Part 62 (2/2)
”None of my cousins or sisters,” said Francis, calmly, ”but my eldest daughter, Maria Louisa, is to become the consort of the Emperor Napoleon.”
”Maria Louisa!,” cried John, with an expression of dismay. ”Maria Louisa!”
And John staggered back several steps, as pale as a corpse, and grasped the back of the chair in order not to sink to the floor.
Francis did not seem to perceive this. ”Yes, Maria Louisa will be Napoleon's second consort,” he said. ”Every thing is settled already, and the marriage will take place next March. I think, brother, you may stand proxy for Napoleon on that occasion.”
The archduke gave a start, and pressed his hands to his temples as if he were afraid lest this dreadful ”family secret” would burst his head.
”Your majesty,” he said, in a tremulous and almost inaudible voice, ”I beg leave to withdraw.”
Without waiting for a reply, the archduke turned and left the room with a tottering step, and leaning now and then against the wall in order not to sink to the floor.
The emperor looked after him, smilingly. ”It seems Hudelist was not mistaken,” he said. ”My dear brother really loved Maria Louisa, and intended to become my son-in-law. What a nice idea! But he must give it up now. He--Holy Virgin! What noise is that in the anteroom? What fell to the floor there?”
The emperor stepped quickly to the door and opened it. ”What is the matter here” he asked.
”Your majesty,” exclaimed the footman, who hastened to him, ”the archduke fainted and fell to the floor, striking with his head against the corner of a chair, and wounding his forehead, which is bleeding copiously.”
”Well, I hope it is only a slight scratch,” said the emperor, composedly. ”Carry the archduke to his bedchamber and send for my surgeon. I will afterward call on him myself.”
Without taking any further notice of the archduke, the emperor returned into his cabinet and closed the door after him.
”He fainted,” said Francis, triumphantly. ”Henceforth he shall be entirely powerless. No one shall have any power here but myself. Ah, I have broken his pride, bent his will, and prostrated him at my feet. All my brothers shall bow to me, acknowledge me as their master, and obey me. Ah, I believe I have played a bad trick on my brothers. The Archduke John will not become Duke of Tyrol; the Grand-duke Ferdinand of Wuertzburg will not be Emperor of Austria, for Napoleon will become my son-in-law, and he will take good care not to deprive his father-in-law of his throne. I alone am, and shall remain, Emperor of Austria.”
CHAPTER XL.
DREADFUL TIDINGS.
All the Tyrolese were in the highest excitement and terror. Pale faces were to be seen everywhere, and nothing was heard but the anxious query: ”Is it true? Has our emperor really made peace with Bonaparte? Is it true that he has abandoned us entirely, and that we are to become again subjects of France and Bavaria?”
And some, of the timid and disheartened sighed: ”It is true! We read so yesterday in the Innspruck Gazette, and the Viceroy of Italy has sent two messengers through the Puster valley to proclaim that the Emperors of Austria and France concluded a treaty of peace on the 14th of October, and that the Tyrolese are to lay down their arms and become again subjects of France and Bavaria.”
”It is not true!” cried the bold and courageous. ”The Emperor Francis has not made peace with Bonaparte; and if he has, he has certainly not abandoned the Tyrol, but stipulated that we remain with Austria; for he pledged us his word that we, should, and the emperor will redeem his promise.”
”It is not true; there is no peace, and we are still at war with the Bavarians and French,” cried Joseph Speckbacher, ”and we will continue the war.”
”Yes, we will,” shouted his brave men.
And as Speckbacher said, so did Andreas Hofer, so did Joachim Haspinger, so did Anthony Wallner, Jacob Sieberer, and all the intrepid commanders of the sharpshooters.
Led by these heroic men, the Tyrolese formed again a large army, which took position on Mount Isel, and awaited there the Bavarians who were marching upon Innspruck under the command of the crown prince Louis.
This time, however, the Tyrolese were not victorious; the Bavarians expelled them from Innspruck, and, on the 29th of October, the crown prince Louis of Bavaria made his triumphal entry into the city, after a b.l.o.o.d.y battle of four days' duration on Mount Isel and near the Judenstein. A part of the Tyrolese forces remained on Mount Isel, and another part hastened with unbroken courage to other regions, to meet the armies of the enemy and drive them beyond the frontiers of the country.
Anthony Wallner returned with his sharpshooters to the Puster valley, and advanced thence against General Rusca, who was coming up from Carinthia with his corps; he intended to defend the frontiers of his country, against him and General Baraguay d'Hilliers, who was also approaching with a strong force.
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