CHAPTER VI.
THE TRAITOR UNMASKED.
The direst day of my life since that on which I accompanied the remainsof Victorin, his son and my beloved wife Ellen to the funeral pyre thatwas to consume them, was the day on which the following events tookplace. They happened, my son, two hundred and sixty years after ourancestress Genevieve saw the young man of Nazareth die upon the cross,and five years after the assassination of Marion, the successor ofVictorin in the government of Gaul.
Victoria no longer lived in Mayence, but in Treves, a large andmagnificent Gallic city situated on this side of the Rhine. I continuedto live with my foster-sister. Sampso, who served you as a mother sincethe death of my never-to-be-forgotten Ellen, Sampso became my secondwife. On the evening of our marriage she admitted to me a fact of whichI never had any doubt--that having always felt a secret inclination forme, she had decided never to marry, and to share her life with Ellen,you, my child, and myself.
My wife's death; the affection and profound esteem that Sampso inspiredin me; her virtues; the kindnesses that she heaped upon you; the lovewith which you reciprocated her tenderness towards you--you loved her asa mother, whose place she worthily filled; the requirements of youreducation; finally also the urgent requests of Victoria, who valuingthe qualities of Sampso, warmly urged the union;--all thesecircumstances combined to induce me to propose marriage to your aunt.She accepted. But for the distressing recollections of the death ofVictorin and Ellen, of whom not a day passed but we spoke with tears inour eyes; but for the incurable grief of Victoria, whose mind everturned upon her son and grandson;--but for these circumstances I would,after so many misfortunes, have re-embraced happiness when I embracedSampso as my wife.
Accordingly, I shared Victoria's house in the city of Treves. The sunhad just risen; I was engaged with some writing for the Mother of theCamps, seeing that I continued my offices near her. Her confidentialservant, called Mora, stepped into the room. The girl claimed to havebeen born in Mauritania, whence her name of Mora. Like the inhabitantsof that region, her complexion was bronzed, almost black, like aNegro's. Nevertheless, despite the somber hue of her face, she washandsome and young. Since the four years (remember the date, my son),since the four years that Mora served my foster-sister, she gained hermistress's affection by her zeal, her reserve and her devotion thatseemed proof against all temptation to change her quarters.Occasionally, seeking some diversion from her sorrows, Victoria wouldask Mora to sing, because the girl's voice was of remarkable sweetnessand sadness. One of the officers of the army who had been as far as theDanube, said to us one day as he heard Mora sing, that he had heardthose peculiar songs in the mountains of Bohemia. Mora seemed startled,and said that she learned the songs she was singing as a little child inthe country of Mauritania.
"Schanvoch," said Mora to me, "my mistress wishes to speak to you."
"I shall follow you, Mora."
"But before you go, one word, I beg you."
"Speak--what is it?"
"You are the friend, the foster-brother of my mistress--what affects heraffects you--"
"Undoubtedly--what are you driving at?"
"You left my mistress last night after having spent the evening withher, your wife and son--"
"Yes--and Victoria withdrew to her room, as usual."
"Now listen--a short time after your departure, I took to her room a manwrapped in a cloak. After a conversation with the unknown man, thatlasted deep into the night, instead of going to bed, my mistress was soagitated that she walked up and down the room until morning."
"Who can that man be?" I asked myself aloud, yielding to myastonishment. Victoria was not in the habit of keeping any secrets fromme. "What mystery is this?"
Mora believed that I questioned her, an act of indiscretion on my partthat I would have carefully guarded against, out of respect forVictoria. The girl answered:
"After your departure, Schanvoch, my mistress said to me: 'Go out by thegarden gate. Wait at the little door. You will soon hear a rap. A man ina cloak will present himself--bring him to me--and not a word upon thisto anyone whatever--'"
"You should, then, have abstained from making the confidence to me."
"Perhaps I am wrong in not keeping the secret, even from you, Schanvoch,the devoted friend and brother of my mistress. But she seemed to me soagitated after the departure of the mysterious personage, that I thoughtit my duty to tell you all. There is another reason why I decided tospeak to you. I led the man back to the garden gate--I walked a fewsteps ahead of him--he seemed to be in a towering rage, and he droppedterrible threats against my mistress. It was this that determined me toreveal to you the secret of the interview."
