TO THE HUNT.
Octave had come to take Amael and his grandson to the noon meal. While
they walked towards one of the courtyards of the palace, in order to
join the hunting suite of the Emperor, the young Roman, profiting by a
moment when the aged Breton could not overhear him, said in a low voice
to Vortigern:
"Lucky boy. I am convinced that two pairs of eyes, one black as ebony,
the other of azure blue, have been peering through the crowd of
courtiers--" but interrupting the flow of his words at the sight of the
deep crimson that suffused the lad's visage, he proceeded to say: "Wait
till I have finished before you grow purple. Well, as I was saying, two
beautiful blue eyes and two equally beautiful black ones have, more than
once, sought to detect in the crowd of courtiers--Whom?--the venerable
figure of your grandfather, because there is nothing so attractive as a
long white beard. So much is that so that this forenoon, at mass, the
blonde Thetralde and the brunette Hildrude quite forgot the thread of
the divine service in order to contemplate incessantly--your
grandfather, who was seated next to you. Come, now, you are blushing
again. Are you, perchance, afraid lest the fascinating daughters of the
Emperor fall in love with the centenarian?"
"Your jokes are becoming insupportable."
"Oh, how contagious is the court air. Hardly is this Breton away from
his native fogs than he has become as full of wiles as an old clerk."
More and more embarrassed by the banterings of Octave, Vortigern only
stammered a few words. The noon meal was disposed of. The aged Breton,
his grandson and the young Roman were presently mounted upon their
spirited horses that they found held ready for them by slaves in the
courtyard of the palace, and they rode briskly out to join the Emperor.
Two of the sons of Charles, Carloman and Louis, or Luthwig as the Franks
pronounced it, had arrived that same morning from their castle of
Heristal and now accompanied their father, together with five of his
daughters and four of his concubines, the other women of the palace
being this time excluded from the hunt. Among the huntresses was Imma,
the paramour who had so bravely borne Eginhard, the archchaplain, upon
her back. Still handsome, she now bordered on the full ripeness of
womanhood. Near her rode Bertha, searching with her eyes for Enghilbert,
the handsome Abbot of St. Riquier. A little behind the couple came
Adelrude, who, from afar, smiled upon Audoin, one of Charles' most
daring captains. Last of all trotted the brunette Hildrude, together
with the blonde Thetralde, both endeavoring to detect, no doubt, the
Breton centenarian, as Octave had told Vortigern. Most of the seigneurs
of Charles' suite wore singular costumes, brought at great expense from
Pavia, whither commerce unloaded the riches of the Orient. Among the
Emperor's courtiers, some were clad in tunics of Tyrian purple furnished
with broad capes, ornamented with facings of embroidered Phoenician
birds'-skin, while feathers of Asiatic peacocks' tail, neck and back,
caused their rich vestments to glitter in all the shades of blue, gold,
and emerald. Others of the courtiers wore precious jackets of Judean
dormouse, or weasel--gowns much prized and as dainty and delicate as the
skin of a bird. Finally caps with floating feathers, leggings of silk,
boots of oriental red or green leather, embroidered with gold or silver,
completed the splendid accoutrement of these people of the court.
The rude rusticity of the Emperor's costume stood off in marked contrast
with the magnificence of his courtiers. His coarse and large leather
boots, furnished with iron spurs, reached up to his thighs; under his
tunic he wore a broad sheep-skin coat with the fleece on the outside,
and his head was covered with a cap of badger-skin. In his hand the
Emperor carried a short-handled whip which he used to stir up the
hunting dogs with. Thanks to his tall stature, which greatly exceeded
that of any of his officers, Charles was able to detect Vortigern and
Amael from afar, whereupon he cried out to the grandfather:
"Eh, seigneur Breton. Come, if you please, to my side, with your
grandson. I wish to ascertain whether, indeed, he is as good a horseman
as my little girls claim."
The ranks of the courtiers parted in order to allow a passage to Amael
and his grandson, the latter of whom modestly followed his grandfather,
not daring to raise his eyes lest they should fall upon the group of
women that surrounded the Emperor. Charles watched Vortigern
attentively, and the gracefulness with which the youth handled his
horse, drew from the Emperor the remark:
"Old Charles can judge at a glance of the skill of a rider. I am
satisfied. But I suspect you love the hunt better than you do the mass,
and a horse's saddle better than a church bench."
"I do prefer the hunt to the mass," frankly responded Vortigern; "but I
prefer war to the hunt."
"Though your answer is not that of a good Catholic, it is the answer of
a sincere lad. What do you think, my little ones?" added the Emperor,
turning towards the group of huntresses. "Are you not of my mind?"
"You asked the young man for his opinion, and he spoke out with
sincerity. He says what he does; he will do what he says. Valor and
loyalty are written upon his face," was the prompt answer that came from
Hildrude.
The blonde Thetralde, not daring to speak after her elder sister, grew
cherry-red, and cast a look of intense jealousy, almost of rage, upon
the brunette Hildrude, whose quick repartee she envied.
"There is nothing left to me but to join in the praise of the young
pagan's frankness, lest I get into trouble with my little girls. Come
forward," and leaning over towards Amael, he pointed angrily with his
whip at the crowd of courtiers who shimmered in their costly finery, and
prinked in their flowing plumes. "Look at that bevy of richly
caparisoned customers. Look at them well. You will presently wish to
remember the figures they are now cutting," saying which, the Emperor
rode off at a gallop, followed by all his court, and calling out to the
courtiers as well as to the Bretons:
"Once in the forest, each to himself, and at the mercy of his own horse.
At the hunt there is neither Emperor nor courtier. There are only
hunters and huntresses!"