ERNESTINE AND GABRIELLE.
Two days' nursing at the hands of these charming girls made me almost
well, and fit for service. The contusion on my head no longer gave
me any pain; the scar closed, and grew hourly less under the soothing
application of some essence or lotion which they applied to it; and
they were both so kind as to bring their work--for they were very
industrious--into my room, where they sat, one on each side of my
bed, and sewed, embroidered, read, or chatted with me. There was
something sufficiently pleasing, and perplexing too, in being thus
placed between two such beautiful young women--one with dark hair and
large orient eyes; the other, with mild blue orbs and soft bright
curls; both animated, laughing, brilliant, and full of wit and
vivacity. To say the least of it, my position was very enviable.
Ernestine was dark, and tall and stately.
Gabrielle was less so, but fair and blooming; ever smiling save when
some recollection floated through her mind. Then she cast down her
timid blue eyes and sighed.
Ernestine wore her long black hair, parted smoothly over her open
brow, in broad and heavy braids.
Gabrielle permitted hers to float in loose ringlets, which displayed
to the utmost advantage their bright golden colour.
Ernestine's deep dark eyes had usually a quiet and thoughtful
expression; her sister's, though less attractive, possessed more
vivacity. Ernestine had more pride, Gabrielle more frankness; and I
know of no picture more beautiful than was presented by these two
motherless sisters, whose home was the camp, when Gabrielle rested
her fair head, with its shower of golden curls, upon the budding
bosom and snowy shoulder of her more thoughtful, more contemplative,
and more matron-like sister; their attitudes were so full of grace
and affection.
Ernestine had the fire, the step, the glance, the dark eyes, and the
dignity of Spain.
Gabrielle had the rich bloom and bright hair of her mother, the
Hainaulter; but Ernestine, though she addressed me least, interested
me most. In form she was finer than the most beautiful statue; her
hands and arms were of the most pure and perfect form that a sculptor
of the highest class could conceive; and yet, if I could make any
distinction in their Samaritan attention to me, little Gabrielle was
the kindest of the two. When comparing the calm, even, reserved, and
well-bred style of their conversation, with the bold and forward
manners of Prudentia, I felt nothing but anger and disgust at myself
for having yielded so completely to her spells and her snares; and
yet the beauty of that Spanish dancer was worthy of a higher sphere
and better fate.
During these two days we became quite intimate, for under such
circumstances friendship ripens rapidly; and hearing them addressing
each other by their Christian names, I soon learned to do so
likewise; but the regimental sobriquet (M'Combich), by which I had
introduced myself to the count, puzzled them sorely, and they styled
me Herr Kombeek. The youngest requested that I should simply call
her Gabrielle; but when I addressed the eldest so unceremoniously,
she gave me at times one of her proud but quiet smiles. Her reserve
piqued me a little, too.
"Lady Ernestine," said I, "why is Gabrielle so much more kind to me
than you!"
"I am sorry you should think there is any difference," she replied,
bending her dark eyes mildly, but inquiringly, upon me; "yet,
perhaps, it may be so--she has a reason for being kind to a soldier,
but I have none."
"And why does she never wear ornaments or gay colours--and is one
moment so merry and the next so sad?"
"For the same reason."
"What may this reason be?"
"You are very inquisitive, Herr Kombeek," said Gabrielle, bending her
blushing face over her embroidering frame.
"Twice I have observed her countenance fall when I spoke of the
defeat at Lütter."
"Her betrothed fell in that _victory_," replied Ernestine; "she is
quite a little widow. Hence the gravity that occasionally clouds her
merry heart, and hence, perhaps, her kindness to you--a wounded
soldier--for the sake of our lost friend; for the poor Conde de Lerma
was scarcely ever on the footing of a lover. He considered his
marriage as a thing that must take place, quite as a matter of
course."
"And you, Ernestine, have you no lover in yonder camp to make you
anxious for the chance of war?"
"Ah, yes! Herr Kombeek," said Gabrielle, clapping her hands;
"question her a little now."
Ernestine replied only by one of her proud smiles, and adjusted her
ruff. She was offended.
"You must, you must have many," said I, sighing upon my lace pillow;
"for men will love you, whether you permit them or not."