"Did you notify Victoria of the threats made against her?"
"No--I was hardly back to her when she brusquely--she who is otherwiseso gentle towards me--ordered me to leave the room. I withdrew to acontiguous apartment, and from there I could hear my mistress walk theroom all night in great agitation until dawn when she finally threwherself upon her couch. A minute ago she called me in and ordered me tobring you to her. Oh! If you had seen her! She looked so pale andsomber! I thought it best to reveal to you all that had happened--"
I hastened to Victoria in a state of great alarm. The sight of herstruck me painfully. Mora had not exaggerated.
Before proceeding with the thread of this narrative, and to the end ofhelping you to understand it, my son, I must give you some details uponthe special arrangement of Victoria's chamber. In the rear of thespacious apartment was a species of niche covered with heavy curtains.In that niche, whither my foster-sister frequently retired in order tothink of those whom she had loved so much, hung the casques and swordsof her father, her husband and her son Victorin, over the symbols of ourdruid faith. In the niche also stood--a dear and precious relic--thecradle of the grandson of this woman, whom misfortune had so sorelytried.
Victoria stepped towards me, reached out her hand, and said in afaltering voice:
"Brother, for the first time in my life I have kept a secret from you;brother, for the first time in my life I am about to resort to ruse anddissimulation."
She then took me by the hand, led me to the niche, drew back the heavycurtain that closed it from sight, and added:
"Every minute is precious; step into that niche; remain there silent,motionless, and lose not a word of all that you shall hear. I hide youin time in order to remove suspicion."
The curtains of the niche closed upon me; I remained in the dark; for awhile I heard only Victoria's steps over the floor as she walked theroom in evident agitation. I was in my hiding place for over half anhour when I heard the door of Victoria's room open and close. Someonestepped in and said:
"Greeting to Victoria the Great!"
It was Tetrik's voice, the same mellifluous and insinuating voice. Thefollowing conversation took place between him and Victoria. As sherecommended to me, I engraved every word in my memory, and that same dayI transcribed them, realizing the gravity of the dialogue. Anothercircumstance which I shall presently inform you of dictated theprecaution to me.
"Greeting to Victoria the Great," said the former Governor of Gascony.
"Greeting to you, Tetrik."
"Did the night bring counsel, Victoria?"
"Tetrik," answered Victoria in a perfectly calm voice that was in strongcontrast with the agitation under which I had just seen her laboring,"Tetrik, you are a poet?"
"It is true--I sometimes seek in the cultivation of letters a littlerecreation from the cares of state--especially from my undying sorrowover the untimely departure of our glorious Victorin, whom, contrary tomy expectations, I have survived. I must repeat it to you, Victoria, letus not speak of that young hero, whom I loved with the deep love of afather. I had two sons; I have only one left to me.--I am a poet, sayyou? Alas! Fain would I be one of those geniuses who render immortal theheroes of their songs--Victorin would then live in all posterity as helives in the hearts of those who knew and mourn for him! But why do
youbroach the subject of verses? Have they any connection with the subjectthat brings me back to you this morning?"
"Like all poets--you surely read your verses many times over in order tocorrect them--and then you forget them, if the term can be used, to theend that when you read them over anew, you may be struck all the moreforcibly by anything that may hurt your eyes or ears."
"Certes, after having written some ode under the inspiration of themoment, it has sometimes happened to me that, as the saying is, I let myverses sleep for several months, and then, reading them over again, wasshocked at things that had at first escaped me. But poetry is not thequestion before us."
"There is, indeed, a great advantage in first letting thoughts sleep andthen taking them up again," answered my foster-sister with a phlegmathat surprised me more and more. "Yes, the method is a good one. Thatwhich, under the heat of inspiration may not have at first woundedus--sometimes shocks our senses when the inspiration has cooled down. Ifthe test is useful in the instance of frivolous matters like verses,should it not be all the more useful when grave matters affecting ourlives are concerned?"
"Victoria, I do not grasp your meaning!"
