Chapter 32. A Last Request
At this solemn moment, and whilst the cheers still resounded, a carriagewas driving along the road on the outskirts of the green on which thescene occurred; it pursued its way slowly, on account of the flocksof children who were pushed out of the avenue by the crowd of men andwomen.
This carriage, covered with dust, and creaking on its axles, the resultof a long journey, enclosed the unfortunate Van Baerle, who was justbeginning to get a glimpse through the open window of the scene which wehave tried--with poor success, no doubt--to present to the eyes of thereader.
The crowd and the noise and the display of artificial and naturalmagnificence were as dazzling to the prisoner as a ray of light flashingsuddenly into his dungeon.
Notwithstanding the little readiness which his companion had shown inanswering his questions concerning his fate, he ventured once more toask the meaning of all this bustle, which at first sight seemed to beutterly disconnected with his own affairs.
"What is all this, pray, Mynheer Lieutenant?" he asked of his conductor.
"As you may see, sir," replied the officer, "it is a feast."
"Ah, a feast," said Cornelius, in the sad tone of indifference of a manto whom no joy remains in this world.
Then, after some moments, silence, during which the carriage hadproceeded a few yards, he asked once more,--
"The feast of the patron saint of Haarlem? as I see so many flowers."
"It is, indeed, a feast in which flowers play a principal part."
"Oh, the sweet scents! oh, the beautiful colours!" cried Cornelius.
"Stop, that the gentleman may see," said the officer, with that frankkindliness which is peculiar to military men, to the soldier who wasacting as postilion.
"Oh, thank you, Sir, for your kindness," replied Van Baerle, in amelancholy tone; "the joy of others pains me; please spare me thispang."
"Just as you wish. Drive on! I ordered the driver to stop becauseI thought it would please you, as you are said to love flowers, andespecially that the feast of which is celebrated to-day."
"And what flower is that?"
"The tulip."
"The tulip!" cried Van Baerle, "is to-day the feast of tulips?"
"Yes, sir; but as this spectacle displeases you, let us drive on."
The officer was about to give the order to proceed, but Corneliusstopped him, a painful thought having struck him. He asked, withfaltering voice,--
"Is the prize given to-day, sir?"
"Yes, the prize for the black tulip."
Cornelius's cheek flushed, his whole frame trembled, and the cold sweatstood on his brow.
"Alas! sir," he said, "all these good people will be as unfortunateas myself, for they will not see the solemnity which they have come towitness, or at least they will see it incompletely."
"What is it you mean to say?"
"I mean to say." replied Cornelius, throwing himself back in thecarriage, "that the black tulip will not be found, except by one whom Iknow."
"In this case," said the officer, "the person whom you know has foundit, for the thing which the whole of Haarlem is looking at at thismoment is neither more nor less than the black tulip."
"The black tulip!" replied Van Baerle, thrusting half his body out ofthe carriage window. "Where is it? where is it?"
"Down there on the throne,--don't you see?"
"I do see it."
"Come along, sir," said the officer. "Now we must drive off."
"Oh, have pity, have mercy, sir!" said Van Baerle, "don't take me away!Let me look once more! Is what I see down there the black tulip? Quiteblack? Is it possible? Oh, sir, have you seen it? It must have specks,it must be imperfect, it must only be dyed black. Ah! if I were there,I should see it at once. Let me alight, let me see it close, I beg ofyou."
"Are you mad, Sir? How could I allow such a thing?"
"I implore you."
"But you forget that you are a prisoner."
"It is true I am a prisoner, but I am a man of honour, and I promise youon my word that I will not run away, I will not attempt to escape,--onlylet me see the flower."
"But my orders, Sir, my orders." And the officer again made the driver asign to proceed.
Cornelius stopped him once more.
"Oh, be forbearing, be generous! my whole life depends upon your pity.Alas! perhaps it will not be much longer. You don't know, sir, what Isuffer. You don't know the struggle going on in my heart and mind. Forafter all," Cornelius cried in despair, "if this were my tulip, if itwere the one which has been stolen from Rosa! Oh, I must alight, sir! Imust see the flower! You may kill me afterwards if you like, but I willsee it, I must see it."
"Be quiet, unfortunate man, and come quickly back into the carriage, forhere is the escort of his Highness the Stadtholder, and if the Princeobserved any disturbance, or heard any noise, it would be ruin to me, aswell as to you."
Van Baerle, more afraid for his companion than himself, threw himselfback into the carriage, but he could only keep quiet for half a minute,and the first twenty horsemen had scarcely passed when he again leanedout of the carriage window, gesticulating imploringly towards theStadtholder at the very moment when he passed.
William, impassible and quiet as usual, was proceeding to the green tofulfil his duty as chairman. He held in his hand the roll of parchment,which, on this festive day, had become his baton.
Seeing the man gesticulate with imploring mien, and perhaps alsorecognising the officer who accompanied him, his Highness ordered hiscarriage to stop.
In an instant his snorting steeds stood still, at a distance of aboutsix yards from the carriage in which Van Baerle was caged.
"What is this?" the Prince asked the officer, who at the first orderof the Stadtholder had jumped out of the carriage, and was respectfullyapproaching him.
