Chapter 30. Wherein the Reader begins to guess the Kind of Executionthat was awaiting Van Baerle
The carriage rolled on during the whole day; it passed on the right ofDort, went through Rotterdam, and reached Delft. At five o'clock in theevening, at least twenty leagues had been travelled.
Cornelius addressed some questions to the officer, who was at the sametime his guard and his companion; but, cautious as were his inquiries,he had the disappointment of receiving no answer.
Cornelius regretted that he had no longer by his side the chattysoldier, who would talk without being questioned.
That obliging person would undoubtedly have given him as pleasantdetails and exact explanations concerning this third strange part of hisadventures as he had done concerning the first two.
The travellers passed the night in the carriage. On the followingmorning at dawn Cornelius found himself beyond Leyden, having the NorthSea on his left, and the Zuyder Zee on his right.
Three hours after, he entered Haarlem.
Cornelius was not aware of what had passed at Haarlem, and we shallleave him in ignorance of it until the course of events enlightens him.
But the reader has a right to know all about it even before our hero,and therefore we shall not make him wait.
We have seen that Rosa and the tulip, like two orphan sisters, hadbeen left by Prince William of Orange at the house of the President vanSystens.
Rosa did not hear again from the Stadtholder until the evening of thatday on which she had seen him face to face.
Toward evening, an officer called at Van Systen's house. He came fromhis Highness, with a request for Rosa to appear at the Town Hall.
There, in the large Council Room into which she was ushered, she foundthe Prince writing.
He was alone, with a large Frisian greyhound at his feet, which lookedat him with a steady glance, as if the faithful animal were wishing todo what no man could do,--read the thoughts of his master in his face.
William continued his writing for a moment; then, raising his eyes, andseeing Rosa standing near the door, he said, without laying down hispen,--
"Come here, my child."
Rosa advanced a few steps towards the table.
"Sit down," he said.
Rosa obeyed, for the Prince was fixing his eyes upon her, but he hadscarcely turned them again to his paper when she bashfully retired tothe door.
The Prince finished his letter.
During this time, the greyhound went up to Rosa, surveyed her and beganto caress her.
"Ah, ah!" said William to his dog, "it's easy to see that she is acountrywoman of yours, and that you recognise her."
Then, turning towards Rosa, and fixing on her his scrutinising, and atthe same time impenetrable glance, he said,--
"Now, my child."
The Prince was scarcely twenty-three, and Rosa eighteen or twenty. Hemight therefore perhaps better have said, My sister.
"My child," he said, with that strangely commanding accent which chilledall those who approached him, "we are alone; let us speak together."
Rosa began to tremble, and yet there was nothing but kindness in theexpression of the Prince's face.
"Monseigneur," she stammered.
"You have a father at Loewestein?"
"Yes, your Highness."
"You do not love him?"
"I do not; at least, not as a daughter ought to do, Monseigneur."
"It is not right not to love one's father, but it is right not to tell afalsehood."
Rosa cast her eyes to the ground.
"What is the reason of your not loving your father?"
"He is wicked."
"In what way does he show his wickedness?"
"He ill-treats the prisoners."
"All of them?"
"All."
"But don't you bear him a grudge for ill-treating some one inparticular?"
"My father ill-treats in particular Mynheer van Baerle, who----"
"Who is your lover?"
Rosa started back a step.
"Whom I love, Monseigneur," she answered proudly.
"Since when?" asked the Prince.
"Since the day when I first saw him."
"And when was that?"
"The day after that on which the Grand Pensionary John and his brotherCornelius met with such an awful death."
The Prince compressed his lips, and knit his brow and his eyelidsdropped so as to hide his eyes for an instant. After a momentarysilence, he resumed the conversation.
"But to what can it lead to love a man who is doomed to live and die inprison?"
"It will lead, if he lives and dies in prison, to my aiding him in lifeand in death."
"And would you accept the lot of being the wife of a prisoner?"
"As the wife of Mynheer van Baerle, I should, under any circumstances,be the proudest and happiest woman in the world; but----"
"But what?"
"I dare not say, Monseigneur."
"There is something like hope in your tone; what do you hope?"
She raised her moist and beautiful eyes, and looked at William with aglance full of meaning, which was calculated to stir up in the recessesof his heart the clemency which was slumbering there.
"Ah, I understand you," he said.
Rosa, with a smile, clasped her hands.
"You hope in me?" said the Prince.
"Yes, Monseigneur."
"Umph!"
The Prince sealed the letter which he had just written, and summoned oneof his officers, to whom he said,--
"Captain van Deken, carry this despatch to Loewestein; you will readthe orders which I give to the Governor, and execute them as far as theyregard you."
The officer bowed, and a few minutes afterwards the gallop of a horsewas heard resounding in the vaulted archway.
"My child," continued the Prince, "the feast of the tulip will be onSunday next, that is to say, the day after to-morrow. Make yourselfsmart with these five hundred guilders, as I wish that day to be a greatday for you."
"How does your Highness wish me to be dressed?" faltered Rosa.
"Take the costume of a Frisian bride." said William; "it will suit youvery well indeed."