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 http://www.archive.org/details/heidelbergromanc01jame
 
 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 ^ 3^omance. 
 
 BT 
 
 G. p. E. JAMES, ESQ. 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 "THE SMUGGLER;" "AERAH NEIL;" "THE STEP-MOTHER," 
 
 ETC. ETC. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 65, CORNHILL. 
 
 1846.
 
 London : 
 
 Printed by Stewart and muruat, 
 
 Old Bailey.
 
 SE3 
 
 ^Z3 h 
 
 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The realities of the world are few and small ; 
 the illusions many and vast Not a sense that 
 we possess, and hardly a faculty of the mind, 
 but serves to deceive us ; wholly in some cases, 
 and partially in all. Yet, strip nature and life 
 of these deceits, and what would earth be- 
 come? — what our existence here? See a small 
 / fly stepping over the irregularities of a look- 
 ^ing-glass and thinking the polished surface 
 '^ but a rough and rugged plain, and we have 
 H some idea of what the world would be, if we 
 saw it as perhaps it is. 
 
 "^ VOL. I. B
 
 Z HEIDELBERG. 
 
 Amongst the sweetest and most friendly 
 delusions, of all the many, is the landscape- 
 painting of imagination. Love, himself, I be- 
 lieve, does. not cheat us more, or more plea- 
 santly. Let any traveller ask himself, when 
 he sets eyes upon a scene which he pronounces, 
 at once, most beautiful, how much of the love- 
 liness is added by fancy. It may be a grand, 
 an expansive view, over a wide and varied 
 country ; but what is the mind doing while 
 the eye is contemplating it? Peopling it 
 with villages — laying it out in corn-fields and 
 vineyards — filling it with busy life and gay 
 enjoyment ; not distinctly, not tangibly ; but 
 still the associations rise up in a golden mist, 
 and spread a lustre over all. It may be, on the 
 contrary, a narrower scene : a cottage in a deep 
 glen, with old oaks overshadowing, and the 
 thin blue smoke rising up amongst the green 
 leaves. There too, is imagination busy, with 
 the thoughts of calm retirement from a troub- 
 lous world, and still, quiet contemplation — the 
 labourer's repose after his labour — the sweet
 
 HEIDELBERG. O 
 
 domestic home — the tender joy of tongues and 
 faces loving and beloved. 
 
 There is but one great magician left on 
 earth, and that is Imagination. 
 
 Reader, I very often draw from my own 
 heart and its experience — more often than the 
 world knows ; and even now, I can conceive 
 the sensations of those two horsemen as they 
 come at a foot pace over the edge of the hill, 
 where the splendid valley of the Neckar, 
 with its castled town and ancient woods, and 
 giant mountains, first breaks upon the eye. 
 See how the sunshine of the summer evening, 
 softened by the light smoke of the city, pours 
 throuo^h the lono^ tall streets and over the hiorh 
 walls and towers of massive stone : see how it 
 catches on each rocky point or prominent crag, 
 as roundino^ the orpanite mass of the Kings's 
 Seat, in its decline towards the west, it covers 
 the brows of all his mountain peers with coro- 
 nets of gold ; and lo ! where high raised above 
 the town, upon its platform of stone, stands out 
 the lordly castle in bright light and shade. 
 
 b2
 
 4 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 The green, green Neckar, flowing along in the 
 midst, winds on through the long waving val- 
 ley, showing ripples of gold wherever, in the 
 sunshine, the winds stir it or the rocks ob- 
 struct, and, at each calmer spot, serves as a 
 mirror to the loveliness around ; giving back 
 the bright tints of hills and woods, and town 
 and bridge, with a lustrous clearness no other 
 stream can match. Even that boat, with its 
 many coloured crew of peasantry, shines out 
 upon the face of the river in red and blue, and 
 white and brown, as if the very hues acquired 
 a finer dye from the water that but reflects 
 them ; and the fishing eagle, swooping down 
 upon his finny prey, strikes at it the more 
 fiercely when he sees the image of himself 
 rushing to seize it also from below. 
 
 On a fine summer evening then, in the year 
 1619, two horsemen, coming along the Berg- 
 strasse, or mountain road, suddenly drew in 
 their horses as they reached the top of that 
 little spur of the mountain called the Heiligen- 
 berg, on which stands the village of Neunheim,
 
 HEIDELBERG, O 
 
 and there paused, gazing, as if in wonder and 
 admiration, at the scene presented to their eyes. 
 For a moment or two neither spoke, for the 
 height of every emotion is silent; and ere 
 a word was uttered, a small party, which had 
 followed, came up and took place behind 
 them. 
 
 In those days great men drew their impor- 
 tance from the number of their attendants. 
 'T is the same even now, but the display is made 
 upon a different stage. 
 
 The horsemen who came first, however, were 
 "but accompanied by two ordinary servants, two 
 grooms or horseboys, each leading a baggage 
 horse heavily laden, and a page ; small equipage 
 for a man of station at that period. Neverthe- 
 less there was that about the appearance of each, 
 which made the peasantry who passed them in 
 numerous bodies, and in their holiday clothes, 
 take off their broad-brimmed hats and give the 
 strangers two looks ere they walked on. The 
 reason why they did this was not very apparent ; 
 for the persons who thus attracted the attention
 
 b HEIDELBERG. 
 
 of the good boors had nothing to excite admi- 
 ration in their dress. It is true, indeed, 
 gentlemen were not at that time, any more 
 than at present, to be distinguished by their 
 galligaskins ; but still the apparel of the two 
 was rather plain than otherwise, consisting of 
 a common riding suit of dark cloth, with a 
 small line of gold, and boots and breeches 
 of untanned leather. Their horses, indeed, 
 were fine, powerful, spirited beasts as ever were 
 mounted ; and though the dust, that dimmed 
 their glossy coats, showed that they had jour- 
 neyed far on a hot day, yet not a sign of 
 fatigue was visible, and the outstretched leg, 
 ready to start again, the high raised head, and 
 expanded nostril, as they snuffed the air of the 
 river, proved that they had no expectation of 
 their day *s journey being yet near an end. 
 
 There might be, indeed, some reason assigned 
 why the country girls took a second look 
 before they went on, for the two travellers were 
 both young and handsome men ; the one very 
 dark, and three or four years older than the
 
 HEIDELBERG. 7 
 
 other, who might perhaps be one-and-twenty, 
 or thereabouts, and whose face, though bronzed 
 by exposure to sun and weather, appeared to 
 have been originally fair, if one might judge by 
 the clear, deep-blue eye and the rich brown 
 hair, and moustache of that peculiar hue 
 which shows a golden gleam when the sun 
 shines upon it. He was tall and well formed, 
 long in the arms, broad in the chest, and spare 
 in the waist and flank. The head and face 
 were small, and the features delicate, though 
 not effeminate ; the chin somewhat projecting, 
 and the eyes large and full, with a thick and 
 strongly marked eyebrow. When at rest the 
 whole countenance had an expression of gravity 
 and decision beyond his apparent years, and 
 there was something in his air as he sat his 
 horse, a look of command and free thougfhtful 
 power, which seemed to bespeak one who, 
 notwithstanding his youth, had been long 
 accustomed to regulate his own conduct and 
 act upon his own views. 
 
 The other was very different, yet still a
 
 8 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 handsome man, much darker in complexion, 
 not quite so tall, with a keen sharp black eye, 
 under a wide and somewhat projecting brow, 
 marked gracefully by a dark, arching, and 
 somewhat raised line of eyebrow. The lips 
 were thin, and the line from the wing of 
 the nose to the corner of the mouth strongly 
 marked, so as to give the ordinary ex- 
 pression of the countenance a slight, a very 
 slight touch of sarcasm; and yet there was 
 a sort of sparkling joyousness about it when- 
 ever he spoke, which we may as well notice 
 once for all, as it was the predominant look 
 and was exceedingly winning, although the 
 cast of the mere features was stern and deter- 
 mined. 
 
 As they paused and gazed, the face of the 
 younger and fairer of the two was full of admi- 
 ration, pure, simple, and high ; too deeply felt 
 to admit even of a smile. The other gazed 
 over the landscape too, but then for a moment 
 turned his eyes with a half laughing glance, 
 withdrawn as soon as given, to his companion's
 
 HEIDELBERG. y 
 
 face, as if lie and his feelings afforded as much 
 matter for thought and examination as the 
 beautiful scene which had just presented itself. 
 
 At length, after a pause, of about two 
 minutes, the younger exclaimed, — 
 
 " How beautiful ! how enchanting ! and 
 bursting upon us thus, it seems like magic." 
 
 " Very lovely, indeed," replied his companion, 
 with a smile ; " and I doubt not we shall find 
 still lovelier things within those old grey 
 walls — at least let us fancy it ; for fancy is the 
 goddess that embellishes all things, and is, 
 even now, doing wonders in your mind, Alger- 
 non, for the fair city of Heidelberg." 
 
 " I know not what fancy has to do with it," 
 replied the other, gravely ; " methinks never 
 was there a congregation of more beautiful 
 objects presented to the eye of man. Natur-_ 
 does everything here, WiUiam, we have no 
 need of fancy. Look at that town, that castle, 
 those lordly mountains, those green waving 
 woods, the river gliding " 
 
 " Like a golden lizard, you would say,
 
 10 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 amongst the stones," rejoined his companion, 
 interrupting him. " In pity let us have some 
 figure of speech to show that your admiration 
 has not at least benumbed imagination. A 
 simile, a trope, a metaphor, even a hyperbole 
 will do. Can you not call them godlike 
 towers? or figure me the mountains as giant 
 Titans, with a bushy beard of oaks and 
 beeches 1 What has become of all your 
 flowers of rhetoric ? You will never be able to 
 keep pace with the doctors and poets of the 
 university, if you go on in this dull style. Or 
 is it that you have expended all the riches of 
 your poesy upon the fair dames you left behind 
 in Italy, and have not got a beggarly tester of 
 fine words for the fair town of Heidelberg ? or, 
 again, are you afraid of the exchequer running 
 low, and are hoarding your smart speeches with 
 miserly avarice, to let love, like the miser's son, 
 squander them by-and-by upon the lovely 
 dames of the Electoral court?" 
 
 " Good faith !" replied the other, " I doubt 
 much, my friend, whether I shall see anything
 
 HEIDELBERG. 11 
 
 in any court so lovely to my eyes as that 
 fair range of mountains, out there upon the 
 right, looking like sapphires on a sky of gold." 
 
 " Improved ! improved !" cried his compa- 
 nion, dropping his rein and clapping his hands ; 
 " those sapphires and that gold come out most 
 splendidly. The poor Haardt, with her stony 
 rocks, would be grateful to you, doubtless, for 
 thus enriching her; but let us on, I am for 
 living loveliness. Of all the landscapes I ever 
 saw, the most beautiful has been a rosy cheek 
 and alabaster throat ; the brightest waters 
 in the world for me, lie in the deep well of 
 a dark blue eye ; and in all the sun-rises 
 or sunsets that ever covered the sky with 
 crimson, there is nothing like the warm blush 
 upon a young face, or the dawning smile upon 
 a rosy lip. Let us on, let us on, I say ; plea- 
 sure is the pursuit of life ; let grave thoughts 
 follow us, they will catch us soon enough if we 
 do not make haste aud get before them." 
 
 " 'T were a good philosophy, could it but 
 last," answered his companion, with a smile,
 
 12 
 
 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 touching his horse gently with the spur, and in 
 a moment more they were winding on by 
 the side of the Neckar towards the old 
 bridge, which, like many another building 
 there, was not destined to see the present 
 day. 
 
 Perhaps the younger of the two travellers 
 felt that his companion was right in what he 
 had said regarding the ornamental powers of 
 fancy, when they passed the gates of Heidel- 
 berg and entered the town itself. The sun- 
 shiny splendour of the valley was lost in the 
 narrow streets and tall dark houses ; but still 
 the shade was pleasant, for the evening was 
 hot ; and there was something in the long lines 
 of the quaint, many-storied buildings, with 
 their ornamented gables to the streets and 
 every here and there a gleam of sunshine 
 breaking across through an aperture — some- 
 thing in the gay crowds of people, in the ring- 
 ing laugh and cheerful buzz, even in the 
 baskets of fruits and flowers that obstructed 
 every turning, which did much with a young
 
 HEIDELBERG. 13 
 
 and enthusiastic mind, to compensate for the 
 picturesque beauty of the valley which they no 
 longer beheld ; and still, at the end of many of 
 the streets, the towers and walls of the castle 
 were seen looking down from its proud rock, 
 with the green branches and rugged crags of 
 the mountain, towering up beyond. 
 
 " In the name of all that 's sweet and savoury, 
 let us get to our inn as fast as we can," said 
 the elder of the young men. " My ears are 
 cracked with the hoarse merriment of these 
 overjoyous German throats ; and my nose feels 
 feverish with all the vapours of garlic and 
 sauerkraut which it has imbibed since we 
 passed the gates. — What is the name of the 
 inn, Tony ?" he continued, turning his head to 
 one of the servants behind, a merry-looking 
 fellow, with a good deal of shrewd humour 
 in his countenance. 
 
 '• The Golden something, Sir William," 
 replied the man ; " but, by my faith, I forget 
 what. We have passed through so many 
 golden and silver vessels within the last montli,
 
 14 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 that I am quite confounded by tbem. We rode 
 upon a golden goose last night ; the day before 
 it was a silver moon ; then we have had the 
 cock of gold, the golden pitcher, the golden 
 crown, the silver cross, the silver staff, and the 
 silver star. We have had all sorts of fishes 
 that ever swam in the sea, and all the beasts 
 that ever went into the ark, besides a number 
 of monsters." 
 
 " Hush, sir, hush ; give me a reasonable 
 answer, and a short one," replied the gentle- 
 man ; " and remember what your master told 
 you, about forgetting our names till you are 
 permitted to remember them. — What was the 
 name of the inn, I say ?" 
 
 " It was the Golden something, sir," replied 
 the man, undismayed ; " and, if I must give it 
 a name when I don't recollect the right one, 
 I '11 give it the name of the Stag, by way of a 
 change. We have not been at a Stag for a 
 week at least." 
 
 The other gentleman smiled; for he recol- 
 lected, as soon as it was named, that the hos-
 
 HEIDELBERG. 15 
 
 telry to whicli they had been directed was really 
 the Stag; and he somewhat doubted that his 
 servant had ever forgotten it. " Now, then, 
 William, to find it," he said ; " for this town 
 seems full of signs. But here comes a man 
 on horseback, — by his dusty boots a traveller 
 like ourselves, — German too, by the cut of his 
 cloak and the feather on the left side of his hat. 
 We will ask him ;" and, spurring his horse for- 
 ward a little, he met, at the corner of the street, 
 a well-dressed man about thirty years of age, 
 who was riding fast at the moment, but who 
 checked his horse, when the other saluted him 
 courteously and, in very tolerable German, 
 asked the way to the Golden Stag. 
 
 " Follow me," replied the stranger, " and I 
 will show you ; I am going thither myself:" and 
 riding on, without waiting to see whether the 
 strangers accompanied him or not, he took his 
 way round the great church, and sprang to the 
 ground at the steps of a large wide rambling 
 house, which bore, in bas relief, upon a panel 
 in the second story, the grotesque figure of a
 
 16 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 gouty stag, gilt, and ornamented with a collar 
 and chain. In the centre of the house there 
 was a large archway, with steps on each side, 
 which were also brought round the angle and 
 all along the front on either side of the arch, 
 forming a sort of base to the whole building. 
 A small door — that at which the traveller 
 halted — entered from the top of the steps, 
 and this was thrown open as soon as his 
 approach was perceived from one of the win- 
 dows on the ground floor. At least half a 
 score of drawers and horseboys rushed out from 
 various holes and corners about the building. 
 His horse was taken with every sign of respect ; 
 and the low-bowing landlord, with night-cap 
 in hand, the ofiicious readiness of all the 
 domestics of the establishment, and the reve- 
 rend greeting of two men, whose badges and 
 ribbons showed them to be the liveried atten- 
 dants of some high family, convinced the 
 travellers who followed closely, that their guide 
 to the Golden Stag was a personage of some 
 importance in the town of Heidelberg.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 17 
 
 The one turned round to the other and 
 smiled, somewhat superciliously perhaps ; for 
 the haughty contempt of other people's customs, 
 and the national pride, which undervalues the 
 distinctions and ranks of foreign countries, to 
 exalt those of his own, were as much charac- 
 teristic of the native of a certain island in those 
 days as at present. That supercilious smile 
 spoke the Englishman at once. Though it would 
 be very difficult to analyze philosophically the 
 sensations from which it sprang, perhaps it sim- 
 ply arose out of contempt for the deference 
 shown to a man, who would venture to wear a 
 feather in a different part of his hat from that in 
 which the English generally placed it. I do not 
 mean to aver that it was so ; but, from what I 
 know of my fellow-countrymen, I think it very 
 probable. Strange to say too, the countenance, 
 on which this smile appeared, was that of the 
 elder, and, to all appearance, the more expe- 
 rienced and worldly of the two. The other 
 smiled not, but, checking his horse to a walk, 
 as soon as he was sure of the position of the 
 
 vol*. I. c
 
 1 8 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 Golden Stag, rode slowly up to the house 
 and dismounted, with a calm and deliberate 
 air. 
 
 By this time the stranger had disappeared, 
 as well as the landlord and most of the atten- 
 dants ; but, nevertheless, the bustle of a new 
 arrival soon recommenced ; and, in five or ten 
 minutes more, the two travellers were lodged 
 in large, comfortable, but somewhat gloomy 
 rooms, and had the most positive assurance of 
 the landlord that an excellent repast was ready 
 to be set before them the moment they thought 
 fit to descend to the common room and partake 
 of it. 
 
 The servants and the page busied themselves 
 in opening portmantles and saddlebags. Rulfs, 
 collars, velvet cloaks and laced doublets were 
 spread out upon the large old comfortable beds. 
 An abundance of cold water, together with the 
 assistance of Italian essences and perfumery 
 removed all traces of travel from their per- 
 sons ; and when, at the end of about half an 
 hour, the younger of the two, with the page to
 
 HEIDELBERG. 19 
 
 show him the way, descended to the hall, it 
 would have been difficult, perhaps, to find a 
 more distinguished looking man within the 
 limits of Europe. He was evidently very 
 young — youth could be traced, in every gently 
 flowing line, in the soft and rounded cheek, in 
 the even, unfurrowed brow ; but there was an 
 air of stately dignity in his carriage ; a calm, 
 almost cold, firmness in the expression of his 
 face, which showed that, from some cause — 
 either an early initiation into life and the sad 
 experiences of the world, or from a precocious 
 appreciation of the realities of things — the 
 mind was older than the man. This happens 
 not unfrequently, and is somewhat strange in 
 its effects ; but still more strange is the result, 
 when a triple combination takes place, as was 
 in some degree the case wdth him ; and when 
 the heart, too, remains young, after the judg- 
 ment has become mature, so that its passions, 
 aided by the energies of the corporeal frame, 
 are placed in frequent antagonism, with a 
 powerful and over-ruling intellect. 
 
 c 2
 
 20 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 The page threw open the door of a large 
 room below, which looked somewhat dark and 
 gloomy ; for the windows were small, the panel- 
 ling was of black oak, and the sun was on the 
 other side of the house. It was not solitary, how- 
 ever ; for there, seated in one stiff tall-backed 
 chair, and his feet, divested of all travelling 
 incumbrances, on another, was the gentleman 
 whom they had met in the streets of the town, 
 and who had served as their guide thither. 
 His hat was cast upon a small table, his sword 
 lay beside it, his riding- boots had been drawn 
 off, and some time had been bestowed upon his 
 toilet, too ; for his doublet and cloak had been 
 changed ; but yet the difference of appearance 
 produced did not seem very remarkable to an 
 eye accustomed to the most splendid courts in 
 Europe. 
 
 To say truth, the young Englishman had 
 not been very much prepossessed in the stran- 
 ger's favour. The brief bluff answer he had 
 given when addressed, the manner in which he 
 had ridden on, with hardly a look to see that
 
 HEIDELBERG. 21 
 
 they followed, seemed to him to betoken a 
 want of courtesy, with which, indeed, he 
 was not inclined to quarrel, hut which he 
 did not greatly admire. The other did not 
 move when he entered either, though certainly 
 not unconscious of his presence ; for the large, 
 clear, grey eyes were raised and fixed upon 
 the new-comer, with a firm, inquiring, almost 
 insolent stare. It was unpleasant to the young 
 Englishman; but he did not come there to 
 seek disputes ; and, turning to the page who 
 waited at the door, as if for orders, he bade 
 him tell the landlord to serve the supper as 
 quickly as might be, and then he walked to the 
 window, and gazed out at the varied scene 
 which the streets presented. 
 
 In two minutes he was lost in a reverie, for- 
 getting altogether that there was any other 
 being in the room but himself; and, though 
 the other guest rose, moved his hat and sword, 
 and walked up and down with a heavy step, 
 the sound these evolutions produced fell upon 
 an unconscious ear which had no power to
 
 22 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 carry them to a mind far away, busied with 
 other things. 
 
 In about five minutes the door again opened, 
 a quick step was heard, and the other English 
 traveller, entering, advanced to his friend, laid 
 his hand upon his shoulder and exclaimed, in 
 a gay tone. — "What, in the depth again, 
 Algernon ! On my life, nature must have 
 intended you for an oyster. Leave you but a 
 moment and you sink down into an ocean of 
 meditation, fix yourself firmly to the bottom, 
 and would remain there, I believe, for ever, 
 with your shell half open, waiting for what 
 Providence would send to fill your mouth 
 withal. But, on my faith, I have no such 
 patience ; I am like the patriarch Isaac, and 
 have a longing for savoury meats — likewise, 
 for some amusement. This seems a wild boar 
 of the forest. We must force him from his 
 lair ; and he will show sport, depend upon it." 
 Hitherto he had spoken in English; but 
 now, turning to the stranger, with a low and 
 somewhat extravagant bow, and yet with an
 
 HEroELBERG. 23 
 
 air of courtly ease, he said, in French : " We 
 have to thank you, Monsieur, for guiding us 
 to this inn. I trust that the host will speedily 
 give us farther occasion for gratitude, by set- 
 ting before us an excellent supper. — I see he 
 has laid three covers, from which I argue, that 
 the enjoyment of the repast is to be heightened 
 to us by your participating in it." 
 
 " It is my intention to sup before I go," 
 replied the stranger, in very tolerable French, 
 though with a haughty tone ; but the other was 
 not to be rebuffed ; and, proceeding with great 
 apparent good humour, but that sort of exag- 
 geration of courtesy which is rarely without a 
 touch of sarcasm in it, he soon engaged his 
 German companion in more familiar conversa- 
 tion and broke through the husk of reserve, in 
 which he had at first encased himself. His 
 replies, when they became more frank and free, 
 showed a mind not imcultivated, an intellect of 
 some extent, and views in general just and 
 powerful, though there was an alloy of 
 haughty presumption and somewhat irritable
 
 24 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 self-esteem, which became ever more apparent, 
 if not more offensive, as his reserve wore away. 
 
 In the midst of their conversation, the land- 
 lord and his satellites entered with the supper. 
 Two of the travellers' servants came in to wait 
 upon their masters ; one of the attendants in 
 livery, who had met their German companion 
 at the door, took a place behind his chair, 
 fluttering with ribbons and tags ; and the 
 three gentlemen applied themselves to the 
 satisfying of an importunate appetite. After a 
 few minutes the younger of the two English- 
 men seemed to cast off his thoughtful mood, 
 gave himself up to the gay leading of his friend, 
 and laughed and jested likewise. The wine 
 that was placed upon the table did not seem at 
 all to his taste, and pushing it from him with 
 a shudder, after the first drops had passed his 
 lips, he pronounced it vinegar disguised. 
 