"I yesterday received from you a letter that ran thus: 'This evening Ishall be in Treves unknown to anybody. I conjure you, in the name of themost vital interests of our beloved country, to receive me in secrecy,and not to mention the matter to anyone, not even to your friendSchanvoch. Towards midnight I shall await your answer. I shall be foundwrapped in my cloak near your garden gate.'"
"And you granted me the interview, Victoria. Unfortunately for me it ledto no decisive results, and so, instead of my returning to Mayence, as Ishould have done, I find myself compelled to remain at Treves, seeingyou demanded time until this morning to arrive at a conclusion."
"I shall be unable to arrive at any conclusion before submitting yourproposition to the test that we just spoke of. Tetrik, I let your offerssleep, or rather I slept with them. Repeat to me, now, what you said tome last night. Mayhap what wounded me then may no longer seem soobjectionable--"
"Victoria, can you joke at such a moment?"
"She who, even before having had to weep over her father and herhusband, over her son and her grandson, rarely laughed--such a womanwill assuredly not choose the hour of eternal mourning to indulge injokes. Believe me, Tetrik, I repeat it, your last night's propositionsseemed so extraordinary to me, they have thrown my mind into suchperplexity, they have raised such strange thoughts, that instead ofuttering myself under the shock of my first impressions, I prefer toforget all that we said, and to listen to you once more, as if youbroached those matters for the first time."
"Victoria, your eminent intellect, your powerful mind that has alwaysbeen prompt and unerring in taking a decision, did not, I must confess,prepare me for such caution and hesitation."
"Simply because never before in my life, now a long one, have I beencalled upon to utter myself upon questions of such moment."
"Pray, remember that yesterday--"
"I wish to remember nothing. To me our last night's interview is as ifit had not been. Consider that it is now midnight, Mora has just let youin by the garden gate, and has brought you to me. Speak--I listen."
"Victoria--what is it that you have in mind?"
"Be careful--if you refuse to broach the matter in full, I might giveyou the answer that my first impressions dictated--and you know, Tetrik,that when I once utter myself, I do so irrevocably."
"Your first impression is, accordingly, unfavorable," cried Tetrik in anaccent of anguish. "Oh! It would be a misfortune, a great misfortune!"
"Speak, then, if it is your desire to avert the misfortune."
"Be it as you desire, Victoria, although such singular conduct on yourpart disturbs me. You desire it? I shall satisfy you--our last night'sinterview did not take place--I see you now for the first time after arather long absence, although a frequent exchange of correspondence keptus in close touch with each other, and I say to you: It is now fiveyears ago since, struck at my very heart by the death of Victorin--afatal event, that carried away the hopes I entertained for the glory ofGaul--I lay almost dying in Italy, at Rome, whither my son accompaniedme. According to the opinion of the physicians, the trip was to restoremy health. They erred. My ailments increased. It pleased God that aChristian priest, whom a recently converted friend secretly introducedinto my house, succeeded in reaching my bedside. The faith enlightenedme--and, while enlightening me, performed a miracle--it saved me fromdeath. I returned, so to speak, to a new life with a new religion. Myson abjured, as I did, only in secret, the false gods that we had untilthen adored. At that stage I received a letter from you, Victoria. Youinformed me of the assassination of Marion. Guided by you, and as I hadexpected, he had governed Gaul wisely. I remained overwhelmed by suchtidings; they were as distressing as they were unexpected. You conjuredme in the name of the most sacred interests of our country to return toGaul. None, you said to me, was capable of replacing Marion exceptmyself. You even went further. I alone, in the new and peaceful era thatopened to our country, could promote her prosperity by taking the reinsof government. You made a vehement appeal to my old friendship for you,to my devotion for our country. I left Rome with my son. A month later Iwas near you at Mayence. You pledged me your far-reaching influence withthe army--you were what you still are, the Mother of the Camps.Presented by you to the army I was acclaimed by it. Yes, thanks to youalone, I, a civil governor, who in my life had never touched a sword, Iwas acclaimed the sole Chief of Gaul, and you boldly and proudlydeclared on that day to the Emperor that Gaul, strong and feared, andhenceforth independent, would render obedience only to a Gallic chief,freely