"Monseigneur," he cried, "this is the prisoner of state whom I havefetched from Loewestein, and whom I have brought to Haarlem according toyour Highness's command."
"What does he want?"
"He entreats for permission to stop here for minute."
"To see the black tulip, Monseigneur," said Van Baerle, clasping hishands, "and when I have seen it, when I have seen what I desire to know,I am quite ready to die, if die I must; but in dying I shall bless yourHighness's mercy for having allowed me to witness the glorification ofmy work."
It was, indeed, a curious spectacle to see these two men at the windowsof their several carriages; the one surrounded by his guards, and allpowerful, the other a prisoner and miserable; the one going to mount athrone, the other believing himself to be on his way to the scaffold.
William, looking with his cold glance on Cornelius, listened to hisanxious and urgent request.
Then addressing himself to the officer, he said,--
"Is this person the mutinous prisoner who has attempted to kill hisjailer at Loewestein?"
Cornelius heaved a sigh and hung his head. His good-tempered honest faceturned pale and red at the same instant. These words of the all-powerfulPrince, who by some secret messenger unavailable to other mortals hadalready been apprised of his crime, seemed to him to forebode not onlyhis doom, but also the refusal of his last request.
He did not try to make a struggle, or to defend himself; and hepresented to the Prince the affecting spectacle of despairing innocence,like that of a child,--a spectacle which was fully understood and feltby the great mind and the great heart of him who observed it.
"Allow the prisoner to alight, and let him see the black tulip; it iswell worth being seen once."
"Thank you, Monseigneur, thank you," said Cornelius, nearly swooningwith joy, and staggering on the steps of his carriage; had not theofficer supported him, our poor friend would have made his thanks to hisHighness prostrate on his knees with his forehead in the dust.
After having granted this permission, the Prince proceeded on his wayover the green amidst the most enthusiastic acclamations.
He soon arrived at the platfo
rm, and the thunder of cannon shook theair.
Chapter 33. Conclusion
Van Baerle, led by four guards, who pushed their way through the crowd,sidled up to the black tulip, towards which his gaze was attracted withincreasing interest the nearer he approached to it.
He saw it at last, that unique flower, which he was to see once and nomore. He saw it at the distance of six paces, and was delighted with itsperfection and gracefulness; he saw it surrounded by young and beautifulgirls, who formed, as it were, a guard of honour for this queen ofexcellence and purity. And yet, the more he ascertained with his owneyes the perfection of the flower, the more wretched and miserable hefelt. He looked all around for some one to whom he might addressonly one question, but his eyes everywhere met strange faces, and theattention of all was directed towards the chair of state, on which theStadtholder had seated himself.
William rose, casting a tranquil glance over the enthusiastic crowd,and his keen eyes rested by turns on the three extremities of a triangleformed opposite to him by three persons of very different interests andfeelings.
At one of the angles, Boxtel, trembling with impatience, and quiteabsorbed in watching the Prince, the guilders, the black tulip, and thecrowd.
At the other, Cornelius, panting for breath, silent, and his attention,his eyes, his life, his heart, his love, quite concentrated on the blacktulip.
And thirdly, standing on a raised step among the maidens of Haarlem,a beautiful Frisian girl, dressed in fine scarlet woollen cloth,embroidered with silver, and covered with a lace veil, which fell inrich folds from her head-dress of gold brocade; in one word, Rosa,who, faint and with swimming eyes, was leaning on the arm of one of theofficers of William.
The Prince then slowly unfolded the parchment, and said, with a calmclear voice, which, although low, made itself perfectly heard amidstthe respectful silence, which all at once arrested the breath of fiftythousand spectators.--
"You know what has brought us here?
"A prize of one hundred thousand guilders has been promised to whosoevershould grow the black tulip.
"The black tulip has been grown; here it is before your eyes, comingup to all the conditions required by the programme of the HorticulturalSociety of Haarlem.
"The history of its production, and the name of its grower, will beinscribed in the book of honour of the city.
"Let the person approach to whom the black tulip belongs."
In pronouncing these words, the Prince, to judge of the effect theyproduced, surveyed with his eagle eye the three extremities of thetriangle.
He saw Boxtel rushing forward. He saw Cornelius make an involuntarymovement; and lastly he saw the officer who was taking care of Rosalead, or rather push her forward towards him.
At the sight of Rosa, a double cry arose on the right and left of thePrince.
Boxtel, thunderstruck, and Cornelius, in joyful amazement, bothexclaimed,--
"Rosa! Rosa!"
"This tulip is yours, is it not, my child?" said the Prince.
"Yes, Monseigneur," stammered Rosa, whose striking beauty excited ageneral murmur of applause.
"Oh!" muttered Cornelius, "she has then belied me, when she said thisflower was stolen from her. Oh! that's why she left Loewestein. Alas!am I then forgotten, betrayed by her whom I thought my best friend onearth?"
"Oh!" sighed Boxtel, "I am lost."
"This tulip," continued the Prince, "will therefore bear the name of itsproducer, and figure in the catalogue under the title, Tulipa nigra RosaBarlaensis, because of the name Van Baerle, which will henceforth be thename of this damsel."
