brave city, you, the man who received the oaths of +the citizens, the martyr's son, the servant of liberty--" + +"No more!" he interrupted, trembling with shame and rage. "Do you know +what it is to bear the guilt of this most terrible suffering before God +and men?" + +"Yes, yes, thrice yes; it is laying one's heart on the rack, to save +Holland and liberty. That is what it means! Oh, God, my God! You are +lost! You intend to negotiate with Valdez!" + +"And suppose I do?" asked the burgomaster, with an angry gesture. + +Maria looked him sternly in the eye, and exclaimed in a loud, resolute +tone: + +"Then it will be my turn to say: Go to Delft; we need different men +here." + +The burgomaster turned pale and bent his eyes on the floor, while she +fearlessly confronted him with a steady glance. + +The light fell full upon her glowing face, and when Peter again raised +his eyes, it seemed as if the same Maria stood before him, who as a +bride had vowed to share trouble and peril with him, remain steadfast in +the struggle for liberty to the end; he felt that his "child" Maria had +grown to his own height and above him, recognized for the first time in +the proud woman before him his companion in conflict, his high-hearted +helper in distress and danger. An overmastering yearning, mightier than +any emotion ever experienced before, surged through his soul, impelled +him towards her, and found utterance in the words: + +"Maria, Maria, my wife, my guardian angel! We have written to Valdez, +but there is still time,--nothing binds me yet, and with you, with you I +will stand firm to the end." + +Then, in the midst of these days of woe, she threw herself on his +breast, crying aloud in the abundance of this new, unexpected, +unutterable happiness: + +"With you, one with you--forever, unto death, in conflict and in love!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +Peter felt animated with new life. A fresh store of courage and +enthusiasm filled his breast, for he constantly received a new supply +from the stout-hearted woman by his side. + +Under the pressure of the terrible responsibility he endured, and urged +by his fellow-magistrates, he had consented, at the meeting of the +council, to write to Valdez and ask him to give free passage to +embassadors, who were to entreat the estates and the Prince of Orange to +release the tortured city from her oath. + +Valdez made every effort to induce the burgomaster to enter into farther +negotiations, but the latter remained firm, and no petition for release +from the sacred duty of resistance left the city. The two Van der Does, +Van Hout, Junker von Warmond, and other resolute men, who had already, +in the great assembly, denounced any intercourse with the enemy, now +valiantly supported him against his fellow-magistrates and the council, +that with the exception of seven of its members, persistently and +vehemently urged the commencement of negotiations. + +Adrian rapidly recovered, but Doctor Bontius's prediction was terribly +fulfilled, for famine and pestilence vied with each other in horrible +fury, and destroyed almost half of all the inhabitants of the +flourishing city. Intense was the gloom, dark the sky, yet even amidst +the cruel woe there was many an hour in which bright sunshine illumined +souls, and hope unfurled her green banner. The citizens of Leyden rose +from their couches more joyously, than a bride roused by the singing +of her companions on her wedding-day, when on the morning of September +eleventh loud and long-continued cannonading was heard from the +distance, and the sky became suffused with a crimson glow. The villages +southwest of the city were burning. Every house, every barn that sunk +into ashes, burying the property of honest men, was a bonfire to the +despairing citizens. + +The Beggars were approaching! + +Yonder, where the cannon thundered and the horizon glowed, lay the +Land-scheiding, the bulwark which for centuries had guarded the plains +surrounding Leyden from the assaults of the waves, and now barred the +way of the fleet bringing assistance. + +"Fall, protecting walls, rise, tempest, swallow thy prey, raging sea, +destroy the property of the husbandman, ruin our fields and meadows, but +drown the foe or drive him hence." So sang Janus Dousa, so rang a voice +in Peter's soul, so prayed Maria, and with her thousands of men and +women. + +But the glow in the horizon died away, the firing ceased. A second day +elapsed, a third and fourth, but no messenger arrived, no Beggar