Part 22 (1/2)
Hans replenished the jug and filled the cup, ”Drink, n.o.ble sirs, drink,” said he; ”you cannot pledge yourselves in a more n.o.ble wine than in this Uhlbacher.”
The knight having emptied the cup by a long draught, ordered it to be filled again, and presented it to Albert. ”Does not this wine,” asked Albert, ”grow about the castle whence Wurtemberg's royal blood sprang?
I think the heights about it are called Uhlbacher?”
”You are right,” answered the exile; ”the hill is generally called the Rothenberg, at the foot of which the vine grows; the castle stands upon its summit, built by Wurtemberg's ancestors. Oh! the beautiful vallies of the Neckar, the luxuriant hills of fruit and wine! Gone, gone for ever!” He uttered these words with a voice which bespoke a heart almost broken by suffering and grief; he could scarcely conceal the anguish of his soul, which his inflexible mind had hitherto veiled under the mask of a forced hilarity.
The countryman knelt beside him, took his hand, and to rouse him from a state of painful wandering, in which he was lost for some moments, said, ”Be of good cheer, sir; you will return to your country again happier than you left it.”
”You will behold the vallies of your home again,” said Albert. ”When the Duke regains his lost rights, and reoccupies the castles of his ancestors, the vallies of the Neckar, and its richly clothed hills of vineyards, will echo with the rejoicings of his people, and you also will be able to join in the jubilee. Banish gloomy thoughts from your mind, _nunc vino pellite curas_; drink, and let us hope for better times. I pledge you in this Wurtemberg wine,--'to the Duke's happy return with his faithful followers!'”
These words seemed to reanimate the sunken spirits of the knight, and like a ray of suns.h.i.+ne shed a smile over his features. ”Yes!” he cried, ”sweet is the word which sends comfort to the broken-hearted; it is like a drop of cold water to refresh the weary wanderer in the desert.
Forget my weakness, my friend; pardon it in a man who otherwise never gives place to grief.
”But if you had ever looked down from the summit of the Rothenberg, shaded by its green woods, into the heart of Wurtemberg, and beheld the gentle stream of the Neckar winding its course along its richly cultivated banks; with its fields of high standing corn waving in the breeze; the red roofs of its villages peeping out from a forest of fruit trees, with their industrious inhabitants, consisting of strong men and beautiful women, busily employed in their gardens or dressing their vines on the heights; had you surveyed all this, and with my eyes, and then been compelled to take refuge from the bloodthirsty hands of ruffians in these inhospitable regions, surrounded by the benumbing chill of these walls, outlawed, condemned, banished.--Oh! the thought is terrible! too overwhelming for man's heart to bear!”
Albert, fearful lest the recollection of his past days, and the keen sense of his present situation, might a second time have too powerful an effect upon the mind of the exile, sought by changing the subject of conversation, to divert his mind and calm his thoughts.
”As I suppose you have been often with the Duke,” he said, ”pray tell me, now that I am his declared friend, what is his disposition? what is his appearance? is it true, as is reported, that he is of a very changeable and capricious temper?”
”No more upon that subject at present, if you please,” answered the exile; ”you will soon have an opportunity to judge for yourself when you see him. We have already spoken enough upon these matters, but you have said nothing about your own affairs; not a word about the object of your travels, nor of the beautiful lady of Lichtenstein? You are silent and look confused when that delicate subject is mentioned. Do not suppose I wish to be curious when I ask that question; no, it is solely because I think I can be of use to you.”
”From what has pa.s.sed between us this night,” replied Albert, ”I have nothing to conceal from you; secrecy is no longer necessary. It strikes me, that you must have long known I love Bertha, and that she likewise is faithful to me?”
The exile answered, smiling, ”O yes, there was no mistaking the symptoms of her feelings, for when you were mentioned her confused look bespoke the secret of her heart, and the blush which accompanied it was an evident witness of the truth of it. When she named you it was with a peculiar tone of voice, as if the strings of her heart sounded in full accord to that key-note.”
