CHAPTER x.x.xI.
At last I hold thee in my arms, My best beloved, my own!
Bestowed on me from war"s alarms, Preserved for me alone.
L. UHLAND.
Duke Ulerich of Wurtemberg was fond of a good table, and when the gla.s.s circulated freely in good society, he was not the first to give the signal to break up. At the wedding feast of Bertha von Lichtenstein he remained true to his habits. When the ceremony was finished in the church, the procession returned to the castle much in the same form as it entered, except that the bride and bridegroom walked hand in hand.
The company then separated, and wandered about the pleasure-garden of the castle, where they amused themselves among the shrubberies and artificial walks, some looking at the deer and roebucks in the inclosures, others admiring the bears in the dry ditches. At twelve o"clock the trumpets sounded to dinner, which was held in the tournament-hall, a place large enough to entertain many hundred people.
This hall was the pride and ornament of Stuttgardt. It was full an hundred paces long; one side of it, looking to the garden, was occupied by numerous large windows, through which the cheerful rays of the sun, piercing the many-coloured gla.s.s, illumined this immense apartment, which, by its vaulted roof and numerous pillars, resembled more the interior of a church than a place for festive joy. Galleries extended round the three other sides, hung with rich tapestry, a s.p.a.ce being appropriated to the musicians and trumpeters, whilst spectators, a.s.sembled to witness the princely feast, occupied the remainder. On other occasions, such as when a tournament took place, these galleries were set apart for the ladies and judges; when, instead of the clang of drinking utensils, the hall resounded with the applauses of the spectators, the heavy blows of swords, the cracking of lances, the whizzing of spears, amidst the laughter and cries of the combatants.
On this day a display of beautiful women and gallant men of all cla.s.ses had been invited to celebrate the nuptials of the Duke"s friend and favourite. They were seated around tables which groaned under loads of good cheer. The fiddlers in the galleries flourished their fiddlesticks merrily; the cheeks of the trumpeters were swelled to the fullest stretch; the drummers" sticks beat heavily on their skins; and the spectators who were admitted in the other part of the galleries, joined chorus with shouting and hallooing when the company drank a toast. At the upper end of the room sat the Duke upon a throne, under a canopy.
His hat was pushed off his forehead, he looked around him with an air of satisfaction, and did not spare the bottle. On his right, at the side of the table, sat Bertha, who was no longer obliged to submit to the ceremonious restraint of cast-down eyes, and keeping at a respectable distance from the bridegroom. Her glance and the expression of her features bespoke happiness. She looked at her husband, who sat opposite to her, and she could scarcely convince herself her being actually a wife was not all a dream, and that the name she had borne eighteen years was changed to that of Sturmfeder. She smiled as often as she regarded him, for it appeared to her that he had already a.s.sumed the direction of her conduct. "He is my head," she said to herself, playfully, "my lord, my master!"
And her thoughts were really verified, for Albert felt all the importance and responsibility of his new position in society. It seemed to him as if the young people already paid him more respect than heretofore, and that the old knights treated him more upon an equality since he had become the head of a family, and stood no longer alone in the world. The notions in the good old times were somewhat different to those in the present day respecting the marriage state, for the designation of n.o.bles and citizens was invariably supposed to include that of wife and children, leaving the state of celibacy to monks alone.
The knight of Lichtenstein, Maxx Stumpf von Schweinsberg, and the chancellor, were seated near the Duke, and the scribe to the Council of Ulm was not far from them, being allowed that honour in consequence of his having been the companion of the bridegroom at the wedding. The eyes of the men soon began to sparkle from the effects of the wine, and the cheeks of the ladies to a.s.sume a deeper red, when the Duke gave a signal to his headman, and the dinner was removed. The poor people were not forgotten on this occasion; as was always the case on similar rejoicings, the remains of the dinner were taken to the court yard of the castle, and delivered over to them. Pastry and fruit were next brought in, and the wine jugs were replenished by a better sort of the generous liquor for the use of the men, whilst Spanish sweet wine was served to the ladies in small silver cups. This was the moment when, according to the customs of the time, presents were presented to the new-married couple: large baskets were placed beside Bertha to receive them, and when the fiddlers and other musicians had re-tuned their instruments, and began a solemn march, a long brilliant procession moved forward in the hall. Pages of honour led the train, carrying embossed gold tankards and female ornaments of jewelry, as gifts from the Duke to the happy couple.