 " Come, come, mine host," he said, looking 
 over his shoulder to the master of the inn, who 
 had remained in the room, perhaps with a 
 due calculation of the excellence of the beve-
 
 HEIDELBERG. 25 
 
 rage he had served, in its relation to the quality 
 of his guests — for innkeepers, even then, were 
 not unaccustomed to make their* wine the 
 measure, or aristometre, of those they enter- 
 tained ; " come, come, mine host, this is doubt- 
 less good wine in its way, for those whom it 
 suits ; but we have ridden far and want some 
 more generous juice to refresh us. Let us 
 have something super-excellent, the very hride 
 of your cellar, as I think you call it here in 
 Germany ; and mind that it be at least a 
 hundred and fifty times better than this or else 
 it will not do." 
 
 "You speak good German, too," said the 
 stranger, " and seem to know our customs well, 
 even to the tricks of our landlords. Were you 
 ever here before ?" 
 
 " Not in this good town of Heidelberg," 
 replied the young gentleman ; " but some three 
 years ago, I passed through other parts of Ger- 
 many on my way to the south. The reason why 
 I speak French to you is, that my friend here 
 does not understand the tongue of the country."
 
 26 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 « v 
 
 'T is a pity," replied the other, " the 
 language is a fine one, and so, methinks, 
 strangers must find the country. I have tra- 
 velled too, myself, but never saw aught finer 
 than this our valley of the Neckar." 
 
 " Most beautiful, indeed," rejoined the young 
 Englishman ; "so much so, that I judge one 
 might while away a day or two here very well." 
 
 " Methinks one may, or pass a life here 
 either," rejoined their companion, with a some- 
 what haughty and offended air. "The court 
 of the Elector Palatine is, I believe, second to 
 few in Europe." 
 
 *' What is that, Algernon, what is that V* 
 cried the other Englishman, who seemed to 
 have comprehended part of what was said ; " it 
 is treason to friendship to talk a language in 
 my presence which is unintelligible to my poor 
 
 ears." 
 
 The other gentleman explained in French ; 
 and with a smile, slightly sarcastic, his fri,end 
 turned to their companion, exclaiming : " Is 
 this court so magnificent, then, indeed? We
 
 HEIDELBERG. 2 
 
 are ignorant of this part of Europe, sir, having 
 been long in the far south, sporting amongst 
 princes and lazaroni at !Xaples, jesting with 
 priests, cardinals, and popes at Rome, discuss- 
 ing pictures, statues, and points of religion 
 with painters, philosophers, and atheists at 
 Florence, and masking and making music 
 with fair dames and reverend seniors in the 
 City of the waves. We have brought over a 
 stock of vices and small-talk, I trust, that 
 would decorate any court in Christendom ; 
 and, faith, if yours is such as you describe it, 
 and fond of magnificence and merriment, 
 velvet and volubility, we must go up and visit 
 it ; and, doubtless, shall be made much of, as 
 our merits deserve." 
 
 " The access is not so easy as you may sup- 
 pose, sir," answered the other sternly ; " it re- 
 quires something else than a man's own account 
 of himself to gain entrance and esteem there." 
 
 " Ha ! here comes our host with a very 
 sagacious looking bottle," cried the younger 
 travellers, who thought, perhaps, his friend
 
 2fS HEIDELBERG. 
 
 was pushing his jests somewhat too far. " If 
 those cobwebs have been spun round the neck 
 by thinner legs than your fingers, landlord, 
 the wine would be as sour as eider, or of an 
 immortal quality." 
 
 "I will warrant you, sir," answered the 
 host, putting down long-stalked glasses, " if 
 ever you tasted better in your days, say my 
 name is not Rheinhardt ; " and he filled up to 
 the brim for the younger traveller and his 
 companion. 
 
 Before the former tasted it, however, he 
 pressed their fellow-guest to join them and 
 give his opinion of the wine ; and, on his show- 
 ing some reluctance, added : " Nay, nay, if 
 you refuse, I shall think that you are offended 
 with the light talk of my jesting friend there. 
 You must bear with him, you must bear with 
 him, sir, for it is an inveterate habit he has ; 
 and he could sooner go without his dinner than 
 his joke, at whosoever's expense it is indulged. 
 It is the custom of the country we come 
 from last ; for there it is so dangerous to speak
 
 HEIDELBERG. 29 
 
 seriously on any subject, that men take refuge 
 in a jest as in a redoubt." 
 
 The stranger seemed satisfied with this ex- 
 planation, joined in their wine, pronounced 
 it excellent, forgot his haughty air ; and, 
 returning to the subject which they had left, 
 began to expatiate once more upon the beauty, 
 splendour, gallantry, and wit of the court of 
 the Elector, Frederic V., when suddenly a loud 
 explosion, which seemed to shake the solid 
 walls of the old building, and was echoed for 
 several seconds by the rocks and mountains 
 round, interrupted his declamation, and made 
 the two Englishmen gaze in each other's 
 face. 
 
 Ere they could inquire farther, another roar, 
 and then another, was heard ; and, turning to 
 their German companion, the elder exclaimed : 
 " In the name of our fair lady Fortune ! what 
 is the meaning of this ? Is the castle besieg- 
 ing the town, or the town the castle ? Or have 
 you imported Mount Vesuvius to warm you 
 here from time to time with an eruption, and
 
 30 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 preserve tlie antiquities of the place in ashes, 
 pumice-stone, and sulphur?" 
 
 " Neither, my good sir," answered their fel- 
 low-traveller, who had remained totally un- 
 moved ; " it is but the guns of the castle firing 
 in honour of the Elector's birth-day, the nine- 
 teenth of August ; for on this day and hour, 
 now three-and-twenty years ago, our noble 
 prince was born in the good town of Amberg. 
 There is a grand banquet at the castle to-day ; 
 but, ride hard as I would, I was too late for it, 
 and so must content myself with going to the 
 reception in the evening, which, they say, will 
 be one of unusual magnificence." 
 
 " Faith, then, I think we will go there too," 
 said the elder of the two Englishmen; "doubt- 
 less we shall see collected all the beauty of the 
 Court Palatine." 
 
 "If you get admission," rejoined the other 
 drily. 
 
 " Oh, that is beyond all doubt," was the 
 bantering reply : " your prince can never be 
 such a barbarian as to refuse the pleasures of
 
 HEIDELBERG. 31 
 
 Lis court to two such proper young men as our- 
 selves, especially as we have the honour and 
 advantage of your acquaintance." 
 
 " I fancy you will find him sufiiciently 
 civilized to do so," said the other sharply ; 
 " and my acquaintance, sir, can only be bene- 
 ficial to those of whose name and station I am 
 informed. I may as well at once give you to 
 understand, knowing this court, and being 
 connected with it, that you will not be admitted 
 unless you be properly introduced." 
 
 There was a degree of arrogance in his tone, 
 more than in his words, that at once amused 
 and offended the younger of the two gentle- 
 men ; and, after his companion had exclaimed, 
 " Then must we die without benefit of clergy," 
 he turned towards the other gentleman, say- 
 ing, with a grave smile, — 
 
 " We have a bad habit, sir, in England, of 
 proving the strength of our own convictions 
 by laying wagers on any subject of dispute. 
 If such were the custom here, I would ask you 
 what you will bet that I and my friend here
 
 32 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 will not go up to the castle this very night, 
 and, without any introduction whatsoever, with- 
 out naming our names, stating our rank, or 
 disclosing our pursuits, receive kind hospitality 
 from the elector, and pass the evening with 
 his court." 
 
 The personage whom he addressed replied 
 first with a laugh, and then said : " Perhaps 
 you may find your way in, for the attendants 
 are not likely to drive back a well dressed 
 man ; but if the elector's eye falls upon you, 
 that of his chamberlain, or any of his high 
 officers, you will soon be expelled, depend upon 
 it, unless you divulge your names." 
 
 " Not so," replied the other ; " I will go 
 straight to the elector ; I will refuse to divulge 
 my name, and yet I will pass the evening 
 there; on all which I will stake a hundred 
 crowns. You yourself shall be the witness, 
 as you say you are going ; but, of course, it is 
 understood that you do and say nothing to im- 
 pede my proceedings." 
 
 " Done !" cried the other, striking his hand
 
 HEIDELBERG. 33 
 
 on the table ; " I take your wager. Metliinks 
 I should know this court better than you 
 can." 
 
 " I have known many courts," answered the 
 young man, with a good-humoured laugh, " and 
 never yet found one in which impudence and 
 a cool face could not make its way. So now 
 let us be friends and shake hands upon our 
 wagrers, which shall be decided as soon as you 
 are ready." 
 
 The stranger took his hand, not very cor- 
 dially, and replied : " We must wait a little ; 
 the banquet will be scarcely over yet. I would 
 fain know, too," he added, " who are to be my 
 companions in entering the elector's court." 
 
 " Oh ! make yourself perfectly easy," replied 
 the elder of the two young men ; " you shall 
 seem to know nothing of us from the momen 
 you pass the gate ; nay, with this sweet world's 
 simple versatility, shall turn the shoulder coldly 
 to those with whom you have climbed the hill 
 the moment you have reached the top. The 
 truth is, honourable sir, my friend and myself 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 have resolved not to reveal our real names 
 while travelling in these foreign lands. As a 
 matter of course, we have each packed up 
 with our saddle-bags and portmantles, a fresh 
 and well-conditioned name for the nonce. He 
 is called Algernon Grey : I have been known 
 for some months past as William Lovet. We 
 do not ask you to believe that our godfathers 
 and our godmothers, at our baptisms, were at 
 all familiar with these appellations, either no- 
 men or prenomen ; nevertheless, it is a whim 
 we have, and we request our excellent friends 
 to humour us therein. Those who would do 
 us reverence, tack esquire to the end of each 
 name, to designate the lowest rank of gentle- 
 men in England qualified to bear arms ; but 
 we are not particular, and even when that title 
 is omitted, the bare name does very well with- 
 out." 
 
 " So be it then," said their companion, 
 gravely. "You will have to ride, Master 
 Lovet, as perhaps you know, for it is some- 
 what difficult to find carriages here that would
 
 HEIDELBERG. 35 
 
 drag- you up that Mil ! But you make your 
 boots large," he continued, playing upon an 
 expression commonly used in Germany at that 
 time, to express a man who stood upon little 
 ceremony — " But you make your boots large, 
 and therefore your hose will escape soiling. 
 I go to get mine on ;" and rising, he left the 
 room. 
 
 The younger traveller, whom we shall 
 henceforth call by the name he thought fit 
 to assume, was inclined to fall into a fit of 
 musing again; but the other leaned over the 
 table, saying : " Ask the fellow's name, Al- 
 gernon. He seems a sullen and discourteous 
 dog, unwilling, or unable, to understand a 
 jest." 
 
 " Good faith ! you began like a young hag- 
 gard, William," replied his companion, "dash- 
 ing straight at your game, without waiting to 
 see its flight. All men are not ready to jest 
 with every stranger. He may have good 
 qualities, though he seems haughty enough ;" 
 and turning to one of the attendants of the 
 
 D 2
 
 3^ HEIDELBERG. 
 
 inn, he asked, in German, the name of the 
 gentleman who had just left the room. 
 
 " That, sir, is the Baron Oberntraut," re- 
 plied the man, with a low reverence ; " he is 
 the only son of the master of the horse to the 
 elector, and a captain of cuirassiers." 
 
 " What ! the same who distinguished himself 
 so much in the campaign of Juliers?" cried the 
 young gentleman. 
 
 " The same, sir," answered the man. " He 
 was very young then ; but he did great things, 
 I have heard." 
 
 " By my honour ! he has some reason to be 
 proud," observed Algernon Grey ; " but come, 
 William, let us get ready too. Order the 
 horses round, Tony. — I suppose they are not 
 tired with our short march," 
 
 " Tired, sir !" replied the man. " Lord bless 
 you ! with the oats they have got into them 
 since they came, they 'd take the castle up 
 there as if it were a five-barred gate. I heard 
 Hob say that Barbary had eaten a peck and 
 a half, while you were changing your cloak 1"
 
 HEIDELBERG. 37 
 
 " If that were the first lie he ever told, it 
 might be worth repeating," said William 
 Lovet ; " but let us go, Algernon. I am all 
 on fire for the beauties of the fair Elizabeth's 
 court ; and if I can find out which is this 
 Obemtraut's mistress, on my soul I will plague 
 him."
 
 3S HEIDELBERG. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 " Who is that, who is that ?" cried the small 
 shrill voice of a little deformed boy, who stood 
 as near to the gate of the castle as the soldiers 
 would let him — and, to say the truth, they had 
 suffered him to approach somewhat nearer than 
 their orders warranted, in respect for a tall, 
 beautiful, well formed girl, his sister, who held 
 him by the hand. 
 
 " Which do you mean, Hans ?" asked his 
 fair companion. '^ That one, in the black and 
 gold doublet, and the cloak lined with crimson ? 
 That is the young Baron of Oberntraut, the 
 Great Captain, who defeated the Austrians on 
 the other side of the Rhine."
 
 HEIDELBERG. 39 
 
 " He does not look to me like a great cap- 
 tain," said the small sharp voice proceeding 
 from the narrow and protuberant chest. " I 
 thought he would have been all in armour, as 
 the soldiers were once, when I saw them ride 
 through the streets.*' 
 
 " Is that a Frenchman ?" asked one of the 
 lower order of students, who was leaning in 
 studied, not to say affected negligence, with 
 his arm round the neck of one of his fellows. 
 ** Do you see how he wears his hat ? and in what 
 a jaunty way he has thrown his cloak all upon 
 his left shoulder, as if he wished to keep the 
 hilt of his sword warm ?" 
 
 *' Oh, he may keep it warm enough in 
 Heidelberg, if he like," rejoined the other 
 student to whom he spoke ; " we '11 give it 
 ■work, if it want it ; but which do you mean, 
 Frederic ? for there are two of them — the 
 black cock or the white one ?" 
 
 ** The fair one," replied the former speaker ; 
 *' the one in the philimot and gold ; he is a 
 proper man, Carl, and, I should think, ready
 
 40 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 enough to use his rapier, if one may judge by 
 his look." 
 
 " Oh, looks are nothing," replied the other ; 
 " but I should think he is no Frenchman. 
 More likely an Englishman, come, like the rest 
 of them, to flutter at our court." 
 
 " Come away, wife, come away," said a jolly, 
 fat citizen, with an ace-of- clubs nose and a 
 beard tolerably sprinkled with grey, to a pretty 
 woman, some twenty years younger, who stood 
 beside him, holding the hand of a little boy 
 about four or five years old — " It is full time 
 for us to be getting home; don't you see 
 the sun is nearly down — one half behind the 
 hills there? and it will be dark before we 
 reach the door. There, come along; you are 
 a great admirer of fair men, I know : but, 
 methinks, you should have had enough of 
 them to-night; so let us homeward, if you 
 would not have yon gallant kiss his hand to 
 you, as a reward for your staring." 
 
 While this conversation and much of a 
 similar kind had been going on amongst the
 
 HEIDELBERG. 41 
 
 numerous groups, which had assembled round 
 the outward Burgthor, or castle-gate, of the 
 fine old palace of the Electors Palatine, the 
 party of three gentlemen and seven servants, 
 which had slowly wound up the long and steep 
 ascent from the town to the castle, had reached 
 the flat at the top, and were passing over the 
 drawbridge, which then existed at the Burgthor, 
 into that wide extent of ground, which was 
 inclosed by the great wall of the fortress. 
 Whether it was that the presence of Obern- 
 traut, who was well known to the soldiery, 
 procured them free admission, or that the 
 guards had only orders to keep out the ordi- 
 nary citizens of the place, the whole party 
 were suffered to proceed, without opposition, 
 and rode on to the bridge-house, while fine 
 strains of martial music, wafted by the wind 
 from the great court of the castle, and the 
 sound of many a gay and musical voice from 
 the gardens round, told that the revelry of 
 the Elector's birth-night was still going on 
 with undiminished spirit.
 
 42 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 Under the arch of the bridge-house, two of 
 the guards crossed their partizans before the 
 horses, and Oberntraut, anxious to show that 
 he kept his word, in not throwing any impedi- 
 ment in the way of the two EngUshmen, turned 
 his head, saying in German, "You must dis- 
 mount here, being visitors; I ride into the 
 court, as one of the Elector's household." 
 
 The soldiers instantly raised their halberts 
 to let him pass with the two servants, who had 
 accompanied him from the inn. At the same 
 moment, one of Algernon Grey's attendants 
 sprang to his stirrup, to aid him in dismount- 
 ing ; and, giving his sword to his page to carry, 
 the young gentleman and his friend disencum- 
 bered themselves of the large riding boots of 
 the day — which, be it remarked, easily covered 
 shoes and all — and passing betw^een the guards, 
 with a confident air, as if there could be no 
 earthly doubt of their admission, walked on, 
 under the archway of the great square tower, 
 into the wide court-yard. 
 
 The scene was a very brilliant one, which 

 
 HEIDELBERG. 43 
 
 was now presented to their eyes. Crowds of 
 attendants, belonging either to the household 
 of the Elector Palatine himself, or to those of 
 the great nobles of his court, were scattered 
 thickly over the wide space before them — 
 sometimes standing in groups of eight or 
 nine together — sometimes moving hither and 
 thither, with quick or sauntering pace ; and 
 every colour of the rainbow, in its very 
 brightest tints, was to be seen displayed in 
 the gorgeous costume of the day. Neither 
 was there any lack of lace and embroidery, 
 plumes, sword-knots, and fluttering scarfs; 
 and, around this gay flower-bed, rose up, 
 in the faint evening light, innumerable and 
 irregular masses of building, of every period 
 and of every style, the remains of which can 
 still be traced, slowly mouldering away under 
 the hand of time, and presenting to the 
 thoughtful eye a sad picture of the end of 
 all great designs; a bitter lesson to man's 
 presumptuous hopes, a dark but chastening 
 admonition to joy, prosperity, and power.
 
 44 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 On the right hand, under a wide arcade 
 supported by graceful columns, was a large 
 and skilful band of musicians, making the air 
 ring with the sounds of their instruments. 
 Upon the left, in darkness, such as time casts 
 upon all man's doings, was a pile of archi- 
 tecture, the light and graceful lines of which 
 betokened a very early period of construction. 
 Nearly in the centre of the court rose up a 
 fountain; the sparkling jets of which caught 
 and reflected the rosy light which had spread 
 over the sky above. Farther on, to the right, 
 appeared a vast mass in the Italian taste, 
 covered with rich and splendid ornaments — 
 statues, arabesques, and pilasters — and pierced 
 with innumerable windows, from which bright 
 lights were shining, showing that the sun's 
 decline was felt within. In more than one 
 other place, too, on both sides and in front, 
 a taper, or a lamp might be seen passing slowly 
 on from room to room across the various case- 
 ments, affording a sort of mysterious interest 
 to a fanciful mind, as the eye of the young
 
 HEIDELBERG. 45 
 
 Englishman rested on the dark piles to the 
 west, from which the sunshine had for several 
 hours departed. 
 
 Grouped together near the fountain, and held 
 by grooms and stable boys, were a number of 
 horses, richly caparisoned ; and near them was 
 seen the form of the Baron of Oberntraut, slowly 
 dismounting and speaking to his two servants, 
 as if waiting to give time for his late com- 
 panions to come up. 
 
 " That is civil and honourable of him," said 
 Algernon Grey, as they advanced towards him. 
 
 " A good deal of self-confidence in it," 
 answered the other; "he feels so sure of win- 
 ning his bet, that he wishes to prove to us 
 that it is done by no unfair advantage." 
 
 " Still the worst side of everything !" rejoined 
 his friend, with a grave smile, and moved on. 
 But as soon as Oberntraut perceived them 
 within a few yards, he himself advanced to- 
 wards a flight of steps before one of the prin- 
 cipal buildings, where an open door and a blaze 
 of light, displayed a low arched hall, crowded
 
 46 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 with attendants. His step was slow and stately , 
 but though, before he had reached the top of 
 the steps, the two Englishmen were close to 
 him, he took not the slightest notice of them, 
 and passed on. 
 
 Several other persons were, at the moment, 
 advancing in the same direction ; and Lovet 
 whispered to his companion ; " Follow the 
 stream, follow the stream." Algernon Grey 
 did so, and found himself guided by the rest to 
 what seemed the great staircase of the castle. 
 It was not indeed so magnificent, either in its 
 proportions or its decorations, as the splendour 
 of the exterior might have led a traveller to 
 expect; but what it wanted in architectural 
 beauty was supplied by extrinsic decoration of 
 great taste, consisting of flowers and shrubs and 
 branches disposed in such manner as to mingle 
 the harsh lines of the grey stone pleasantly 
 and symmetrically with the graceful bends of 
 the green foliage. An object had been sought 
 and attained very much neglected in those 
 times, namely, the perfect lighting of the stair-
 
 HEIDELBERG. 47 
 
 case ; for, although the day had hardly closed, 
 the lamps were already gleaming along the 
 balustrades, not with a harsh and overpowering 
 glare, but with a tempered brightness, which 
 showed all that could please and captivate the 
 eye and yet left a dim indistinctness, not dis- 
 agreeable, over the rest. Five or six persons 
 preceded the young Englishmen in their ascent, 
 some speaking together, some silent and lonely; 
 but all turned to the left on reaching the top, 
 and passed through a guarded door, round 
 which a number of attendants were standing, 
 into a small anti-chamber, where a single officer 
 appeared leaning his hand upon a table. 
 
 No questions were asked of any of those 
 who went before Algernon Grey and his friend ; 
 and he with calm and grave deliberation fol- 
 lowed, neither looking to the right nor the 
 left, nor taking the slightest notice of a whis- 
 pered inquiry, which he heard running amongst 
 the servants, as to who and what he was. 
 William Lovet, in his ignorance of the language, 
 was also ignorant of all such perils to their
 
 48 HEIDELBERG, 
 
 enterprise; and, with a gay and well-assured 
 look, followed close upon his companion's steps, 
 adjusting the glittering tie of his sword-knot 
 and thrusting his rapier a little further back. 
 
 The moment they entered the anti-room, 
 Algernon Grey marked that the Baron of 
 Oberntraut paused for an instant at the oppo- 
 site door, as if to see whether the officer on duty 
 would stop them, or require their names. The 
 latter immediately advanced a step or two ; but 
 then, to the surprise of all present, he gave the 
 two gentlemen a lowly salutation, and drew 
 back to the table again. 
 
 A slight smile curled Algernon's handsome 
 lip ; and, with a tone of dignity, he said 
 aloud, addressing the officer: "Will you be 
 pleased, sir, to inform the Elector Palatine 
 personally, if you can have his ear for a mo- 
 ment, that two English gentlemen of befitting 
 rank, who for reasons of their own decline 
 to give their names, crave his gracious per- 
 mission to witness the splendours of his court 
 this night, and to tread a measure in his hall
 
 HEIDELBERG. 49 
 
 with the fair dames of our owii fair princess. We 
 ask it with loyal hearts and true, well aware of 
 what we do, and not venturing to request aught 
 unbecoming of him to grant, or us to receive." 
 
 The officer bowed, and, turning towards 
 those without, said : " Keep the door !" and 
 then, advancing towards the inner chamber, 
 seemed to answer quickly a question of Obern- 
 traut, who had lingered near the entrance, and 
 then passed on. 
 