ship +appeared, and the sea seemed to be calm; but another terrible power +increased, moving with mysterious, stealthy, irresistible might; Death, +with his pale companions, Despair and Famine. + +The dead were borne secretly to their graves under cover of the darkness +of night, to save their scanty ration for the survivors, in the division +of food. The angel of death flew from house to house, touched pretty +little Bessie's heart, and kissed her closed eyes while she slumbered in +the quiet night. + +The faint-hearted and the Spanish sympathizers raised their heads +and assembled in bands, one of which forced a passage into the +council-chamber and demanded bread. But not a crumb remained, and the +magistrates had nothing more to distribute except a small portion of cow +and horse-flesh, and boiled and salted hides. + +During this period of the sorest distress, Van der Werff was passing +down the "broad street." He did not notice that a throng of desperate +men and women were pursuing him with threats; but as he turned to enter +Van Hout's house, suddenly found himself surrounded. A pallid woman, +with her dying child in her arms, threw herself before him, held out +the expiring infant, and cried in hollow tones: "Let this be enough, +let this be enough--see here, see this; it is the third. Let this be +enough!" + +"Enough, enough! Bread, bread! Give us bread!" was shrieked and shouted +around him, and threatening weapons and stones were raised; but a +carpenter, whom he knew, and who had hitherto faithfully upheld the good +cause, advanced saying in measured accents, in his deep voice: "This can +go on no longer. We have patiently borne hunger and distress in fighting +against the Spaniards and for our Bible, but to struggle against certain +death is madness." + +Peter, pale and agitated, gazed at the mother, the child, the sturdy +workman and the threatening, shrieking mob. The common distress, which +afflicted them and so many starving people, oppressed his soul with a +thousand-fold greater power. He would fain have drawn them all to his +heart, as brothers in misfortune, companions of a future, worthier +existence. With deep emotion, he looked from one to the other, then +pressed his hand upon his breast and called to the crowd, which thronged +around him: + +"Here I stand. I have sworn to faithfully endure to the end; and you +did so with me. I will not break my oath, but I can die. If my life will +serve you, here I am! I have no bread, but here, here is my body. Take +it, lay hands on me, tear me to pieces. Here I stand, here I stand. I +will keep my oath." + +The carpenter bent his head, and said in a hollow tone: "Come, people, +let God's will be done; we have sworn." + +The burgomaster quietly entered his friend's house. Frau Van Hout had +seen and heard all this, and on the very same day told the story to +Maria, her eyes sparkling brightly as she exclaimed: "Never did I see +any man so noble as he was in that hour! It is well for us, that +he rules within these walls. Never will our children and children's +children forget this deed." + +They have treasured it in their memories, and during the night +succeeding the day on which the burgomaster acted so manly a part, a +letter arrived from the Prince, full of joyous and encouraging news. The +noble man had recovered, and was striving with all his power to rescue +brave Leyden. The Beggars had cut the Landscheiding, their vessels were +pressing onward--help was approaching, and the faithful citizen who +brought the letter, had seen with his own eyes the fleet bringing relief +and the champions of freedom, glowing with martial ardor. The two Van +der Does, by the same letter, were appointed the Prince's commissioners +in place of the late Herr Van Bronkhorst. Van der Werff no longer stood +alone, and when the next morning "Father William's" letter was read +aloud and the messenger's news spread abroad, the courage and confidence +of the tortured citizens rose like withering grass after a refreshing +rain. + +But they were still condemned to long weeks of anxiety and suffering. + +During the last days of September they were forced to slaughter the cows +hitherto spared for the infants and young mothers, and then, then? + +Help was close at hand, for the sky often reddened, and the air was +shaken by the roar of distant cannon; but the east wind continued to +prevail, driving back the water let in upon the land, and the vessels +needed a rising flood to approach the city. + +Not one of all the