CHAPTER X.
The Emperor's table was laid in one of the lower rooms of the GoldenCross. The orchestra and the boy choir had been stationed in SaintLeonhard's chapel. A wide door led from the consecrated chamber, spannedby a vaulted roof, into the dining-room. When it was opened, the musicand singing would pour in a full flood to those seated around the board.
Shortly before midnight everything in kitchen and cellar was ready forthe royal couple. The wax candles and lamps were already lighted whenQueen Mary prepared to bring her imperial brother to the surprise whichshe had planned, and whose influence she eagerly anticipated.
The Emperor had received the last report half an hour before, and thencommissioned his physician, who had again warned him against the excessof work, to protect him from interruption--he desired to have an houralone.
Dr. Mathys had fulfilled this order with the utmost strictness. Even theEnglish ambassador was dismissed. The members of the royal household andthe nobles who during their stay in Ratisbon crowded around the royalbrother and sister, and even at this late hour filled the rooms andcorridors of the spacious building with busy life, had been commanded tostep lightly and keep silent.
The lord chamberlain, Count Heinrich of Nassau, saw that nothing wasstirring near the apartment of his imperial master, and the stewards,Quijada and Malfalconnet, aided him. But they could not prevent thebarking of Queen Mary's hunting dogs, and when their royal mistressfollowed them to accompany her illustrious brother to the dining-hall,Malfalconnet ventured to remark that the lion, when he retires tosolitude, sometimes values rest more than the presence of even the mostbeloved and adorable member of his noble race; but the regent quicklyretorted that she had not yet reached lion hunting, but she knew thateven the king of beasts possessed a stomach, and would be glad to haverest seasoned with dainty food.
"The banquet is ready," added Count Buren, and Malfalconnet, with a lowbow, said:
"And a portion of it is the covered chiming dish with which yourMajesty's love and wisdom intends to surprise the illustrious epicure."
While speaking, he cautiously opened the door of the royal apartment,but the dogs were held back by the pages who had carried the train ofthe festal robe. Two others zealously aided her to throw the trailingbrocade across her arm, and in this manner she entered her distinguishedbrother's chamber.
This was so deep that a short walk was necessary to reach the windownear which the Emperor sat. The office of lighting the vast room wasassigned to a dozen wax candles in a silver candelabrum, but they wereso inadequate to the task that neither the mythological scenes on theBrabant Gobelin curtains with which the walls were hung, nor the veryscanty furniture of the remainder of the long chamber could be seen fromthe door.
Thus the prevailing dusk concealed the surroundings of the great monarchwho was resting there, and the only object visible to the enteringQueen was his figure illumined by the light. In her soul everythingelse receded far behind the person, welfare, and pleasure of this mightysovereign. Yet she had already crossed half the room, and her entrancestill remained unnoticed.
The Emperor Charles, with his forehead resting on his hand, sat absorbedin thought before the papers which had occupied his attention. Howmournful he looked, what sorrowful thoughts were doubtless againburdening that anxious brain! Never before had he seemed to his sisterso old.
Perhaps it was the ceaseless planning and pondering of the statesman andgeneral which, during the last few years, had thinned the light-brownhair at the corners of the brow.
The resting ruler now seemed to have brought his mind to repose also,for every emotion had vanished from his pallid face. Even the sharplycut nostrils of the long nose, which usually moved swiftly, wereperfectly still. The heavy chin, framed by a thin, closely clippedbeard, had sunk upon the high ruff as if for support, and the thick,loosely hanging lower lip appeared to have lost its elasticity.
In this hour of rest and relaxation this tireless and successfulsovereign, utterly exhausted, had even relinquished seeming what hewas; his brown hair framed his brow and temples in a tangled, disorderedmass; the lacings of his velvet doublet were loosened; a shabby woollencoverlet of anything but imperial appearance was wound around his lowerlimbs, and the foot in which the gout throbbed and ached rested on hissleeping hound, and was wrapped in the cloths which his valet Adrianfound at hand after the Venetian ambassador, the confessor, and theleech had left his master.
It pierced his sister to the heart to see her mighty brother, upon whosedominions, it was said, the sun never set, in this guise.
Her glance rested sorrowfully upon him a long time, but even when shemoved several paces nearer he retained the same motionless rigiditywhich had seized upon him and even communicated itself to the dog. Theanimal knew the regent, and did not let her disturb its repose.
Then a terrible fear assailed her, and the image of the Cid Campeadorwho, mounted on horseback, went swaying on his steed to meet the foe,rose before her.
"Your Majesty," then again "Your Majesty," she called in a low tone,that she might not startle him; but the answer for which she waited inbreathless suspense did not come, and now the anxious dread that filledher sisterly heart forced from her lips the cry, "Carlos!" and once more"Carlos!"