 " Now are your hundred crowns in peril, 
 Algernon," said William Lovet ; "a fair new 
 saddle-cloth embroidered in gold, a silver bit 
 and gilt stirrups, together with an ear-ring of 
 nineteen carats and a ruby, to say nothing of a 
 new kerchief to Madge, Marianne, or Margery, 
 all hang upon the chance of the fair delivery 
 of a simple message by an anti-chamber officer 
 of an Elector Palatine. Heaven save the mark ! 
 if the pretty maid with the brown eyes, who 
 was hkely in the course of time and by the 
 concatenation of circumstances, to have that 
 kerchief at your hands, now knew upon what a 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 rash cast you have risked it, would she not fret 
 and scold at the probable result of the bet at 
 the Golden Stag?" 
 
 " She would be silly so to do," replied 
 Algernon Grey. "I have no fears of money 
 going out of my purse to-night ; the good man 
 will deliver his] message aptly enough, I am 
 sure ; and the message, of which you understood 
 not a word, was just the bait to catch the young 
 Elector with his notions of chivalrous gallantry. 
 Hark, what a buzz comes through the door- 
 way. Methinks half the palatinate must be 
 here ; and see how the figures glide about across 
 and across — now in blue and silver — now in 
 green and gold — now in black and pearls, 
 like painted shadows in a showman's box. But 
 here comes our messenger, and with him a very 
 grave and reverend personage with a beard of 
 an ell long. Let us advance to meet him, as 
 if we knew his inward dignity at once by his 
 outward shape." 
 
 With the same stately carriage which he 
 had lately assumed, Algernon Grey took a few
 
 HEIDELBERG. 51 
 
 slow Steps forward, to meet a somewhat cor- 
 pulent gentleman, whose hair and colouring 
 seemed to bespeak a hasty and choleric tem- 
 perament, and then made him a low bow. The 
 officer, who had been in waiting in the anti- 
 chamber, pointed with his hand to the two 
 Englishmen, saying : " These are the two gen- 
 tlemen ;" and the other, who followed, returned 
 their salutation, scanning them for a moment 
 with his eye ere he spoke. 
 
 " It is the Elector's pleasure, sirs," he said at 
 length, " that I introduce you to his presence ;" 
 and once more he gazed at them from head to 
 foot, in a somewhat haughty and supercilious 
 manner. 
 
 But Algernon Grey was not to be provoked 
 out of his caution ; and, with a very slight 
 inclination of the head, he replied : " The 
 Elector is gracious ; we are at your com- 
 mand." 
 
 There was nothing more to be said ; and 
 therefore the Electoral officer wheeled his large 
 person round, and, with a somewhat more civil 
 
 E 2 
 
 y^ OF ILL LIB.
 
 52 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 gesture than he had hitherto used, led the way 
 into the chamber beyond. It was filled with 
 numerous persons of both sexes, dressed in the 
 gorgeous costume of the day ; and certainly the 
 court of the mightiest monarch in Europe could 
 not have displayed greater splendour of apparel, 
 or greater beauty of person, than appeared at 
 that of the Count Palatine. People of all 
 nations and all languages were there ; and 
 amongst the busy crowds which moved hither 
 arid thither, every hue of hair, every shade of 
 complexion was to be seen ; from the fair- 
 haired, blue -eyed children of the north, to the 
 dark Transylvanian, and the swarthy Moor. 
 Through all the throng the chamberlain of the 
 Elector cleared a way for himself and the two 
 who followed: the rotundity of his person acting 
 as a sort of human wedge, which left a vacancy 
 behind it ; and many a head was turned to 
 gaze upon the young strangers ; it being re- 
 marked that they looked neither to the right 
 nor the left, as if they did not wish to recog- 
 nise or be recognised by any one, should there.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 53 
 
 by chance, be found an acquaintance amongst 
 the varied multitude. 
 
 Although the immense masses of the castle, 
 as they had seen it from the outside, had 
 impressed them with a strong idea of its vast- 
 ness, yet, from some cause or another, Algernon 
 Grey had expected to find the Elector and his 
 fair wife in the room beyond the anti-chamber. 
 Indeed its extent was so great, its decorations so 
 sumptuous, and the groups it contained so 
 numerous, that it might well have been sup- 
 posed the audience-hall of a great prince. But 
 everything in the castle of Heidelberg, at that 
 period was upon so magnificent a scale, that no 
 acquaintance with other palaces enabled a visi- 
 tor to judge of what was to be his reception 
 here. It contained, in those days, a suite of 
 ten splendid saloons, one opening into the 
 other and each covered with lavish ornament. 
 Through the whole of these, till at length 
 they reached what was called the silver cham- 
 ber, the two young EngHshmen were led, before 
 they found the object of their search.
 
 54 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 Two pages, one stationed on each side of the 
 wide door way, held up the curtains of white 
 velvet and silver, which hung from huge rings 
 above ; and as Algernon entered, a more quiet 
 scene than those he had just passed, but still a 
 very striking one, presented itself to his eyes. 
 At the farther side of the room, perhaps at 
 a distance of forty or fifty feet, standing a little 
 in advance of two chairs of state, were seen 
 Frederic and the Electress, both in the pride of 
 youth and beauty. The features of neither 
 were perfectly regular, but the face of each had 
 its own peculiar charm of expression, the one 
 beaming with graceful kindness and dignified 
 good humour, the other sparkling with wit, 
 imagination, and soul. Strikingly, though not 
 regularly handsome, certainly they were ; and 
 seeing them standing there, clothed in similar 
 colours, of the same age, slightly contrasted 
 complexion, with only that difference in height 
 which might well exist between the husband 
 and the wife, one might have been tempted to 
 think that no two people had ever been more
 
 HEIDELBERG. 55 
 
 fitly matched, had but the countenance of 
 Frederic possessed more energy and determina- 
 tion of character. Elizabeth stood on her 
 husband's right hand ; and on his left were seen 
 first a page, holding his sword, and then a 
 group of the glittering nobles of his court ; but 
 on the right of the Electress, were assembled 
 twelve or thirteen of the fairest flowers of 
 Christendom, all robed nearly alike in white 
 and silver ; their marble brows and glossy hair 
 bound with garlands, as it were, of diamonds 
 and pearls. In other parts of the room — 
 near the windows — near the doors — under 
 the arches on either side, were several other 
 groups conversing in a low tone; but the 
 middle was vacant, at least when Alger- 
 non Grey entered ; and he was advancing 
 after his guide, towards the young sovereign 
 before him, when suddenly, from a group 
 on his right, a glittering courtier of about 
 his own age started forward, and held out his 
 hand. 
 
 The visitor, however, placed his finger on his
 
 56 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 lip, saying in a low tone, " Not a word, Craven,''^ 
 we are to be as strangers here." 
 
 The other instantly drew back again, with 
 a smile; but William Lovet nodded to him 
 gaily, and then followed his friend. 
 
 This little interlude had not caught the 
 Elector's eye, for at that moment the Baron of 
 Oberntraut passed before him, and bowing low, 
 took his place amongst the gentlemen on the 
 left. 
 
 Elizabeth, however, saw it, and smiled, and 
 ?then whispered a word in her husband's ear. 
 Frederic's eyes were immediately turned upon 
 the young Englishmen, who were now within a 
 few paces ; and a look of pleasure came over his 
 countenance, while he replied in a low tone to 
 what his wife had said. 
 
 The next moment the chamberlain interposed 
 with a low and formal bow, saying, " These are 
 the gentlemen, your Highness ; I know not how 
 
 * By some authors it is stated that Craven was not at 
 this time at the electoral court ; but of course the chronicle 
 which we copy is the better authority.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 57 
 
 else to introduce them to you, as they do not 
 think fit to grace me with their names ; but 
 your pleasure being that they should have 
 admittance, I have obeyed you in bringing 
 them to your presence.'* This said in a grave 
 and formal tone, he drew back upon the 
 prince's left. 
 
 " You are welcome, gentlemen," said Frede- 
 ric. " Though you deny your name — and we 
 will let that pass unquestioned — we must, as 
 sovereign of this land, inquire what brings you 
 hither : having due regard for the safety of our 
 subjects, to the fairer part of whom, methinks, 
 you might prove dangerous." 
 
 While he spoke, a playful and good-humoured 
 smile curled his hp; and Algernon Grey 
 answered in a respectful but yet gay tone ; " I 
 must reply to your Highness with one of our 
 English players, — 
 
 * A roving disposition, good my lord. ' 
 Such was the evil cause that brought us to 
 the fair Palatinate. Being there, we heard 
 that this day your Highness held a high revel,
 
 58 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 and, longing to see the wonders of this court, 
 we ventured hither, craving leave to tread a 
 measure with any fair dame who will so 
 honour us." 
 
 "I fear me much," said Frederic, in the 
 same tone of courteous jesting, " that you are 
 two perilous young men." 
 
 " He, my lord, is perilous young," replied 
 Lovet, pointing to his companion ; " God 
 send that I may have a good title to the 
 same character for the next twenty years ; 
 but, I doubt me much, it is passing away 
 from me." 
 
 " We are all upon a road where there are 
 no inns," answered the Elector, somewhat more 
 gravely; ''but what I fear is, that you bring 
 danger with you, and I doubt much that I 
 must order you into confinement, unless you 
 can find bail and surety." 
 
 " Nay, my good lord, I will be their bail," 
 cried Elizabeth of England gaily; *'and to 
 make all sure, I will put them in gentle ward, 
 so that they commit no offence while in your
 
 HEIDELBERG. 59 
 
 dominions. — Here, Agnes," she continued, ''and 
 you, my fair Countess of Laussitz, you shall be 
 their warders, and remember, that, throughout 
 this whole night, whether in the dance or at 
 the table, in the halls or in the gardens, you 
 lose not sight of your several prisoners for a 
 moment. Stay," she continued, " although 
 my good lord is inclined to treat them thus 
 severely, I will be more gentle, as becomes a 
 lady, and let each choose into whose captivity 
 he will fall. What say you, sir ?" 
 
 " By your Highness's gracious permission," 
 replied Algernon Grey, to whom her words 
 were addressed, " as there can be no want of 
 gallantry in a choice where I know neither, I 
 will surrender myself to the lady you first 
 mentioned." 
 
 " That is you, Agnes," said the Electress ; 
 " come forward and take possession of your 
 prisoner." 
 
 As the princess spoke, a young lady, who 
 stood a little behind, advanced with a light 
 step, but with some slight timidity of manner.
 
 60 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 and a cheek more flushed than it was the 
 moment before. The timidity, however, ap- 
 peared but to add new grace to that which, 
 even before, seemed perfect ; and Algernon 
 Grey gazed upon her in evident surprise and 
 admiration, feeling himself right happy in his 
 choice. 
 
 It is very difficult to convey in language 
 any just idea of those various distinctions and 
 shades of beauty, which the eye seizes in a 
 moment, but which escape from words ; and 
 it would be almost doing injustice to the fair 
 girl, who now approached the princess's side, 
 to attempt a detailed description. To give 
 some idea, however, of her person, as the 
 portraits, still existing, represent her, it may 
 be enough to say, that she was certainly not 
 above the middle height, but with every limb 
 so exquisitely formed, that she looked taller 
 than she really was. Her rich brown hair, 
 with chestnut gleams upon it, fell in profuse 
 abundance down her neck, in the fashion of 
 the day. Her eyes were neither blue, nor
 
 HEIDELBERG. 61 
 
 brown, nor grey, but of that soft and soul- 
 speaking hazel, so rarely seen and yet so 
 exquisitely beautiful ; while the long dark 
 eyelash and arched brow lent themselves to 
 every shade of expression, from deep and pen- 
 sive thought to light and sparkling gaiety. 
 The features were all small and delicate, the 
 skin pure as alabaster, with a sunset glow upon 
 the cheek. And the slightly parted lips, show- 
 ing the pearly teeth beneath, seemed tempting 
 love and promising return. The small, fine 
 hand, the beautifully formed foot and ankle, 
 the graceful neck and swelling bosom, the very 
 turn of the head, all seemed like the dream of 
 a sculptor in some moment of inspiration. 
 And to crown all, was that breathing of the 
 soul through every feature and through every 
 part, which invests each movement with some 
 new charm. 
 
 Algernon Grey gazed upon her, I have said, 
 with a look of admiration and surprise ; and the 
 keener and shrewder eye of WilHam Lovet, too, 
 ran over her face and figure, but with a ver}'
 
 62 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 different expression. It lasted but for a mo- 
 ment, and then he turned his gaze upon his 
 friend, marking well the gleam of surprise that 
 sparkled on his countenance. A slight smile 
 curled his lips; but, when Algernon Grey 
 advanced and took her hand, at the Princess's 
 command, those lips moved; and, had any 
 one been near, he might have heard him say, 
 in a low tone, " This will do, methinks." 
 
 Another eye, too, marked the whole pro- 
 ceeding ; but, in this instance, the brow became 
 clouded, the moment the young Englishman's 
 hand touched that of his fair companion ; and, 
 setting his teeth hard in his lower lip, the 
 Baron of Oberntraut turned away his head, as 
 if not to expose the discontent which was 
 too plainly written on his face. 
 
 " I am ready, may it please your Highness," 
 said William Lovet, advancing as soon as 
 Algernon and his partner had drawn back, 
 *' to submit myself entirely to your high com- 
 mands ; ,;^but I do beseech you to lighten my 
 chains by making them of roses, and bidding
 
 HEIDELBERG. 63 
 
 my fair gaoler issue her orders in French, 
 English, or Italian, as T fear my purse is very 
 empty of German coin ; and if she have none 
 other, the exchange would be much against me." 
 
 " Fear not," replied the Princess ; " we 
 all speak French here. Come, fair Countess, 
 take your prisoner, treat him well, but watch 
 him carefully ; and, to amuse his sad hours of 
 captivity, show him all that is worth seeing in 
 our humble court." 
 
 The lady, to whom she spoke, was in the 
 first rank of those on her right ; and William 
 Lovet had no cause for dissatisfaction with his 
 fate for the evening. The lady was tall and 
 fair, but sparkling with beauty and youth ; and 
 a merry mouth, a sleepy and love-languid eye 
 presented to his imagination all those qualities 
 best suited to his taste. He was speedily in 
 full career of jest and gallantry with his fair 
 companion, and seemed at first to make more 
 progress with her than Algernon Grey could 
 boast with his partner for the night. 
 
 After a pause of a few moments, the Elector
 
 64 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 turned to the Marshall of his household, and 
 asked if any more guests were arriving or ex- 
 pected. The reply was " None ;" and waving 
 •his hand, the Prince said in a gay tone ; " Then, 
 let us break off our state, and, for an hour or 
 two, enjoy ourselves with the rest. Lords and 
 ladies, to your several pastimes; and, according 
 to a proverb, which I learned in England, let us 
 all be merry and wise." 
 
 Thus saying, he drew the arm of the Electress 
 through his own, and moved towards the doors 
 of the hall. His departure was a signal for the 
 dispersion of the court ; the ceremonial part of 
 the evening's occupations was at an end ; and — 
 ranging through the long suite of rooms which 
 had been thrown open, going forth into the 
 gardens and terraces — in general brightly illu- 
 minated by painted lanterns — some seeking the 
 dance, some conversation — each endeavoured to 
 amuse himself as best he might upon that night 
 of festivity and rejoicing.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 CHAPTER m. 
 
 The fate that hano-s over the death-doomed 
 race of man appals us not. We wander where 
 generations have grown up and bloomed, borne 
 fruit, and passed away, without a homily in our 
 hearts; we tread upon the very graves of a 
 thousand races, we walk over the huge burial 
 place of the world, and give not a thought to 
 the fellow dust that sleeps below. Strange 
 and marvellous insensibility ! whence does it 
 spring ? Is it from mere levity that we thus 
 rise above the deep thoughts of our inevitable 
 doom ? Or is it from a high sense of loftier 
 destinies, an intimate conviction of the im- 
 perishable elevation of one part of our mixed 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 nature ? Or is it indeed — more likely than 
 either — that while we see the spring of life still 
 gushing forth and pouring out stream after 
 stream as each river is dried up, a consciousness 
 steels over us that we are but the, parts of one 
 beautiful whole undergoing everlasting change 
 to the glory of Him who made it all ? We 
 behold creation full of life : the herb, the flower, 
 the beating heart, the pliant fin, the soaring 
 wing, the thought-stored brain, all speak of 
 that strange mysterious fire which warms the 
 universe, bursting out wherever eye can reach 
 or fancy penetrate, unextinguished, unextin- 
 guishable but by the will that called it into 
 being. We see, and know it; and, instinct 
 with the divine essence, rejoice in the light that 
 is granted, for the time that it can be enjoyed, 
 while the promise of its permanence and the 
 hope of its increase shade over the one dark 
 moment with a veil of gold. 
 
 Amidst buildings, that are now ruins, through 
 scenes that are in a great part desolate, over 
 terraces and amongst parterres, now no longer
 
 HEIDELBERG. 67 
 
 to be seen, was kept up, throughout that night, 
 revel and merriment and joy, without a thought 
 given to the ages passed away, or to those who 
 had been denizens of earth and partakers of all 
 earth's pleasures, upon that same spot for un- 
 numbered centuries before. The present hour, 
 the present hour ! the joy of the existing short- 
 lived moment! the taste of the ripe fruit, without 
 the cloud of the past or the sun of the future ! 
 were then, are still, and may be for ever here- 
 after, the sole occupation of the gay and happy 
 spirits, such as the guests there assembled. 
 
 It was too much so indeed ; for, in those 
 young days of bright domestic happiness, Eliza- 
 beth of England and her joyous, lighthearted 
 husband drained to the dregs the joy-cup of 
 prosperity and power; and, educated in the 
 ideas of, though differing in views from the 
 queen of James the First, the Electress was 
 strongly tinged with those notions of freedom 
 bordering upon levity, which were entertained 
 by Ann of Denmark. Not that I mean for one 
 moment to cast a stain upon a name, with which 
 
 F 2
 
 68 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 history has dealt justly, I believe, in dealing 
 tenderly; but it is undoubted, that the Electress, 
 if sufficiently reserved in her own manners, and 
 perfectly pure in her own conduct, gave great 
 encouragement, in the court of her husband, to 
 that abandonment of ordinary and conventional 
 restraints, which can only be safe amongst the 
 highminded and the chivalrous, and not always 
 even then. She held with Ann of Denmark, 
 that women had as much right, and might be as 
 safely trusted with the entire and unwatched 
 direction of their own actions, as men; that 
 those harsh restrictions and suspicious guardian- 
 ships, which have grown up out of a complicated 
 and artificial state of society, might well and 
 wnsely be dispensed with; and that the sole 
 cause of there being any danger to woman her- 
 self, or to the world in general, from allowing 
 her the same freedom, which man monopolizes, 
 was the early restraint, which denied experi- 
 ence, as the guide of reason and the demonstra- 
 tion of principle. 
 
 Thus a degree of freedom — I will not call it
 
 HEIDELBERG. 69 
 
 license, for that is a harsh term, and implies 
 according to modern acceptation, much more 
 than I mean — reigned in the electoral court ; 
 and, although more than seven hundred guests 
 were there assembled on the night I speak of, 
 in addition to the noble part of a household 
 numbering constantly more than a thousand 
 members, no one, unless from some private and 
 peculiar reason, thought it in the least neces- 
 sary to watch the proceedings of others, whether 
 male or female. Doubtless the Electress was 
 right in many of the views she maintained, 
 abstractedly speaking; but unfortunately it 
 happens, that to every theory, however just in 
 itself, certain small practical circumstances op- 
 pose themselves, affecting its application most 
 momentously. I will illustrate, in some de- 
 gree, what I mean. Formerly, in the silver mines 
 of Spain, as at present in the soil of Illyria, 
 I believe, a certain mineral was to be found 
 ver}'much resembling silver in colour — weighty, 
 bright and fluid. Taken in its native state, it 
 is innocuous and very inefficient; but add a few
 
 70 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 drops of a certain nearly colourless acid to it, 
 and it becomes a valuable medicine ; add a few 
 drops of another acid, and it becomes the most 
 virulent of poisons. Now the small circum- 
 stances, for w^hich no allowance is ever made, 
 are the few drops of acid, which in the furnace 
 of the world render the most innocent theory- 
 possible, either highly beneficial, or terribly 
 pernicious. I speak not, of course, of prin- 
 ciples, for they are fixed ; but merely of theories 
 at first sight indifferent. 
 
 However, such as I have stated, was the 
 Court of the Elector Palatine in the year 
 one thousand six hundred and nineteen, and 
 in the month of August in that year ; a period 
 pregnant with great events, when the fate of the 
 Palatinate — nay, the fate of Europe — nay, im- 
 measurably more, the progress of society and 
 the march of the human mind throughout the 
 whole world, hung trembling in the balance; 
 and yet there they were, the gay, the light- 
 hearted, the enthusiastic, the moveable, all, ap- 
 parently, creatures of impulse alike, enjoying
 
 HEIDELBERG. 71 
 
 with less restraint, than the world had often 
 seen before, the happiness of the present hour. 
 Music and the dance, gay conversation, Hght 
 jest and playful wit had excited heads and 
 hearts alike. The heat of the saloons had 
 become oppressive ; the glare of the lamps and 
 tapers had dazzled and fatigued the eyes ; the 
 moving objects, the brilhant dresses, the beam- 
 ing jewels, the straining race after pleasure, 
 had become fatiguing to many ; and some forty 
 or fifty pairs, hand in hand, or arm in arm, had 
 wandered out to seek the refreshing coolness of 
 the gardens, to repose the mind, and invigorate 
 the body in the fresh night air of August, or 
 else to tell the tale of love and seek its return, 
 under the broad green foliage of the trees, or the 
 twinkling eyes of the deep blue sky of night. 
 
 Algernon Grey and his fair companion stood 
 side by side in one of the deep windows of the 
 hall where they had trod one dance, and he 
 marked the disappearance of many, who had 
 been for some time in the same chamber, by 
 doors which led he knew not whither. Had the
 
 72 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 lady remained as timidly distant as when first 
 they met, perhaps he might have asked no ques- 
 tions in regard to a subject which only excited 
 a slight and passing curiosity ; but a change 
 had come over them both. 
 
 It was seldom that Algernon Grey felt embar- 
 rassment or hesitation in addressing the bright- 
 est or the fairest in the world. From a period, 
 generally reckoned within the round of boy- 
 hood, he had acted for himself, except in some 
 matters of deep moment; and, in regard to 
 those, the arrangements which had been made 
 for him by his friends, had, by fixing his fate, in 
 several of its most important features, irrevoca- 
 bly placed him beyond the circle of many events 
 most fraught with emotion for the heart of youth. 
 But yet, there is something very impressive in 
 great beauty, especially in its first early dawn. 
 With the mature woman, there are a thousand 
 avenues opened by her own experience, to 
 approach her fearlessly, if honestly. But the 
 mind of a very young girl, like the first bud of 
 a rose, is hedged in by thorns, through which we
 
 HEIDELBERG. 73 
 
 must force our way. In one of the German 
 editions of a fairy tale, called the " Sleeping 
 Beauty in the wood," the knight, who is destined 
 to deliver the lady, has first to cut his path 
 through the forest before he can even approach 
 the castle in which she lies slumbering ; and he 
 never would have succeeded, had it not been 
 for an enchanted sword given him by a kind 
 friend. I cannot help thinking, that in the 
 allegory, the Sleeping Beauty meant the confi- 
 dence of a young and inexperienced heart ; and 
 the sword which none of the trees could resist, a 
 high and noble spirit, possessed by one who 
 sought to approach it. With such a sword Alger- 
 non Grey was armed ; and, although he found 
 some diflSculty in choosing his path, fortune be- 
 friended him at length. After two vain efforts 
 which produced nothing in reply, but those com- 
 mon-places, which showed that the lady was 
 accustomed, more than her years would have 
 induced him to expect, to courts and the world, 
 he hit upon a happier theme, which obtained 
 a longer answer and touched deeper feelings.
 
