Produced by Charles Bowen from scans provided by the Web Archive
Transcriber's Notes:
1. Page scan source:
http://www.archive.org/details/banishedtrfroml00haufgoog
2. Numbering of chapters is in error starting with chapter XIII.
The Chapter number XIII. is duplicated; therefore all numbers
after XIII. are short by one.
3. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe].
THE BANISHED:
A
SWABIAN HISTORICAL TALE.
EDITED BY
JAMES MORIER, ESQ.
AUTHOR OF HAJII BABA, &c.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON,
HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER,
GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
* * *
1839.
LONDON: PRINTED BY J. B. NICHOLS AND SON,
25, PARLIAMENT STREET.
EDITOR'S NOTICE.
The Editor feels that he stands very much in the same position as the
man who plies at the door of the exhibition of some historical picture
or panorama, and who is ready to assure his visitors that the
exhibition is quite worthy their notice, and that they will neither
lose their time nor their money in inspecting it. Although, in this
instance, he really has no other merit than that of being trumpeter to
the show, yet he can in honesty assert, that, what he has been called
upon to read he sincerely approves, and maintains that the translator
of this work merits the approbation and patronage of the public for
having brought to its notice, and adapted to its reading, a story full
of historical interest, of graphic incidents, of good moral tendency,
and true in the illustration of the national manners of Germany in the
sixteenth century.
J. M.
London, March 25, 1839.
THE TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
The tale of THE BANISHED has been taken from a German work;[1] but
though considerable freedom has been used in the translation from the
original text; the subject matter has been closely followed. It appears
from the preface of M. Hauff, the author of this work, that his aim
was to give an account of an event which took place in his own country,
together with a faithful description of the national manners and
customs of the period of which he treats; and being written at the time
when the author of Waverley was as yet only known as the "Great
Unknown," it would seem that M. Hauff, impelled by the fascination of
his writings, has adopted him as his model, as may be seen from the
following extract from his introductory chapter: "Thanks to the happy
pencil of the renowned novelist, who has painted in such lively colours
the green banks of the Tweed, the Highlands of Scotland, old England's
merry day, and the romantic poverty of Wales, all classes among us read
his admirable works with avidity, rendered into our language in
faithful translations, and realizing to our minds historical events
which happened some six or seven hundred years back. Such is the effect
produced by these writings, that we shall be as well, if not better,
acquainted with the histories of those countries than if we had
investigated them ourselves with the most learned research. The Great
Unknown--having opened the stores of his chronicles, and brought in
review before our wondering eyes image after image, in almost endless
succession--has, by the power of his magic, taught us that we are
likely to become better versed in the details of Scotland's history
than our own; and by its means also has made us feel less intimate with
the religious and secular transactions our own country in past ages,
than with those of the Presbyterians and Episcopalians of Albion.
"But we naturally ask ourselves in what consists the enchantment by
which the great magician has so wonderfully drawn our attention towards
the mountainous district of his own land? Are the Scottish hills
clothed with a hue of brighter green than the Harz or Taunus mountains,
or the heights of the Black Forest? Do the blue waters of the Tweed
reflect a more brilliant colour than the Neckar or Danube; or do its
banks surpass those of the Rhine in beautiful landscape? May be, that
Scotland is gifted with a race of men possessing qualities of greater
interest than we can boast of in Germany; and that the blood which
flowed in the veins of their ancestors was of a deeper hue than that of
Swabians and Saxons of olden times; or again, that their women are more
engaging, and their maidens more beautiful, than the daughters of
Germany?
"We have reason to doubt all these superior advantages, and believe
that the magic of the Great Unknown consists principally in placing
before the reader historical facts which his fertile genius has
faithfully dressed up in the manners and costumes of the day in which
they took place. With the same view our object has been to bring to
light an event of our own country; in which we have been guided by
historical truth alone."
The translator having visited the spot where one of the principal
scenes of the narrative took place, his attention was drawn to the
original work, as giving a faithful description of its locality, and
containing an interesting account of an important occurrence in Swabian
history.