There was something in the manner and bearing of Ernestine that
impressed me with respect, and interested me extremely; and yet I
conversed less with her than with Gabrielle, perhaps for the simple
reason that the latter conversed more with me. I could jest and
laugh at trifles with such a chatty little fairy as Gabrielle; but
not so with her sister. I could make doggerel rhymes, say gallant
speeches, and all those pretty nothings which come so readily to
one's tongue when conversing with a pretty girl; but I dared not
attempt the same strain with Ernestine. They seemed altogether
unsuited to her queen-like air, and high bred reserve of manner,
which were sometimes a little provoking.
On the morning of the third day I arose from bed. Dandy Dreghorn
assisted me to dress; and, save a little swimming of the head, I
found myself almost well. My cuirass shone like silver; I placed my
claymore and biodag in my belt, tied my scarf over my right shoulder,
gave a finishing touch to my long locks, and that short mustache, the
sprouting of which I cultivated with the utmost assiduity, and
descended to breakfast, with the young ladies, in a lofty apartment,
the windows of which opened upon the terrace of a garden, clothed in
all the freshness, the brilliant flowers, and the beauty of
midsummer. The doors, windows, and cornices, were beautifully
proportioned; the ceilings and panels were covered by paintings, of
the school of Reubens. Hand in hand with satyrs, a long string of
immodest looking nymphs ran round the walls below the frieze, and in
some places, a bearded ancestor of the Baron Karl looked grimly out
of his oak frame, and under his square helmet of the fourteenth
century. In this room there was the hum of the summer flies, as they
floated on the warm and perfumed atmosphere. We were just sitting
down to a breakfast composed of every delicacy which the fertile
provinces of Bremen and Luneberg could afford, when the count, with
his nodding red plume, suddenly appeared before the window,
dismounting from _Bellochio_ on the terrace, and we saw his tall
figure between the embroidered curtains of Indian muslin and German
hangings, like some vivid portrait of an ancient knight--for the
fashion of his arms was somewhat old. His daughters sprang from the
table to embrace and lead him in.
"In three hours," said he, "Count Tilly will be here, and our friend
must be concealed forthwith."
"Within the house?" asked Ernestine, her eyes filling with an
expression of alarm.
"Of course, girl; nowhere would he be safe out of it. The whole
country is full of our troops, and the Croats and Hungarian heyducs
are swarming like locusts in every village. Tilly's advanced guard
(Tzertzski's regiment of musketeers, under Colonel Gordon) passed
Reinsdorf this morning about daybreak--so my scouts inform me."
Through the great chateau this intelligence spread like wildfire.
Corporal Spürrledter, who, with other old troopers, clad in their
calfskin boots and yellow doublets, with red sashes and red worsted
fringes, had been dosing in the warm sunshine, almost asleep over
tric-trac, with pipe in mouth, and pots of Dantzic beer beside them,
started when the trumpets blew boot and saddle, and hurried to
accoutre themselves and their horses. The old German housekeeper
(who, protected by her age and ugliness, had remained when others
fled) was now in greater tribulation than ever; and Dandy Dreghorn,
who was busy in the kitchen manufacturing some Hamburg meal, which he
had discovered, into excellent Scottish porridge, made the greatest
imaginable haste to get the whole (though scalding hot) under his
belt, before Tilly came up with his troopers.
"Now, my young friend," said the count to me during breakfast; "I
believe, that I need not inform you of the necessity of your avoiding
old Tilly."
"Believe me, count, I have not the slightest wish to throw myself
unnecessarily in his way, but assuredly I will not condescend to
avoid him."
"You must do so! your safety imperatively demands it. Why, the old
Tartar would think no more of having you hanged or shot, than I do of
slicing the top of this egg; and if chance should make him acquainted
with your vicinity, and if I should say you are come to join the
Emperor, as many of our Catholic Scots, the Gordons of the Garioch,
the Lindsays and the Leslies, have done, you will not gainsay me."
"Count, I will never stoop to this subterfuge. Pardon me," I added,
on perceiving that his haughty brow clouded; "at the worst I am but a
prisoner of war, and as such, have a right to expect that honourable
treatment which our brave defence at yonder bridge deserves."
"The devil! you are like a redhot cannon-ball; one does not know on
what side to take hold of you. By this time you should know, that in
the cause of the Empire and of Catholicism, Tilly unites the
enthusiasm of Peter the Hermit to the ferocity of a tiger and the
cunning of a fox. Such is the general of the armies of the League.