 74 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 He had spoken of the Electoral court, he had 
 spoken of the fair Palatinate, he had spoken of 
 the Elector and Electress. Her replies were 
 courtly, but from the surface. He then spoke 
 of England, of his own land, of the qualities of 
 the people, their truthfulness, their energy of 
 character ; and she warmed in an instant. She 
 often longed to see it, she said. She told him 
 that it was the cherished vision of her lonely 
 moments, the hope of her heart, the only eager 
 and anxious desire she had; and when he 
 expressed his surprise that the distant island 
 from which he came, could have awakened such 
 interest, she asked with a smile : — 
 
 '' Do 3^ou not know that I am an English- 
 woman? I have never seen England, I have 
 never known it ; but yet I am an English- 
 woman." 
 
 '* Indeed," he said, instantly changing the 
 language in which they had been speaking 
 to his own ; " of English parents, you mean ? I 
 can well conceive the land of our ancestors 
 possesses a deep interest for any one born afar.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 75 
 
 out yet, fair lady, you must be somewhat of an 
 enthusiast, also, to say that it is the only hope 
 of your heart?'' 
 
 " Perhaps I am," she answered with a smile, 
 " but yet there is something more in the 
 thought of Englaod, than the mere clinging of 
 the heart to the place of a long ancestry. Her 
 very insulated situation seems to impose upon 
 her children, as a duty, to limit, in a degree, 
 their wishes and their feelings to the bounds of 
 her sea-washed shores. There is an interest in 
 her soHtary grandeur amongst the waves. Then 
 too, she has ever been the island-throne from 
 which a long race of mighty kings has shaken 
 the destinies of all other lands, and ruled or 
 changed a world. History is full of England. 
 It seems, to my eyes, as if hers were the perva- 
 ding spirit of all past chronicles — as if, like an 
 awful spectre, her image was always present 
 amidst the festivals and feuds of other states. 
 Calm, grand, and sublime, she treads the waters 
 of earthly strife ; and, while others are contend- 
 ing for petty trifles amongst themselves, losing
 
 76 
 
 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 one day, winning another, the power and glory 
 of England marches on, if not unchecked, only 
 the greater for each temporary reverse. Free- 
 dom is her birth-right, home joys and rural 
 peace her ornaments ; arts, arms, and poetry, the 
 coronet on her brow. Oh I it is a glorious land, 
 indeed, and let them call us proud, if they will ! 
 Thank God ! we have something to be proud of." 
 
 Her eyes sparkled, her colour rose, her whole 
 face beamed with animation as she spoke ; and 
 Algernon Grey gazed at her with an admiring 
 smile. Perhaps he might fear that under the 
 monarch then on the English throne, their 
 country might lose, for a time, that high posi- 
 tion in which her fancy placed it; but, at 
 all events, the few words then spoken broke 
 down at once all cold barriers of reserve be- 
 tween them ; and from that moment they went 
 on pouring forth the thoughts of their hearts to 
 each other, as if long years of intimacy had 
 linked their minds together. 
 
 *« Whither are all these people wending, 
 that I see depart?" asked Algernon Grey, at
 
 HEIDELBERG. 77 
 
 IcDgth, as he marked the gradual thinning of 
 the rooms. " I trust this bright evening is not 
 coming to a close ?" 
 
 " Oh, no," she answered, " not for hours. 
 They are going to the gardens, I suppose, or 
 anywhere they like. This is a free and liberal 
 place, fair sir, where each one does as he thinks 
 fit, and others mind him not." 
 
 " I would fain see these same gardens," said 
 her companion, "if they be within the bounds 
 of my imprisonment." 
 
 " Come, then," she said, " why should w^e 
 not ? These rooms are very w^arm, too ; and 
 we shall find fresher air without. Through 
 that door, and then down the stairs, will lead 
 us out by the library-tower, amongst the flowers 
 and the erreen trees." 
 
 As she spoke, they moved towards the door, 
 to which she pointed ; and they had nearly 
 reached it, w^hen the Baron of Oberntraut 
 crossed their path, and suddenly paused before 
 them. 
 
 "I have lost my bet, sir," he said, in a
 
 ?S HEIDELBERG. 
 
 somewhat sharp tone, " and will send you the 
 amount to your inn to-morrow." 
 
 " Oh, it matters not," answered Algernon 
 Grey ; " it was a foolish wager of mine, and I 
 can hardly call it fairly won ; for I suspect, by 
 a smile I saw on your Prince's lip, that he 
 remembers having seen me in my own land, 
 though I was but a mere boy then." 
 
 '^ I always pay my debts of all kinds, sir," 
 replied the other; and then, turning to the 
 lady, he asked her to tread a measure with 
 him, when the dance began again. 
 
 *' I cannot, noble sir," she replied coldly ; 
 ^* I have a task assigned me, which I must per- 
 form. You heard the cornmands I received." 
 
 " Commands right willingly obeyed," an- 
 swered Oberntrant ; and, turning sharply away, 
 he left them. 
 
 ^' He is in an ill humour," said Algernon Grey, 
 as, passing through two or three rooms nearly 
 deserted, they reached the top of a small stair- 
 case, that led down towards the gardens. '^ He 
 reasonably enough made me a bet, that I would
 
 HEIDELBERG. 79 
 
 not obtain admission here, without announcing 
 my name or rank. I unreasonably preferred it, 
 - and, against probabihty, have won." 
 
 " He is more wounded," answered Alice, " at 
 his judgment having been found in fault, than 
 at the loss of the wager, be the amount what it 
 will. He is a liberal, free-hearted gentleman, 
 whom success, high birth, and flattery have 
 rendered somewhat vain; but yet, from all I 
 hear and all I have ever seen, I should judge 
 that at heart there are few nobler or better men 
 now living." 
 
 Algernon Grey mused for a moment ; he 
 knew not why, but her words gave him pain ; 
 and they passed out, in silence, into the 
 gardens, then newly laid out by the famous 
 Salomon de Caux. Nothing that profuse 
 expense and the taste and science of the day 
 could effect, had been left undone to render 
 those gardens a miracle of art. Mountains 
 h^d been thrown down; valleys had been 
 filled up ; streams had been turned from their 
 course; and terrace above terrace, parterre
 
 80 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 beyond parterre, fountains, grottos, statues, 
 arcades, presented a scene somewhat stiff and 
 formal, indeed, but of a gorgeous and splendid 
 character ; whilst, sweeping round, as if cover- 
 ing them with a green mantle, came the moun- 
 tains and forests of the Neckarthal. There 
 were lamps in many places, but such artificial 
 light was little needed ; for the moon, within 
 a few da3's of her full, was pouring a flood of 
 splendour over the scene, which showed even 
 minute objects around. So bright and beau- 
 tiful was it, so white was the reflection from 
 leaves and gravel walks, and the fresh stone- 
 work of the garden, that, had not the warm air 
 told the presence of summer, Algernon Grey 
 might have fancied that snow had fallen since 
 he entered the castle gates. 
 
 Numerous groups of persons were wandering 
 hither and thither ; and the very colours of their 
 clothing could be seen under the beams of the 
 bright moon. Among the very first of the gay 
 parties, which passed the young Englishman and 
 his companion, as they walked along the upper
 
 HEIDELBERG. 81 
 
 terrace, towards the broad flight of steps that 
 led down into the lower garden, was his gay 
 friend, William Lovet, walking with the lady 
 who had been assigned as his guide through 
 the night. Right merry they both seemed to 
 be; and we mav as well follow them for a 
 moment or two, to show the contrast between 
 Lovet and his fellow-traveller. 
 
 " Love and constancy," cried Lovet, with a 
 laugh, just as they passed Algernon Grey, '"two 
 things, dear lady, perfectly incompatible. The 
 very essence of love is in change ; and you 
 know, in your heart, that you feel it. It is but 
 that you wish to bind all your slaves to you by 
 chains of iron, while you yourself roam free." 
 
 " Chains of brass would suit such an impu- 
 dent man as you better," answered the lady, 
 in the same gay tone ; " but I can tell you, I 
 ■will have no lovers who will not vow eternal 
 constancy." 
 
 " Oh ! I will vow," answered Lovet, " as much 
 as you like ; I have got a stock of vows, which, 
 like the fountain of the Nile, is inexhaustible ; 
 
 VOL. L G
 
 82 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 and ever goes on swelling in the summer ; I '11 
 overflow with vows, if that be all; I'll ad- 
 jure, protest, swear, kneel, sigh, weep, and 
 vow again, as much as an^'^ true knight in 
 Christendom. You shall believe me as con- 
 stant as the moon, the sea, or the wind, or any 
 other fixed and steadfast thing — nay, the moon 
 is the best image, after all ; for she, like me, is 
 constant in inconstancy. Still hovering round 
 the planet of her love, though she changes 
 every hour ; and so will I. I will love you 
 ever dearly, though I vary with each varying 
 day." 
 
 "And love a dozen others every day," an- 
 swered the lady, laughing. 
 
 " To be sure," he cried ; " mine is a large 
 and capacious heart ; no narrow peasant's crib, 
 which can contain but one. Fie on such 
 penury ! I would not be such a poor pitiful 
 creature, as to have room but for one fair 
 friend in mv bosom, for all the riches of 
 Solomon, that great king of innumerable 
 wives and wisdom super-excellent. For me.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 83 
 
 I make it an open profession ; I love the 
 whole sex, especially while they are young and 
 pretty." 
 
 "You are lauorhinsc at me and trvinqr to 
 tease me," exclaimed the lady, piqued and yet 
 pleased; " but you cannot do it, and never shall. 
 You may think yourself a very conquering per- 
 son ; but I set no value on love that, like a beg- 
 gar's garment, has fitted thousands in its day, 
 and must be patched and ragged." 
 
 " Good as new, good as new !" cried Lovet, 
 " without break or flaw\ The trials it has un- 
 dergone but prove its excellence. Love is of 
 adamant, polished but not broken by use. But 
 you dare me, dear lady — you defy me, methinks. 
 Now that is a bold and couraoreous act : and we 
 will see the result. No fortress so strong but 
 it has some weak point, and the castle that 
 fires off its ordnance at the first sisjht of an 
 enemy, is generally very much afraid of being 
 taken by surprise. The little traitor is busy at 
 your heart, even now, whispering that there is 
 danger ; for he knows right well that the best 
 
 G 2
 
 84 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 means of reducing a place, is to spread a panic 
 in the garrison." 
 
 In the mean while, the very name of love had 
 only been mentioned once, between Agnes and 
 Algernon. Their minds were busied, especially 
 at first, with aught else on earth. He certainly 
 thought her very beautiful; more beautiful, 
 perhaps, than any one he had ever seen ; but it 
 was rather as an impression than a matter of 
 reflection. He felt it, he could not but feel it ; 
 yet he did not pause upon the idea. For her 
 part, neither did she think of his personal 
 appearance. His countenance was one that 
 pleased her ; it seemed expressive of a noble 
 heart and a fine intellect ; she would have 
 known him out of all the world, if she had met 
 him years afterwards and had only seen him then 
 but once. Yet, had she been asked to describe 
 his person, she could not have told one feature 
 of his face. When they reached the bottom of 
 the flight of steps, they paused and looked up 
 to the castle, as it stood upon its rock above, 
 with the enormous masses and towers standing
 
 HEIDELBERG. 85 
 
 out dark and irregular in the moonlight sky ; 
 while the hills swept in grand variety around, 
 and the valley opened out beyond, showing the 
 plain of the Rhine flooded with moonlight. 
 
 "This is, indeed, magnificent and beautiful," 
 said Algernon Grey. " I have seen many lands, 
 and, certainly, never did I think to behold in 
 this remote and untravelled part, a scene which 
 eclipses all that I ever beheld before." 
 
 " It is very beautiful," answered Agnes ; " and 
 although I have been a tenant of that castle 
 now many a year, I find that the fair land in 
 which it lies, like the society of the good and 
 bright, only gains by long acquaintance. To 
 me, however, it has charms it cannot have to 
 you. There dwell those I have loved best 
 through life, there all who have been kind to 
 me in childhood : the protectors of my infancy, 
 the friends of my youth. It has more to me than 
 the scene and its beauties; and when I gaze at the 
 castle, or let my eye run along the valley, I see 
 ttrough the whole the happy home, the pleasant 
 place of repose. Faces of friends look out at
 
 <( 
 
 86 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 me from every window and every glade, and 
 loved voices sound on every breeze. They are 
 not many; but they are sweet to my heart." 
 And I, too," answered Algernon Grey, 
 though I can see none of these things that 
 you can see, behold much more than the mere 
 lines and tints. As I entered the court but an 
 hour or two ago, and looked up at the various 
 piles that crowded round, some in the freshness 
 of a holiday youth in his best clothes sent home 
 from school, some in the russet livery of age, 
 and some almost crumbling to their earth again, 
 I could not but picture to myself the many 
 scenes which those walls have beheld ; the loves, 
 the hopes, the pleasures, the griefs, the disap- 
 pointment, the despair, the troublous passions, 
 the calm domestic joys — even the pleasant 
 moments of dreamy idleness, and the phantasm- 
 forming hours of twilight — all that the past has 
 seen upon this spot seemed to rise before me 
 in tangible forms, and sweep across in long 
 procession with smiles and tears alternate on 
 their cheeks ; and all the while the musicians
 
 HEIDELBERG. 87 
 
 under the stone canopy, appeared in their gay 
 and spirit stirring tones to read a curious 
 comment on the whole." 
 
 " What might their comment be ?" asked the 
 lady, gazing up in his face with a look of 
 interest. 
 
 " They seemed to say," he answered, ^' Joy 
 thou too, young heart ! All is transient, all are 
 shadows. Taste thy morning in its prime. 
 Be thy noontide firm and strong, strew thine 
 evening path with flowers, embrace the right, 
 eschew the wrong, and fear not when the 
 coming hours shall gather thee to join that 
 train which sweeps along." 
 
 *' Why, it is verse!" cried Agnes, smiling. 
 
 " Not quite," he answered, " but so fancy 
 made their sounds, words ; and the cadence of 
 the music added a sort of measure." 
 
 " 'T was sweet counsel and good of that kind 
 dame, Imagination," rejoined the fair girl, " and 
 yet, though the command was to be gay, your 
 words, fair sir, are somewhat sad." 
 Let us be gay then," he replied. 
 
 ti
 
 88 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 " With all my heart," she cried : " but what 
 shall we be gay about ?" 
 
 "Nay, if we have to search for a theme, 
 better be as we are," answered the young 
 Englishman, "nature is ever best; the mood of 
 the moment is the only one that is worth 
 having, because it is the only one that is true. 
 It will change when it is time. But you are 
 by nature gay, is it not so ?" , 
 
 " Oh, yes !" she answered, " I am gay as 
 a free bird. Nay, good Dr. Scultetus, the 
 court chaplain, would persuade me often I am 
 light — but methinks not that ; for I have felt 
 many things long and deeply." 
 
 "And amongst them, love ?" asked her com- 
 panion. 
 
 " Oh, yes !" replied she, in a frank yet playful 
 tone, " I have loved deeply and truly." 
 
 Algernon Grey was silent for a moment. 
 He would have given much to have asked, 
 "Whom?" but he did not venture, and the 
 next instant the beautiful girl went on in a tone 
 that reproved him for the question he had put.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 89 
 
 *<I have loved my parents," she said, *^ deeply 
 and well — though one of them I cannot re- 
 member — I have loved my friends — I do love 
 my princess." 
 
 " It vs'as not of such love I spoke," he 
 answered, gazing down at her earnestly. 
 
 "Then, I know no other," she replied, "do 
 you? 
 
 " Oh, yes, many," he said, laughing ; " there 
 is a warmer, a more sparkling, I might almost 
 call it, a fiercer kind of love, which every man, 
 who has mingled a good deal in the world, 
 must have seen in its effects, if he have not ex- 
 perienced it in his person. — But I am not in a 
 confessional," continued he; "and so I shall 
 say no more." 
 
 " And yet you would put me in one," she 
 answered gaily ; " but certainly when I go 
 there, I will have a more reverend father-con- 
 fessor ; for methinks, you are given to asking 
 questions, which I may not be incHned to 
 
 answer." 
 
 Her companion paused in meditation during
 
 90 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 a moment or two ; for her words raised a certain 
 degree of doubt in his mind, as to whether she 
 belonged to the Protestant or to the Catholic 
 party, who, at the time I write of, lived to- 
 gether in the various towns of Germany, rather 
 enduring than tolerating each other. It seemed 
 a night of frankness, however, when questions 
 might be easily asked, which would be imperti- 
 nent at a graver and more reserved moment ; 
 and he demanded, at length, in a light tone : 
 *^ Pray, tell me, before I say more, are you one 
 of those who condemn all Protestants to fire 
 and faggot here and in the other world, or of 
 those who think the power of the Pope an 
 intolerable burden and the doctrines of that 
 church heretical?" 
 
 " Oh, I understand you," she said, after a 
 moment's thought ; " you would ask of what 
 religion I am, and laugh a little at both, to put 
 your question in a form not uncivil to either. 
 But if you needs must know, I will tell you 
 thus much — I was born a Protestant." 
 
 '^ Born SL protestant!" Algernon Grey ex-
 
 HEIDELBERG. 91 
 
 claimed ; " that seems to me a new way of 
 becoming one." 
 
 " Naj, I don't know," she answered ; " I 
 believe it is the way one-half the world receive 
 their religion, whatever it may be." 
 
 " Right/' he said, " right ! You are right, and 
 I was wrong — not only their religion, but half 
 their views. You were born a Protestant, and 
 so was I ; but I must say, happy are those 
 whose reason, when it becomes mature, con- 
 firms the principles they have received in their 
 youth. So it has been with me ; and, I trust, 
 with you also." 
 
 " Nay, I do not know that my reason is 
 mature," replied the lady, with a smile : " but 
 everything I have thought and read leads me to 
 think that I cannot be wrong. It seems to me 
 that the religion, which was taught to fishermen 
 by its Divine author, to be preached to all the 
 world, may be well read, and studied unadorned, 
 by the descendants of the world that then ex- 
 isted: it seems to me, that if priests married 
 they were as likely to be as good priests.
 
 92 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 and better men ; it seems to me, that when our 
 religion teaches to confess our faults one to 
 another, there was no thought of setting apart 
 a particular order of men to be the registrars of 
 all our wickedness, but rather to correct that 
 stubborn pride which hardens us in evil, by 
 inducing us to deny our guilt. Moreover, I 
 think that the habit of bowing down before 
 pieces of stone and wood, of praying to sinners 
 like ourselves when they are dead, and of kiss- 
 ing solemnly a piece of ivory on a cross, is some- 
 thing very like idolatry. — But I know little of all 
 these things. I read the Bible, and am con- 
 vinced myself; and yet I cannot make up my 
 mind to think that good men, with faith in 
 a Saviour, will perish eternally because they 
 judge differently. Now you have won from me 
 an account of my faith ; but pray do not tell any 
 one ; for half our clergy would think I was part 
 papist, and the other half part fool." 
 
 *^ You have thought of these things deeply, at 
 all events," replied Algernon Grey, '^ and that 
 is something, where so few think at all."
 
 HEIDELBERG. 93 
 
 "Oh, one cannot help thinking of these 
 things here, where one hears little else from 
 morning till night ; but I have thought of 
 them, too, for other reasons," she said more 
 gravely. " One has need of consolations in 
 this vrorld, at times. There is but one true 
 source from which they flow ; and before w^e 
 drink at that source, it is needful to ascertain if 
 the stream be pure. Still we are very grave," 
 she continued : " Heaven help us ! if they did 
 but know in yon gay saloons of what we two 
 here are talking in the gardens, they would 
 open their eyes with wonder, and perhaps 
 their lips with laughter." 
 
 " Well, then, we will change our tone," con- 
 tinued Algernon Grey; "come, let us range 
 along those higher terraces, where I see a 
 long line of arches, tall, and slim, and one 
 beyond another, like the fragment of a Roman 
 aqueduct striding across the valley." 
 
 " Gladly," she answered ; " the air will be 
 cooler there, for it is higher ; and we shall 
 have it all to ourselves ; for the gav world of
 
 94 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 the court will linger down here till the trumpets 
 sound to supper. I love the high free air 
 and solitude. One draws a finer breath upon 
 the mountains, and I often wish I were an 
 eagle to soar above their jagged tops and drink 
 the breath of heaven itself. But here comes your 
 gay companion, and the fair lady of Laussitz." 
 
 *' Who may she be ?" inquired the young 
 Englishman. 
 
 " A very pretty lady, somewhat ga}^" replied 
 his companion ; " but you must forgive me, my 
 good captive, if I tell you nought of the ladies 
 of this court. In truth, I know very little : for 
 1 hear much that I do not believe, much that I 
 cannot be sure of; and, though I see some- 
 times what I would not see, yet I would 
 fain judge all charitably, and put no harsh con- 
 struction on other people's acts." 
 
 As she spoke Lovet and the fair countess 
 
 passed at some little distance ; and certainly, to 
 
 all appearance, he had made some progress to 
 intimacy in a marvellous short space of time. She 
 
 might be fatigued, it is true — it might be but an
 
 HEIDELBERG. 95 
 
 idle habit she had gained; but still, the arm that 
 was passed through his let the fair hand drop 
 till it met her left hand, which she had raised, 
 and the round but taper fingers of either were in- 
 tertwined together. The head, slightly inclined 
 over the left shoulder, drooped somewhat for- 
 ward, as if the eyes were cast upon the ground, 
 while the ear was raised to catch his words. 
 There was a languor in her figure and in 
 her air, an ill-assured step, a certain feebleness, 
 as if some powers of mind or body were failing. 
 It was his voice spoke as they passed. " Nay, 
 nonsense," he said ; " these are all idle no- 
 things, bugbears set up to make the grown 
 children of the world good boys. Come, fair 
 one, come ; do not assume a pettish anger that 
 you do not feel. Love was made for such 
 a heart as yours, and such an hour for love," 
 and, bending down his head, he added some- 
 what more. 
 
 " How dare you," said the lady in a low 
 voice, " on my life, you are too bold ; I will 
 leave vou, I will, indeed."
 
 96 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 But she did not leave him ; and, for more 
 than an hour afterwards, they might be seen 
 wandering about those gardens, arm in arm, 
 affecting solitary places. 
 
 It is strange how often good and evil take 
 nearly the same forms — how that which is 
 bright and pure seeks the same scenes with 
 all that is most opposite, but finds a different 
 treasure there ; as the bee will draw honey 
 from the aconite, whence others will extract 
 the deadly poison. In the bland innocence of 
 her heart, the bright being by Algernon Grey's 
 side led him on to the most lonely parts of the 
 garden, wandered with him where there was 
 no eye to watch them; and, mounting one 
 high flight of steps after another, passed along 
 the whole extent of that grand terrace, raised 
 upon its stupendous arches, the encumbered 
 remains of which may still be seen overhanging 
 the valley of the Neckar. But there, at the 
 verge, they paused, gazing forth on the moon- 
 light scene around; marking the manifold 
 gradations of the shadow and the light, as
 
 HEIDELBERG. 97 
 
 mass after mass of wood and castle, mountain 
 and rock, city and plain, faded off into one 
 gentle hue of grey mingled with gold. A 
 thousand were the images called up in the 
 minds of each, by the objects that their eyes 
 beheld ; a thousand were the associations and 
 the allusions to which they gave birth. Wide 
 and erratic as is ever the course of fancy, 
 soaring into the heights of the highest heaven, 
 and plunging into the deepest depths below, 
 never, perhaps, had her wing seemed more 
 untiring, more wild and eccentric, than with 
 those two vouncr hearts on that eventful nio^ht 
 — eventful in every way to themselves, to 
 those around them, to Europe, to the world, 
 to the march of society, to the enlightenment 
 of the human mind, to the eternal destinies of 
 all man's race. 
 