The dog stirred, and at the same time the Emperor raised his bowed headand turned toward his sister.
Drawing a long breath, as if relieved from a heavy burden, she hastenedto his side, and, clasping his delicately formed hand, kissed it withpassionate tenderness; but the Emperor withdrew it, saying with amournful smile, which gave his rigid countenance a new and more winningexpression, in the Castilian language in which he always addressed her:
"Why are you so agitated, Querida? Did the sight of the silent brotheralarm the sister? Ay, darling, there are some things more terrible thanthe wild boar at which the brave huntress hurls her spear. Our mother'sbequest----"
Queen Mary, with hands outstretched beseechingly, bowed the knee beforehim; but he raised her with more strength than would have been expectedfrom him just before, and, sighing faintly, continued:
"There are hours, Mary, when the demon that overpowered the motherstretches his talons toward the son also. But, in spite of his satanicorigin, he is a cowardly wight, and a loving face, a tender word, driveshim away."
"Then may my coming be blessed!" she answered warmly. "Yet it canscarcely be a demon or any being of mortal mould that is spoiling thelife happiness of my beloved brother and sovereign lord. After all, theyare tolerably alike in the main point, and what semblance would the sonof hell wear that dares to assail the most powerful and vigorous mindof all the ages, and yet is seized with panic terror at the glance of afeeble woman? Whoever knows the anxieties which have recently burdenedyour Majesty, and the wide range of the decision to which the courseof events is urging you, can not wonder if, as just now, your cheerfulspirits desert you. No demons or evil creatures of that sort, Heavenknows, are needed to accomplish it."
"Certainly not," replied the Emperor. "Yet it does not matter what nameis borne by the unconquerable power which poisons with horrible imagesthe few hours of repose allotted to the solitary man who is bereft oflove and joy. But let us drop the subject! When you appear and raiseyour voice, it seems as though all gloomy thoughts heard the viewhallo which drives your stags and roes back into their coverts, Mary. Isuppose you have come to summon me to the table?"
The Queen assented, and now he could not prevent her kissing his hand.Then she seized the dainty little bell on the table to ring for thevalet Adrian; but the Emperor Charles stopped her with the exclamation:
"Never mind him. I will go with you as I am, if you do not object tosharing your meal with such a scarecrow of a man. Only permit me to lockup these papers."
"From Rome?" asked the regent eagerly.
"That is easily discerned," replied the Emperor. "New and amazinglyfavourable promises. Nothing is required of me except the triflingobligation to allow the Protestants nothing in religious affairswh
ich the Pope or the Council do not approve. If I agree to accept thepromises, every one will think that I have the advantage, and yet, ifthe contract is made, it is tearing from the sky the political polestarof many a lustrum, and burying one of my clearest, ripest, most sacredhopes."
Here the startled Queen interrupted him: "That would surely, inevitablybe the evil fruit which would grow from such a treaty. It would deliverto the Pope, with fettered hands, this very Council which your Majestyso confidently expected would remove or diminish, in orderly methods,the abuses which are urging so many Christians to abandon the CatholicChurch. How often I have heard even her most faithful sons acknowledgethat such abuses exist! But if you make the alliance, the self-interestof the hierarchy will know how to prevent the introduction of even asingle vigorous amendment, and, instead of the conqueror of the hydra ofabuse, your Majesty will render yourself its guardian."
"And," added the Emperor affectionately--he still retained his seatat the writing table--"this alliance, moreover, would force me to thepainful necessity of opposing the earnest wish of the dearest, fairest,and wisest of my sisters."
"Because it would render war with the evangelical princes inevitable,"cried the Queen excitedly. "Oh, your Majesty, you know that theheretical movement, which is making life a burden to me in my provinces,is going much too far for me, as well as for you here in Germany; nay,that it is hateful to me, because I value nothing more than our holyChurch, her greatness and unity. But would it really redound to herwelfare if the schism now existing, and which you yourself expected toheal through the Council, should by this very Council be embittered andeven perhaps perpetuated? For a long time nothing has seemed to me moreexecrable than this war. Your Majesty knows that, and therefore my lordand brother can not be vexed with me if I remind him of the hour when, afew months ago, he promised to avoid it and do all in his power tobring what relates to religious matters in these German countries to apeaceful conclusion."
