CHAPTER VIII.

  Wolf's first walk took him to the Golden Cross, the lodgings of theEmperor Charles and his court. The sky had clouded again, and a keennorthwest wind was blowing across the Haidplatz and waving the banneron the lofty square battlemented tower at the right of the stately oldedifice.

  It had originally belonged to the Weltenburg family as a strongoffensive and defensive building, then frequently changed hands.

  The double escutcheon on the bow-window was that of the Thun and Fuggervon Reh families, who had owned it in Wolf's childhood.

  Now he glanced up to see whether young Herr Crafft, to whom the buildingnow belonged, had not also added an ornament to it. But when Wolf'sgaze wandered so intently from the tower to the bow-window, and from thebow-window to the great entrance door, it was by no means from pleasureor interest in the exterior of the Golden Cross, but because Barbara hadconfessed that the nineteen-year-old owner of the edifice, who was stilla minor, was also wooing her.

  What was the probable value of this stately structure, this aristocraticimperial abode? How rich its owner was! yet she, the brilliant youngbeauty who had grown up in poverty, disdained young Crafft because herheart did not attract her to him.

  So, in this case, faithful Ursel must deceive herself and misjudge thegirl, for the old woman's strangely evasive words had revealed plainlyenough that she did not consider Barbara the right wife for him.

  The good people of Ratisbon could not understand this rare creature! Herartist nature gave her peculiar, unusual traits of character, which weredistasteful to the ways of German burghers. Whatever did not fit theusual forms, whatever surpassed ordinary models, was regarded withdistrust. He himself had scarcely been able to understand how a girl sofree and independent in her feelings, and probably also in her actions,such a mistress of the art of singing, whose performances fulfilled thehighest demands, could have bloomed and matured in this environment.

  Old Ursel's evasion had wounded and troubled him; the thoughtsassociated with the double escutcheon on the bow-window, however,revived the clouded feeling of happiness, and, with head erect, hepassed the guards at the entrance and went into the corridor, which wasagain crowded with lords and ladies of the court, priests of all ranks,knights, pages, and servants.

  His position gave him access to the Queen of Hungary's apartmentswithout delay--nay, he might hope to be received by her Majesty soonerthan many of the knights, lords and ladies, ecclesiastical and seculardignitaries who were waiting there; the stewards, chamberlains andheralds, the ladies of the court, pages, and lackeys knew that the royallady not only summoned Sir Wolf Hartschwert frequently, but welcomed hispresence.

  Nearly all were Spaniards or natives of the Netherlands, and it wasfortunate for Wolf, on the one hand, that he had learned their languagequickly and well in Italy and Brussels, and, on the other, that hisbirth entitled him to a place with nobles who had the rank of knights.

  How formal and stiffly precise everything was here! How many backs bowedlow, how softly bombastic, high-sounding words were murmured! It seemedas if every free, warm impulse would lapse into stiffness and coldness;moreover, those assembled here were not the poor petitioners of otherantechambers, but lords and ladies who belonged to the most illustriousand aristocratic families, while among the waiting ecclesiastics therewas many a prelate with the dignified bearing of a bishop.

  Some of the Netherlanders alone frequently threw off the constraintwhich fettered all, and one even turned with the gayest ease from oneperson to another. This was Baron Malfalconnet, one of the Emperor'smajor-domos. He was permitted to do what no one else ventured, for hischeerfulness and wit, his gift of story-telling, and sharp tongue oftensucceeded in dispelling the clouds of melancholy from the brow of hisimperial master.

  At Wolf's entrance the baron greeted him with merry banter, and thenwhispered to him that the regent was expecting him in her private room,where the leaders of the newly arrived musicians had already gone. AsWolf belonged to the "elect," he would conduct him to her Majesty before"the called" who were here in the waiting room.

  As he spoke he delivered him to the Emperor's confidential secretary,Gastelu, whom Wolf had often aided in the translation of German letters,and the latter ushered him into the Queen's reception room.

