When morning broke, it found the wearied spirit of Louis fast reposing
under his closed eye-lids. He had arraigned himself and his fair
mistress before the bar of his reason, again and again. He fatigued
memory in recalling every word he had ever heard her utter, to judge
how her former sentiments agreed with her late unqualified declaration
on the side of expediency; and, to his consternation he found that he
could recollect no one generous thought from her lips, which had not
been the echo of some opinion from his own. She had never led the way
in noble sentiment. How different was the case in his conversations
with his now far distant Cornelia and Alice! Sympathy reigned
throughout their circle, and it was only to speak first to have the
good fortune to promulgate the thought of every breast.
What then, had the woman he regarded as Perfection's self, had she
met only one compulsive occasion of declaring her unbiassed opinion
on a subject of principle; and had she proved herself divested of
any? Devoted alone to the dominancy of passion, whether it point to
the right or to the wrong? To him, who had been brought up at the
feet of the christian instructor of Lindisfarne, it was no excuse
that devotedness to love, or zeal in friendship, were her motives for
abandoning the rule of human conduct. They were the hills of paradise,
on which man might repose his grateful heart, but there was a heaven
above them; and when its flaming sword passed between him and his
earthly Eden, Louis believed there should be obedience without appeal.
"Oh!" cried he, writhing under the recollections of the last scene
at the palace, "had I known too late, that such thou art, how should
I have withered in those arms?" Louis felt that he would rather be
clasped at once in the icy embrace of death, than take to his bosom the
most beautiful form in nature that was cold to the soul of his soul,
an immortalizing aspiration after virtue and the approbation of his
creator.
"Oh, Otteline," exclaimed he, "a gulph that is impassable, now divides
us!"
As these reflections gradually subsided into sleep, her image kept
its station in his dreams; but it was not as heretofore, when his
visionary fancy used to pourtray her smiling in groves of perpetual
spring:--She now appeared in rugged scenes of affright, accusing him of
faithlessness; and with menacing gestures stimulating unseen personages
to revenge.
He did not awake till the sun had risen far above the horizon; and
then he found himself stretched on the floor, with his head pillowed
on his arm. The cheerfulness of the busy morning hour shone on all
without; while within, the desolation of loneliness and of discomfort,
sat, like a troubled spirit, on every gloomy piece of furniture.
"But this is the day, the blissful day," cried he, "when the
bewildering spell which has so long enwrapped me, will be broken! I
shall again mingle in the social meetings of my fellow-creatures;
and find myself amongst a variety of persons, to whom I can speak,
and rationally companion my mind and my enjoyments.--Hitherto, for
these three months past, I have gone gliding about, fearful of human
glance, or friendly cognizance, till my crazed faculties fancied a
guardian-angel in a beauteous vapour! But now, the mists disperse.
Propitious morning, bright and transparent, I greet your opening!--You
will unfold to me my father! you will release me from the wild and
feverish dream in which my life has wasted, ever since this dreary
mansion became the confidant of my thoughts!"
In contemplating such a happy consummation of his most sacred wishes,
he passed to his own apartment; where, redressing himself with all his
wonted elasticity of spirits, he prepared for the coming events of the
day. On entering the saloon, he found Gerard placing the breakfast
tray. The man told him that Martini was below, with a message from the
Sieur.
"Send him to me," returned Louis, anxious to hear of Ignatius's safe
arrival at Saint Polten's; and eager to be told any thing that might
relate to his father's approach.
Martini obeyed the summons with alacrity. His appearance was full of
gaiety, and his dress, (which he took pains to display, under a large
Hungarian great coat,) was of a splendor that instantly attracted
the notice of Louis, as much from its novelty as its costliness.
The Italian's former habit, was a russet grey, without ornament or
smartness; but this was scarlet, and gorgeously laced with gold.
"Why Martini!" cried Louis, "That is a gala dress!--and to honour the
ambassador, I suppose!--you have left him well; and conducted your
noble master safe?"
Martini was at that moment viewing his own figure, with peculiar
complacency in one of the large mirrors of the apartment. Louis could
have laughed, as he repeated his question to the happy coxcomb.
"I am impatient as yourself, Signor," replied he, "to see the entrance
of the Ambassador. You will then know that I do not wear this livery
without a right!"