The Emperor looked his sister full in the face, and, while struggling tohis feet, said with majestic dignity:
"And I have never given your Highness occasion to doubt my word." Then,changing his tone, he continued kindly: "No means--I repeat it--shallremain untried to preserve peace. I am in earnest, child, though thereare now many reasons for breaking the promise. I put them together onthe long list yonder, and the Spaniards at the court add new ones everyhour. If you care to know them----"
Here he hesitated, because the gout in his foot gave him a sharpertwinge; but the Queen availed herself of the pause to exclaim: "I thinkI am aware of them. It is especially hard just now for the statesman andsoldier to keep the sword in the sheath, because Rome offers more thanever, because at the present time no serious opposition is to be fearedfrom the most important states, and because the princes of the empirehave neglected nothing which could rouse the resentment of my imperialbrother. I know all this, and yet it is as firmly established as Alpinemountains----"
Here a low laugh escaped the Emperor's lips.
"The political course which could be thus firmly established is to befound, you experienced regent, only in one place--the strong imaginationof a high hearted woman, who desires to accomplish what she deems right.I, too, you may believe me, am opposed to this war, and, as mattersstand now, the German renegades, rather than we, may expect a gloriousresult. But, nevertheless, it may happen that I shall be compelled toask you to give me back my promise."
"I should like to see the person who could compel my august brother toundertake anything against his imperial will," the Queen passionatelyinterrupted.
"We will hope that this superior being may not appear only too soon,"replied the Emperor, smiling bitterly. "The invincible oppressorbears the name of unexpected circumstances; I encountered one of hisharbingers to-day. There lie the documents. Do you know to what thosemiserable papers force me, the Emperor?--ay, force, I repeat it. Tonothing less, Mary, than consciously to deal a blow in the face ofjustice, whose defender I ought and desire to be. I am not exaggerating,for I am withdrawing a fratricide from the courts, nay, am paving theway for him to evade punishment."
"You mean Alfonso Diaz, who had his brother murdered by a hiredassassin because he abandoned the holy Church and accepted the Lutheranreligion," said the Queen sorrowfully. "Malvenda was just tellingme----"
"He was the instigator of the crime," interrupted the Emperor. "Now herejoices in it as a deed well pleasing to God, and many thousands, Iknow, agree with him. And I? Had Juan Diaz been a German Johannes orHans, the Emperor Charles would have made Alfonso expiate his crimeupon the block this very day. But the brothers were Spaniards, and thatalters the case."
With this sentence, which fell from his lips in firm, resolute tones,his bearing regained its old decision, and his eyes met his sister'swith a flashing glance as he continued:
"The seed which here in the North, in carefully prepared soil and underthe fostering care of men only too skilful and ready for conflict, tookdeep root in the domain of religion, which we were obliged to toleratebecause it grew too rapidly and strongly for us to extirpate or crushit without depopulating a great empire and jeopardizing other veryimportant matters, would mean ruin to our Spain. Whoever dared totransplant the heresy to her soil would be the most infamous of thecorrupters of a nation, for the holy Church and the kingdom of Spainare one. The mere thought of a Juan Diaz, who had absorbed the hereticalLutheran doctrine here, returning home to infect the hearts of theCastilians with its venom, makes my blood boil also. Therefore, for thesake of Spain, a higher justice compels me to offend the secular one.The people beyond the Pyrenees shall learn that, even for the brother,it is no sin, but a duty, to shorten the life of the brother whoabandoned the holy Church. Let Alfonso Diaz strive to obtain absolution.It will not be difficult. He can sleep calmly, so far as the judges areconcerned who dispense justice in the name of Charles V."
As he spoke he waved his hand to repel the hound which, when he raisedhis voice, had pressed closer to him, and glanced at the artisticallywrought Nuremberg clocks on the writing table, two of which struck thehour at the same time. Then he himself seized the little bell, rang it,and permitted the valet Adrian to brush his hair and make the necessarychanges in his dress.
Then he invited his sister to accompany him to the table.
Walking without a shoe was difficult, and, when he saw the Queen lookdown sorrowfully at the cloths which swathed the foot, he said whiletoiling on:
"Imagine that we have been hunting and the boot remained stuck in themud. I am sure of indulgence from you. As to the others, even with onlyone shoe I am still the Emperor."
He opened the door as he spoke, and, while the valet held the houndback, the Emperor, with chivalrous courtesy, insisted that his sistershould precede him, though she resisted until Baron Malfalconnet, with alow bow to the royal dame, said:
"The meal is served, your Majesty, and if you lead the way you willprotect our Emperor and sovereign lord from the unworthy suspicion ofwishing to be first at the trencher."
He motioned toward the threshold as he uttered the words, but Charles,who often had a ready answer for the baron's jests, followed his sisterin silence with a clouded brow.
Leaning on her arm and the crutch which Quijada had mutely presentedto him, Charles cautiously descended the stairs. He had indignantlyrejected the leech's proposal to use a litter in the house also, if thegout tortured him.