  It was the royal lady's sleeping apartment, a moderately wide, unusuallydeep chamber, looking out upon the Haidplatz. The walls were hung withFlanders Gobelin tapestry, whose coloured pictures represented woodlandlandscapes and hunters. The Queen's bed stood halfway down the long wallat the right.

  Little could be seen of her person, for heavy gold-embroidered damaskcurtains hung around the wide, lofty bedstead, falling from the canopyprojecting, rootlike, above the top, where gilded child genii bore aroyal crown. On the side toward the room the curtains were drawn backfar enough to allow those who were permitted to approach the regent tosee her head and the upper portion of her body, which was wrapped in anermine cape.

  She leaned in a sitting posture against a pile of white satin pillows,and her thick locks, interwoven with strings of pearls, bore witness tothe skill of the maid who had combed and curled them so artistically andadorned them with a heron's plume. Two beautiful English pointers anda slender hound were moving about and sometimes disturbed the repose ofthe two Wachtersbach badger dogs, who were trained to keep side by sideeverywhere--in the room as well as in hunting. When the door opened theyonly raised their sagacious little heads with a low growl.

  The other living beings who had obtained admittance to the Queen'schamber at so early an hour were constrained by etiquette to formal,silent quiescence. Only the ladies in waiting and the chamberlains movedto and fro unasked, but they also stepped lightly and graduated thedepth of the bow with which they greeted each individual to suit hisor her rank, while the pages used their nimble feet, whose tread silkenshoes rendered noiseless, lightly and carelessly.

  The features of most of the persons present expressed reverence andexpectation. But although, on account of the clouded sky and the smallwindow panes, the rear of the deep apartment especially was only dimlylighted, the impression produced was neither gloomy nor depressing. Thiswas prevented by the swift movements of the pages, the shrill screamsof the gay parrots at the window, the paraphernalia of the chase hung onthe wall, and especially by the regent herself, whose clear voice brokethe silence with gay unconcern, and exerted a redeeming influence uponthe constraint of the listeners.

  She had just received the Bishop of Hildesheim, the Prince of Savoy,and the Countess Tassis, but gave each only a brief audience, forthe entrance of the conductor of the orchestra had not escaped herattention.

  Several other personages of the highest rank were still among thewaiting group, and her chamberlain, Count Hochstraaten, asked in a lowtone whether she would deign to receive the Count Palatine von Simmern;but she was determined to close the audience, for Wolf Hartschwert hadentered the room, and the subjects which she desired to discuss with himand the musicians would permit no witnesses.

  So, without answering Hochstraaten's question, she turned her facetoward the chamber, and said, loudly enough to be heard by all present:

  "This reception must suffice for to-day! Whoever does not know that Iused last night in his Majesty's service for a better purpose than sleepwill deem me a lazy sluggard. Would to Heaven I had no worse fault! Therising sun sees me more frequently at my station in the hunting groundsthan it does many of you, my honoured friends, at the breakfast table.So, Hochstraaten, be kind enough to tell the ladies and gentlemen whohave given me the pleasure of their visits, that their patience shall beless severely tried this evening before vespers."

  While speaking, she beckoned to the Marquise de Leria, her oldest ladyin waiting, and, as the latter bent her aged back to adjust the pillows,the Queen whispered to her to detain the conductor of the orchestra andSir Wolf Hartschwert.

  The order was instantly obeyed, but some time elapsed ere the last ofthose who had sought an audience left the room, fo
r, although the regentvouchsafed no one a glance, but turned the pages of a note-book whichhad been lying on the little table at the head of her bed, each person,before crossing the threshold, bowed toward the couch in the slow,formal manner which etiquette dictated.

  As soon as Queen Mary found herself alone with the musicians and themarquise, she beckoned graciously to the former, but with familiarkindness to Wolf, and asked for a brief account of his journey. Then sheconfessed that the Emperor's sufferings and melancholy mood had inducedher to subject them to the discomforts of the trip to Ratisbon. HisMajesty was ignorant of their presence, but she anticipated the mostfavourable result upon her royal brother, who so warmly loved and keenlyappreciated music, if he could hear unexpectedly the finest melodies,sometimes inspiring, sometimes cheering in tone.