 To what fundamental changes, in everything 
 that affects man's best interests, did not that 
 nineteenth of August give rise ! 
 
 The destiny that hung above them, with- 
 out their knowing it, seemed to have some 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 mysterious influence upon the minds and 
 characters of both. The barrier of cold for- 
 maht}^ was broken down between them ; each 
 poured forth the thoughts of the bosom as to 
 an old familiar friend. Agnes felt herself 
 irresistibly impelled — carried away, she knew 
 not how or why — to speak to her companion 
 as she had never spoken to man before. She 
 fancied it was, that she had, for the first time, 
 found a spirit congenial to her own; and 
 certain it is, that there is a magic in the 
 first touch of sympathy, which awakens sleep- 
 ing powers in the heart, developes undis- 
 covered stores of thought and feeling, and 
 brings to light the bright things of the soul. 
 But surely there was something more in it 
 than this. Upon that hour, upon that moment 
 hung the destinies of each; though neither 
 had one thought that such could be the case, 
 though of all things it seemed the most im- 
 probable, though he was a wandering stranger, 
 purposing but to stop a few days in the place ; 
 and she seemed fixed down to it and its as-
 
 HEIDELBERG. 99 
 
 sociations for life. Yet so it was; and bad 
 aught been different between them; had she 
 remained in the mere timidity of the young 
 girl, or in the cold courtesy of new acquaint- 
 ance ; had he maintained the usual proud and 
 lofty air which he assumed in general with 
 women, how different would have been their 
 fate through life ! The varied scenes through 
 which they were to pass, the distant lands 
 which they were destined to visit, would never 
 have beheld them together; and that night 
 would have been but a pleasant dream, to be 
 recollected amidst the dull realities of life. 
 
 It was otherwise, however. She was so 
 young, so gentle, so bright, so beautiful, that 
 her society acted as a charm, waking him from 
 a sort of dull and heavy torpor which had been 
 cast over his heart by an event that had 
 taken place in his boyhood — a counter-spell, 
 which dissipated one that had chained up the 
 current of his youthful blood in cold and icy 
 bonds. He gave way to all he felt, to all the 
 pleasure of the moment Their conversation 
 
 H 2
 
 100 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 freed itself from all ceremonious shackles; both 
 seemed to feel that they could trust fully in each 
 other, and spoke, as feeling dictated, with no 
 reserve and no misunderstanding. The flight 
 of thought became gayer, too, naturall}^ and 
 easily ; and as Agnes gave v^ay to the high and 
 buoyant spirit of youth, her young fancies 
 soared and twinkled, like the wings of a lark 
 in the sunshine ; while Algernon Grey, with a 
 firmer and more steady flight, seemed like a 
 spirit beside her spirit, guiding her on, higher 
 and higher, into the world of space open to the 
 human mind. 
 
 Suddenly, as they thus rambled on together, 
 through the remote parts of the gardens, they 
 heard the sounds of distant trumpets, blowing 
 clear and loud ; and Agnes, with a start, turned 
 to her companion, saying : '' That is the call to 
 supper. Our evening is coming to an end ; do 
 not think me too strange and free, if I say that 
 I am sorry for it." 
 
 " Nay," answered he, " why should I think 
 you so, when I, with far more cause, feel the
 
 HEIDELBERG. lOl 
 
 same most deeply. We may, perhaps, never 
 meet again, fair lady ; bat I shall always remem- 
 ber this night as one undimmed in its brightness, 
 •without a spot to chequer it, without a shade, or 
 a regret. I do think you free and at ease ; more 
 so, perhaps, than I expected: more so than 
 many would have been, older in the world's 
 ways than yourself — but not too free ; and I 
 can well conceive that the long sojourn in a 
 court like this has removed all cold restraint 
 from your manner." 
 
 " Oh, no," she said, " it is not that ! I never 
 mingle with the court when I can help it. The 
 ease I have shown to-night has depended, partly 
 on myself, partly on you." 
 
 " Let me hear more," he answered ; " I do 
 not clearly understand you." 
 
 " Well, then," she said, " I am habitually free 
 and at ease ; because I am sure of myself — 
 because I feel that I never mean wrong ; and 
 do not know that I have any thoughts I could 
 wish to conceal. Let those who doubt them- 
 selves fear to show their heart as it is ; thanks
 
 102 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 to wise friends and careful guidance, mine has 
 no part that may not be open. Then, as to 
 your share : you have treated me in a manner 
 different from that which most men would 
 assume to most women. I could scarcely lay 
 my finger upon one of all that court, who, 
 sent with me, like you, throughout this night, 
 would not have tried to please my ear with 
 tales of love and praises of my beauty, long, 
 stupid, and insignificant as a cricket on the 
 hearth. Had you done so, my manner might 
 have been very different." 
 
 Her companion did not reply for a moment 
 or two ; but then said, with a smile : "It seems 
 to me that there must be something both vain 
 and insulting in supposing that a woman will 
 willingly listen to tales of love from a man who 
 has known her but a few hours — he must think 
 her very light and himself very captivating." 
 
 " We poor women," she answered, " are 
 bound to gratitude towards your sex, even for 
 forbearance ; and therefore, it is, I thank you 
 for not having held me so lightly."
 
 HEIDELBERG. 103 
 
 ** I am far more than repaid," he rejoined, as 
 she guided him down the steps into ,the lower 
 garden, saying that they must hasten on, and 
 that was the shortest way. 
 
 Passing: round under the hio^h banks formed 
 by the casting down of a great part of the hill, 
 called the Friesenberg, they had crossed one 
 half of the gardens and were walking on at 
 a spot where the shadow of one of the great 
 towers fell deep upon the green turf, when 
 suddenly a tall figure seemed to rise out of the 
 earth close beside them, passed them, and disap- 
 peared. For an instant the lady clung to her 
 companion's arm as if in terror; but then, the 
 moment after, she laughed gaily, saying : " This 
 place has so many superstitious legends attached 
 to it that they cling to one's fancy whether 
 one will or not. If I ever see you again, I will 
 tell you one about this very spot ; but we have 
 not time now ; for in ten minutes after that 
 trumpet-sound, the Elector will be at table.'* 
 
 We will not go on to visit the banquet that 
 followed, to contemplate its splendour, or criti-
 
 104 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 else the ceremonies there observed. It were an 
 easy matter to describe it, for we have many a 
 dull relation of many a gay feast of the time ; 
 but, in this work, I have not in view to paint 
 the mere customs and manners of the age, 
 except incidentally, but rather to show man's 
 heart and feelings undisguised, and exhibit 
 their true proportions, stripped of a gaudy 
 but disfiguring robe of ceremony.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 105 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 How often an aching head or an aching 
 heart is the follower of a gay night Hke that of 
 the nineteenth of August, those who have much 
 mingled with, or much watched, the world well 
 know. In the commerce of life we are too apt 
 to reverse the usual course of all reasonable 
 traffic, and purchase with short present pleasure 
 a vast amount of future grief and care. The 
 bargain is a bad one, but made every day ; and 
 even at the table, in the ball-room, and in many 
 another scene, this same losing trade is going on, 
 with the bitter day of reckoning on the morrow. 
 How is it with Algernon Grey, as he sits 
 there in the large gloomy chamber, with his
 
 106 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 head leaning on his hand, his eyes gazing 
 vacantly forth through the narrow window? 
 The servants come and go ; and he notices them 
 not. The table is laid for breakfast, but the 
 meal remains untasted. Busy sounds rise up 
 from without and float through the half open 
 casement ; the gay and cheering laugh, the 
 light song, the chattered conversation, the cry 
 of the vender of early grapes, the grating noise 
 of wheels, or that of horses' feet, and through the 
 whole a lively hum, indistinct but merry to the 
 ear. Nevertheless, he hears not a sound, buried 
 in the deep thoughts of his own heart. 
 
 Is it that the brow is aching ? or that languor 
 and feverish heat reign in those strong and 
 graceful limbs ? Oh, no. The whole frame is 
 free from pain; fresh, vigorous, and fit for 
 instant action. Is there any word, spoken the 
 night before, any deed done, that he would 
 recall, yet cannot ? Not so. He has nought 
 to reproach himself with ; conscience has no 
 accusing voice. 
 
 What is it then? He communes with his
 
 HEIDELBERG. 107 
 
 own heart ; and a dark overshadowing cloud 
 comes between him and the sun of happiness. 
 It is a shadow from the past; but it extends 
 over all the present, and far and vague into the 
 future. 
 
 The first thing that roused him, was the en- 
 trance of his gay friend, William Lovet, who 
 came to share the meal with him. Neverthe- 
 less, Algernon did not perceive his approach, 
 till he was close to him, and laid his hand upon 
 his shoulder, saying : — 
 
 *' Heaven and earth, Algernon ! what has 
 made thee so moody, man? There must be 
 something in the air of this foul city, that — with 
 such a bright vision as that of last night to 
 gladden your way — one stain of care should 
 be found upon your brow." 
 
 His friend roused himself instantly, and an- 
 swered gaily, though not without an effort : " I 
 must think sometimes, William ; it is a part of my 
 nature. One little drop of thought fell into my 
 clay when it was kneading. Thank your stars 
 that none such entered into your composition. —
 
 108 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 But let us to breakfast, my appetite tells me that 
 the hour has somewhat passed." 
 
 "Appetite," cried Lovet, taking his seat; 
 " tell not the bright-eyed Agnes of your having 
 so coarse and vulgar a thing. She will think 
 your love forsworn and all your fidelity false 
 and fickle, if you do more than eat one slice out 
 of that partridge breast, or drink aught but sour 
 Rhenish throughout the day. But seriously, 
 and upon my life, with solemn earnestness, I do 
 declare, never was such a glorious chance as 
 has fallen to the lot of each of us. Had we 
 culled the whole court, I fancy, we could have 
 found nought more charming ; and we must 
 stay here at least a month, to profit by Dame 
 Fortune's favours." 
 
 " A very sweet companion I had," answered 
 Algernon Grey, coldly ; " but no vows did I 
 make, no fidelity did I swear, my good friend." 
 
 " Heaven and earth !" cried Lovet, " did one 
 ever hear of such a thing as a man travelhng 
 with another upon equal terms, and yet leaving 
 him all the hard work to do ? Swear ! why I
 
 HEIDELBERG. 109 
 
 swore till my joints ached and m}^ teeth were 
 sadly damaged ; and as to vows, two Dutch 
 barks, broad in the bow, broad in the stern, 
 and deep enough in the hold to hide ten 
 Dutchmen upon an elephant, would not hold 
 one-half of the cargo that I landed safely at 
 yon lady's feet last night. Let me see, what is 
 lier name ? I have it somewhere, written from 
 her own sweet lips — Countess of Laussitz ! — 
 Matilda, too, by the mark ! A good name, a 
 marvellous good name, is it not, Algernon ? 
 Musical, pretty, soft, soothing, loveable. But 
 never go anywhere without tablets ! See what 
 service mine have been to me I Many a fair 
 prospect is spoiled by a mistake in the name. 
 Call Matilda Joan, or Louisa Deborah, and 
 you are ruined for ever; — Matilda, Countess 
 of Laussitz ! Charming I Sweet ! Bless her soft 
 eyes and her sweet lips ; they are worth the 
 best diamond in the Mogul's turban. And so 
 you positively did not swear fidelity, nor vow 
 vows ? The lady must have thought you mar- 
 vellously stupid."
 
 110 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 While he had been speaking he had not 
 failed to do justice to the good things on the 
 table. Nor had Algernon Grey shown any 
 lack of appetite, applying himself more stoutly 
 to eat his breakfast than to answer his com- 
 panion's light raillery. At length, however, he 
 replied : " She did not seem to think so ; or, 
 perhaps, she was too courteous to express it; 
 but, at all events, my evening spent with her 
 was a very pleasant one, though neither love, 
 nor vows, nor sighing, had any share therein." 
 
 "And yet, methinks, you went into very 
 sighing places," answered Lovet, laughing ; 
 ** you affected the groves and solitary terraces, 
 as well as others, whom you wot of; and then 
 linked arm in arm, with eyes cast down and 
 sweet low voices, if something warmer than a 
 prologue to a mystery, or a descant on the 
 moon, did not enter into your gentle com- 
 munion, methinks you must have been worse 
 than Heel a ; for, though it be all ice, they say, 
 yet there is fire at the heart ; and that girl's 
 eyes and lips were enough to set any one's
 
 HEIDELBERG. Ill 
 
 blood in a flame, even if it were naturally cold 
 as a toad's. Come, come, Algernon, no such 
 reserve between us ; let us speak freely of our 
 loves, and we may help each other." 
 
 " On my life ! WiUiam, I have none to speak 
 of,'' answered his companion, warmly. " You 
 may make love to whom you like, for you are 
 free ; but with me it is very different." 
 
 ** Nonsense," exclaimed the other ; " the 
 circumstances are the same in both cases, only 
 the position is reversed. If I am free, she is 
 married ; did you not see her husband there ? 
 — a fat, white-faced man, not so high as a 
 musquetoon. But what is that to me ? The 
 love of a month does not trouble itself about 
 matrimony ; and my great grandmother's 
 starched ruff is, of all things, the emblem that 
 I hate ; for she dared not even kiss her daugh- 
 ter for fear of its crumpling. Why should you 
 heed, either? A little pardonable polygamy 
 is an excellent good receipt for keeping the 
 taste fresh by constant variety. Heaven help 
 me ! if all my wives were counted throughout
 
 112 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 the cities of civilized Europe, I fear I should 
 have to transfer me to Turkey, and lodge next 
 door to the Sublime Porte." 
 
 Algernon Grey smiled, whether he would or 
 not, at his friend's account of himself, but still 
 he answered seriously : " The case is this, 
 William ; whatever I may judge I have a right 
 to do myself; there is one thing, I am sure, I 
 have no right to do, which is, to make a young, 
 gay, happy heart, unhappy, sad, and old, — ay, I 
 say old; for the touch of disappointed love is 
 as withering as the hand of Time. No, no, I 
 have no right to do that !" 
 
 " Good faith ! you are most scrupulously 
 wrong, my noble cousin," answered Lovet, 
 " and do injustice both to yourself and others. 
 Man, and woman too, were born for pleasure ; 
 changing, varying, at each step we take. It is 
 a sort of duty in my eyes to give every human 
 being brought in contact with me whatever joy 
 I can aiford them ; and I should as much think 
 of refusing a poor fellow a good dinner, for fear 
 he should not have one to-morrow, as fail to
 
 HEIDELBERG. 113 
 
 make love to a pretty lady who expects it ; be- 
 cause I cannot go on loving her all my life. 
 Every woman has a pleasure in being made 
 love to, and I say, Out upon the niggard who 
 will not give her a share of it when he has the 
 opportunity. Every man to his own whim, how- 
 ever ; for, after all, these are nought but whims, 
 or the effects of a most pragmatical education. 
 But follow your own course, follow your own 
 course, and go on picking the bare bone of a 
 very musty morality, fancying it all the while 
 venison and capon. Perhaps, after all, you 
 are nought but a true and devoted knight 
 and lover ; and the thought of the rare beauty 
 you left four or five years ago in England, like 
 a certain composition of salt and nitre in a 
 pickling-pan, may be preserving you, uncor- 
 rupted as a neat's tongue, sound and safe, but 
 somewhat hard and shrivelled withal. Well, 
 she is a glorious creature, it must be confessed ; 
 and I, being your cousin and hers too, may 
 venture to confess, without suspicion of flattery, 
 that rarely have I seen beauty equal to hers. 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 The bud has burst into the rose since you left 
 it, and though there may be a thorn or two, 
 the flower is well worth gathering." 
 
 Algernon Grey mused and answered in a 
 thoughtful tone, as if arguing with himself. 
 " Taste is a strange thing," he said, " marvel- 
 lously strange ! Who can give reason for his 
 likings and dislikings ? — and yet there must be 
 some course of reasoning below them all. Or 
 is it instinct, William, that teaches us instantly 
 to appreciate and seek that which is suitable 
 to ourselves? There are several kinds of 
 beauty — " 
 
 " True, noble cousin," answered Lovet, in a 
 bantering tone. 
 
 " Ay, but two very distinct classes into 
 which all minor differences perhaps may be 
 arranged," his friend continued. 
 
 " Perhaps so," rejoined the other ; " let us 
 hear more of the two ranks." 
 
 " Why there is first," replied Algernon Grey, 
 " that sort of beauty which dazzles and sur- 
 prises — brilliant and commanding, I think men
 
 HEIDELBERG. 115 
 
 call it — the bold firm eye, the Juno frown, the 
 look of fiery passion, sparkling as a diamond 
 but as hard, bright as a sword but oftentimes 
 as ready to wound. With me it alarms rather 
 than attracts, rouses to resistance instead of 
 subduing." 
 
 " Go on," said Lovet, in a quiet but meaning 
 tone, "I understand." 
 
 *' Then there is the other sort," his friend 
 continued, " that which wins rather than 
 triumphs; the gentle, the gay, more than the 
 keen and bright ; yielding to, rather than 
 demanding love ; the trusting, the confiding 
 look, instead of the ruling and commanding ; 
 the lip where smiles seem to find their native 
 home; the soft half-shaded eye full of veiled 
 light, speaking at times the sportiveness of 
 innocent thought, under which may lie, con- 
 cealed against the time of need, higher and 
 stronger powers of heart and mind." 
 
 Lovet had become graver as his companion 
 ■went on ; and when he ended, replied with 
 some warmth, "Ay, indeed, such beauty as 
 
 I 2
 
 116 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 that might well win love for life, and he would 
 be a fool who found it and let any idle 
 obstacle prevent his purchase of so rare a 
 jewel ; but it is a dream of your fancy, Al- 
 gernon. Imagination has laid on those delicate 
 colours, and you will never see the original 
 of the portrait. Each man has in his own 
 heart his own image of perfection, always 
 sought for but rarely found. If once he meets 
 it, let him beware how it escapes him. He 
 will never see its like again. I am no enthu- 
 siast, as you well know — I have seen too much 
 of life ; but here — all levity as you think me — 
 did I find once the creature that fancy early 
 drew as the companion of my days, and had 
 hope of winning her love, I tell you, Al- 
 gernon, there is not that consideration on the 
 earth I would not cast behind me for the great 
 joy of making her mine for ever : no, not one — 
 rank, station, wealth, the world's esteem, sli 
 cold and formal dogmas, devised by knaves and 
 listened to by fools. I would bend all to that. 
 My own habitual lightness, the sneer and jest
 
 HEIDELBERG. 117 
 
 of gay companions, the censure of the grave 
 and reverend, the fear of outcry and invective, 
 and all the idle babble of the workl, would 
 weigh but as a feather in the balance against 
 the lifelong dream of happiness which such an 
 union would call up." 
 
 When he had spoken — and he did so with 
 fire and eagerness altogether unlike himself — 
 he leaned his head upon his hand, and fell 
 apparently into profound thought for several 
 minutes. Algernon Grey, too, mused, and his 
 meditation lasted longer than his companion's, 
 for he was still in a deep reverie when Lovet 
 started up, exclaiming, " But it is all in vain ! — 
 Come, Algernon, let us not think — it is the 
 most irrational waste of time that can be de- 
 vised. We are but Fate's monkeys. She keeps 
 us here in this cage of earth and throws us 
 what crumbs she will. Happy is he who 
 catches them quickest. What are you for to- 
 day? I am for the castle to worship at my 
 little shrine, unless I hear from my saint to the 
 contrary before the clock strikes eleven."
 
 118 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 " Some time irt the day I must go up, too," 
 replied his friend ; " in courtesy, we must both 
 do so to show our thankfulness for our kind 
 reception ; but before I go, I must away into 
 the town to seek out worthy Dr. Henry 
 Alting, this renowned professor, to whom my 
 uncle, his old friend, sent me a letter by your 
 hands." 
 
 " Then, you may as well publish your name 
 at the market-cross if there be one," answered 
 Lovet ; " it will be given out from the chair of 
 philosophy this morning, and over the whole 
 town ere noon." 
 
 " No, no," replied the other, with a smile, 
 **my uncle humours my whim — he is Astrea 
 struck and loves all wild exploits. In his letter, 
 I am but called his young kinsman. Master 
 Algernon Grey, and the good doctor will be 
 ignorant of all the rest." 
 
 " Well, well, I care not," answered Lovet ; 
 " it is no aiFair of mine. I transformed myself 
 into William Lovet to please you, and though, 
 certainly, the plan has its conveniences for every
 
 HEIDELBERG. 119 
 
 one but the staid and most line-and-rule gen- 
 tleman who devised it, yet I am ready to 
 appear in my own feathers to-morrow should 
 need be." 
 
 " Perhaps, thinking you will appear to more 
 advantage. Will," replied Algernon Grey, with 
 an effort to be gay ; " however, there is no fear. 
 Our borrowed plumage will last as long as we 
 may want it, if we take care not to soil our own 
 feathers underneath." 
 
 " Now, corpo di Baccho !" cried Lovet, " I 
 admire you again. That last morality in meta- 
 phor was worthy of a saint in orange tawny 
 velvet, or my fair cousin, Algernon. I have 
 hopes of you, whenever you begin to deal in 
 tropes and figures. At least, you are not dull 
 then, which is something. That glorious trio, wit, 
 wisdom, and wantonness can then claim some 
 share in you, and there is a chance of the man 
 who has thrown away his youth and his youth's 
 powers in cold asceticism, trying to warm his 
 age with the fire of profligacy. It is a common 
 case, and will be yours, Algernon, for the man
 
 120 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 who commits not youthful follies, is sure in 
 the end to take up with reverend vices. — But 
 do you agree to my plan ; a month here, — but 
 one poor month ; and if I win not my fair lady 
 in that time, I shall be right ready to slink 
 away like a cur that has been kicked out for 
 attempting to steal a marrow-bone. You can 
 attend lectures in the mean time, and learn 
 from the skull-cap of old bald-headed Scul- 
 tetus, to carry yourself evenly on slippery 
 places." 
 
 '* Well, stay what time you like," replied 
 Algernon Grey. " If I find cause, I can go on 
 a stage or two and wait for you. At present, I 
 will forth to find out this renowned professor. 
 Should you be gone ere my return, leave 
 tidings of your doings for my guidance." 
 
 Thus saying, he left him, and as he went, 
 William Lovet gazed after him till the door was 
 shut. Then a somewhat bitter smile curled his 
 lip, and after a moment's thought, he muttered, 
 " Limed ! limed !■ or I am much mistaken. — 
 Ay, ay, I know the sort of beauty that you
 
 HEIDELBERG. 121 
 
 have so tenderly described. — A month! Stay 
 but a month, and if I judge her right, and 
 know man's heart, you are plunged in be- 
 yond recall."
 
 122 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 CHAPTER jV. 
 