messengers, who had been sent out, returned; there +was nothing certain, save the cruelly increasing unendurable suffering. +Even Barbara had succumbed, and complained of weakness and loathing of +the ordinary food. + +Maria thought of the roast-pigeon, which had agreed with Bessie so well, +and went to the musician, to ask if he could sacrifice another of his +pets for her sister-in-law. + +Wilhelm's mother received the burgomaster's wife. The old lady was +sitting wearily in an arm-chair; she could still walk, but amid her +anxiety and distress a strange twitching had affected her hands. When +Maria made her request, she shook her head, saying: "Ask him yourself. +He's obliged to keep the little creatures shut up, for whenever they +appear, the poor starving people shoot at them. There are only three +left. The messengers took the others, and they haven't returned. + +"Thank God for it; the little food he still has, will do more good in +dishes, than in their crops. Would you believe it? A fortnight ago +he paid fifty florins out of his savings for half a sack of peas, and +Heaven knows where he found them. Ulrich, Ulrich! Take Frau Van der +Werff up to Wilhelm. I'd willingly spare you the climb, but he's +watching for the carrier-pigeons that have been sent out, and won't +even come down to his meals. To be sure, they would hardly be worth the +trouble!" + +It was a clear, sunny day. Wilhelm was standing in his look-out, gazing +over the green, watery plain, that lay out-spread below him, towards +the south. Behind him sat Andreas, the fencing-master's fatherless boy; +writing notes, but his attention was not fixed on his work; for as soon +as he had finished a line he too gazed towards the horizon, watching for +the pigeon his teacher expected. He did not look particularly emaciated, +for many a grain of the doves' food had been secretly added to his +scanty ration of meat. + +Wilhelm showed that he felt both surprised and honored by Frau Van der +Werff's visit, and even promised to grant her request, though it was +evident that the "saying yes" was by no means easy for him. + +The young wife went out on the balcony with him, and he showed her in +the south, where usually nothing but a green plain met the eye, a wide +expanse over which a light mist was hovering. The noon sun seemed to +steep the white vapor with light, and lure it upward by its ardent rays. +This was the water streaming through the broken dyke, and the black +oblong specks moving along its edges were the Spanish troops and herds +of cattle, that had retreated before the advancing flood from the outer +fortifications, villages and hamlets. The Land-scheiding itself was not +visible, but the Beggars had already passed it. If the fleet succeeded +in reaching the Zoetermere Lake and from thence. + +Wilhelm suddenly interrupted his explanation, for Andreas had suddenly +started up, upsetting his stool, and exclaimed: + +"It's coming! The dove! Roland, my fore man, there it comes!" + +For the first time Wilhelm heard the boy's lips utter his father's +exclamation. Some great emotion must have stirred his heart, and in +truth he was not mistaken; the speck piercing the air, which his +keen eye had discovered, was no longer a mere spot, but an oblong +something--a bird, the pigeon! + +Wilhelm seized the flag on the balcony, and waved it as joyously as +ever conqueror unfurled his banner after a hard-won fight. The dove came +nearer--alighted, slipped into the cote, and a few minutes after the +musician appeared with a tiny letter. + +"To the magistrates!" cried Wilhelm. "Take it to your husband at once. +Oh! dear lady, dear lady, finish what the dove has begun. Thank God! +thank God! they are already at North-Aa. This will save the poor people +from despair! And now one thing more! You shall have the roasted bird, +but take this grain too; a barley-porridge is the best medicine for +Barbara's condition; I've tried it!" + +When evening came, and the musician had told his parents the joyful +news, he ordered the blue dove with the white breast to be caught. "Kill +it outside the house," said he, "I can't bear to see it." + +Andreas soon came back with the beheaded pigeon. + +His lips were bloody, Wilhelm knew from what, yet he did not reprove the +hungry boy, but merely said: + +"Fie, you pole-cat!" + +Early the next morning a second dove returned. The letters the +winged messengers had brought were read aloud from the windows of the +town-hall, and the courage of the populace, pressed to the extremest +limits of endurance, flickered up anew and helped them bear their +misery. One of the letters was addressed to the magistrates, the other +to Janus Dousa; they sounded confident and hopeful, and the Prince, +the faithful shield of liberty, the friend and guide of the people, had +recovered from his sickness and visited the vessels and troops intended +for the relief of Leyden. Rescue was so near, but the north-east wind +would not change, and the water did not rise. Great numbers of citizens, +soldiers, magistrates and women stood on the citadel and other elevated +places, gazing into the distance. + +A thousand hands were clasped in fervent prayer, and the eyes of all +were turned in feverish expectation and eager yearning towards the +south, but the boundary line of the waves did not move; and the sun, as +if in mockery, burst cheerily through the mists of the autumn morning, +imparted a pleasant warmth to the keen air, and in the evening sank +towards the west in the midst of radiant light, diffusing its golden +rays far and wide. The cloudless blue sky arched pitilessly over the +city, and at night glittered with thousands of twinkling stars. Early +on the morning of the twenty-ninth the mists grew denser, the grass +remained dry, the fogs lifted, the cool air changed to a sultry +atmosphere, the grey clouds piled in masses on each other, and grew +black and threatening. A light breeze rose, stirring the leafless +branches of the trees, then a sudden gust of wind swept over the +heads of the throngs watching the distant horizon. A second and third +followed, then a howling tempest roared and hissed without cessation +through the city, wrenching tiles from the roofs, twisting the +fruit-trees in the gardens and the young elms and lindens in many a +street, tearing away the flags the boys had fastened on the walls in +defiance of the Spaniards, lashing the still waters of the city moat +and quiet canals, and--the Lord does not abandon His own--and the vanes +turned, the storm came from the north-west. No one saw the result, but +the sailors shouted the tidings, and each individual caught up the words +and bore them exultantly on--the hurricane drove the sea into the mouth +of the Meuse, forcing back the waves of the river by its fierce assault, +driving them over its banks through the gaps opened in the dykes, and +the gates of the sluices, and bearing forward on their towering crests +the vessels bringing deliverance. + +Roar, roar, thou storm, stream, stream, rushing rain, rage, waves, +and destroy the meadows, swallow up houses and villages! Thousands +and thousands of people on the walls and towers of Leyden hail your +approach, behold in you the terrible armies of the avenging God, exult +and shout a joyous welcome! + +For two successive days the burgomaster, Maria and Adrian, the Van der +Does and Van Houts stood with brief intervals of rest among the throng +on the citadel or the tower at the Cow-Gate; even Barbara, far +more strengthened by hope than by the barley-porridge or the lean +carrier-pigeon, would not stay at home, but dragged herself to the +musician's look-out, for every one wanted to see the rising water, the +earth softening, the moisture creeping between the blades of grass, then +spreading into pools and ponds, until at last there was a wide expanse +of water, on which bubbles rose, burst under the descending rain, and +formed ever-widening circles. Every one wanted to watch the Spaniards, +hurrying hither and thither like sheep pursued by a wolf. Every one +wanted to hear the thunder of the Beggars' cannon, the rattle of +their arquebuses and muskets; men and women thought the tempest that +threatened to sweep them away, pleasanter than the softest breeze, and +the pouring rain, which drenched them, preferable to spring dew-drops +mirroring the sunshine. + +Behind the strong fort of Lammen, defended by several hundred Spanish +soldiers, and the Castle of Cronenstein, a keen eye could distinguish +the Beggars' vessels. + +During Thursday and Friday Wilhelm watched in vain for a dove, but on +Saturday his best flier returned, bringing a letter from Admiral Boisot, +who called upon the armed forces of the city to sally out on Friday and +attack Lammen. + +The storm had blown the pigeon away. It had reached the city too late, +but on Saturday evening Janus Dousa and Captain Van der Laen were +actively engaged, summoning every one capable of bearing arms to appear +early Sunday morning. Poor, pale, emaciated troops were those who