"May these tankards," said Ulerich, addressing them, "filled with generous liquor, circulate at the marriage feast of your children, and remind you of a man whom both of you served with truth and fidelity in his misfortune, of a Prince who in prosperity forgets not his faithful friends."
Albert was astonished at the value of the presents. "Your Grace"s generosity overpowers us," he replied; "love and fidelity claim no reward but the approval of conscience, else they would be too often the price of venality."
"Yes, truly, unless they spring from a source unadulterated by the alloy of all selfish motives, they are but pearls fit only to be thrown to swine," replied the Duke, casting a look of reproof down the length of the table. "We rejoice the more, therefore, to reward your disinterested fidelity, when all seemed to be lost to us. But look, your bride is in tears! I think I know their cause; they are produced by the remembrance of our late painful fate, which I have now recalled to her mind. But away with these tears; they are unpropitious to the day of your wedding. With permission! of your husband," said he, turning to Bertha, "I will now claim payment of an old debt."
Bertha blushed, and cast an anxious look at Albert, fearing the repet.i.tion of a liberty which had once highly offended her. He, however, well knew what the Duke meant, for the scene which he had witnessed behind the door was still fresh in his recollection. Amused with the idea of rallying the Duke and his wife upon the subject, he said, "My lord Duke, my wife and I being now one body and one soul, she has my permission to liquidate the debt which I know she owes you."
"Answered as a fine young fellow," returned Ulerich, goodnaturedly; "and I have no doubt that many of our ladies here at table would have no objection to require payment of a similar debt from your handsome mouth; but my demand being addressed solely to the rosy lips of your wife, it refers to her alone."
With these words, he rose and approached Bertha, who looked at her husband in a state of confusion and agitation. "My lord Duke," she said, in a low tone of voice, and holding her head away, "I meant it only in joke--I beseech you!" But Ulerich would not be deterred from his purpose, and wrung his debt with interest from her pretty mouth.
The knight of Lichtenstein during this scene looked angrily, first at the Duke and then at his daughter, fearing his son-in-law might perhaps take umbrage at the liberty, as Ulerich von Hutten had done in a similar case. The chancellor appeared to enjoy a malicious pleasure upon the occasion, at the expense, as he thought, of the young man"s feelings. "Hi! hi! hi! I"ll empty my gla.s.s to your good health," said he to him. "A pretty woman is an excellent pet.i.tioner in necessity; I wish you prosperity, dear and most worthy sir;--hi! hi! hi! there is no harm done in the presence of the husband."
"No doubt of it," replied Albert, calmly; "and so much the more innocent because I was present when my wife promised his Grace this proof of her grat.i.tude. The Duke himself proposed to intercede for us with her father to make me his son-in-law, stipulating for this reward on the day of our nuptials."
The Duke started in surprise at these words, and Bertha blushed again, when she thought of the scene which had occasioned the promise. Neither of them, however, contradicted him, deeming it perhaps unseemly, or rather impossible, to charge him with an untruth, or, what was more likely, suspecting they had been overheard.
The Duke could not forbear asking him aside how he came to know the circ.u.mstance. Albert acquainted him with it in a few words.
"You are a strange fellow," whispered the Duke, smiling; "what would have been the consequence had I committed the trespa.s.s?"
"As I did not know you at that time," replied the other as softly, "I should have run you through on the spot, and hung your body on the nearest oak."
The Duke bit his lips and felt annoyed; but he took his friend"s hand, and said, "You would have been perfectly justified, and we should have been justly carried off in our sins. But look, they are bringing more offerings to the bride."
The attendants of the knights and n.o.bles who had been invited to the wedding, appeared, carrying all kinds of curious household utensils, stuffs for wearing apparel, and such like. It being known in Stuttgardt that the feast was given in honour of the Duke"s favourite, an emba.s.sy of burghers, worthy respectable men, dressed in black, with swords by their sides, short hair and long beards, had been appointed to offer their presents and congratulations upon the occasion. One carried an embossed silver goblet, another a large jug of the same metal ornamented with inlaid medallions and filled with wine. They first approached the Duke in great respect and bowed, and then turned to Albert von Sturmfeder.
The man who bore the goblet, having saluted the bridegroom with a cheerful smile on his countenance, said:
May joy attend the wedded pair, And bliss increasing be their share!