elected. Engaged at the time in his disastrous war in the Orientagainst Queen Zenobia, your heroic peer, the Emperor yielded. I alonegoverned our country. Ruper, an old and tried general in the wars of theRhine, was placed in command of the troops. In its undying idolatry foryou, the army wished to keep you in its midst. I was engaged indeveloping in Gaul the blessings of peace. Always faithful to theChristian faith, I did not consider it politic to make a publicconfession of my belief, and I concealed from even you, Victoria, myconversion to a religion whose Pope is in Rome. Since the last fiveyears Gaul has been prospering at home, and is respected abroad. Iestablished the seat of my government and of the senate at Bordeaux,while you remained with the army, which covers our frontier, and is everready to repel either new invasions attempted by the Franks, or anyattack undertaken by the Romans, should the latter attempt to curtailthe complete independence that we enjoy and conquered so dearly. As youknow, Victoria, I always sought inspiration from your eminent wisdom,either by visiting you in Treves, after you left Mayence, or throughcorrespondence with you upon the affairs of the country. But I indulgein no delusions, Victoria; I am proud to admit the truth; it was onlyyour powerful hand that raised me to headship; it is only your hand thatkeeps me there. Yes, from the seclusion of her modest retreat in Treves,the Mother of the Camps is in fact the Empress of Gaul--despite thepower that I enjoy, I am only your first subject. That rapid glance overthe past was necessary in order to clearly formulate the present--"
"Proceed, Tetrik, I am listening attentively."
"The deplorable death of Victorin and his son, the assassination ofMarion, all these catastrophes tell you upon how slender a threadelective sovereignty hangs. Gaul is at peace; her brave army is moredevoted to you than it has ever been to any of its generals; it overawesour enemies; all that our beautiful country now stands in need of, inorder to reach the highest pinnacle of prosperity, is stability. Thecountry needs an authority that will not be dependent upon the capriceof an election, which, however intelligent to-day, may be stupidto-morrow. We need a government that is not personified in a man, everat the mercy of those who elected him, or of the dagger of an assassin.The monarchic institution, based as it is, not upon a man, but upon aprinciple, existed in Gaul centuries ago. It alone could to-day impartto the nation the vigor and prosperity that it lacks. Vi
ctoria, youdispose of the army, I govern the country. Let us join our strength fora common aim--the insurance of our glorious country's future; let usjoin, not our bodies--I am old, while you are still handsome and young,Victoria--but our souls before a priest of the new religion. EmbraceChristianity, become my wife before God--and proclaim us, yourselfEmpress, me Emperor of the Gauls. The army will have but one voice infavor of elevating you upon a throne--you will reign alone and withoutsharing your power with anyone. As to me, you know it, I have noambition to subserve. Despite my idle title of Emperor, I shall continueto be your first vassal. As to my son, we shall adopt him for oursuccessor to the throne. He is of marriageable age; we shall choose forhim some sovereign alliance--and the monarchy of Gaul will beestablished for all time. That, Victoria, was the proposal that I madeto you last night--I repeat it to-day. I have again laid my projectsbare before you and in the interest of our country. Adopt the plan; itis the fruit of long years of meditation--and Gaul will march at thehead of the nations of the world."
A long silence on the part of my foster-sister followed these words ofher relative. She then replied with the calmness that marked her wordssince the entrance of Tetrik into the room:
"It was a wise inspiration that caused me to wish to hear you a secondtime, Tetrik. You abjured in favor of the new religion the ancientreligion of our fathers; but almost all Gaul is still loyal to the druidfaith."
"Hence it is that I considered it politic to keep my abjuration asecret, and in this I have acted in accord with the views of the Pope ofRome. But if you should accept my offer, and should yourself abjure youridolatry at our marriage, I shall then loudly proclaim my new belief,and, according to the opinion of the bishops, our conversion will drawin its wake the conversion of our people. Moreover I have the promise ofthe bishops that they will glorify you as a saint with all themagnificent pomp of the new Church. And, believe me, Victoria, a powerthat is consecrated in the name of God by the Gallic prelates and by thePope of Rome, will be clothed in the eyes of the people with almostdivine authority."