obeyed +the leaders' call, but not a man was absent and each stood ready to give +his life for the deliverance of the city and his family. + +The tempest had moderated, the firing had ceased, and the night was dark +and sultry. No eyes wished to sleep, and those whose slumber overpowered +for a short time, were startled and terrified by strange, mysterious +noises. Wilhelm sat in his look-out, gazing towards the south and +listening intently. Sometimes a light gust of wind whistled around the +lofty house, sometimes a shout, a scream, or the blast of a trumpet +echoed through the stillness of the night; then a crashing noise, as if +an earthquake had shaken part of the city to its foundations, arose near +the Cow-Gate. Not a star was visible in the sky, but bright spots, like +will-o'-the-wisps, moved through the dense gloom in regular order near +Lanimen. It was a horrible, anxious night. + +Early next morning the citizens saw that a part of the city-wall near +the Cow-Gate had fallen, and then unexampled rejoicing arose at the +breach, no longer dangerous; exultant cries echoed through every street +and alley, drawing from the houses men and women, grey-beards and +children, the sick and the well, one after another thronging to +the Cow-Gate, where the Beggars' fleet was seen approaching. The +city-carpenter, Thomassohn, and other men, tore out of the water the +posts by which the Spaniards had attempted to bar the vessels' advance, +then the first ship, followed by a second and third, arrived at the +walls. Stern, bearded men, with fierce, scarred, weather-beaten faces, +whose cheeks for years had been touched by no salt moisture, save the +sea-spray, smiled kindly at the citizens, flung them one loaf of bread +after another, and many other good things of which they had long been +deprived, weeping and sobbing with emotion like children, while the poor +people eat and eat, unable to utter a word of thanks. Then the leaders +came, Admiral Boisot embraced the Van der Does and Burgomaster Van der +Werff, the Beggar captain Van Duijkenburg was clasped in the arms of his +mother, Barbara, and many a Leyden man hugged a liberator, on whom his +eyes now rested for the first time. Many, many tears fell, thousands of +hearts overflowed, and the Sunday bells, sounding so much clearer and +gayer than usual, summoned rescuers and rescued to the churches to pray. +The spacious sanctuary was too small for the worshippers, and when the +pastor, Corneliussohn, who filled the place of the good Verstroot, now +ill from caring for so many sufferers, called upon the congregation to +give thanks, his exhortation had long since been anticipated; from the +first notes of the organ, the thousands who poured into the church +had been filled with the same eager longing, to utter thanks, thanks, +fervent thanks. + +In the Grey Sisters' chapel Father Damianus also thanked the Lord, and +with him Nicolas Van Wibisma and other Catholics, who loved their native +land and liberty. + +After church Adrian, holding a piece of bread in one hand and his shoes +in the other, waded at the head of his school-mates through the higher +meadows to Leyderdorp, to see the Spaniards' deserted camp. There stood +the superb tent of General Valdez, in which, over the bed, hung a map of +the Rhine country, drawn by the Netherlander Beeldsnijder to injure his +own nation. The boys looked at it, and a Beggar, who had formerly been +in a writing-school and now looked like a sea-bear, said: + +"Look here, my lads. There is the Land-scheiding. + +"We first pierced that, but more was to be done. The green path had many +obstacles, and here at the third dyke--they call it the Front-way--there +were hard nuts to crack, and farther progress was impossible. We now 45 +returned, made a wide circuit across the Segwaertway, and through this +canal here, where there was hard fighting, to North-Aa. The Zoetermeer +Lake now lay behind us, but the water became too shallow and we could +get no farther. Have you seen the great Ark of Delft? It's a huge +vessel, moved by wheels, by which the water is thrust aside. You'll +be delighted with it. At last the Lord gave us the storm and the +spring-tide. Then the vessels had the right depth of water. There was +warm work again at the Kirk-way, but the day before yesterday we reached +Lammen. Many a brave man has fallen on both sides, but at Lammen every +one expected the worst struggle to take place. We were going to attack +it early this morning, but when day dawned everything was