Accept this gift from Stuttgardt"s town, And length of days your union crown.
"Tis generous wine that cheers the soul, So come, my comrade, fill the bowl.
The other burgher then filled the goblet with wine from the jug he carried, and whilst his companion drank it out, p.r.o.nounced:
A cask full stands before your door, The best of Stuttgardt"s wine in store; And force of body, strength of soul, Lie deep within the brimful bowl: Then drain the cup and find them there, So Stuttgard has obtained her prayer.
Having finished his draught, and replenished the goblet, he repeated the following lines:
Be this your toast when you carouse, "Long live the Duke and all his house."
Drain to the dregs, then, fill the wine, "To Sturmfeder and Lichtenstein;"
And may we hope that, as you drink, You will on Stuttgardt"s burghers think.
Albert gave the men both his hands and thanked them for their acceptable presents; Bertha saluted their wives, and the Duke also received them graciously. They laid the silver jug and the goblet in the basket along with the other gifts, retiring respectfully and with solemn step out of the hall. But the burghers were not the only ones to tender their congratulations and manifest their regard for the Duke, in this marked attention to his favourite. Scarcely had they taken their departure, when a disturbance was observed at the door where the lansquenet were on guard, which attracted the notice of the Ulerich.
Men"s voices were heard swearing and ordering the crowd to obedience to their commands, among which were mingled the voices of women, and one in particular the loudest and most violent was recognized by some of the company at the upper end of the table.
"I declare that is the voice of our Rosel," whispered old Lichtenstein to his son-in-law: "what can her business be about?"
The Duke despatched one of his pages to find out the cause of the noise, and received for answer that some countrywomen were trying to force their way into the hall to present their gifts to the new married couple in spite of the lansquenet, who would not permit them to enter, only because they were common people. Ulerich gave orders immediately to admit them, for, having been pleased with the conduct of the burghers, he promised himself some amus.e.m.e.nt from the peasants. The attendants having made room for them to pa.s.s, Albert, to his astonishment, recognized the wife of the fifer of Hardt, and her pretty daughter, led by her cousin, Mrs. Rosel.
When he was pa.s.sing from the castle to the church, he thought he recognised the lovely features of the girl of Hardt among the crowd; but more important considerations having engrossed his whole attention, this fleeting apparition was obliterated from his mind. He acquainted the company who the women were, and to whom they belonged. The girl excited great interest, from her being the child of that man whose marvellous actions in the service of the Duke had often been a subject of mystery, and whose fidelity and a.s.sistance in time of need contributed essentially to Ulerich"s return to his country. The girl had the fair hair, the open forehead, and much the same features of her parent; but the sharp cunning eye, the bold and powerful bearing of the father, were softened into a playful kindliness and natural gaiety which shed a charm around the retiring modesty of his child. As such Albert had known her, when he was in the fifer of Hardt"s house, but she now appeared disconcerted before so many persons of rank; it struck him also that her countenance betrayed dejection and sorrow, feelings he had not discovered before on her beautiful features.
Her mother, knowing what good manners were, courtesied all the way up from the entrance door till she arrived at the Duke"s chair. The blush of anger still rested upon the wan cheeks of Mrs. Rosel, who felt herself highly aggrieved and insulted by the lansquenet, namely by the Magdeburger and Casper Staberl, who had called her an old withered stick. Before she could compose herself, and present the family of her brother in respectful form to her master, the fifer"s wife had already taken the hem of the Duke"s mantle and pressed it to her lips. "Good day, my Lord Duke," she said, with deep reverence, "how are you since you have been in Stuttgardt? my husband sends you his compliments. But we don"t come to the Duke, no, it is to the knight there," she added, as if recollecting herself, pointing to Albert; "we have brought a wedding present for his wife. There she sits, Barbelle, as large as life."
Mrs. Rosel, confounded at the unceremonious conduct of her sister-in-law before such an august audience, checked her loquacity by saying, "I most humbly beg pardon of your grace, for having brought these people here,--they are the wife and daughter of the fifer of Hardt; pray do not take it ill, your highness, the woman means well, I a.s.sure you."
The Duke was more amused with the excuses of Mrs. Rosel than with the blunt language of her sister. "How is your husband?" said he to the countrywoman, "will he visit us soon? why did he not come with you?"