 Preceded by a Knecht, as he was called, of 
 the inn, in a close-fitting jacket, wide brown 
 breeches, and blue stockings, Algernon Grey 
 walked through the narrow and tortuous streets 
 of Heidelberg towards the residence of a man 
 then renowned for his wit and wisdom, though 
 we know not at the present day upon what 
 this fame was founded. Although it was the 
 custom in those times for gay gallants to ruffle 
 through the streets with a long train of ser- 
 vants, badged, liveried, and armed, no one 
 accompanied the young Englishman, except 
 the man to show him the way. At that hour 
 of the morning — it was now near eleven — few
 
 HEroELBERG. 123 
 
 persons were to be seen abroad ; for the student 
 was busy at his book, the shopkeeper labouring 
 in his vocation. Those who did appear, were 
 all in their particular costume, distinctive of 
 class and station. You could have laid your 
 finger upon any man in the whole town and 
 named at once his occupation from his dress. 
 Nor was this custom, which assigned peculiar 
 garments to each peculiar class, without many 
 great advantages, besides the mere picturesque 
 effect. But it is in vain to regret that these 
 things have passed away ; they were parts of 
 the spirit of that age, an age fond of dis- 
 tinctions; and now in the fusion of all classes, 
 which has taken place, where no distinctions 
 are suffered to remain but that of wealth, the 
 keeping up of peculiar costumes would be an 
 idle shadow of a thing no longer existing. 
 
 Amidst close rows of tall houses — the narrow 
 windows of which displayed no costly wares — 
 and, here and there, through the rows of booths 
 erected before the doors, in which the trades- 
 men were then accustomed to display their
 
 124 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 goods for sale, Algernon Grey walked on for 
 about five minutes, from time to time asking a 
 question of his guide, who never replied with- 
 out humbly doffing his little cap, and adding, 
 "Honourable sir," or "Noble gentleman," to 
 every sentence. It was another trait of the 
 times and the country. 
 
 At length the man stopped at the open door 
 of a tall dull looking house, and informed 
 his companion, that he would find Dr. Alting 
 on the second floor; and mounting the long, 
 cold, broad steps of stone, Algernon Grey 
 found his way up to the rooms of him he 
 sought. A fresh, sturdy, starched servant 
 wench, who instantly caught his foreign accent, 
 and thereupon made up her mind not to under- 
 stand a word he said, was at length brought 
 to introduce him to the presence of her master ; 
 and following her along a narrow passage, the 
 young Englishman was ushered into a room, 
 such as the general appearance of the house 
 had given little reason to expect. It was wide, 
 handsome, overhung by a fine carved oak
 
 HEIDELBERG. 125 
 
 ceiling, and furnished all round with large 
 bookcases, richly carved, containing the trea- 
 sured collection of a long life in every shape 
 and form, from the enormous foUo to the most 
 minute duodecimo. 
 
 At a heavy oaken table, near one of the 
 windows, sat two gentlemen, of different age 
 and appearance. One was a man with white 
 hair and beard, whose sixtieth summer would 
 never come again. He was dressed in a long 
 loose gown of some black stuff; and, on his 
 head, which probably was bald, he wore a 
 small crushed velvet cap. His face was fine 
 and intelligent ; and, from beneath the thick, 
 overhanging eyebrow shone out a clear and 
 sparkling eye. 
 
 The other was habited in a coat of buff 
 leather, not very new, but laced with gold. 
 His cloak was a plain, brown broad-cloth, a 
 good deal firesher than his coat; and on his 
 legs he wore a pair of those large funnel- 
 shaped boots, which seemed intended to catch 
 all the rain or dust that might fall or fly. His
 
 126 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 heavy rapier lay along his thigh ; but beyond 
 this he was unarmed; and his hat with its 
 single feather rested beside him. In age he 
 might be about fifty. His strong black hair 
 and pointed beard were somewhat grizzled; 
 but there was no sign of decay in form or 
 feature. His teeth were fine and beautifully 
 white; his face rough with exposure, but not 
 wrinkled; his frame was strong, tall, and 
 powerful ; and the bold contour of the 
 swelling muscles could be seen through the 
 tight sleeve of his coat. His face was a very 
 pleasant one, grave but not stern, thoughtful 
 but not sad ; and, as he turned sharply round 
 in his chair at the opening of the door, a faint 
 recollection of his features, as if he had seen 
 them before, or some very like them, came 
 across the young Englishman's mind. 
 
 With his usual calm self-possession, Algernon 
 Grey advanced straight towards the seat of the 
 gentleman in black, and, with a few words of 
 introduction, presented a letter. Dr. Alting 
 rose to receive him, and, for a single instant,
 
 HEIDELBERG. 127 
 
 fixed his keen grey eyes upon his visitor's face 
 with a look the most intent and searching. The 
 glance was withdrawn almost as soon as given ; 
 and then, courteously putting forward a seat 
 he opened the letter and read. The moment 
 after he took Algernon's hand and shook it 
 heartily, exclaiming, " So, sir, you are a kins- 
 man of this good lord, my old and much 
 respected friend. Ever to see him again is 
 beyond my hopes ; but it is something to 
 have before me one of his race. What, if 
 I may ask, brings you to Heidelberg ? If 
 you come in search of learning, here you can 
 find it amongst my reverend brethren of the 
 University. If in search of gaiety and plea- 
 sure, surely, above there, in the castle, you 
 will have your heart's content; for a more 
 merry body of light young hearts were seldom 
 ever collected — good faith," he continued, 
 turning to the gentleman who had been sitting 
 with him when Algernon entered, " they kept 
 their revel up full long last night. As I sat 
 here at my studies — it must have been past
 
 128 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 midnight — the music came down upon me in 
 gusts, almost making even my old sober limbs 
 tingle to go and join the merry dance, as I 
 did in boyhood. It must have been a splendid 
 scene." 
 
 "This gentleman was there," replied the 
 other ; " I saw him for an instant ; but I 
 stayed not long; for that music has another 
 effect on me, my good old friend ; and I be- 
 took me to my tower again, more in the 
 spirit of the gloomy anchorite than yourself^ 
 it seems." 
 
 '^ I passed the night there and part of the 
 morning, too, I fear," said Algernon Grey; 
 " for it was two before we reached our inn." 
 
 *' I trust you had a happy night of it, then,^' 
 answered Dr. Alting ; " such scenes are the 
 property of youth ; and it would be hard to 
 deny to the young heart all the brief pleasures 
 of which life has so few." 
 
 " A far happier night," answered Algernon 
 Grey, " than many of those have been which 
 I have spent in more powerful courts and
 
 HEroELBERG. 129 
 
 scenes As gay. There happened to me that 
 which, in the chances of the world, rarely 
 occurs, to have a companion for the night 
 whose thoughts and feeUngs were wholly 
 congenial to my own, a lady whose beauty, 
 dazzling as it is, would have fallen upon my 
 cold heart only like a ray of wintry sunshine 
 on a frozen world, had it not been that, unlike 
 every one I ever saw, a high pure spirit and 
 a rich bright fancy left her beauty itself for- 
 gotten in their own transcendant lustre." 
 
 " You are an enthusiast, my young friend," 
 said Dr. Alting, while the stranger fixed his 
 eyes on Algernon Grey, with a gay smile ; 
 **'what might be the name of this paragon?" 
 
 " The princess called her Agnes," answered 
 the young Englishman ; " and more I did not 
 enquire." 
 
 A merry glance passed between the good 
 professor and his companion ; and the latter 
 exclaimed, " You did not enquire ! That 
 seems strange, when you were so captivated." 
 
 " There is the mistake," said Algernon Grey, 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 laughing ; " I was not captivated ; I admired, 
 esteemed, approved, but that is all. Most likely 
 she and I will never meet again ; for I shall 
 wander for a year, and then return to duties in 
 my own land ; and the name of Agnes is all I 
 want, by which to remember a happy night of 
 the very few I have ever known, and a being 
 full of grace and goodness, whom I shall see no 
 more." 
 
 " A strange philosophy," cried Dr. Alting ; 
 ** especially for so young a man." 
 
 " And so you wander for a year," said the 
 stranger; '^if it be not a rash question, as it 
 seems you are not seeking adventures in love, 
 is it high deeds of arms you are in search of, 
 like the ancient knights ? " 
 
 " Not so, either," answered Algernon Grey ; 
 *' although I am willing enough, should the 
 occasion present itself, to serve under an}^ 
 honourable flag, where my religion is not an 
 obstacle, as I have done more than once 
 before." 
 
 "Ah!" said Dr. Alting, " then you are one
 
 HEIDELBERG. 131 
 
 of those — those verv few, who will suifer their 
 religion to be an obstacle to any of their 
 plans." 
 
 " Assuredly," answered Algernon Grey. 
 " The strife at present throughout the whole 
 of Europe is, and must be ever more or less 
 for the maintenance of the pure and unper- 
 verted religion of the Gospel against the 
 barbarous superstitions and corruptions of the 
 Romish church ; and, whatever may be the 
 pretext of war, whoever draws the sword in a 
 papist army " 
 
 " Is fighting for the Woman of Babylon," 
 cried Dr. Alting, eagerly ; " is setting himself 
 up against the Cross of Christ, is advancing 
 the banner of the Dragon, destined sooner or 
 later to be thrown into the pit of the nether- 
 most hell ;" and, taking; the vounsc English- 
 man's hand, he shook it heartily, exclaiming : 
 '^ I am glad to hear such sentiments from the 
 kinsman of my noble friend." 
 
 "He entertains them as firmly as yourself, you 
 well know," answered Algernon Grey ; " they 
 
 K 2
 
 132 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 are common to all his fannly ; and, for my 
 part, humble as I am, I shall always be ready 
 to draw the sword in the defence of right, 
 whenever the opportunity is afforded me." 
 
 "It is coming, my dear sir, the time is 
 coming," cried the old man. " Great events 
 are before us ; and I see for the first time the 
 prospect of the true faith becoming predomi- 
 nant in this land of Germany ; thence, I trust, 
 to spread its holy and beneficial influence 
 throughout the world. You have heard, doubt- 
 less you have heard, that in the very heart of 
 this great empire, the people of Bohemia have 
 raised the standard of freedom of conscience. 
 Even now they are in deliberation to choose 
 them a new king, in place of the papist tyrant, 
 who has violated all the solemn pledges, by 
 virtue of which alone he held the crown. If 
 their choice be a wise and good one, if it be 
 such as I believe it will be, if the head of the 
 Protestant Union, — in a word — if the Elector 
 Palatine be chosen King of Bohemia, doubtless 
 the spirit of the true faith will, from that
 
 HEIDELBERG. 133 
 
 moment, go forth with irresistible might, and 
 shake the idolatrous church of the seven hills 
 to its foundation. I look to it with confidence 
 and trust : I look to every gallant spirit and 
 faithful heart to come forward and take his share 
 in the good work ; and, with the name of the 
 Lord on our side, there is no fear of the 
 result." 
 
 The conversation proceeded for some time in 
 the same strain. With eager fire, and with 
 sometimes a not very reverend application of 
 the words of Scripture, Dr. Alting went on 
 to advance his own opinions, becoming more 
 eager every moment, especially when the pro- 
 bability of the Elector Palatine being chosen as 
 their king by the states of Bohemia was re- 
 ferred to. 
 
 The gentleman who was with him when 
 Algernon Grey entered, took little part in the 
 discussion, remaining grave and somewhat stern 
 in look ; though, from the few words he uttered, 
 it was evident that his religious views were the 
 same as those of his two companions. He
 
 134 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 smiled, indeed, in turn at the different sorts of 
 enthusiasm of the old man and the young one; 
 and once Dr. Alting shook his finger at him 
 good-humouredly, saying : '* Ah ! Herbert, you 
 would have men believe you cold and stoical, 
 and, for that purpose, in every affair of life you 
 act like no other man ; but I know the fire that 
 is under it all." 
 
 " Fire enough, when it is needed," answered 
 Herbert ; ^* but only when it is needed, my good 
 friend. If troops spend all their powder in 
 firing salutes, they will have none to charge 
 their cannon with in the day of battle ; but as 
 you are not expected to put on the cuirass, it is 
 just as well that you should keep up men's 
 spirits, and fix their determinations by your 
 oratory. Only let me be quiet. You won't 
 find me wanting when the time comes." 
 
 " I trust none will be wanting," said Alger- 
 non Grey ; " but yet I cannot help feeling, 
 that in this light-minded world, many whom 
 we count upon rashly, may fall from us 
 readily.^'
 
 HEIDELBERG. 135 
 
 "Too true, too true," said Herbert, shaking 
 his head. 
 
 " I will not believe it," cried Dr. Alting ; 
 ** with such a prince, and such a cause, and 
 such an object, every man, who has a particle of 
 truth in his nature, will do his duty, I am sure ; 
 and let the false go — we can do without 
 them." 
 
 " You must add the weak, too, my reverend 
 friend,'* said Algernon Grey, rising to depart ; 
 " but still, I do think, and I do trust, that there 
 are enough both firm and true in Europe, to 
 accomplish this great task, unless some sad 
 accident occur, or some great mistake be com- 
 mitted. We shall see, however ; and in the 
 mean time, farewell." 
 
 Dr. Alting shook hands with him warmly, 
 asked where he could find him, how long would 
 be his stay in Heidelberg, and all those other 
 questions which courtesy dictated: but perhaps 
 the reverend doctor felt, in a degree not alto- 
 gether pleasant, that his young friend, if not 
 so learned a man as himself in books and parch-
 
 136 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 ments, had another sort of learning — that of the 
 world — which he himself did not possess. 
 
 The gentleman who had been called Her- 
 bert seemed to feel differently; and, when the 
 young gentleman was about to depart, he rose, 
 saying : " I will go with you, and perhaps may 
 show you some things of interest." Then bid- 
 ding adieu to Dr. iVlting, he followed Algernon 
 Grey out of the room, and descended the stairs 
 with him in silence. Under the shadow of the 
 doorway they found waiting the Knecht, who 
 had guided the young gentleman thither; but 
 Herbert dismissed him, saying to his compa- 
 nion : *' I will be your guide back. Shall we 
 stroll along to the church, or visit some of the 
 fortifications? Both are somewhat in your way 
 it would seem." 
 
 " Nay," answered Algernon, "with the church 
 I have little to do, except when my opinions are 
 drawn forth by such a man as our learned 
 friend ; but I will go whithersoever you choose 
 to lead me." 
 
 " Well, then, we will stroll along and take
 
 HEIDELBERG. 137 
 
 things as they come," answered Herbert ; " we 
 can scarcely go amiss in this town and neigh- 
 bourhood, for each step has its own particular 
 interest, or its own beauty. It is a place I never 
 weary of." 
 
 As he spoke they turned into one of the narrow 
 streets that led up towards the hills, and were 
 crossing the castle-road, in order to take a path 
 through the woods, when iVlgernon Grey's quick 
 ear caught the sound of a voice calling to him. 
 Looking round, he saw a gentleman coming 
 down with a hasty step, followed by two or three 
 servants, and instantly recognised the Baron of 
 Oberntraut. A feelino; — I misht almost call it a 
 presentiment : one of those strange, inexplicable 
 foresights of a coming event, which sometimes 
 put us on our guard against approaching evil, 
 made him say to his companion : " Oh ! this is 
 the gentleman w^ith whom I had a bet last night, 
 I will rejoin you in a moment ;" and he advanced 
 a step or two up the hill. 
 
 The next instant Oberntraut was by his 
 side.
 
 138 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 " I wish to speak a moment with you, sir," he 
 said. 
 
 Algernon Grey bowed his head and was 
 silent. 
 
 " We had a bet last night," continued the 
 baron, with a flushed cheek but somewhat em- 
 barrassed air; " my servants are carrying down 
 the amount to your inn." 
 
 " Thanks," answered Algernon Grey ; *^ they 
 will find some of my people there, to whom they 
 can deliver it." 
 
 " I always pay my debts, sir," said Obern- 
 traut; " but I rather think there is another 
 account to be settled between us." 
 
 " Indeed !" replied Algernon Grey, calmly ; 
 " I am not aware of it. What may it be ?" 
 
 " Oh ! sir, you assume ignorance !" rejoined 
 the other in an insulting tone : " in a word, 
 then, we do not suffer foreign gentlemen to 
 come hither, win our money, and court our 
 ladies, v^^ithout making them pass through some 
 ordeal. Do you understand me now?" 
 
 *' Perfectly," answered the young English-
 
 HEIDELBERG. 139 
 
 man, with a slight smile ; " such words are not to 
 be mistaken ; and let me assure you, as I wish 
 to see everybody pleased, I will not disappoint 
 you ; but, at the same time, we may conduct a 
 matter of this sort without warmth, and with all 
 courtesy. I know not how I have aggrieved 
 you ; but that I ask not : it is quite sufficient 
 that you think yourself aggrieved, and I will 
 give you such opportunity of redressing your- 
 self as you may wish for." 
 
 " I thank you, sir," replied the other in a 
 more moderate tone ; " when and where shall 
 it be ? " 
 
 " Nay, that I must leave to you," answered 
 the young Englishman ; " I will make but two 
 conditions — that it be speedily, and that we 
 embroil no others in our quarrel. I have but 
 one friend here, and as he has been somewhat 
 too famous in our own country for rencontres of 
 this kind, I would fain spare him any share 
 in an affair of mine." 
 
 " Be that as you like," replied the baron ; 
 " on all accounts we shall be better alone : the
 
 140 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 place must be one where we shall have no inter- 
 ruption. — Let me think? — Yes, that will do. — 
 Will you meet me to-morrow on the bridge, 
 each with a single page whom we can leave 
 behind at our convenience ? I will lead you 
 to a spot secure and shaded from all eyes, where 
 we shall have good turf and space enough.'* 
 
 '•' Agreed," answered Algernon Grey, " but 
 why not this very day? I am quite prepared." 
 
 " But I have a few hours' journey to take 
 first," replied the baron ; " no, in your 
 courtesy let it be to-morrow ; and the safest 
 hour will be just before nightfall. Come a little 
 earlier to the bridge, for we have some small 
 distance to go, — with our swords alone — is it 
 not so?" 
 
 " As you will," said his companion. '* Be 
 it so then — in the grey I will not fail you — 
 good-morning, sir;" and, turning round, he 
 rejoined his new acquaintance Herbert, with 
 an easy and unembarrassed air. 
 
 Herbert was not entirely deceived, however. 
 He had been standing where the young English-
 
 HEIDELBERG. 141 
 
 man left him at about five paces' distance, where 
 the greater part of their conversation was 
 inaudible ; but he knew one of the parties and 
 his character well, and divined the other rightly. 
 The last words of Algernon Grey too, which, 
 detached from the rest, had seemed to the 
 speaker insignificant, had been uttered in a 
 louder tone, and Herbert had heard him say 
 distinctly, — " In the grey I will not fail you 
 — good-morning, sir." The expressions were 
 nothing in themselves ; they might refer to any 
 trifling and accidental arrangement ; but Her- 
 bert's eyes had been fixed upon the face of 
 Oberntraut, who stood fronting him, and he 
 read the look that it wore, if not with certainty, 
 assuredly not wrongly. 
 
 As the two separated the baron doffed his hat 
 and plume to Herbert with every sign of high 
 respect ; and the other returned the salutation, 
 though but coldly. For a moment or two, as 
 Algernon and his companion walked up the 
 hill, nothing was said ; and then the younger 
 gentleman began to speak lightly of indifferent
 
 142 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 subjects, thinking that longer silence might lead 
 to suspicions. Herbert answered not, but went 
 on musing, till at length — as if he had paid not 
 the slightest attention to the words which had 
 been falling on his ear for the last two or three 
 minutes — he broke forth at once with a dry 
 laugh, saying: " So, you have contrived to 
 manufacture a quarrel already." 
 
 " Nay, not so !" answered Algernon Grey ; " if 
 you mean with the Baron of Oberntraut, let me 
 assure you there is no quarrel of any kind 
 between us. I know of no offence that I have 
 given him, and for my own part I may safely 
 say that I have received none. There was a 
 bet between us which I won, and he seems 
 perhaps a little nettled ; but what is that to me ?" 
 
 Herbert looked down thoughtfully, still walk- 
 ing on, and after a while he paused, asking as 
 abruptly as before, — " Have you many friends 
 in this place ?" 
 
 " Nay, 1 have been here but eighteen hours," 
 answered the other : " happy is the man who 
 can boast of many friends, take the whole world
 
 HEIDELBERG. 143 
 
 over and pick them from the four quarters of 
 the globe. I have none who deserves the name . 
 within these walls^ but the one who came with 
 me. 
 
 " Well," replied the other, " should you 
 require one, on occasion of import, you know 
 where to find one who has seen some hard 
 blows given in his day." 
 
 " I thank 3'ou much, and understand you 
 rightly," said Algernon Grey; " should I have 
 need of such help, depend upon it, I will apply 
 to you and none other. But at present, believe 
 me, I have none." 
 
 "What! not 'in the greyf'' asked Herbert, 
 with a laugh ; and then, whistling two or three 
 bars of an English air, he added, " Will you 
 spend an hour or two with an old soldier 
 to-night, my young friend ?" 
 
 " Willingly," replied Algernon Grey, smiling 
 at the suspicions in which he clearly saw the 
 invitation was given. " When shall I come ? 
 My time is quite free." 
 
 " Oh ! come an hour before twilight," answered
 
 144 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 Herbert, and sta}^ till the castle clock strikes 
 ten — Will that suit you ? " 
 
 " Right well," said the 3'oung Englishman, 
 " I will not fail by a moment, though I see you 
 doubt me. But where am I to find you, and 
 who am I to ask for ?" 
 
 *' I have deceived myself, or you are cheating 
 me," answered Herbert bluntly, and speaking 
 in English ; '* but come at all events. You will 
 find me at the castle — ask for Colonel Herbert, 
 or the English Ritter. They will show you 
 where I lodge." 
 
 " Be sure I will be there," rejoined Algernon ; 
 " I did not know you were a countr^^man ; but 
 that will make the evening pass only the more 
 pleasantly, for we shall have thoughts in com- 
 mon, as well as a common language ; and, to 
 say sooth, though this German is a fine tongue, 
 yet, while speaking it badly, as I do, I feel like 
 one of the mountebanks we see in fairs dancing 
 a saraband in fetters." 
 
 " You speak it well enough," answered his 
 companion, "and it is a fine rich tongue; but
 
 HEIDELBERG. 145 
 
 at the court, with the usual levity of such light 
 places, they do not value their own wholesome 
 dialect. They must have a dish of French, 
 forsooth ; and use a language which they do 
 not half know, and which, if they did, is not 
 half as good a one as their own — a poor pitiful 
 whistling tongue, like the wind blowing through 
 a key hole without the melody of the Italian, 
 the grandeur of the Spanish, the richness of 
 the German, or the strength of the English." 
 
 *' Yet it is a good language for conversation," 
 replied Algernon Grey, willing to follow upon 
 any track that led from the subject of his 
 rencontre with Oberntraut. 
 
 " To say things in a double sense, to tickle 
 the ears of light women, and make bad jests 
 upon good subjects," rejoined Herbert, whose 
 John Bull prejudices seemed somewhat strong ; 
 " that is all that it is good for. — Now look here," 
 he continued, as they reached a commanding 
 point of the hill, " did you ever see a place so 
 badly fortified as this ? There is not much to 
 be done with it that is true ; for it is commanded 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 by SO many accessible points, that it would 
 cost the price of an empire to make it a 
 
 fortress. Yet if the Elector would spend upon 
 streno-thenino; his residence against his enemies, 
 one-half of what he is throwing away upon 
 laying out that stupid garden, I would under- 
 take to hold it out for a year and a day against 
 an}^ force that king or emperor could bring 
 against it." 
 
 " Something might be done, it is true," 
 answered the young Englishman ; *• but it could 
 never be made a strong place, domineered as it 
 is by all these mountains. If you fortified them 
 up to the top, it would require an army to 
 garrison them." 
 