”This observation of yours will encourage me to go to Lichtenstein without further delay. It was my original intention, after I had quitted the service of the League, to go direct to my home; but as the Alb is about half way between Franconia and this place, and the desire I had to see my love once more was uppermost in my thoughts, I determined to endeavour to accomplish it. This man Hans conducted me over the Alb; you know the cause which delayed me eight days on my journey. To-morrow, at day-break, I purpose announcing myself at the castle, and I trust I shall now appear before the old knight in a more welcome light than I should otherwise have done, had I not performed my promise to the League of remaining neutral fourteen days, and now joined his colours.”
”You may be a.s.sured of his welcome,” said the knight, ”particularly if you go as the friend of the Duke, for he is his faithful and most devoted adherent. But, may be, he would not trust your word, unsupported by some introduction, being, so it is said, rather incredulous, and shy of strangers. You know upon what terms I am with him. He is the kind-hearted Samaritan to me; and when I creep out of my hole at night, he nourishes my body with warm food, and my heart with still warmer consolation for the future. A couple of lines from me will be better received by him than a pa.s.sport from the Emperor. Take this ring, which he and many others know and respect, and wear it in remembrance of the time we have pa.s.sed together; it will announce you as a friend of Wurtemberg's good cause.” With these words, he took a broad gold ring from his finger. A large red stone was set in the middle, upon which was engraved, in the armorial helmet, the three stag horns,[1] with the bugle, which Albert recognised as the arms of Wurtemberg. Around the ring were the letters, U.D.O.W.A.T. in relievo, the meaning of which he could not comprehend.
”Udowat? what does that name signify?” he asked. ”Is it a parole for the followers of the Duke?”
”No, my young friend,” said the exile. ”The Duke has worn this ring long on his finger; he valued it much; but as I have many other souvenirs from him, I can best spare it, and could not place it in worthier hands. The letters mean, Ulerich, Duke of Wurtemberg and Teck.”
”I shall value it as long as I live,” replied Albert, ”as a relic of the unfortunate Prince whose name it bears, and as a pleasing remembrance of you, sir knight, and the night we pa.s.sed together in this cavern.”
”When you come to the drawbridge of Lichtenstein,” continued the knight, ”deliver a note which I will write, and this ring, to the first servant you see, and desire them to be conveyed to the lord of the castle, when he will certainly receive you as the Duke's own son. But for the lady, you must use your own pa.s.sport, for my charm does not extend to her: a tender squeeze of the hand, or the mysterious language of the eyes, or perhaps still better, a sweet kiss on her rosy lips, will serve the purpose. But in order to appear before her as she would wish to see you, you need some rest, for if you pa.s.s the whole night without sleep, your eyes will be heavy. Therefore follow my example, stretch yourself on the deer skin, and make a pillow of your cloak. And you, worthy major domo, grand chamberlain and purveyor, Hans, faithful companion in misfortune, give this Paladin another gla.s.s for his nightcap, it will soften his deer-skin, and enchant this rocky grotto into a bed-room. And then may the G.o.d of dreams visit him with his choicest gifts!”
The men drank a good night to each other, and laid themselves to rest, Hans taking up his position as a faithful dog, at the entrance of the rocky chamber. Morpheus soon came with light steps to the aid of the young man, and as he was dropping off to sleep he heard, in a half doze, the exile saying his evening prayer, and, with pious confidence in the Disposer of events, imploring him to shower down his almighty protection on him and his unhappy country.
FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER XIX.:
[Footnote 1: Three stag horns, the two upper ones having four ends and the lower one three, were the ancient arms of Wurtemberg.]
CHAPTER XX.
See that arrowy crag so tapering rise, From the depths of that valley so sweet; There Lichtenstein's fort rears her head to the skies, And smiles on the world at her feet.
SCHWAB.