"Tell me, Tetrik; you abjured the belief of our fathers in favor of thenew, in favor of the gospel preached by the young man of Nazareth whowas crucified two centuries ago. I have read that gospel. An ancestressof Schanvoch's witnessed the last days of Jesus, the friend of the slaveand the afflicted. Now, then, nowhere have I found in the gentle anddivine words of the young master of Nazareth aught but exhortations torenounce wealth, to meekness, to equality among men--and here are you,a fervent and recent convert, dreaming of royalty! The young man ofNazareth, so sweet, so tender of the sufferers, the sinners and theoppressed as he was, nevertheless broke out at times into terriblethreats against the rich, the powerful, the worldly happy--above all andalways he thundered against the princes of the church whom he branded asinfamous hypocrites--and, here are you, a fervent and recent convert,seeking to place the royalty that you are striving after under theconsecration of just such princes of the church, the bishops! The youngman of Nazareth said to his disciples: 'When you pray, enter into yourcloset, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which isin secret, and your Father which sees in secret will reward youopenly'--and here are you, a fervent and recent convert, proposing to meto render our abjuration and prayers in public, pompously and solemnly,seeing that the bishops are to glorify my conversion in the face of theworld. Truly, my feeble intellect, still closed to the light of the newfaith, is unable to reconcile such shocking contradictions."
"Nothing more simple. The gospel of our Lord--"
"Of what 'Lord' do you speak, Tetrik?"
"Of our Lord Jesus Christ, the son of God, or rather the incarnate God."
"How the times have changed! During his life the young man of Nazarethdid not call himself 'Lord'--far from it; he called himself the son ofGod, in the sense that our druid faith teaches us that we are allchildren of the same God. And in line with the teachings of our druidshe declared that our spirit, emancipated of its terrestrial bonds,proceeds to unknown worlds where it animates rejuvenated bodies."
"The times have changed--you are right, Victoria. Taken in an absolutesense, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ would be but a weapon ofeternal rebellion in the hands of the poor against the rich, the servantagainst his lord, the people against their chiefs--it would be thenegation of all authority. Creeds on the contrary have the mission tostrengthen authority."
"I am aware of that. In the days of their primitive barbarism, andbefore they became the sublimest of men, our druids rendered themselvesredoubtable to the ignorant, struck them with terror, and crushed themunder their yoke. But the young man of Nazareth smote the atrociousknavery when he indignantly denounced the princes of the church saying:'They bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men'sshoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of theirfingers.' All the more, if he is God, should his words be held sacred.You speak, Tetrik, very much after the fashion of the Pharisees of old,who caused the young man of Nazareth to be crucified."
"Those are only sentimental views. Cultured minds, like yours, willunderstand the true meaning of those bitter criticisms, and the violentattacks of our Lord against the rich, the powerful and the priests ofhis days. His sermons in favor of community of property, his exaggeratedmercifulness towards women of ill fame, the debauched, the prodigals,the vagabonds--in short, his preference for the dregs of the populationwith which he surrounded himself are not the means of government andauthority. The priests and bishops of the new faith alone are able, bymeans of their sermons, skilfully to turn off the dangerous current ofthe thought of equality among men, of hatred against the mighty, ofdispossessment against the rich, of liberty, of fraternity, ofcommunity of goods, of tolerance for the guilty--a fatal current thattakes its source in certain passages of the gospel, which vulgar mindswrongfully interpret."
"And yet it is in the name of those generous thoughts that so manymartyrs have died in the past, and are still sacrificing their lives!"
"Alas, yes! Jesus our Lord has remained for them the carpenter ofNazareth, who was put to death for having defended the poor, the slaves,the oppressed, the sinners, against those who then enjoyed power; hepromised the former the goods of the latter saying that the day wouldcome when 'the first would be the last.' It is for that reason thatthese martyrs preach with unconquerable heroism the doctrines of Jesus,the friend of the poor, the enemy of the mighty. The interests of boththe present and the future, accordingly, dictate to you that you acceptmy offer. I resume: Take me for your husband; embrace the new faith, asI did; have yourself and me proclaimed Emperor and Empress; adopt my sonand his posterity. All Gaul will follow our example and becomeChristians; we shall heap privileges and wealth upon the bishops, andthey will consecrate in us the most sovereign and absolute authorityever vested in any emperor or empress!"