 " Ay, that is the mistake that will be com- 
 mitted by engineers to the last day, I believe," 
 answered Herbert, w^ho had his peculiar notions 
 on all subjects. " They think they must fortify 
 every commanding point. But there is another 
 and better method of guarding them. Render 
 them inaccessible to artillery, that is all that 
 requires to be done, and then they need no
 
 HEIDELBERG. 147 
 
 further defence. On the contrary^they become 
 ramparts that will crumble to no balls. There 
 is no escarpment like the face of a rock. Now 
 this same mad gardener fellow, this Saloman 
 de Caus, who is working away there : he has 
 filled up half a valley, thrown down half a 
 mountain, and the same labour and money, 
 spent in another way, would have rendered 
 every point inaccessible from which a fire could 
 be opened on the castle. — But, look there! 
 Horses are gathering at the gates, and men in 
 gilded jackets. The prince and his fair dame, 
 and all the wild bovs and orirls of the court are 
 going out upon some progress or expedition — I 
 must hasten down as fast as I can, for I want 
 to speak with one of them before they go. — 
 Remember the hour, and fail not. Can you 
 find your way back ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes ! no fear," answered Algernon 
 Grey, " I will be with you to-night ;" and 
 waving his hand, Herbert hurried down to- 
 wards the castle. 
 
 L 2
 
 148 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 fC 
 
 Tony/' cried the page, standing in the gate- 
 way of the Golden Stag, and turning half-round 
 towards a sort of covered half-enclosed shed or 
 booth in the court yard, where the English 
 servant, who had accompanied the two travellers 
 on their journey to Heidelberg, was cleaning 
 a pair of his master's silver stirrups, " here 's a 
 man inquiring for my lord, and I cannot make 
 out a word that he says/' 
 
 " What does he want?" cried Tony from the 
 shed, rubbing away as hard as if his life de- 
 pended upon making the stirrups look brighter 
 than the groom had been able to render 
 them.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 149 
 
 "I can't tell,'* replied the boy; '*but he 
 seems to want to give me a hundred crowns." 
 
 " Take them, take them," rejoined the man, 
 sagaciously, " and ask no questions. I '11 tell 
 you what, Frill, always take gold when you can 
 get it. It comes slow, goes fast, and calls no 
 man master long : a very changeable servant ; 
 but a very useful one, while we have him ; and 
 there is no fear of his growing old in our ser- 
 vice. Don't let the man know you can speak 
 French, or he might put you to disagreeable 
 interrogatories. Pocket and be silent; it is 
 the way many a man becomes great in this 
 world." 
 
 The advice was given in that sort of bantering 
 tone, which showed evidently that it was not 
 intended to be strictly followed ; and the page, 
 taking the crowns, held them up before the 
 eyes of the man who brought them, saying: 
 '' For Algernon Grey ?" 
 
 " Ja, Ja !" said the German servant ; " for 
 Algernon Grey ;" and, adding a word or two 
 more, which might have been Syriac for aught
 
 150 Uf^lDELBEllG. 
 
 the page knew, he withdrew, leaving the money 
 in the boy's hands. 
 
 As soon as he was gone, Freville or Frill, 
 as he was famiUarly termed by the household, 
 walked back to where his companion was at 
 work, and quietly counted over the money 
 upon the loose board which formed the only 
 table of the shed. 
 
 " I must give this to some one to keep, till 
 my lord's return," he said ; " will you take care 
 of it, Tony?" 
 
 " Not I," replied the servant ; " I repeat the 
 Lord's Prayer every morning and evening; 
 the first time, to keep me out of temptation by 
 day ; the second, to defend me against it by 
 night — I '11 have none of it, Master Frill ; it is 
 a good sum, and too much for any poor man's 
 pocket, especially where the plaket-hole is 
 wide and the bottom somewhat leaky." '-^^-^ 
 
 " I will take it up to Sir William, then," said 
 the boy ; " for I won't keep it myself. It would 
 be risking my lord's money sadly. Even now 
 my fingers begin to feel somewhat sticky, as if
 
 HEIDELBERG. 151 
 
 I had been handling the noses of horse-chestnut 
 buds." 
 
 *' Get you gone, for a graceless young vil- 
 lain," answered Tony ; '" what have you to do 
 with the noses of other men's children ; you 
 will have enough to do with vour ovv-n, if I 
 STuess rio-ht: but, as to the money, raethinks 
 it is quite as safe in your pocket, as Sir 
 William's." 
 
 " Why, you don't think he would keep 
 it, Tony ? " said the page in an inquiring 
 tone. 
 
 " As to keeping it," answered Tony, " that 's 
 as it may be. He never could keep his own, 
 therefore why should he keep other people's; 
 but between you and I, Frill — " and he dropped 
 his voice as if he did not wish to be over- 
 heard — " our Younor lord is not likely to grain 
 much by Sir William's company. We did very 
 well without him ; and though he may not 
 choose to pick my lord's pocket of hard gold, 
 he may take from him what gold will not buy. 
 I have a strange notion, somehow, that it was
 
 152 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 not altogether for love he came. If it were, why 
 did not he come long before ? But I remem- 
 ber him well, when he was a boy ; and he was 
 a cunning devil then ; as full of mischief as a 
 pistachio-nut. Why he hung the buttery hatch 
 with a wire like a bird-trap ; and the moment 
 old Jonas put his hand out, it fell and nearly 
 chopped off his fingers." 
 
 This was a jest just fitted to the meridian of 
 a boy's understanding ; and he burst into a fit of 
 laughter at the anecdote. 
 
 "Ay, ay,'' continued Tony, "it would have 
 passed as a wild lad's fun, if we had not known 
 that he had a spite at Jonas, who, one day, 
 when he was thirsty, refused him a cup of hy- 
 pocras that he wanted, and would only give him 
 a jug of ale. — But who in the name of silks and 
 satins, is this peeping about the court on the 
 tips of his toes, with rosettes and sword-knots 
 enough to swallow him up ? It is a page of the 
 court, I do believe. To him, Frill, to him ! 
 Speak French to this one, for he looks as if he 
 had been dieted on comfits and spiced wine ;
 
 HEIDELBERG. 153 
 
 and nothing will go down with him, depend 
 upon it, unless it be garnished with French 
 tongue/' 
 
 Following the suggestion of his companion, 
 Frill advanced, and the two pages met in the 
 midst of the court-yard, where they stood bow- 
 ing and complimenting each other, with an 
 extravagance of courtesy which had nearly 
 overpowered good Tony with laughter. 
 
 " My heavens ! what a pair of monkeys," he 
 exclaimed. " Take away their cloaks, and stick 
 a tail through their satin breeches, and you have 
 got the beast as perfect as at a puppet-show. 
 Look at that little monster Frill, if he has not 
 wriggled himself into an attitude in which he 
 cannot stand while I count four. There, 't is all 
 over; and now he twists to the other side. — 
 What does he want, Frill ?" he continued, rais- 
 ing his voice; "talk to him, boy, and don't 
 stand there grinning like a cat-ape." 
 
 " He comes down from the castle," answered 
 Frill, turning round, very well satisfied with the 
 graces he had been displaying, " to ask my lord
 
 154 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 and Sir William to join the court in a progress 
 to Schonau." 
 
 " Tell him Master Algernon Grey is out, and 
 Heaven knows when he will be back again," ex- 
 claimed Tony, who was wearied with the 
 courtly air of the pages. " What does the 
 devil's foal say now?" he continued, when 
 Frill had rendered the reply he dictated, 
 and received a speech and a low bow in 
 return. 
 
 " He says I must tell Master William Lovet 
 then," replied the page; and conducting the 
 other youth ceremoniously back to the threshold 
 of the gateway, he took leave of him after some 
 farther civil speeches on the one part, and direc- 
 tions on the other. 
 
 " There, go and tell Sir William," said Tony, 
 when the boy rejoined him, " and lay the 
 money on the table in our lord's room. — And 
 hark you, Frill, you may as well keep an eye 
 on Sir William's doings ; I 've doubts. Frill, 
 I have doubts ; and I should like to know 
 what he is seeking; for I can't help thinking
 
 HEIDEL.BERG. 15o 
 
 there's more under his jerkin than God's will 
 and a good conscience." 
 
 " If I thought he meant my lord any harm," 
 answered the boy, boldly, " I 'd drive my dag- 
 ger into him." 
 
 '*Pooh! nonsense; prick him with a needle 
 or a cobbler's awl," answered Tony, ** you 'd only 
 let him blood and make him more feverish 
 towards spring time. No, no, my boy, he'll 
 give no cause for offence ; but a man may do 
 more harm sometimes with a simple word than 
 a drawn sword — I '11 watch him well, however ; 
 do you so, too ; and if you find out anything, 
 let me know. — Now, away with you, away with 
 you, and tell the good man above ; for if he do 
 not make haste, he will not be in time, and 
 then your young bones are likely to suffer.'^ 
 
 The page turned to obey, but he had scarcely 
 reached the archway, when William Lovet issued 
 forth, descending from above, and called loudly 
 for his horse. 
 
 The page's communication, however, seemed 
 to make an alteration in his purpose ; and after
 
 156 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 pausing for a moment or two to think, he re- 
 entered the house, ordering everything to be 
 prepared for him to join the train of Frederic 
 and Elizabeth, as soon as he heard them coming 
 down the hill. 
 
 William Lovet was a very different man in 
 the solitude of his own chamber and in the 
 company of his cousin. He now waited some 
 twenty minutes, expecting almost every mo- 
 ment to hear the approach of the cavalcade, 
 which was to pass before the windows ; but he 
 showed no impatience, no lover-like haste to 
 join the lady at whose suggestion he doubted 
 not the invitation had been given. Sitting 
 at the table, with his hat cast down and his 
 sword taken out of the belt, he leaned his head 
 upon his hand, and seemed buried in meditation. 
 His brow was contracted, and heavy with appa- 
 rently gloomy thought ; and his hand played 
 with the curls of his long dark hair uncon- 
 sciously. Like many men of strong passions, 
 who set a careful guard upon their tongue when 
 any other human being is near to hear and com-
 
 HEIDELBERG. 157 
 
 raent on their words, but feel painfully the re- 
 straint then put upon themselves, he was apt, as if 
 for relief, to suffer the secret counsels of his heart 
 to break forth at times, when he felt perfectly cer- 
 tain they would reach no other ear but his own. 
 And this was one of those moments when the 
 workings of strong purposes within him, forced 
 him to give way to the dangerous habit. It 
 was no lono; continued monoloorue that he 
 spoke, no loud and vehement outburst of pas- 
 sion ; but broken fragments of sentences — as if 
 a portion of his thoughts would clothe them- 
 selves in words, and were suddenly checked 
 before they were complete — came forth mut- 
 tered and disjointed from his lips. 
 
 " It must do this time," he said ; and then 
 he fell into thought again, continuing, in about 
 a minute after, " If it do not, means must be 
 found to make it — the time is very short — 
 In another year he goes back — To think of his 
 having wasted full four years amongst all that 
 could tempt a man ! — He must be a stone — but 
 he is touched now, or I am mistaken — I must
 
 158 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 get this woman to help me — make her a tool 
 when she thinks herself a conqueror ! Ha ! 
 ha! ha!" and he laughed aloud. "I will 
 never leave it till it is finished. — It may cost 
 a good deal yet; for he is not easily led, 
 that 's clear. — Example, example ! That has 
 been always wanting. We will accustom his 
 mind to it — break him like a young colt that 
 first flies from the hand, but soon suffers every 
 child to pat him. — Ay, he is in the high road, 
 if he do not take flight and dart off; but surely, 
 in the wide world of accidents, we shall find 
 something, which, improved by skilful manage- 
 ment, will keep him here till that same glit- 
 tering web of golden threads, called love's 
 net, is round him — then let the poor stag 
 struggle, and pant, and toss about, he will 
 not easily break through, and the prize is 
 mine." 
 
 His farther thoughts were Interrupted by a 
 knock at the door. '* Come in," he said ; and 
 then exclaimed, in surprise, as the very ob- 
 ject of his contemplation stood before him.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 159 
 
 *' Why, Algernon, you have become mighty 
 
 ceremonious." 
 
 " Nay," answered Algernon Grey, laughing, 
 " I thought you were not alone ; for I heard 
 one voice speaking, at least; and with a gen- 
 tleman of your pursuits, one can never tell how 
 inopportune a visit may be." 
 
 "Pshaw!" cried Lovet ; "'tis a bad habit 
 I have from my mother. We rash and 
 thoughtless folks, unlike you calm and cautious 
 ones, cannot keep the secrets of our bosom in 
 the safe casket of the heart. We must speak 
 out our thoughts, whatever they may be ; and, 
 if we can find no other man to tell them to, 
 we tell them to ourselves." 
 
 "The safest confidant by far," answered 
 Algernon Grey. "What now, boy?" he con- 
 tinued, turning to the page, who had followed 
 him into the room, and was waiting at band for 
 an opportunity to speak. 
 
 "May it please you, noble sir," replied the 
 page, "a man, with a badge upon his arm, 
 brought hither a hundred crowns, whence or
 
 160 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 why I could not make out, for he had neither 
 French nor English; but he said Algernon 
 Grey well enough ; and so I laid them in your 
 chamber." 
 
 I understand," replied his master ; '^ what 
 
 <t 
 
 more ?" 
 
 (e 
 
 A page from the court, sir," answered the 
 boy ; " a very gallant youth, full of fine essences 
 and rich conceits, with satin in abundance, and 
 no lack of ribands " 
 
 *' On my life ! he must have been your coun- 
 terpart. Frill," exclaimed his master, laughing ; 
 and, turning to his companion, he added : 
 " This boy has been studying Sydney or Lilly, 
 or some high-flown writer. Well, most delicate 
 Frill, what said your delicate friend ?" 
 
 " He brought a message, noble sir," replied 
 the page, "inviting Messieurs Algernon Grey 
 and William Lovet to join the cavalcade of 
 the court, going joyously to Schonau. They 
 were to pass by the inn in half an hour." 
 
 " And, pray, how did this ingenuous youth 
 deliver himself?" asked Algernon Grey.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 161 
 
 " Oh ! with marvellous fineness, mv lord,'' 
 replied the page, '^with every courteous in- 
 vention that his genius could suggest." 
 
 " But the tongue. Master Frill, the tongue ?" 
 cried Algernon ; "if you could not understand 
 one man, how could vou understand the 
 other ?" 
 
 '■'■ He spoke French, my lord, with the utmost 
 perfection," replied the boy. 
 
 '' Come, iVlgernon, you are wasting time," 
 exclaimed Lovet ; " order your horses and 
 your people, or you will be too late." 
 
 Algernon Grey mused for a single instant, 
 and then replied : '•' I do not go, Wil- 
 lam. 
 
 ** Nay, not go !" exclaimed his friend. " Why, 
 you cannot help yourself, unless you would be 
 called the Great Bear of England. In every 
 country of the world such an invitation from 
 the prince is considered a command." 
 
 "What reply did you make, Frill?" asked 
 the boy's master. 
 
 " I said what Tony told me," replied the 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 162 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 page, namely, * Master Algernon Grey is out, 
 and Heaven knows when he will return.'" 
 
 "I shall not go, William," repeated the 
 young gentleman, in a thoughtful tone; "I 
 have my own reasons, and assuredly I do not 
 ride to-day." 
 
 " Then you are either going to fight a duel, 
 make love, or, in the silent and tender solitude 
 of your chamber in an inn, give yourself up to 
 sweet meditation of your lady's ankles," replied 
 WiUiam Lovet, resuming his usual bantering 
 tone. " Methinks, I see you, sitting with the 
 indicator digit of your dexter hand pressed softly 
 on the delicate cheek of youth, the eyebrow^ 
 raised, one eye to heaven, the other to earth, 
 with a slight poetical squint upon your coun- 
 tenance, and your bosom heaving sighs like a 
 pot of hot broth. — Come, come, Algernon, cast 
 off these humours, or turn anchorite at once. 
 Live like other men, and don't go about the 
 world as if your grandmother's brocade petti- 
 coat were hanging for ever over your head, 
 like an extinguisher, putting out the flame of
 
 HEIDELBERG. 163 
 
 youth, and health, and strength, and love, and 
 life. Look about you ; see if you can find one 
 single man, of 3'our own age, bearing willingij 
 about upon his shoulders scruples enough to 
 cram a pedlar's pack full of wares, as fiimsy 
 and worthless as any it ever contained. Be a 
 man, be a man ! Surely, your boyhood is past ; 
 and you have no longer to fear the pedagogue's 
 rod, if you stray a little beyond the tether of 
 your mother's apron-string." 
 
 Algernon Grey smiled calmly, but merely 
 nodded his head, saying : *' I shall not go, 
 Lovet, and all the less for a laugh. If I could 
 be turned from my purposes by a jest, I should 
 think myself a boy, indeed. You will find that 
 out at last, good friend. But, hark, there are 
 the trumpets ; get you gone, and good fortune 
 attend you. Call out his horse. Frill, that he 
 may not imitate ray sullen boorishness, and 
 keep the princely party waiting." 
 
 "Well," cried Lovet, shi-ugginghis shoulders, 
 " most reverend cousin, I will wish you a good 
 morning. In your solemn prayers and devout 
 
 31 2
 
 ;'64 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 outpourings of the heart, remember your poor 
 shiful cousin, and especially petition that he 
 may never see the evil of his ways, nor let one 
 pleasure slip from him that fortune offers to his 
 lip. It is a devout prayer ; for if I did not 
 enjoy myself I should do something much 
 worse; and the devil would not only have 
 me in the end, but in the beginning. Adieu, 
 adieu ! Here they come ; I hear the clatter ;" 
 and running to the door lie closed it sharply 
 behind him, while Algernon Grey, without 
 approaching too near, turned to the window 
 and gazed out into the market-place. 
 
 The next instant a gay and splendid train 
 swept up, preceded by two trumpeters in 
 gorgeous liveries. Magnificent horses, many- 
 coloured apparel, gold and embroidery, grace- 
 ful forms, and joyous bearing, rendered the 
 party one which any young heart might have 
 oeen glad to join; but the eve of Algernon 
 Gre}^ ran over the various groups of which it 
 was composed, seemingly seeking some particu- 
 lar object, with a curious and inquiring glance.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 165 
 
 It rested principally on the various female 
 figures of the princess's train ; but almost all 
 the ladies wore the small black mask, or loup, 
 then common at the court of France, and 
 sometimes, though not so frequently, seen in 
 England. The heat of the day and the power 
 of the sun gave them a fair excuse, in the 
 care of their complexions, for adopting a mode 
 most favourable to intrigue ; and, whoever it 
 might be that the young gentleman's eye sought 
 for in the cavalcade, he could not ascertain, 
 with any certainty, which she was. 
 
 The etiquette of the court prevented the 
 train from stopping for any of the expected 
 party; but, before it had defiled towards the 
 bridge, the horse of William Lovet dashed 
 forward from the gateway ; and, after a low 
 reverence to the Elector, he fell back and 
 attached himself to the side of one of the 
 ladies in the train, who greeted him with a 
 playful nod. 
 
 Alcrernon Grev seated himself at the table, 
 leaned his head thoughtfully upon his hand, and
 
 166 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 remained in that position for nearly a quarter 
 of an hour. 
 
 " No," he said, at length, *' no, I will not 
 risk her happiness or my own — I will not do it 
 again — it has been once too often." 
 
 He rose as he spoke, and after giving some 
 orders to his servants, strolled down to the 
 river's side, and there, hiring a rude bark, many 
 of which were moored to the bank, he directed 
 the boatman to let it drop slowly down the 
 stream. The hours passed dully, though he 
 was not one of those to whom the silent com- 
 mune of the heart with itself is wearisome. 
 But there was a cause why that calm medita- 
 tion, in which he had often found true pleasure, 
 w^as not now a resource. He tried to cast it 
 off, to fix his mind upon subjects foreign to that 
 upon which his heart v^as resolved to dwell; 
 and the struffoile to escape from an ever recur- 
 ring object of thought is always heavy labour. 
 Still the hours flew, though with a flagging 
 wing ; and when he calculated that the time of 
 his promised visit to Colonel Herbert at the
 
 HEIDELBERG. 167 
 
 castle was approaching he returned to the 
 town, and making some change in his apparel, 
 walked slowly up the hill. 
 
 The sun w^as indeed declinimx, but when he 
 reached the gates of the castle, which stood open, 
 the clock in the bridge tower struck seven, and 
 showed him that he was earlier on the way than 
 he had proposed to be. '•' Well," he thought, 
 " it matters not. The ^reat and the orav are 
 all absent, and I can stroll about the gardens and 
 courts till the hour comes. Doubtless thev will 
 give me admission." 
 
 He found no difficulty in gaining entrance, 
 and a servant, of whom he inquired for the 
 lodging of Colonel Herbert, courteousl}^ accom- 
 panied him across the court-yard, saying he 
 would point it out. Entering the building at 
 the further angle of the court, they passed under 
 the arcade of three stages near the Knights' hall, 
 and then through a long stone passage, to the 
 foot of a flight of steps in the open air. above 
 the highest of which, on a level v.ith his own 
 breast, Algernon Grey saw a wide stone plat-
 
 168 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 form, like that of an enormoQS rampart, sur- 
 rounded bj a balustrade flanked by two small 
 octagon turrets. The tops of the mountains on 
 the other side of the Neckar appeared above the 
 balustrade, the clear blue sky was seen over 
 head, and the evening song of one of the 
 autumn-singing birds made itself heard from 
 the castle o[;ardens, risino; clear and melodious 
 over the dull hum which came up from the 
 city below. 
 
 " I am half an hour before my time," said the 
 young gentleman to the servant, *' and if you 
 will just point out to me which is Colonel Her- 
 bert's lodging, I will wait here till the hour 
 appointed. I may as well pass the minutes in 
 this pleasant place as any where else." 
 
 " This is the Altan, sir," replied the man ; 
 " the view from it is greatly admired ; and if 
 you turn to the right at the end, it will lead you 
 by the only passage there to a door in the first 
 tower — you see it there. The Enojlish kni^-ht's 
 lodging is above, and you cannot miss your 
 way. You might, indeed, go round by the
 
 HEIDELBERG. 169 
 
 arsenal ; but the sentinel will not let you pass, 
 unless I am with vou." 
 
 "Oh, I shall find it easily, I doubt not," 
 answered the vounsr Englishman : and adding 
 thanks, and a substantial token thereof, he 
 mounted the steps and walked slowly forward 
 to the parapet, while a crowd of the beautiful 
 objects which only nature's treasury can dis- 
 play, rushed upon his eyes in dream-like 
 splendour. Hardly had the first feeling of 
 admiration been felt, however, when a slight 
 exclamation of surprise uttered close to him 
 made him turn his head towards one of the 
 two small octagon turrets which stood at either 
 extreme end of the Altan. 
 
 The door was open, and he beheld coming 
 forward a female figure which it required but 
 one look to recognise. There was a well- 
 pleased smile upon her countenance, bland, 
 fi'ank, and simple. She saw her agree- 
 able companion of the night before ; she 
 remembered with satisfaction, and without one 
 agitating thought, the pleasant hours she had
 
 170 
 
 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 spent with him, and advanced gaily and gladly 
 to meet him, only conscious of friendship and 
 esteem. 
 
 Algernon Grey was better read in the world 
 than his companion Lovet believed — aye, even 
 in its most difficult page, the heart of woman. 
 