"He has his reasons, sir," she replied; "if war breaks out, he"ll certainly not stay at home, for then he may be of some use; but in peaceable times, why he thinks it is not becoming to eat cherries with great folks."
The navete of the plump matron almost drove Mrs. Rosel to desperation: she pulled her by the petticoat, and by the long tails of hair, but to no purpose. The wife of the fifer went on talking, to the great amus.e.m.e.nt of the Duke and his guests, whose irresistible laughter, which her answers elicited, appeared only to increase her happiness and good humour. Barbelle in the meantime, playing with the handle of a little basket she held in her hand, scarcely ventured occasionally to raise her eyes to look at that face which she had beheld with such tender sympathy when she nursed Albert during the long period of his fever. The impression which those days had left on her mind still remained in all its vigour, and the sight of him who had unawares made an inroad into the recesses of her heart, made her fearful of meeting his eye. She heard him say to his wife, "That is the kind girl who nursed me when I lay ill in her father"s house, and who conducted me part of the way to Lichtenstein."
Bertha turned to her, and took her hand with great kindness. The girl trembled, and her cheeks a.s.sumed a deep blush. She opened her little basket, and presented a piece of beautiful linen, with a few bundles of flax, as fine and soft as silk. She attempted in vain to speak, but kissing the hand of the young bride, a tear fell upon her nuptial ring.
"Eh, Barbelle!" scolded Mrs. Rosel, "don"t be so timid and nervous.
Gracious young lady,--I would say gracious madame,--have compa.s.sion on her; she comes but seldom into the presence of quality folks. There is no one so good who has not two dispositions, says the proverb; the girl can be otherwise as merry and cheerful as larks in spring."
"I thank you, Barbelle," said Bertha: "your linen is very acceptable and very fine. Did you spin it yourself?"
The girl smiled through her tears, and nodded a yes! to speak at that moment appeared to her impossible. The Duke liberated her from this embarra.s.sment only to place her in another still greater. "The fifer of Hardt has truly a very pretty child," he cried, and beckoned to her to approach nearer, "well grown and lovely to behold! only look, chancellor, how well the red bodice and short petticoat become her.
Could not we, Ambrosius Bolland, issue an edict for all the beauties in Stuttgardt to adopt this neat dress?"
The chancellor"s countenance became distorted into a hideous smile: he examined the blushing maiden from head to foot with his little green eyes; and said, "Certainly, a very good reason could be given, by which an ell might be spared in the length of petticoats, for, as your grace a few years back ordered the weights and measures to be reduced, you have also the right, by all the rules of logic, to shorten the dress of females. But nothing would be gained by it, for--hi! hi! hi! you would see that what was cut off from the bottom, our beauties would be obliged to add above. And who knows whether the ladies would willingly agree to that? They belong to the genus of peac.o.c.ks, who, you know, don"t like to shew their legs."
"You are right, Ambrosius;" the Duke laughed; "nothing escapes a learned man! But tell me, my dear, have you got a sweetheart?"
"Ah! what? your grace!" interrupted the round matron, sharply. "Who would talk about such like things to a child! She is a very good girl, your highness."
The Duke paid no attention to this remark; he enjoyed the embarra.s.sment which was visibly manifest in the chaste features of the innocent girl, who sighed softly, and, playing with the ends of the coloured ribands of her plaited hair, sent an involuntary look to Albert, which seemed to claim his kind offices in her present perplexity, and then suddenly cast her eyes down to the ground. The Duke, alive to every thing that was pa.s.sing, laughed aloud, in which he was joined by the rest of the men. "Young woman," he said to Bertha, "you may now with justice take part in the jealousy of your husband; if you had seen what I just saw, you might imagine and interpret all kind of things."
Bertha smiled, and, sympathising with Barbelle in her embarra.s.sment, felt how painful the taunts of the men must be to her. Whispering to old Rosel, she told her to take the mother and daughter away. The Duke"s sharp eye remarked this also, which his merry mood attributed to jealousy on the part of Bertha. She however unclasped a beautiful cross, set in gold and red stones, which she wore on her neck, attached to a chain, and presenting it to the astonished girl, said, "I thank you with all my heart, my dear Barbelle, for your kindness to my husband; remember me to your father, and come often to us here and in Lichtenstein. What say you, would you like to be in my service? I would endeavour to make you happy, and you would live with your aunt Rosel."