At this point, Victoria's voice, that until then was calm and collected,broke out indignant and threatening:
"Tetrik! The compact that you are proposing to me issacrilegious--infamous! Yesterday I thought you were demented--to-day,when you repeat your proposition and expose to my gaze, even clearerthan you did before, the abysmal depths of your infernal soul, I see inyou a monster of ambition and of felony! At this hour the past lightsup the present before me, and the present lights the future! Blessed beyou, Hesus! I was not alone when this plot was unrolled to my ears! Youinspired me, Oh, Hesus! I wished to have a witness, who, in case ofneed, could verify the reality of this monstrous proposal--Victoriaherself would not be believed upon her unsupported testimony when sheuncovers such dark designs! Come, brother--come, Schanvoch!"
At Victoria's call I presented myself, crying:
"Sister, I no longer say as I once did: 'I suspect this man!' To-day Iaccuse the criminal!"
"Schanvoch!" answered Tetrik disdainfully, "your accusations are stale.This is not the first time that such silly words have dropped before mycontempt--"
"I formerly only suspected you, Tetrik," I said determinedl
y, "of havingby your machinations brought on the death of Victorin and his son, whowas still in his cradle. To-day I accuse you of that horrible plot. Iprefer against you the charge of murder!"
"Take care!" Tetrik answered pale, somber and with a threateninggesture. "Take care! My power is great--I can annihilate you--"
"Brother," Victoria said to me, "your thought is mine--speak withoutfear--I also have power."
"Tetrik," I proceeded, "I once only suspected you of being at the bottomof Marion's assassination--to-day I accuse you of that crime also!"
"Crazy wretch! Where are the proofs of the charges that you have theaudacity to hurl at me?"
"Oh! You are prudent and skilful as well as patient. You break yourtools in the dark after having used them--"
"Those are idle words," answered Tetrik with icy coolness. "Your proofs,where are they! I laugh at your impotent threats."
"The proofs!" cried Victoria. "They are embodied in your sacrilegiouspropositions. You conceived the project of being the hereditary emperorof Gaul long before Victorin's death; your proposition of having mygrandson acclaimed the heir of his father's office was a lure meant atonce to lead me off the scent of your designs and to furnish the firststep of the ladder that you meant to climb."
"Victoria, anger is blinding you! What a bungler would I have been--if,indeed, the ambitious object that I pursued was a hereditary throne formyself--to advise you to vest the power in your own stock--"
"Aye! For one thing, the principle would have been accepted by the army.For another, once hereditary power was established for the future, youwould have rid yourself of my son and grandson, in the manner that youdid--by assassination. It is all now clear before me. That cursedBohemian girl was your instrument; she was sent to Mayence in order toseduce my son, in order to drive him with her refusals to the infamousact that the creature demanded as the price of her favors. The crimeonce committed, my son would either be killed by Schanvoch, who washastily called back to Mayence that very night, or he would be slain bythe army, which received timely notice and was lashed to fury by youremissaries--"
"Proofs--proofs--Victoria! Proofs!"
"I have none, yet I state the facts! You managed to have my grandsonkilled the same night--torn from my arms. My stock is extinguished. Yourfirst step towards empire was marked in blood. You thereupon declinedpower, and proposed the elevation of Marion. Oh! I admit it! Before thatprodigy of infernal cunning, my suspicions, which were for a momentaroused, melted away. Two months after his acclamation as Chief of Gaul,Marion fell under the sword of an execrable assassin, your instrumentagain--"
"Proofs!" broke in Tetrik impassibly. "Furnish the proofs!"