I implore you to beware of him, for the mercy he may grant, not to
one, but to a thousand prisoners of war, depends but upon the
miserable caprice of a moment. This is a religious war; faith fights
against faith, and men's hearts are hardened and inflamed by the
ferocity their preachers inculcate. We are just about to assail
another party of Christian's Scottish troops, who keep that important
post, the castle of Lauenburg."
"Ah!" said I, pushing away my cup of coffee; "and I, who would give
the world to be there, am here!"
"The whole world!" said Ernestine; "you are a large proprietor!" I
thought there was a tone of pique in her quiet remark--pique at my
ungrateful wish to be gone. I gazed upon her, and her beauty seemed
as perfect as female loveliness could be--as perfect as any that ever
smiled on Raffaello da Urbino in the midst of his happiest reveries.
"Ernestine," said the count, raising his eyebrows, "you know who is
coming with Tilly?"
"No," replied the daughter, over whose fair face there flitted a
perceptible shadow, which belied her negative.
"His aide-de-camp, the Count Albert Kœningheim--Halbert
Cunninghame, a cadet of the house of Glencairn," he added to me, "who
has been a successful soldier in the wars of the Empire."
"Ah--indeed!" I murmured, walking to the window.
"Receive him well, Ernestine," I heard the count saying in a low
voice, as he smoothed the beautiful braids of her hair; "receive him
as one who deserves your utmost esteem, and has my best regard."
"Oh, father----"
"My countryman--rich, young, handsome, powerful, high in favour with
the Emperor, with Tilly and the army; covered with orders and
honours, you will soon learn to love him, Ernestine--will you not?"
"I will try." I thought I heard a sigh.
"Thou art a good girl--I love thee dearly," said the frank noble, as
he kissed his daughter's brow; "and I will send for that magnificent
set of diamonds you fancied at Vienna. I gave my word to
Kœningheim, when he saved my life at Lütter, that I would make him
my kinsman if I could. Ah! for my sake he ran a deadly peril there,
and gave me his own horse when mine was torn almost asunder beneath
me, by a cannon-shot."
Not a word of this had escaped me, and I felt something rising in my
heart.
"Pshaw!" said I; "what is Ernestine to me? I shall never see her
again. Yet she has been so kind, that I hope this Scoto-German count
will make a good husband to her."
I think there is a sentiment--shall we call it pique or jealousy--in
the minds of most young men, when they behold a beautiful young woman
placed, or about to be placed, beyond their reach.
"Yes--yes!" thought I; "it is just this jealousy that animates me at
present."
"You are admiring my mansion," said the count, approaching me.
"It is magnificent," said I, turning from the beautiful garden to the
equally beautiful apartment, through the painted windows of which a
deluge of warm morning light was shed upon the floor of polished oak,
and the gilded carving of the wainscoting.
"I shall build a pretty summer-house at the end of that walk. I have
received the whole place as a free gift from the Emperor."
"My poor friend, the baron Karl, has not been consulted on this
transfer," said I; "but by what right does Ferdinand II. gift away
these lands in Luneburg?"
"The right of conquest," replied the count, laughing. "Ah! you will
never gain a fair heritage by fighting under the godly Christian IV.
This will make a nice little chateau for my daughters, while we
follow Christian through the Danish isles. I'll make old Spürrledter
governor of it. Dost think you are well enough to ride? for,
without being inhospitable, my dear friend, I would gladly have you
altogether clear of this neighbourhood before Tilly arrives--and now,
by heaven and earth! yonder he comes!" added the count, as the sharp
note of a cavalry trumpet, followed by the rapid clank of horses
hoofs, was heard in the court of the mansion. "Away with our guest,
Ernestine," said the count, starting from the table; "to your care I
entrust him!"
"Come with me--quick, Herr Kombeek!" said she, holding out her hand.
"Kombeek--what a devil of a name!" thought I, as she hurried me away
towards a wing of the mansion which was appropriated to themselves.
"If the soldier who is with me falls into Tilly's hands, I shall
never forgive myself for not saving him; and see, madame," I added as
we passed a window, "yonder he stands--oh, the incorrigible
ass!--eating apples on the terrace, and gazing open-mouthed at the
approaching cavalcade."
I summoned him angrily from the window. He lingered for a moment to
conceal his fruit in the neuk of his plaid, and then hurried to join
me.
We were both consigned to a retired apartment, where we were to
remain, as Ernestine said, until Tilly quitted the house to join the
headquarters of his army.