On the 12th March, all Stockholm was stirring with unusual commotion.
The streets leading to the place of execution were thronged with people
impelled by strongly excited curiosity. Cavalry and infantry were drawn
up before the council house on the Suedermalm, before the principal
door of which stood the carriage destined for the conveyance of the
baron von Goertz.
Arwed entered Goertz' prison, supporting the faltering steps of
Georgina with one arm, whilst with the other hand he led the wailing
Magdalena. Lieutenant general Rank was sitting alone in the room,
reading a paper which he had taken from among others which lay upon the
table.
'Is it you, my good captain?' exclaimed he, taking Arwed's hand. Then,
looking at his companions, he sighed, 'Alas! poor, poor, children!'
'Where is my father?' asked Georgina in an almost inaudible tone,
sinking down upon a stool.
'In the next room,' answered Rank. 'Conradi is with him.'
'What are you reading there, general?' asked Arwed without interest,
merely to break the painful silence.
'The epitaph of our friend,' answered Rank, handing the paper to him.
'He sketched it himself.'
Georgina had sprung from her seat, and hanging upon Arwed's arm, looked
with him upon the manuscript.
'Read aloud,' said she. 'Something like a dense cloud waves before my
eyes. I cannot see the letters.'
'Will it not prove too great a trial for you?' asked Arwed with tender
care.
'I am here,' she answered, 'to take a last leave of my father, before
his death by the sword of the executioner. What else can shake me?'
Struggling to suppress his tears, Arwed proceeded to read:
'A la veille de conclure un grand traite de paix, mon heros perit, la
royaute avec lui. Dieu veuille qu'il n'arrive pis! Je meurs aussi.
C'est toujours mourir en magnifique compagnie, quand on meurt avec son
roi et la royaute.'
'Very true!' exclaimed Georgina. 'The ruins of royalty are a worthy
mausoleum for the great man; but his children despair.'
Arwed continued:
'Mors regis, fidesque in regem et ducem, mors mea.'
'That means?' asked Georgina in a faint voice.
'The death of the king and fidelity to him and to the duke are the
cause of his death.'
'Alas, how true!' sighed Georgina, and, breaking out in a flood of
tears, she sunk upon Arwed's shoulder.
The door of the adjoining room now opened, and Goertz entered with a
serene countenance, followed by the weeping Conradi. 'Father!' shrieked
his daughters, throwing themselves into his arms.
'My dear children!' cried he, joyfully pressing them to his bosom, and
kissing them tenderly.
'If that adamantine heart were here,' said Arwed to Conradi, with deep
emotion, 'this scene would yet melt it.'
'I thank God that the queen is not here,' answered the latter. 'She
would remain inexorable, and thus aggravate her responsibility in the
next world.'
The outer prison door was now opened, and with a brutal air colonel
Baumgardt walked into the room. He was followed by chief judge Hylten,
who appeared yet more miserable than before, leaning upon his clerk.
The outer hall was soon filled with Swedish grenadiers.
'Goertz, your time has come!' cried Baumgardt, roughly.
'In God's name, your blessing, my father!' cried Greorgina, kneeling
and drawing Magdalena down with her to his feet.
'Continue good!' cried Goertz in a broken voice, laying his hands upon
their heads, 'so that I may give a good account of you to your mother,
and that you may say joyfully to your God, when you come after me,
Father, here am I, and here are those whom thou hast given me.'
'Amen!' said Conradi, moving towards the door.
'Thanks for your love,' said Goertz, embracing Rank and Arwed, and then
turning to follow his spiritual assistant.
'Now let us forth,' cried Georgina wildly, grasping the hands of the
youth and of the little Magdalena, 'that we may arrive before him!'
'You cannot support the scene!' said Arwed anxiously to her.
'And should I die in his last moments,' answered Georgina, 'what a
happy death!'
Goertz had overheard this conversation, and turned once more towards
his daughters. 'You will go hence directly back to your dwelling,' said
he earnestly.
'Father!' stammered Georgina, 'shall I not see you once more?'
'It is your father's last command!' cried Goertz. 'Wouldst thou bind my
soul to earth, through sorrow for thee, when its wings were already
joyfully raised to take its flight to its creator? Take my daughters
home, Gyllenstierna!'
'Forward!' growled Baumgardt. 'God bless you, my loves!' cried Goertz
with a stronger voice, and followed his guards.