On Whitsunday, 1832, he formed one of a large concourse of people
assembled from all parts of the country, dressed in their gayest
colours and costumes, to join in the procession, which, headed by the
King of Wuertemberg in person, with all his family, met for the express
purpose, as is generally the case every year on the same day, to visit
the "Nebelhoehle, or misty cavern, and the rock of Lichtenstein." This
spot, celebrated from the circumstances which the reader will become
acquainted with in the course of the narrative, is situated near the
town of Reutlingen, about thirty miles from Stuttgardt, in a country
full of picturesque beauties, and worthy of itself, as an object of
natural curiosity, to attract the attention of the traveller. The
translator cannot but hope, that when it is better known, which,
through the means of the following pages, he flatters himself may be
the case, that the beaten track pursued by the tourist on the Rhine may
find variety by a visit to the rock of Lichtenstein, and to the
Nebelhoehle; and that he thus may have been the means of producing that
greatest of desiderata to the desultory traveller, viz. "an object."
FOOTNOTE TO THE "TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE":
[Footnote 1: Lichtenstein.]
INTRODUCTION
"His varied life is toss'd on Faction's wave,
A leader now, and now a party's slave;
And shall his character a waverer's seem?
If that's a fault, impute it not to him;
He play'd a stake, and fortune threw the die;
So look upon him with a brother's eye.
We would for him an interest create,
His own his virtues, and his faults his fate."
SCHILLER.
The events which are recorded in the following pages, took place in
that part of Southern Germany situated between the mountainous district
of the Alb and the Black Forest. That portion of territory is bounded
by the former on the north-west, by a long chain of hills of unequal
height and breadth, extending southward, whilst the forest, commencing
from the sources of the Danube, stretches uninterruptedly to the banks
of the Rhine. Being composed of woods of black pine, it forms a dark
background to the beautiful picture produced by a luxuriant country,
rich in vineyards and watered by the Neckar, which flows through it.
This country, which is the "Wuertemberg" treated of in these volumes,
was originally of small compass. Its previous history, which is
enveloped in darkness, tells us that it rose through various
conflicting struggles to its present position among the neighbouring
states. When we reflect on the time when it was surrounded by such
powerful frontier neighbours as the Stauffens, the Dukes of Teck and
the Counts of Zollern, we are astonished that its name should still
exist as a nation; for the repeated storms of internal as well as
external violence often threatened to erase it from the annals of
history. There was a time, indeed, when the head of the reigning family
was, to all appearance, driven for ever from the halls of his
ancestors. Duke Ulerich von Wuertemberg being obliged to fly his country
and seek shelter in painful exile from the fury of his enemies, left
his castles in the possession of foreign masters, his lands being
occupied by their mercenaries. Little more was wanting to complete the
extinction of the name of Wuertemberg, than the parcelling out of the
spoil of its blooming fields among the many, or the whole becoming a
province of the house of Austria.
Among the many events related by the Swabians of their country and
their ancestors, there is none more fraught with romantic interest than
the struggles of that period, which are closely connected with the
extraordinary fate of their unfortunate prince. We have attempted to
bring them to life again, as they have been related to us on the
heights of Lichtenstein and the banks of the Neckar, at the risk,
however, of being misapprehended. We shall probably be told that the
character of Ulerich[1] is one not fit to be exhibited in a favourable
point of view in an historical romance. He has been calumniated in many
instances, and it has been even the custom, when reviewing the long
list of Dukes of Wuertemberg, to pass over in silence the descendant
between Eberhard[2] and Christoph, and to look upon him with a kind of
horror, as if the troubles of a country were to be attributed solely to
the conduct of its ruler, or that it were better to bury in oblivion
the days of its misfortunes.
It may, however, be a question, whether the condemnation pronounced on
the name of Ulerich, by his bitterest enemy Ulerich von Hutten, has not
been exaggerated; for, to say the least of it, he was too much a party
concerned to be trusted as an impartial judge. The voice which the Duke
and his family raised in vindication of his innocence of the crimes
imputed to him, having been too feeble to withstand the accusations and
calumnies of his enemies, contained in the flagitious publication
"Philippica in Ducem Ulericum," has been silenced by the revolutions of
time.