unnaturally +quiet in the den, and moreover, a strange stillness prevailed. Then we +thought: Leyden has surrendered; starvation conquered her. But it was +nothing of the sort! You are people of the right stamp, and soon after a +lad about as large as one of you, came to our vessel and told us he had +seen a long procession of lights move out of the fort during the night +and march away. At first we wouldn't believe him, but the boy was right. +The water had grown too hot for the crabs, and the lights the lad saw +were the Spaniards' lunts. Look, children, there is Lammen--" + +Adrian had gone close to the map with his companions and now interrupted +the Beggar by laughing loudly. + +"What is it, curly-head?" asked the latter. + +"Look, look!" cried the boy, "the great General Valdez has immortalized +himself here, and there is his name too. Listen, listen! The rector +would hang a placard with the word donkey round his neck, for he has +written: 'Castelli parvi! Vale civitas, valete castelli parvi; relicti +estis propter aquam et non per vim inimicorum!' Oh! the donkey 'Castelli +parvi!'" + +"What does it mean?" asked the Beggar. + +"Farewell, Leyden, farewell, ye little 'Castelli;' ye are abandoned +on account of the waves, and not of the power of the enemy. 'Parvi +Castelli!' I must tell mother that!" + +On Monday, William of Orange entered Leyden, and went to Herr von +Montfort's house. The people received their Father William with joy, and +the unwearied champion of liberty, in the midst of the exultation and +rejoicing that surrounded him, labored for the future prosperity of the +city. At a later period he rewarded the faithful endurance of the people +with a peerless memorial: the University of Leyden. This awakened and +kept alive in the busy city and the country bleeding for years in severe +conflicts, that lofty aspiration and effort, which is its own reward, +and places eternal welfare far above mere temporal prosperity. The tree, +whose seed was planted amid the deepest misery, conflict and calamity, +has borne the noblest fruits for humanity, still bears them, and if it +is the will of God will continue to bear them for centuries. + + ................................ + +On the twenty-sixth of July, 1581, seven years after the rescue of +Leyden, Holland and Zealand, whose political independence had already +been established for six years, proclaimed themselves at the Hague +free from Spain. Hitherto, William of Orange had ruled as King Philip's +"stadtholder," and even the war against the monarch had been carried +on in his name. Nay, the document establishing the University, a paper, +which with all the earnestness that dictated it, deserves to be called +an unsurpassed masterpiece of the subtlest political irony, purported to +issue from King Philip's mouth, and it sounds amusing enough to read +in this paper, that the gloomy dunce in the Escurial, after mature +deliberation with his dear and faithful cousin, William of Orange, has +determined to found a free-school and university, from motives, which +could not fail to seem abominable to the King. + +On the twenty-fourth of July this game ceased, allegiance to Philip was +renounced, and the Prince assumed sovereign authority. + +Three days after, these joyful events were celebrated by a splendid +banquet at Herr Van der Werff's house. The windows of the dining-room +were thrown wide open, and the fresh breeze of the summer night fanned +the brows of the guests, who had assembled around the burgomaster's +table. They were the most intimate friends of the family: Janus Dousa, +Van Hout, the learned Doctor Grotius of Delft, who to Maria's delight +had been invited to Leyden as a professor, and this very year filled +the office of President of the new University, the learned tavern-keeper +Aquarius, Doctor Bontius, now professor of medicine at the University, +and many others. + +The musician Wilhelm was also present, but no longer alone; beside +him sat his beautiful, delicate wife, Anna d'Avila, with whom he had +recently returned from Italy. He had borne for several years the name +of Van Duivenbode (messenger-dove), which the city had bestowed on him, +together with a coat of arms bearing three blue doves on a silver field +and two crossed keys. + +With the Prince's consent the legacies bequeathed by old Fraulein Van +Hoogstraten to her relatives and servants, had been paid, and Wilhelm +now occupied with his wife a beautiful new house, that did not lack +a dovecote, and where Maria, though her