"I did not suspect it, my good Martini," returned Louis, "but you
do not tell me when His Excellency is to arrive?" "By five in the
evening, at the _Palais d'Espagne_; and thither I am to conduct you to
await him."
"In a habit as splendid as your own?" asked Louis, with a smiling
nod to his laced vest. Martini coloured, and throwing a proud glance
over his embroidery, exclaimed--"Signor, I have been some years with
my master; and seniority of services, with some great men, has more
consequence than short duties in higher posts."
"I wish it were the rule with all great men!" replied Louis, "And be
assured Martini, I shall always have too much respect for your tried
fidelity to your master, ever to wish to rival you in his good graces.
But come, answer my twice-demanded question; how did you leave him at
Saint Polten?"
"I did not leave him there at all," replied Martini; "he left me last
night; and at parting, gave me a commission to execute a million of
orders, e're he should return."
"Then he went alone?" asked Louis, with an alarm he would not shew; "or
what were his attendants?"
"He might, or he might not have some of the Ambassador's people to meet
him on the road; but on receiving a letter at midnight by Castanos, he
called me to his chamber; and, after giving me his commands, went away,
telling me I should see him no more till we met this evening in the
_Palais d'Espagne_."
"And have you heard nothing of him?"
"Nothing."
"But Castanos accompanied him?"
"I do not know. The surly old Spaniard went out before my master; and
would not answer me when I spoke to him."
Louis was disturbed at this vague information. The threatening language
he had heard last night, and the unseasonable hour of Ignatius's
journey, filled him with apprehensions for the event. But, unobservant
of the troubled countenance which only appeared to listen to him, the
volatile Italian continued the conversation in rapturous descriptions
of the _Palais d'Espagne_; its costly furniture; the splendid retinue
which were placed there to welcome its future lord; and the magnificent
entertainment that was preparing for his reception. "Ah," cried the
transported valet, "who will see us there, and believe we could ever
have endured, for so many months, the hard vigils of that horrid
College!"
"And yet," said Louis, striving to recall his attention from his
growing fears respecting the safety of Ignatius; "it seems to me that
College seclusion, and even its austerities, are better calculated to
please the taste of your master; than the public bustle, and scenes of
luxury, you have just described."
"That may be, Signor!" replied Martini, "but times change men, as men
change the times; so, I make no more manifestoes for my master, than
for myself."
"But I wish you had taken more care of him!" returned Louis, rising
from his seat; "Indeed Martini, after his having been once assailed,
you ought not to have allowed him to set out alone."
"Allowed him!" retorted the Italian, "allowed my master! He has never
been _allowed_ in his life! He has always done just as his will impells
him: and, I know not the man on earth, who dare to say to him, _I
withhold_, or _I allow_!"
"You mistake me. I did not mean to invest you with a lord's controul
over the Sieur; but ought you not to have asked his permission to
attend him? Ought you not to have entreated him, when you knew, by so
recent an experience, that the assassin's poniard lies in wait for his
life?"
"My master commands, and I obey, Signor!" replied Martini, "that is
the duty he requires of me, and he would banish me for presumption,
should I proffer any other."
"He ought to be a god," returned Louis, "to live in such proud
loneliness! But I am too much of a mortal, not to be anxious about his
safety, and I request you to let me have the earliest intelligence
respecting him."
Martini answered carelessly, "that as things were, it was impossible
to learn any thing until the suite should arrive;" "but," added he,
"I shall then have the happiness of conducting you to the _Palais
d'Espagne_, where you will see him."
"Be punctual to your hour;" replied Louis, "for I shall impatiently
await you."
Martini crossed himself, in ratification of his word, and with a step,
light as his spirits, danced out of the apartment.
"Joy, the joy of the heart!" ejaculated Louis, as he looked after
the jocund Italian, "is not gay; it is soul-centered; and calls for
meditation on its own perfection!"
Louis's imagination, kindled by the ardent affection he had ever
cherished in his bosom for his father, was again called forth to set
that image of his idolatry in a halo of the purest lustre. The name of
parent seemed to consecrate the adoration of his heart. There could be
no excess, he thought, in loving him from whom his being and his honour
were derived; and, in the ardour of his enthusiasm, he beseeched the
Almighty to bless him with a virtue worthy of such a father; and, that
in every contest with his passions, he might conduct himself as became
his ancestry on earth, and his nobler origin in heaven!