We have conscientiously compared most of the contemporaneous writers of
that most boisterous period, and have not met with one who absolutely
condemns him. It is but just to keep in view the powerful influence
which time and circumstances produce upon the minds of men. Ulerich von
Wuertemberg was brought up under the guardianship of bad counsellors,
who, for the purpose of making him subservient to their views, fostered
the evil propensities of his mind. As he took the reins of government
into his own hands when boyhood is scarcely ripened into youth, justice
at least compels us to make allowances, and though we cannot extenuate
the outrages he committed during the course of his career, we are bound
to look to the noble side of his character, in which we shall discover
strength of mind and undaunted courage, in circumstances of extreme
difficulty.
The year 1519, the date of our narrative, decided his fate and saw the
beginning of his misfortunes. Posterity, however, may date it as the
era of his prosperity; for, having passed through the ordeal of a long
banishment, in which he learnt to know himself, he came out of it a
wiser man and a more powerful Prince. From that period fortune favoured
him, and each Wuertemberger has cause to prize the latter years of his
government, esteeming the religious reformation which this prince
effected in his country, as the greatest blessing conferred on his
countrymen.
The public mind, in the year 1519, was still in a state of great
excitement. The insurrection of "poor Conrad,[3]" six years before, had
been partially quelled, though with difficulty. The country people in
many places still shewed symptoms of discontent. The Duke, among his
many failings, had not the method of gaining the affections of his
subjects, for they were oppressed by his men in office, under his own
eye, and burdened with accumulated taxes to satisfy the wants of the
court. The Swabian League, composed of a formidable confederacy of
princes, counts, knights, and free cities of Swabia and Franconia,
formed originally for the mutual protection of their rights, was
treated with contempt by the Duke, particularly owing to his refusal to
become a member of it. His frontier neighbours, therefore, watched his
actions with the eye of enmity, appearing to wait for an opportunity to
let him feel the weight of the power which he had despised. Neither was
the Emperor Maximilian, who reigned at that period; very well inclined
towards him, since he was suspected of having supported the knight Goetz
von Berlichingen, for the purpose of avenging himself on the Elector of
Mains.
A coolness had subsisted for some time between him and the Duke of
Bavaria, his brother-in-law, a powerful neighbour, owing to his having
ill-treated his wife Sabina, the Duke's sister. Added to that (and
which hastened his downfall) was the supposed murder of a Franconian
knight who lived at his court. Chronicles of undoubted authority
mention, that the intimacy between Johann yon Hutten and Sabina was
such that the Duke could not behold it with indifference. One day at a
hunt, the Duke taxed him with, and upbraided him for his treacherous
conduct, and calling upon him to defend his life, run him through the
body. The family of Hutten, and particularly Ulerich, Johann's cousin,
raised their voices against the supposed murderer; and their complaints
and the cry of vengeance resounded throughout Germany. The Duchess
also, whose imperious querulous temper had, even as a bride, irritated
the Duke, now broke all ties with him; and flying with the aid of
Dieterich von Spaet, appeared before the Emperor as his accuser and
bitterest enemy. Agreements between the contending parties were
concluded and not held; peaceable adjustments of their grievances were
no sooner proposed than broken off again. The Duke's troubles augmented
from month to month; but his proud mind would not bend to submission,
for he believed himself in the right. The Emperor died in the midst of
these altercations. He was a prince who had manifested much forbearance
and mildness of character towards Ulerich, in spite of the many
complaints of his enemies. The Duke lost in him an impartial judge, to
whom he could alone look for aid in his present troubles.
The funeral service for the Emperor was being performed in the Castle
of Stuttgardt, when a messenger suddenly arrived, seeking the Duke,
with the intelligence that some people of the imperial town of
Reutlingen, which lay within his frontier, had slain the administrator
of his woods and forests on the Achalm. The townsfolk had, on some
former occasion, insulted him very keenly. He entertained a bitter
hatred of them; and this circumstance now gave him an opportunity to
satisfy his revenge. Easily excited by anger, he sprang upon his horse,
ordered the drums to beat the alarm throughout the country, besieged
the city, and gaining possession of it, compelled its inhabitants to
swear allegiance to him, whereby the imperial town became part of
Wuertemberg.