And at the same time William took Rosa's hand, and placed it in that ofa young man, who rushed forth, pale and beyond himself with joy, to thefoot of the throne saluting alternately the Prince and his bride; andwho with a grateful look to heaven, returned his thanks to the Giver ofall this happiness.
At the same moment there fell at the feet of the President van Systensanother man, struck down by a very different emotion.
Boxtel, crushed by the failure of his hopes, lay senseless on theground.
When they raised him, and examined his pulse and his heart, he was quitedead.
This incident did not much disturb the festival, as neither the Princenor the President seemed to mind it much.
Cornelius started back in dismay, when in the thief, in the pretendedJacob, he recognised his neighbour, Isaac Boxtel, whom, in the innocenceof his heart, he had not for one instant suspected of such a wickedaction.
Then, to the sound of trumpets, the procession marched back without anychange in its order, except that Boxtel was now dead, and that Corneliusand Rosa were walking triumphantly side by side and hand in hand.
On their arriving at the Hotel de Ville, the Prince, pointing withhis finger to the purse with the hundred thousand guilders, said toCornelius,--
"It is difficult to say by whom this money is gained, by you or by Rosa;for if you have found the black tulip, she has nursed it and brought itinto flower. It would therefore be unjust to consider it as her dowry;it is the gift of the town of Haarlem to the tulip."
Cornelius wondered what the Prince was driving at. The lattercontinued,--
"I give to Rosa the sum of a hundred thousand guilders, which she hasfairly earned, and which she can offer to you. They are the reward ofher love, her courage, and her honesty. As to you, Sir--thanks to Rosaagain, who has furnished the proofs of your innocence----"
And, saying these words, the Prince handed to Cornelius that fly-leaf ofthe Bible on which was written the letter of Cornelius de Witt, and inwhich the third bulb had been wrapped,--
"As to you, it has come to light that you were imprisoned for a crimewhich you had not committed. This means, that you are not only free,but that your property will be restored to you; as the property of aninnocent man cannot be confiscated. Cornelius van Baerle, you are thegodson of Cornelius de Witt and the friend of his brother John. Remainworthy of the name you have received from one of them, and of thefriendship you have enjoyed with the other. The two De Witts, wronglyjudged and wrongly punished in a moment of popular error, were two greatcitizens, of whom Holland is now proud."
The Prince, after these last words, which contrary to his custom, hepronounced with a voice full of emotion, gave his hands to the lovers tokiss, whilst they were kneeling before him.
Then heaving a sigh, he said,--
"Alas! you are very happy, who, dreaming only of what perhaps is thetrue glory of Holland, and forms especially her true happiness, do notattempt to acquire for her anything beyond new colours of tulips."
And, casting a glance towards that point of the compass where Francelay, as if he saw new clouds gathering there, he entered his carriageand drove off.
Cornelius started on the same day for Dort with Rosa, who sent herlover's old housekeeper as a messenger to her father, to apprise him ofall that had taken place.
Those who, thanks to our description, have learned the character of oldGryphus, will comprehend that it was hard for him to become reconciledto his son-in-law. He had not yet forgotten the blows which he hadreceived in that famous encounter. To judge from the weals which hecounted, their number, he said, amounted to forty-one; but at last, inorder, as he declared, not to be less generous than his Highness theStadtholder, he consented to make his peace.
Appointed to watch over the tulips, the old man made the rudest keeperof flowers in the whole of the Seven Provinces.
It was indeed a sight to see him watching the obnoxious moths andbutterflies, killing slugs, and driving away the hungry bees.
As he had heard Boxtel's story, and was furious at having been thedupe of the pretended Jacob, he destroyed the sycamore behind whichthe envious Isaac had spied into the garden; for the plot of groundbelonging to him had been bought by Cornelius, and taken into his owngarden.
Rosa, growing not only in beauty, but in wisdom also, after two yearsof her married life, could read and write so well that she was able toundertake by he
rself the education of two beautiful children which shehad borne in 1674 and 1675, both in May, the month of flowers.
As a matter of course, one was a boy, the other a girl, the former beingcalled Cornelius, the other Rosa.
Van Baerle remained faithfully attached to Rosa and to his tulips.The whole of his life was devoted to the happiness of his wife andthe culture of flowers, in the latter of which occupations he was sosuccessful that a great number of his varieties found a place in thecatalogue of Holland.
The two principal ornaments of his drawing-room were those two leavesfrom the Bible of Cornelius de Witt, in large golden frames; one of themcontaining the letter in which his godfather enjoined him to burn thecorrespondence of the Marquis de Louvois, and the other his own will,in which he bequeathed to Rosa his bulbs under condition that she shouldmarry a young man of from twenty-six to twenty-eight years, who lovedher and whom she loved, a condition which was scrupulously fulfilled,although, or rather because, Cornelius did not die.
And to ward off any envious attempts of another Isaac Boxtel, he wroteover his door the lines which Grotius had, on the day of his flight,scratched on the walls of his prison:--
"Sometimes one has suffered so much that he has the right never to beable to say, 'I am too happy.'"
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