"I have none, yet I state the facts. You remained the only availablecandidate for the office--Victorin, his son and Marion were killed.Thereupon, I unwittingly became your accomplice. I urged you to acceptthe government of the country. You triumphed, but only in part; yougoverned; but, you said it, you were but the first subject of the Motherof the Camps. Oh! I perceive it clearly! The hour has come when my powerstands in your way. The army, Gaul, accepted Tetrik for their chief uponmy request. It was not they who chose you. With one word I can breakyou, the same as I raised you to the place that you now are in. Blindedby ambition you judged my heart after your own; you thought me capableof wishing to exchange my influence over the army for the crown of anempress, and of enthroning my stock. You have entered into a darkcompact with the Pope and bishops, looking to the eventual brutificationand enslavement of this proud Gallic people which freely chooses itschiefs, and remains faithful to the religion of our fathers. Why,centuries ago this people broke the yoke of kingship through the sacredhands of Ritha-Gaur, and yet you now scheme to impose upon it a hateddomination by allying your self with the new Church! Very well, I,Victoria, the Mother of the Camps, accuse you before the people in armsof intriguing for the subjugation of Gaul! I accuse you of havingdenied the faith of our fathers! I accuse you of entering into a secretalliance with the bishops! I accuse you of wishing to usurp the imperialcrown and to render it hereditary in your family! I shall bring thesecharges against you before the people in arms, and shall pronounce you atraitor, a renegade, a murderer, a usurper! I shall demand on the spotthat you be tried by the senate, and punished with death for yourcrimes!"
The vehemence of the accusations of my foster-sister notwithstanding,Tetrik maintained his habitual composure. For a moment he had droppedthe mask and flown at me with threats. Now he was himself again. Raisinghis hands heavenward, he answered with the most unctuous voice that hecould summon:
"Victoria, I considered the project that I submitted to you advantageousto Gaul--let us drop it. You accuse me; I am ready to answer for my actsbefore the senate and the army. Should my death, decreed at yourinstigation, be of any service to my country, I shall not refuse to youthe few days of life that are still left to me. I shall await thedecision of the senate. Adieu, Victoria. The future will tell which ofus two, you or I, understood the country's interests better, and lovedGaul with the wiser love."
Saying this he took a step toward the door. I dashed forward ahead ofhim, barred his passage and said:
"You shall not go out! You mean to flee from the punishment that is dueto your crimes--"
Tetrik looked me from head to feet with icy haughtiness, and halfturning towards Victoria, said:
"What! In your house, violence is attempted upon an old man! Upon arelative who comes to you unsuspecting--"
"I shall respect that which is considered sacred in allcountries--hospitality," answered the Mother of the Camps. "You came tome freely, you shall go out freely."
"Sister!" I cried. "Be careful! Your confidence has proved fatal oncebefore--"
Victoria interrupted me with a gesture, and said bitterly:
"You are right--my confidence has been fatal to the country; it weighsupon my heart with remorse--but fear not this time."
Saying this she rang the bell. Mora entered almost immediately. Hermistress whispered a few words in her ear and the servant quickly wentout again.
"Tetrik," Victoria proceeded, "I have sent for Captain Paul and severalofficers. They will come here for you. They will accompany you to yourlodging--you shall not leave the place but to appear before yourjudges."
"My judges! Who are to be my judges?"
"The army will appoint a tribunal--that tribunal will judge you."
"I can be tried only by the senate."
"If the military tribunal finds you guilty, you will then be sent beforethe senate; if the military tribunal acquits you, you will be free. Onlydivine vengeance will then be able to reach you."
Mora re-entered the room to inform her mistress that her orders wereissued to Captain Paul. Afterwards I remembered, but, alas! too late,that Mora exchanged a few words in a low voice with Tetrik who sat nearthe door.
"Schanvoch," Victoria said to me, "did you hear well the conversationthat I had with Tetrik?"
"Perfectly. I lost not one word."
"Transcribe it faithfully."
And turning to the Chief of Gaul she said:
"That will be the indictment that I shall bring against you. It shall beread before the military tribunal that is to sit in judgment upon you."
"Victoria," Tetrik replied calmly, "listen to the advice of an old man,who once was and still is your best friend. It is an easy thing toaccuse a man, but to prove his crime is a more difficult affair--"
"Hold your tongue, detestable hypocrite!" cried Victoria angrily. "Driveme not to extremes--"
And clasping her hands:
"Hesus! Give me the strength to be equitable towards this man. Calm downin me, Oh, Hesus! the ebullitions of anger that might unsettle myjudgment!"
Having heard steps behind the door, Mora opened it, and returned to hermistress, saying:
"Captain Paul has arrived."
Victoria made a sign to Tetrik to leave the room. He stepped out heavinga profound sigh and saying in penetrating accents:
"Lor
d! Lord! Dissipate the blindness of my enemies! Pardon them, as Ipardon them!"