This was the signal for the Swabian League to assemble their forces,
Reutlingen being a member of the confederacy. Difficult as it might
otherwise have been to summon these princes, counts, and cities
together, they did not hesitate, in the present instance, to obey the
call, for hatred and revenge form a strong cement. In vain did Ulerich
defend his conduct by written proclamations; in vain did he attempt to
justify it in the defence of his rights; the army of the League
assembled in Ulm, and threatened his country with invasion.
Such was the state of affairs in Wuertemberg at the commencement of the
year 1519. There was no doubt of the Duke gaining many adherents, could
he have maintained the superiority in the field; but woe to him if he
were discomfited by the League. There was too heavy a debt of revenge
to be paid before he could expect mercy at their hands.
All eyes in Germany looked anxiously to the result of this contest.
They essayed to pierce the curtain of fate, and to prognosticate what
the coming days were likely to bring forth, whether Wuertemberg or the
League should remain master of the field. The following pages will
withdraw this curtain, and expose the principal characters, who took a
leading part, in due order; and we trust the eye of the reader will not
turn away too soon fatigued with the narrative.
It surely is not an uninteresting occupation to peruse, in our days, an
historical tale of olden times; and therefore it is our hope, as it has
been our aim, to excite the interest of our readers in one, the events
of which, though they occurred in so secluded a spot as the Swabian
Alb, and in the remote, but delightful, vallies of the Neckar, we trust
that the few hours spent in their perusal will not be thrown away.
Germany is not less rife in romantic events than other countries;
and she can likewise draw largely upon the history of civil strife,
equally interesting to our mind, as those recorded in the pages of more
well-known states. We have, consequently, ventured to unroll an
historical Swabian painting, which, if it does not exhibit the bold
outline of figures, the same enchanting composition of landscape--if
the colouring be less brilliant, and the pencilling less clearly
defined--than the works of other authors, the artist may safely shelter
himself under its historical truth, to make up for the deficiencies of
composition.
FOOTNOTES TO THE "INTRODUCTION":
[Footnote 1: Ulerich von Wuertemberg was born in 1487, was invested in
1498 as Duke, with a Co-regency, which he dissolved in his sixteenth
year, and reigned alone from the year 1508. He died in 1550.]
[Footnote 2: Eberhard with the beard was born in 1445, and died 1469.
He was the first Duke of Wuertemberg, and founded the University of
Tuebingen in 1477. Christoph, born in 1515, and died in 1568, was a
prince whose remembrance is not only blessed in Wuertemberg, but also in
all Germany. He was the founder of the constitution of Wuertemberg.]
[Footnote 3: So called from the name of a poor peasant, who headed his
oppressed fellow-sufferers, in an insurrection for the redress of their
wrongs, calling themselves the "League of poor Conrad."]
THE BANISHED.
CHAPTER I.
What means the drum, that deeply rolls?
What means this warlike cry?
I'll to the casement, tho' my soul's
Misgivings tell me why.
L. UHLAND.
After a succession of gloomy days the imperial town of Ulm, on the 12th
of March 1519, at length was enlivened by a fine bright morning. Mists
from the Danube, which at such a season generally hung heavily over the
town, had on this occasion been dispelled before noon by the sun, and
as it rose, the view of the plain on the opposite side of the river
became gradually clearer and more extended. The narrow, cold streets,
inclosed by their dark gable-ended houses, were also lighted up more
bright than usual, and shone with a brilliancy and cheerfulness which
accorded well with the festive appearance of the town on that day. The
main street, called the Herdbrucker street, leading from the Danube
gate to the town hall, was on this morning thronged with people, whose
heads were so closely packed on either side against the houses (like
stones of a wall) that they left but a narrow passage through the
middle. A hollow murmur, the indication of great expectation, which
issued from the crowd, was only occasionally interrupted by a loud
laugh, caused by the severity of the city guard, celebrated for its
strictness and its antiquity, who, using their long halberds, pushed
back with appropriate rudeness whoever was unfortunate enough to be
squeezed out of his place into the middle of the street; or perchance
by some wag, who, by way of joke, would exclaim, "Here they come, here
they come!" causing disappointment to the anxious assemblage of
spectators.