  Her inquiry whether his Majesty's orchestra and her own boys would beable to give a performance that evening was eagerly answered in theaffirmative by Maestro Gombert, the conductor of the orchestra, andBenedictus Appenzelder, conductor of the boy choir, who was in herpersonal service. She expressed her pleasure in the knowledge, and thenproposed to surprise the Emperor at the principal meal, about midnight,with Jacob Hobrecht's Missa Graecorum, whose magnificent profundity hisMajesty especially admired.

  Gombert forced himself to keep silence, but the significant smile on hisdelicate, beardless lips betrayed what he thought of this selection. Theconductor of the boy choir was franker. He slightly shook his ponderoushead, whose long, gray hair was parted in the middle, and then honestlyadmitted, in his deep tones, that the Missa Graecorum seemed to himtoo majestic and gloomy for this purpose. Wolf, too, disapproved of theQueen's suggestion for the same reason, and, though she pointed outthat she had chosen this composition precisely on account of its deepreligious earnestness, the former persisted in his opposition, andmodestly mentioned the melody which would probably be best suited for asurprise at his imperial Majesty's repast.

  Maestro Gombert had recently composed a Benedictio Mensae for fourvoices, and, as it was one of his most effective creations, had neverbeen executed, and therefore would be entirely new to the Emperor, itwas specially adapted to introduce the concert with which the monarchwas to be surprised at table.

  The Queen would have preferred that a religious piece should commencethe musical performance, but assented to Wolf's proposal. Gomberthimself dispelled her fear that his composition would be purely secularin character, and Wolf upheld him by singing to the musical princess,to the accompaniment of the lute, snatches of the principal theme of theBenedictio, which had impressed itself upon his faithful memory.

  Gombert assisted him, but Appenzelder stroked his long beard, signifyinghis approval by nods and brief exclamations of satisfaction. The Queenwas now sincerely glad that this piece of music had been brought to hernotice; certainly nothing more suitable for the purpose could have beenfound. Besides, her kindly nature and feminine tact made her grateful toWolf for his hint of distinguishing, by the first performance of oneof his works, the able conductor and fine composer upon whom she hadimposed so fatiguing a journey.

  She would gladly have given Appenzelder also some token of her favour,but she could not have used any of his compositions--the most famous ofwhich was a dirge--upon this occasion, and the blunt long-beard franklyadmitted this, and declared unasked that he desired nothing betterthan to offer his Majesty, with the Benedictio, the first greeting ofNetherland music.

  Gombert's bearing was that of an aristocrat, his lofty brow that of athinker, and his mobile mouth rendered it easy to perceive what a wealthof joyous mirth dwelt within the soul of this artist, who was equallydistinguished in grave and gay moods.

  Queen Mary was by no means blind to these merits, and lamented theimpossibility of being on more familiar terms of intercourse with himand his colleague of the boy choir. But both were of humble birth, andfrom childhood custom had prohibited her, as well as the other femalemembers of her family, from associating with persons who did not belongto the nobility. So there was no place for either in her household.

  Rough Appenzelder regarded this as fortunate; Gombert thought it amatter of course because custom so ordained.

  The stimulus which the Queen could expect from Wolf Hartschwert wascertainly far less deep and varied; yet to him who, as a knight,belonged to her train, she granted many favours which she denied thefamous Gombert. Besides, Wolf's musical knowledge was as remarkableas his usefulness as a secretary. Lastly, his equable disposition, hisunerring sense of propriety, and his well-proved fidelity had gained thefull confidence of the royal lady.

  By the side of the two composers and leaders of the musicians he lookedalmost boyish, yet, as the regent was overburdened with affairs ofstate, she confided to him alone the care of the further success of thesurprise.

  He was familiar with the rooms of the Golden Cross, and before midnightwould have posted the singers and musicians so that his Majesty wouldfirst learn through his ears the pleasure which they intended to bestowupon him.