In hours like these, Louis learnt the full value of the pious offices
to which the instructions of the Pastor of Lindisfarne had habituated
his mind. The heavenly serenity which presided over the heart of the
venerable man, was the best proof of his precepts. "My son," he used
to say, "whether you are agitated with joy, or with grief, let your
first counsellor be the dispenser of both. His gracious spirit is ready
to assuage the burning glances of the one, by the dewy incense of a
grateful heart; and he will illuminate the shadows of the other, by the
starry light of faith and hope."
Louis did not permit the contemplation of future high duties, to dull
the recollection of present ones, however lowly, that were yet to be
performed. He gathered the papers in his writing-room, and confided
them to an obscure closet in a remote part of the Chateau; where, he
believed, they would be secure from either curiosity or depredation,
till he should be commissioned to transfer them to some other custody.
As the time drew nigh for the promised summons to the _Palais
d'Espagne_, his watch was drawn out again and again. But when minutes
only intervened between his wishes and the eventful hour, he held it in
his hand, and paced the room with a beating heart. He heard a step in
the gallery. He flew to the door. It was Martini.
"Is he arrived?" cried Louis, rushing towards him.
"No," replied the Italian. "But haste. I expect the cavalcade every
moment, and your carriage is at the gate."
Louis seemed to have made but one step from the hall to the carriage.
He was seated in it, and leaning breathless against the back, with his
hand over his face, when Martini jumped in by his side. The lively
valet discoursed with his usual fluency, but what he said, his auditor
did not know: he had no outward perception, all was absorbed within.
The vehicle stopped; he thought the horses must have flown, when
Martini exclaimed, "we are at the _Palais d'Espagne_. Signor you must
alight."
Louis aroused himself, and looked around. He was in the court-yard of
a superb mansion, thronged with a crowd of liveried attendants walking
to and fro under the colonades and portico. The spacious doors of the
house stood open. Louis sprang from the carriage, and, without noticing
the men who bowed as he passed, hurried through the great vestibule
after Martini. The valet preceded him up the lofty stair-case to a
range of gorgeous apartments. The first and second were full of Spanish
merchants, resident at Vienna; eagerly awaiting the entrance of an
Embassador, who had obtained the restitution of all the privileges,
which had been wrested from them when the Austrian family lost the
crown of Spain. The next chamber was a saloon of Imperial magnificence.
"Here, Signor," said the Italian, "you must attend the commands of the
Duke de Ripperda." And without another word, he bowed slightly, and
hastened away.
Louis's feelings were wound up almost to torture, during the short
interval between that moment, and the one in which his expecting ear
caught the trampling of horses, and the buz of an approaching crowd.
He rushed to the window, and beheld a train of travelling carriages
filled with the suite of the embassy, sweeping by the great gates
of the mansion, while the court-yard was filled by populace, and an
immense cavalcade in splendid Spanish uniforms. Immediately following
the latter, appeared six horses, richly caparisoned, and drawing a
carriage surmounted with the ducal coronet. Louis saw no more. That
carriage contained his father! He started from the window. The air
resounded with shouts. He pressed his clasped hands on his bursting
heart. A few minutes more, and Martini darted into the outer-room that
contained the merchants. The door was open; and Louis heard him say,
"The Ambassador!" The next instant he beheld a man of such resplendent
aspect--a step, a form, an air; a bowing dignity, as he bent his
gracious head, waving with white plumes to the grateful Spaniards who
thronged around him--that Louis felt at once, it was his Father! His
feet were rivetted to the spot on which he stood; his eyes on that
august figure; but it was with the dazzled gaze of eager, expecting joy.
The crowd separated from before their benefactor, and he entered the
saloon. As he advanced into the room, the door was closed behind
him, and while the unshorn star of prosperity seemed fixed in his
magnificent countenance, he made a hasty step forward, and extended his
arms to his son.
With a cry of joy, in which nothing was articulate but--"My Father!"
Louis precipitated himself towards him, and fell upon his breast. The
Duke strained him to his bosom; but that over-wrought heart had ceased
to beat; and, with a moistened cheek, he pressed the insensible lips of
his too happy son.