The throng was still more dense in the spot where the termination of
the Herdbrucker street enters the square before the town hall. It was
there that the different trades were posted; the guild of boatmen, with
their masters at their head, the weavers, the carpenters, the brewers,
all displaying their banners and the emblems of their vocation, were
drawn up, clad in their Sunday dresses and well armed.
But if the multitude in the streets presented a jovial holiday
spectacle, much more was that the case in the lofty surrounding houses.
Well dressed women and young girls crowded the windows, which were
adorned with many-coloured carpets and floating drapery, giving to the
whole an appearance of beautiful paintings set in splendid frames.
The corner bow-window of the house of Hans von Besserer presented the
greatest attraction. Within it stood two young maidens, each strikingly
conspicuous by their uncommon beauty, but so much differing in looks,
height, and dress, that whoever remarked them from the street, might
remain some time in doubt to which to give the preference.
Both appeared to be under eighteen years of age: the tallest of the two
was delicately made; rich auburn hair encircled a fine open forehead,
the vaulted arch of her dark eyebrows, the placid blue eye, the
delicately turned mouth, the soft colour of her cheek, were unrivalled.
She altogether formed a picture, which, among the beauties of the
present day, would not have failed to be distinguished; but in those
times, when a higher colour, upon a face partaking of the form of an
apple, was more admired, it was principally by her graceful demeanor
that she drew attention.
The other, smaller, and possessing in a greater degree the attractive
qualities suited to the times, was one of those thoughtless, merry
beings, who are conscious that they possess the power of pleasing. Her
brilliant fair hair, according to the fashion of the ladles of Ulm,
fell in long braids behind and in ringlets in front, and was partly
covered by a neat white cap, full of small tasteful plaits. Her round
fresh face was ever in motion: her lively eyes, still more restless,
wandered through the crowd below; and her laughing mouth, exhibiting at
every moment a set of beautiful teeth, evidently showed that objects
were not wanting, among the numerous groups and figures of adventurers,
upon which to exercise the playfulness of her wit.
Behind them stood a large, broad-shouldered, elderly man, with deep,
stern features, thick eyebrows, long thin beard, already sprinkled with
grey hairs, and his dress so entirely black, that its hue contrasted
strangely with the rich and lively colours of those about him. He wore
a thoughtful, almost a sorrowful look, scarcely ever relaxing into one
more cheerful, excepting when a momentary gleam of kindness would shoot
through his countenance, like a flash of lightning, at some happy
remark of the merry fair one. This group, so varied in colours and
dress as well as in character, attracted much of the attention of the
bystanders immediately beneath them. Many an eye gazed upon the pretty
girls, whose fascinating appearance helped to beguile the time of the
idle and staring multitude, now growing impatient to witness the sight
for which they were assembled.
The time was now approaching the hour of noon. The crowd became
restless at the long delay, and manifested an increased impatience, by
pressing and pushing upon each other in rather a turbulent manner;
whilst here and there, tired of standing, several of the more sober
members of the trades seated themselves on the ground. When, however,
the report of three guns, fired from the fort on the hill on the
furthermost side of the river, and the sound of the cathedral bells in
deep tones began to echo over the town, order was speedily restored
throughout the anxious ranks.
"They are coming, Bertha, they are coming!" said the fair girl in the
balcony window, and put her arm around the waist of her companion, as
she stretched out her neck to the utmost.
The house of the Herrn von Besserer formed the corner of the forenamed
street, having a window on one side of it looking towards the Danube
gate, and another on the other side commanding a view of the town hall,
by which means the party were in a good position to see the expected
sight.
The space between the two rows of the people was, in the meantime, with
difficulty kept sufficiently open by the town guards. Anxious stillness
now reigned throughout the immense crowd, whilst the deep tolling of
the bells alone broke the silence.
