Part 26 (2/2)
”And as that?”
”The day after that on which the Grand Pensionary John and his brother Cornelius met with such an awful death”
The Prince compressed his lips, and knit his brow and his eyelids dropped so as to hide his eyes for an instant After a momentary silence, he resumed the conversation
”But to what can it lead to love a man who is doomed to live and die in prison?”
”It will lead, if he lives and dies in prison, tohim in life and in death”
”And would you accept the lot of being the wife of a prisoner?”
”As the wife of Mynheer van Baerle, I should, under any circumstances, be the proudest and happiest woman in the world; but ---- ”
”But what?”
”I dare not say, Monseigneur”
”There is so like hope in your tone; what do you hope?”
She raised her lance full of , which was calculated to stir up in the recesses of his heart the cle there
”Ah, I understand you,” he said
Rosa, with a smile, clasped her hands
”You hope in neur”
”Umph!”
The Prince sealed the letter which he had just written, and summoned one of his officers, to whom he said, -- ”Captain van Deken, carry this despatch to Loewestein; you will read the orders which I give to the Governor, and execute theard you”
The officer bowed, and a fewin the vaulted archway
”My child,” continued the Prince, ”the feast of the tulip will be on Sunday next, that is to say, the day after to-uilders, as I wish that day to be a great day for you”
”How does your Highness wish me to be dressed?” faltered Rosa
”Take the costume of a Frisian bride” said William; ”it will suit you very well indeed”
Chapter 31
Haarleentle reader, and whither we request him to follow us once more in the footsteps of the prisoner, is a pleasant city, which justly prides itself on being one of the most shady in all the Netherlands
While other towns boast of the nificence of their arsenals and dock-yards, and the splendour of their shops and markets, Haarlem's claims to fame rest upon her superiority to all other provincial cities in the nuraceful poplars, and, more than all, upon her pleasant walks, shaded by the lovely arches of nificent oaks, lindens, and chestnuts
Haarlehbour, Leyden, became the centre of science, and her queen, Aricultural, or, , the horticultural irt about as she was, breezy and exposed to the sun's hot rays, she seeuarantees of success than other places, with their heavy sea air, and their scorching heat
On this account all the serene souls who loved the earth and its fruits had gradually gathered together at Haarlem, just as all the nervous, uneasy spirits, whose ambition was for travel and commerce, had settled in Rotterdas at the Hague
We have observed that Leyden overfloith scholars In like entle pursuits of peace, -- to roves and parks Haarlem ild about flowers, and tulips received their full share of worshi+p
Haarles us in the most natural manner to that celebration which the city intended to hold on May 15th, 1673 in honour of the great black tulip, iain for its discoverer one hundred thousand guilders!
Haarle advertised its love of flowers in general and of tulips in particular, at a period when the souls ofenjoyed the exquisite pleasure of ad the very purest ideal of tulips in full bloom, -- Haarleht and shade, had deter the prize should be a fete which should live for ever in the memory of men
So much the more reason was there, too, in her detergish naturessort than those of the good republicans of the Seven Provinces when amusement was the order of the day
Study the pictures of the two Teniers
It is certain that sluggish folk are of allthemselves, not when they are at work, but at play
Thus Haarle, for a three-fold celebration was to take place
In the first place, the black tulip had been produced; secondly, the Prince Williae, as a true Hollander, had prouration; and, thirdly, it was a point of honour with the States to show to the French, at the conclusion of such a disastrous war as that of 1672, that the flooring of the Batavian Republic was solid enough for its people to dance on it, with the accompaniment of the cannon of their fleets
The Horticultural Society of Haarle a hundred thousand guilders for the bulb of a tulip The tohich did not wish to be outdone, voted a like sum, which was placed in the hands of that notable body to solemnise the auspicious event
And indeed on the Sunday fixed for this cere the people, and such an enthusiashs at everything at all ti the character of those honest Hollanders, ere equally ready to spend their money for the construction of a man-of-war -- that is to say, for the support of national honour -- as they were to reward the growth of a neer, destined to bloo that day to divert the ladies, the learned, and the curious
At the head of the notables and of the Horticultural Committee shone Mynheer van Systens, dressed in his richest habiliments
The worthy man had done his best to iance of his garments; and we are bound to record, to his honour, that he had perfectly succeeded in his object