four children gave her little +time, took part in many a madrigal. The musician had much to say about +Rome and his beautiful sister-in-law Henrica, to Adrian, now a fine +young man, who had graduated at the University and was soon to be +admitted to the council. Belotti, after the death of the young girl's +father, who had seen and blessed Anna again, went to Italy with her, +where she lived as superior of a secular institution, where music was +cultivated with special devotion. + +Barbara did not appear among the guests. She had plenty to do in the +kitchen. Her white caps were now plaited with almost coquettish skill +and care, and the firm, contented manner in which she ruled Trautchen +and the two under maid-servants showed that everything was going on well +in Peter's house and business. It was worth while to do a great deal +for the guests upstairs. Junker von Warmond was among them, and had +been given the seat of honor between Doctor Grotius and Janus Dousa, the +first trustee of the University, for he had become a great nobleman +and influential statesman, who found much difficulty in getting time to +leave the Hague and attend the banquet with his young assistant, Nicolas +Van Wibisma. He drank to Meister Aquanus as eagerly and gaily as ever, +exclaiming: + +"To old times and our friend, Georg von Dornburg." + +"With all my heart," replied the landlord. "We haven't heard of his bold +deeds and expeditions for a long time." + +"Of course! The fermenting wine is now clear. Dornburg is in the +English service, and four weeks ago I met him as a member of her British +Majesty's navy in London. His squadron is now on the way to Venice. +He still cherishes an affectionate memory of Leyden, and sends kind +remembrances to you, but you would never recognize in the dignified +commander and quiet, cheerful man, our favorite in former days. How +often his enthusiastic temperament carried him far beyond us all, and +how it would make the heart ache to see him brooding mournfully over his +secret grief." + +"I met the Junker in Delft," said Doctor Grotius. "Such enthusiastic +natures easily soar too high and then get a fall, but when they yoke +themselves to the chariot of work and duty, their strength moves vast +burdens, and with cheerful superiority conquers the hardest obstacles." + +Meantime Adrian, at a sign from his father, had risen and filled the +glasses with the best wine. The "hurrah," led by the Burgomaster, was +given to the Prince, and Janus Dousa followed it by a toast to the +independence and liberty of their native land. + +Van Hout devoted a glass to the memory of the days of trouble, and the +city's marvellous deliverance. All joined in the toast, and after the +cheers had died away, Aquanus said: + +"Who would not gladly recall the exquisite Sunday of October third; but +when I think of the misery that preceded it, my heart contracts, even at +the present day." + +At these words Peter clasped Maria's hand, pressed it tenderly, and +whispered: + +"And yet, on the saddest day of my life, I found my best treasure." + +"So did I!" she replied, gazing gratefully into his faithful eyes. + + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + A blustering word often does good service + Art ceases when ugliness begins + Debts, but all anxiety concerning them is left to the creditors + Despair and extravagant gayety ruled her nature by turns + Drinking is also an art, and the Germans are masters of it + Hat is the sign of liberty, and the free man keeps his hat on + Held in too slight esteem to be able to offer an affront + Here the new custom of tobacco-smoking was practised + Must take care not to poison the fishes with it + Repos ailleurs + Standing still is retrograding + The shirt is closer than the coat + The best enjoyment in creating is had in anticipation + Those two little words 'wish' and 'ought' + To whom fortune gives once, it gives by bushels + To whom the emotion of sorrow affords a mournful pleasure + Wet inside, he can bear a great deal of moisture without + Youth calls 'much,' what seems to older people 'little' + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Burgomaster's Wife, Complete, by Georg Ebers + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BURGOMASTER'S WIFE, COMPLETE *** + +***** This file should be named 5583.txt or 5583.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/8/5583/ + +Produced by David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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