The deadened sound of drums, blended with the shrill clang of trumpets,
was shortly after heard, and a long brilliant train of horsemen moved
slowly through the gate. The appearance of the town drummers and
trumpeters, and the mounted body of the sons of the patricians of Ulm,
was too much of an everyday occurrence to excite any great sensation on
the present occasion; but when the black and white banners of the town,
emblazoned with the imperial eagle, accompanied by flags and standards
of all sizes and colours, came floating in the breeze through the gate,
the spectators then became sure that the long wished-for moment was
arrived.
The curiosity of our two young beauties in the balcony became doubly
excited when they observed the crowd in the lower part of the street
respectfully take off their caps.
Mounted upon a strong bony horse a man approached, whose stately
carriage, affable and open countenance, contrasted strangely with a
deep stern brow, and whose hair and beard were slightly tinged with
grey. He wore a hat pointed at the crown, adorned with many feathers, a
cuirass over a close-fitted red jacket, and leather buskins slashed
with silk, which might have been handsome when new, but by dint of bad
weather and hard work had now assumed an uninterrupted dark-brown
colour,--large heavy riding boots came up to his knees; his only
weapon, a singularly large sword, with a long handle, and without
basket-guard, completed the figure of the warrior. The sole ornament
worn by this man was a long gold chain of massive rings, twisted five
times around his neck, having a medallion of merit of the same metal
attached to it, which hung upon his breast.
"Tell me, quickly, uncle, who is that stately man, who at once looks so
young and so old?" said the fair girl, as she turned her head a little
towards the man in black standing behind her.
"I can tell you, Marie," he answered; "that is George von Fronsberg,
commander of the confederate infantry; an honourable man, did he but
serve a better cause."
"Keep your remarks to yourself, Mr. Wuertemberger," she replied, whilst
she playfully threatened him with her finger; "you know that the
maidens of Ulm are staunch confederates."
Her uncle, however, not heeding her reply, proceeded: "That one on the
grey horse is Truchses von Waldburg, second in command. He also owes a
debt of gratitude to our Wuertemberg. Behind him come the colonels of
the League. By heaven! they look like hungry wolves seeking for prey."
"Oh! what a set of miserable figures," remarked Marie to her cousin
Bertha, "they surely are not worth the trouble we have taken of
dressing; but hold, who is that young man in black on the brown horse?
just look at his pale countenance, with his fiery black eyes; on his
shield is written, 'I have ventured.'"
"That is the knight Ulerich von Hutten," replied the old man. "May God
forgive his calumny against our Duke. Children! he is a learned, pious
man, but the Duke's bitterest enemy; and I say so, for what is true
must remain true. And there, those are Sickingen's colours. Truly, he
is there himself! Look this way, girls; that is Franz von Sickingen. It
is said he brings a thousand horsemen into the field; that is him, with
the plain cuirass and red feather."
"But tell me, uncle," asked Marie again, "which of them is Goetz von
Berlichingen, of whom cousin Kraft has related so much to us; he is a
powerful man, by all accounts, and has a hand of iron; does not he ride
among the burghers?"
"Do not name Goetz and the burghers in the same breath," said the old
man, seriously; "he holds for Wuertemberg."
The greatest part of the procession had, during this conversation,
passed by under the windows; and Marie remarked, with astonishment, the
indifference and unconcern with which her relation Bertha viewed it.
The usual manner of her cousin was thoughtful; indeed, at times she
appeared in a state of absence to all surrounding objects; but on such
a day as this, to be so perfectly insensible to the brilliancy of the
passing scene, was, in Marie's mind, to be guilty almost of
impropriety.
She was just on the point of upbraiding her, when her attention was
called to a sudden noise in the street. A large, powerful horse was
prancing immediately under their window, having probably taken fright
at the waving ensigns of the trades. The high crest and flowing main of
the steed sheltered the rider's face, and the feathers only of his cap
were visible to the spectators at the window; but the adroitness and
ease with which he managed his horse and kept him under command, proved
him to be a skilful cavalier. In his exertion to quiet him, his
light-brown hair had fallen over his face, and as he threw it back, his
look fell on the bow-window of the corner house.
"Well at last there is a handsome young man," whispered Marie to her
neighbour, so softly and secretly as if she feared to be overheard by
him; "and how polite and courteous he is! Look! I really think he has
saluted us, without knowing who we are."
Marie's curiosity was too much excited at the moment to notice the
sudden change which her remark had produced on her cousin's
countenance, who, to conceal her embarrassment, feigned to pay no
attention to what she said. Bertha had hitherto sat unconcerned,
viewing the passing procession with apparent cold indifference; but
when she recognised the young cavalier, and returned his salutation
with a slight inclination of the head, her cheek was suddenly suffused
with a burning blush, her thoughtful eye was animated into an
expression in which tender love and fearful anticipation predominated;
and though the smile about her mouth might bespeak joy at the sight of
the unexpected apparition, a keen observer could not have failed to
discover, that it betrayed somewhat of pain and regret. Her accustomed
self-possession, however, quickly regained the ascendancy over these
conflicting feelings, and thus her merry cousin, whose quick
penetration at any other moment would have been startled into surprise
at the alteration exhibited on the features of her whom she considered
wanting in tender sentiment, lost the opportunity of rallying her upon
this occasion.
Marie, pulling the old man by the cloak, cried, "Here, quickly,
uncle; tell me who is this with the light-brown scarf trimmed with
silver?--well?"
"Dear child," answered her uncle, "I have never seen him before.
Judging from his colours, he is in no particular service, but he, as
well as many others, wages war against the Duke my Lord for his own
individual pleasure and profit."
"Ah! there is no getting anything out of you," said Marie, and turned
away, annoyed at her uncle's indifference; "you can distinguish all the
old and learned men more than at a hundred yards off; but when one asks
you a question about a young and polite cavalier, you can tell one
nothing. And you too, Bertha, you open your eyes upon the procession
below as if the host were passing. I'll wager you did not see the
handsomest man of all; and thought only of old Fronsberg, when quite a
different set of men rode by."
By the time she had finished these her angry remarks, the principal
part of the procession had reached their station before the town hall;
the few remaining cavalry of the league which came up the street
possessed little interest for the two damsels. When the officers had
dismounted and gone into the town-hall for refreshment, and when the
members of the trades had been dismissed, the people by degrees began
to separate, and then the party in the balcony withdrew also from the
window.
Marie did not appear perfectly pleased. Her curiosity was only half
satisfied. She took care, however, not to let her stern old uncle
remark her disappointment; but when he left the room, she turned to
Bertha, who had retired to the window again, and stood there in deep
thought.
"Well," she said, "after all our anticipated expectations about this
procession, there was nothing worth making such a fuss about. But I
wonder who that handsome young cavalier was? I should like very much to
know his name! How very stupid it was of you, Bertha, not to notice
him; did I not push you when he saluted us? Light-brown hair, very long
and smooth,--friendly dark eyes,--the countenance a little tanned, but
handsome, very handsome! Small mustachios on the upper lip. No; I tell
you----but how red you get again all of a sudden, as if two maidens,
when they are alone, dare not speak of the pretty mouth of a young man.
We often converse upon such topics here in Ulm; but I suppose at your
good aunt's at Tuebingen, and your strict father's in Lichtenstein, such
things were never mentioned; but I see you are dreaming again about
something or other, so I must look out for some thorough Ulmer girl
when I want to have a little gossip."
Bertha answered only by a smile, which expressed more than she dared to
utter; and Marie, taking a large bunch of keys which hung on the door,
hummed a song, and went to prepare for dinner. Though she might have
been accused of being rather over curious at the momentary appearance
of a courteous young cavalier, still that did not make her neglectful
of the important duties of a housekeeper.
She skipped out of the room, and left Bertha to her thoughts, which
we also will not disturb, whilst she now recalls to her mind the
endearing remembrance at gone-by days, which the appearance of the
afore-mentioned young cavalier called up at once from the depth of her
faithful heart. She dwelt on that time, when a hasty glance from him
would cheer the passing hours; she pondered on those nights when in her
retired room, undisturbed by her good aunt, she worked that scarf,
whose well-known colours awoke her now as out of a dream. We will not
at present pause to inquire the reason why, when blushing and with
downcast eyes, she asked herself, whether cousin Marie had rightly
described the sweet mouth of her beloved?