 Nevertheless, though he marked the lady's 
 manner, and instantly drew conclusions from it, 
 those conclusions were not altogether just. He 
 saw that straightforward well-pleased look — the 
 free and unembarrassed air, and he said within 
 his heart, — " She at least is in no danger. It 
 is for myself I must beware." 4;.^ .^ 
 
 The courtesies of life, however, were not to 
 be omitted; and, though with a grave look, he 
 met his fair companion with the usual saluta- 
 tions of the morning, proposing to himself to 
 speak a few words, and then withdraw. But 
 there are as strong attractions as those of the 
 magnet for the needle ; and, once by her side, 
 resolution failed. 
 
 " I am very glad to see 3^ou," she said, with 
 the same beaming look ; " I ha 1 come out
 
 HEIDELBERG. 171 
 
 hither for a solitary walk upon the Altan while 
 the court is absent, and little thought of having 
 a companion who can enjoy this scene as I do." 
 
 "How comes it you are not with the gay 
 party ?" asked Algernon Grey ; '* I thought all 
 the world had gone." 
 
 " But you and I," answered the lady, " and 
 one whom you have not seen, but whom 
 you should know before you leave this place ; 
 for a wiser or a kinder beins: does not live than 
 the Electress Dowager, Louisa Juliana. No, I 
 stayed to read to and amuse her; for she has 
 been ill lately — what with some anxiety and 
 some sorrow. She would not let me remain 
 longer, or I would gladly have done so : for she 
 has been as a mother to me when I most 
 needed a mother's care — and what can I ever 
 do to repay her?" 
 
 " Love her," answered the young English- 
 man ; " that is the repayment from noble heart 
 to noble heart. But this is indeed a splendid 
 view ! What a confusion of magnificent objects 
 present themselves at once to the eye, with the
 
 172 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 sun setting over yon wide plain and those golden 
 hills beyond." 
 
 " Ay," answered Agnes, following with her 
 eyes the direction in which he pointed, "and 
 those golden hills hide in their bosom, as in a 
 rich casket, a thousand jewels. There is not a 
 valley amongst them that is not rich in loveli- 
 ness, not a hill or craggy steep that does not 
 bear up some castle or abbey, some legend of 
 old times, or some deep history. Can you not 
 mark, too, the current of the glorious Rhine, 
 the King of Europe's streams, as he flows on- 
 ward there ? — No ? Beside those towers, vou 
 catch a glistening of the waters as the}'- pour 
 forward to revel in the magnificence beyond." 
 
 " I see," answered Algernon Grey, " I always 
 love the Rhine, with its vine-covered hills and 
 castled rocks and its storied memories. Its 
 course seems to me like that of some fine old 
 poem, where, in even flow, and amidst images of 
 beauty, the mind is led on with ever varying 
 delight till in the end it falls into calm, solemn, 
 contemplative repose."
 
 HEIDELBERG. 173 
 
 " I know little of poetr}- or poets/' replied 
 Agnes. " Some, indeed, I have read, especially 
 some of the Italian poets, and they are very 
 beautiful, it is true ; but I fancy it is better to 
 know the poem than the poet, the work rather 
 than the writer — at least so it has been with 
 all those I have seen." 
 
 " It is true, I believe," said Algernon Grey, 
 *' our thoughts are generally more poetic than 
 our actions, almost always than our de- 
 meanour; invariably, I may say, than our 
 persons; and when we remember, that the 
 highest quality of the human mind places 
 before us in a poem only that which mature 
 and deliberate judgment pronounces to be the 
 best of its fruits, it is not wonderful that the 
 man should seem less, when we can see him 
 near, than the poem gave us cause to expect." 
 
 In such conversation as this, of an elaborate 
 and somewhat didatic turn, the young English- 
 man thought himself perfectly safe. He fan- 
 cied he could discuss poetry and poems, beau- 
 tiful scenerv, the ":rand works of nature or of
 
 174 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 art, with the loveliest being ever e3^e beheld, 
 without the slightest danger to himself or 
 others. Unwarned by the fate of Beatrice and 
 her lover, or of Abelard and his pupil, he 
 fancied that on such cold and general themes, 
 he could discourse in safety, even with the fair 
 creature beside him ; but he forgot, that through 
 the whole world of the beautiful and the excel- 
 lent, in nature and in art, there is a grand tie 
 which links with the rest the heart of man : 
 that sympathy is love, in a shallower, or a 
 deeper degree : and he forgot, moreover, that 
 the transition is so easy, by the ever open 
 doors of association, from the most cold and in- 
 different things to the warmest and the dearest, 
 that the heart must be well guarded, the mind 
 well assured, before it ventures to deal with 
 aught that excites the fancy in companionship 
 with one who has alread}* some hold upon the 
 imagination. 
 
 Insensibly, they knew not well how, their 
 conversation deviated from the mere objects 
 tangible to the senses, to the effects produced
 
 HEroELBERG. 175 
 
 )y those objects on the mind. From the mind 
 they went to the heart : and Agnes, for a time, 
 went on to talk with glowing eloquence, of 
 all those feelings and emotions, of which it 
 was evident enough to her companion, she 
 spoke by hearsay rather than by experience. 
 Her words were careless, brilliant, even, per- 
 haps, we may say light, in its better sense, for 
 some time after their discourse took that turn. 
 She jested with the subject, she sported with 
 it — like a child who, having found a shining 
 piece of steel, makes a plaything of it, un- 
 knowing that it is a dagger which, with a light 
 blow, may cut the knot of life. Suddenly, 
 however, from some feeling, undefined even to 
 herself, she stopped in full career, became 
 thoughtful, serious, more avaricious of her 
 words. A deeper tone pervaded them when 
 they were spoken; and she seemed to have 
 found unexpectedly, that she was dealing with 
 thinors which at some time mi^rht have a more 
 powerful and heartfelt interest for herself, and 
 that she had better escape from such topics.
 
 176 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 treating them gravely, whilst she was obliged 
 to treat of them at all. Her conversation, in 
 short, was like a gay pleasure-boat, which quits 
 the shore in sunshine and merriment, but, 
 finding itself far from land, makes its way back 
 with earnest speed with the first cloud that 
 gathers on the sky. 
 
 Her altered manner called Algernon Grey to 
 himself; and, as they turned back again along 
 the Altan, he said, anxious to fly from a danger 
 which he felt had its fascination too, but yet 
 mingling with the adieu he was about to speak 
 such a portion of feeling as might pass for 
 ordinary gallantry ; " I must now leave you, 
 I believe, for the sun is so low, that it warns me 
 of my engagement to spend this evening with 
 a countryman of ours, named Colonel Herbert, 
 whom I have made acquaintance with this 
 morning — indeed, it is past the hour." 
 
 " Oh, I will show you the way," answered 
 Alice, with a smile ; " I am going thither, too ; 
 but do stay for an instant to look at that star 
 rising over the Odenwald. How clear and calm
 
 HEIDELBERG. 177 
 
 it shines! How round, and full, and unvary- 
 ing ! It must be a planet ; and I cannot help 
 thinking often, that woman's true sphere is like 
 that of vonder star. There mav be brighter 
 things in the heavens, twinkling and sparkling 
 with transcendant light; but her fate is like 
 ihat of the planet, to wander round one sole 
 object, from which she receives all her bright- 
 ness, in constant, tranquil, peaceful watchful- 
 ness, calm but not dull, and bright but not 
 alone — now come." 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 In a large circular room, with a massive column 
 in the midst, from which sprang the groins of 
 the numerous arches Avhich formed the vault, 
 sat the stout soldier Herbert, with his two com- 
 panions, Algernon Grey and the fair Agnes. 
 The chamber itself, notwithstanding its unusual 
 form, was comfortable and highly decorated. 
 The floor, somewhat unusual in those times, 
 and in that country, was of wood ; the stone 
 column in the centre was surrounded by a 
 richly-carved oak seat, furnished with cushions 
 of crimson velvet ; and the heavy mass of the 
 pillar, which rose above, was broken and re- 
 lieved by four groups of armour gathered into
 
 UEIDELBERG. 179 
 
 the shape of trophies. Seats and bookcases, 
 and those articles of furniture which are now 
 called etaycres, all likewise of oak, ornamented 
 with velvet and fringes of a crimson colour, 
 occupied the spaces between the windows ; 
 and on the one side, midway from the pillar to 
 the wall, was a fable covered with clean white 
 linen, supporting various baskets of rich and 
 early fruit, with wine and bread, but no other 
 viands. ^* 
 
 On the other side was also a table, on which 
 were cast negligently some book€, a pair of 
 gauntlets, two or three daggers from different 
 lands, and a number of objects, valuable either 
 for their rarity or for the beauty of their work- 
 manship. A fine picture stood on the ground, 
 leaning against a chair, at one point ; an an- 
 tique marble vase, richly sculptured, was seen 
 at another ; a lance appeared resting on the 
 shoulder of a statue ; and the mask of a satyr, 
 from some Roman building, was placed in the 
 gaping vizor of a helmet which stood at the 
 foot of a bookcase. The whole was lighted by 
 
 N 2
 
 180 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 crescets hung against the column, which shed 
 a soft and pleasant lustre throuo;h the wide 
 room. 
 
 The host and his guests were seated at the 
 table where the fruit was spread, and they 
 seemed to be enjoying highly their simple and 
 innocent meal. Herbert himself was gayer in 
 manner than he had been in the morning ; 
 Agnes gave way to the flow of her young bright 
 fancies with as little restraint, or even — less, 
 perhaps, than when she had been with Alger- , 
 lion Grey alone ; and the young Englishman 
 feeling that, for that evening at least, it was 
 useless to strugaile a^rainst the fate that had 
 brought them together, yielded his spirit to 
 the pleasure of the moment, and resolved to 
 enjoy the cup which he had not sought to 
 taste. 
 
 It must not indeed be supposed that the 
 conversation was all of a bright or cheerful 
 character ; for it went on, in its natural course, 
 from subject to subject, resembling in its aspect 
 a rich autumn day, where glowing sunshine
 
 HEIDELBERG. 181 
 
 and sombre masses of cloud alternately sweep 
 over the prospect, giving a varied interest to 
 the scene. 
 
 The conversation of Herbert himself was 
 not in general of a very cheerfnl tone ; it was 
 occasionally pungent, shrewd, and keen in the 
 remarks, but that of a inan u'ho, having 
 mingled much with the v»orld — partaken of its 
 pleasures, shared in its strife, and known its 
 sorrows — had withdrawn for several vears from 
 any very active participation in the pursuits of 
 other men, still watch 'ng eagerly as a spectator 
 the scenes in which he had once been an 
 actor. 
 
 The connexion between him and Agnes had 
 somewhat puzzled Algernon Grey at his first 
 entrance. Their evident familiarity, their affec- 
 tion one for the other, had perhaps pained him 
 for an instant — it was but for an instant ; for, 
 though she gave the old soldier both her hands, 
 and kissed with her glowing lips his weather- 
 beaten cheek, it v/as all done so frankly, so 
 candidly, that the young Englishman felt there
 
 182 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 must be something to warrant it — that there 
 was nothing to be concealed. He then asked 
 himself more than once, what the relationship 
 could be ? but it was not till he had been there 
 nearly an hour, that the fair girl, in addressing 
 Herbert, called him " My dear uncle." 
 
 Algernon Grey asked himself why he should 
 have felt pained at her familiarity with any man, 
 whether her near relative or not? — but it was 
 a question which he could not or would not 
 answer, and he hurried away from it to other 
 things. " I knew not," he said, "that this fan- 
 lady was your kinswoman, Colonel Herbert, 
 though we spoke of her at good Dr. Alting's 
 this morning." 
 
 " You gave me no reason to know that it 
 was of her you spoke," answered Herbert, with 
 a smile. 
 
 " Yes, methinks I did," said the other 
 gaily : " I told you I had been at the court 
 revel last night, and had passed the hours with 
 a lady whom I described right well." 
 
 '^ Oh, let me hear, dear uncle ! let me
 
 HEIDELBERG. 183 
 
 hear I" exclaimed Aones : "I sliould so much 
 like to hear a stranger's description of mvself, 
 — you must tell me all he said/' 
 
 " That is because you are vain, my child," 
 answered the old soldier; "you would not like 
 to hear it, if you thought he had blamed you : — 
 Nay, I will not tell you a word." 
 
 " Then I will divine for myself," cried Agnes ; 
 '• and you shall see whether I am vain or not. 
 He said he had met a wild romantic sjirl, not 
 verj' courtly in her manners, who had talked to 
 him all night on themes which might have 
 suited a painter or a chaplain better than a 
 court lady ; that she danced better than she 
 talked, — dressed better than she danced, — and 
 had a sovereign objection to love-speeches." 
 
 Algernon Grey smiled, and Herbert replied, 
 tapping her cheek with his fingers, but looking 
 round to their young companion : " You see, 
 sir, in what these women's vanitv consists — 
 dancing and dressing ! But you are wrong, 
 Agnes, altogether. He said not a word of vour 
 dress, — he took no notice of your dancing, —
 
 184 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 he did not object to your prattle, — and he 
 told me nothing of his having made ^^ou love- 
 speeches." 
 
 "Neither did he," cried Agnes, with her 
 cheek glowing at the conclusion which her 
 relation had drawn ; " we heard many a one 
 passing around us, but he made none. That 
 was the reason I liked his conversation, and I 
 told him so." 
 
 " You tell too readily what is in your heart, 
 my child," said Herbert ; "and yet, good faith, 
 I would not have it otherwise. But of one 
 thing you may be sure, that the man I would 
 ask here was too much a gentleman to say 
 ought of a lady which was not pleasing to my 
 ear. What he said came to this : that you were 
 a good girl, and unlike most others he had met. 
 Was it not so, Master Grey ?" 
 
 " Somewhat differently expressed and co- 
 loured," answered Algernon Grey ; " but, at all 
 events, the substance was no worse ; " and, 
 willing to change the theme, he went on to 
 sav, " That good Dr. Altins: seems a zealous
 
 HEIDELBERG. 185 
 
 and enthusiastic man. It is strange that in the 
 commerce with the world of a long life he has 
 not lost more of the fire which generally burns 
 brightly only in youth." 
 
 *' He has seen little of life," answered Her- 
 bert, " know^s little of the %vorld, or he would 
 not entertain such high hopes from such 
 doubtful prognostications." 
 
 " Then you think his expectations regarding 
 the result of this election will be disappointed?" 
 asked the 3'oung Englishman. 
 
 Herbert mused gravely, and then replied : 
 " I know not what portion of his expectations 
 you allude to, or whether you mean all. If 
 the latter, I say some of them will certainly be 
 verified : Frederick will be elected, of that I 
 entertain no doubt. These stern Bohemians 
 will never choose a drunkard and a knave, and 
 with that exception there is no other competitor ' .' 
 of name. Then, again, that there will bo the ' 
 grand — perhaps the only opportunity that ever 
 will be seen of rendering the pure Protestant 
 faith predominant in Germany, — nay, more, j/<^-Ct 
 
 ' ifii' <* /U<^
 
 186 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 of breaking the Austrian chain from the neck 
 of the captive empire. I do not at all deny, 
 that the opportunity will be there, but will there 
 be men to seize it ? That is what I doubt. 
 Will there be men who, having stretched forth 
 the hand to take the golden occasion, will not, 
 when they have clutched it, suffer it to slip 
 from their grasp ? That is the great question ; 
 for to fail is worse than not to undertake. 
 The head on which the crown of Bohemia 
 now falls should be one full of those rare 
 energies which lose no chance, and which 
 command success; there should be experience 
 or gfenius, and, above all, indomitable firmness 
 of character and activity of mind. He should be 
 a man of one grand purpose, — cautious as reso- 
 lute, w^atchful as enterprising, leading not led, 
 ■obstinate in preference to wavering, — with the 
 whole powers of heart and mind bent to the 
 attainment of a single object; — with neither 
 eyes, nor ears, nor thoughts for aught but that. 
 The path is upon a glacier, with a precipice 
 below : one slip is destruction. Now, good as
 
 HEIDELBERG. 187 
 
 he is, — brave, intelligent, noble, sincere, de- 
 voted,^ is the Elector endowed with powers 
 that will bear him up through dangers and 
 difficulties such as the world has seldom seen?" 
 
 " Often, Avhere princes themselves would 
 fail," answered Alaernon Grev, " wise coun- 
 seilors and great generals render them suc- 
 cessful." 
 
 " He must be a wise prince, to choose wise 
 counsellors," said Herbert. " Have we any 
 here ? — Besides, if you would calculate the 
 results of the strife about to spring up, look at 
 the materials of the two parties. This is, in 
 truth, a struggle betwixt the Protestants and 
 Papists of Germany. Now, there is something 
 in the very nature of the two religions which 
 gives disunion to the one, consolidation to the 
 other. The Papists are all agreed on every 
 essential point ; they are all tutored in the 
 same school, look to the same objects, have in 
 the most important matters the same interests. 
 The least attack upon their religion is a i^allying 
 crv for them all ; their wills bend to its dic- 
 
 X
 
 188 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 tates, their banners unfurl at its call, their 
 swords spring forth in its defence. The}'' are 
 one nation, one tribe, by a stronger tie than 
 common country or common origin. They are 
 one in religion and the religion is one. But 
 what is the case with the Protestants? Split 
 into sects, divided into parties, recognising no 
 authority but their own individual judgments, 
 they hate each other, with a hatred perhaps 
 stronger than that which they feel tow^ards the 
 Romanists ; or are cold to each other, which is 
 worse. There is no bond between them but 
 the w^orst of bonds — a common enmity to 
 another faith. No, no, the whole tendencies 
 of one party are to division, the whole ten- 
 dencies of the other to union, and union is 
 strength." 
 
 " Nay, my dear uncle," cried Agnes, " to 
 hear your arguments, one would think you 
 a Papist." 
 
 "Hold your wdld tongue, you unreasoning 
 child," ansvrered Herbert, good-humouredly ; 
 "my arguments go to quite a contrary end. 
 
 ■A
 
 HEIDELBERG. 189 
 
 Were there not innate truth unimpeachable in 
 the doctrines of the Protestants, there vvould 
 not be one sect of them left bv this time, so 
 potent are the means arrayed against them, so 
 feeble are the earthly bonds that liold them 
 together. Were it not for the power of truth 
 upon their side, the first blast of wind would 
 blow them from the earth ; but great is truth, 
 and it will prevail, however weak bo the hands 
 that support it, however strong the arms raised 
 to crush it'' 
 
 " Yours is a gloomy view, nevertheless," re- 
 joined Algernon Grey ; " but we must still 
 trust to the vigour of truth for the support of a 
 just cause. Many will doubtless fall away in 
 the hour of need. Of that I am aware ; but if 
 they carry with them only their own weakness 
 and the divisions of the party, their absence 
 will but give strength." 
 
 " Well, let us talk of it no more," answered 
 Herbert, " the book of fate has so many pages 
 unopened that who can tell what may be 
 written on the next ? That casque which you
 
 190 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 see there, crowning the arms on this side of the 
 pillar, was worn by the good and great Coligni. 
 Did he think when he last carried it, that the 
 day of St. Bartholomew, then so nigh, would 
 see his massacre and that of his companions ? 
 Did he think that the king, who then leaned 
 upon his shoulder, promising to act by his 
 counsel in all things, would command his 
 assassination ? or that the gallant young prince, 
 whom he appreciated in most things so justly, 
 would abandon the faith for which thev had 
 both shed their blood, and be murdered by 
 one of the base instruments of the religion 
 he adopted? He must be a madman or in- 
 spired who ventures to prophesy even the 
 deeds or events of to-morrow." 
 
 " And this, then, was the casque of Coligni ?" 
 said Algernon Grey, rising and approaching 
 the pillar ; " one of the greatest men, un- 
 doubtedly, that ever lived, w^hose spirit seemed 
 to revel in misfortunes, and whose genius 
 appeared, even to his enemies, but the more 
 bright for defeat.'
 
 HEIDELBERG. 191 
 
 " Ay, fortune was only constant against 
 him," answered Herbert, following with Agnes, 
 " he went on with still increasing renown and 
 disaster, till his glorv and his reverses were 
 closed by his assassination." 
 
 " The body perished," said Agnes in a sweet 
 low tone, "and with it all that was perishable. 
 The immortal remained, the fame that ca- 
 lumny could never sullv, to this earth : the 
 spirit that triumphed over every reverse, to 
 heaven, from whence it came." . 
 
 Herbert laid his hand upon her shoulder, 
 gazing at her with a well-pleased smile. ^' You 
 may well speak proudly of him, my child," he 
 said, " for your noble kinsman has left a name 
 which the world cannot match. There are 
 some strange things here," he continued ab- 
 ruptly, turning to Algernon Grey. " Do you 
 see this ancient cuirass shaped almost like a 
 globe?" 
 
 " Ay, and that ghastly hole in the left 
 breast," cried Agnes, " what a tale that tells ! 
 Without a word one reads there that by the
 
 192 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 wound then given when the lance pierced 
 through the strong iron, a gallant spirit was 
 sent from earth on the long dark journey. 
 What tears were then shed ! How the bride 
 or the young widow wept in inconsolable 
 grief! How brethren or parents mourned! 
 What ties were broken, what long cherished 
 hopes all blasted, what bright schemes and 
 glad purposes then all passed away like a 
 dream !" 
 
 Algernon Grey fixed his eyes upon her, 
 while she spoke with a look of sad and solemn 
 earnestness. It was intense and thoughtful, 
 yet full of admiration, and lasted till she 
 ceased ; but Agnes saw it not, for her eyes were 
 raised to her uncle's face, and her whole spirit 
 was in the words she uttered. 
 
 " It is the pleasant part of life, I fear," he 
 said at length, " which thus passes like a 
 dream. The painful things remain — ay, and 
 grow too. With the bright days pass the 
 bright thoughts ; with the light season flies the 
 light heart. Man has but one summer ; if it
 
 HEIDELBERG. 193 
 
 be clouded, let him not look for sunshine. 
 Winter will surely come." 
 
 " Ay, on this earth," answered Herbert, 
 " there is another climate hereafter, -svhere 
 winter is not. Still you are in some sense 
 wrong. Each season has its sunny hours for 
 those who seek them. Youth looks forward to 
 age with apprehension, age to the state be- 
 yond. Neither know rightly what is in store. 
 All they are sure of is, that there are depriva- 
 tions coming of things which they fancy trea- 
 sures ; but still each step of life shows that the 
 most prized jewels of the former were but 
 tinsel and false stones. What will the last 
 stage show of all the rest ? That cuirass was 
 young Talbot's, slain in the wars in France ; 
 that gap let in his death-wound. A noble 
 spirit passed away to a nobler w^orld ; a 
 kind young heart mourned, and went to 
 join him. These are brief tales, soon told. 
 Why should we think more of man's life and 
 death than of the opening and the fading 
 of a flower? His immortality itself makes 
 
 VOL. I. O
 
 194 
 
 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 his life the less worth thought, but as he 
 uses it." 
 
 " These gauntlets, too," said Algernon Grey, 
 *' they seem less ancient than the cuirass, but 
 yet are not of our own times." 
 
 " They are those of a king," answered Her- 
 bert ; " one whom men esteem great ; but like 
 most of the world's great men, with many 
 littlenesses — Francis the First of France." 
 
 "All that was great in him," replied Al- 
 gernon Grey, " belonged to the spirit of a 
 former time. He had a touch of the old 
 chivalrous honour, and compared with others 
 of his day, with our own Harry, and even 
 with his more famous rival, the Emperor 
 Charles, he stands out bright as knight and 
 gentleman, if not as monarch." 
 
 " Compare him not with Harry," said Her- 
 bert, " that king was a brutal tyrant. He 
 might have been better, indeed, had not men 
 stupidly aboUshed polygamy, for I dare say he 
 would have been contented to let his wives 
 live, if the laws of society had not made them a
 
 HEIDELBERG. 195 
 
 burden to him; and so, like most men, he 
 committed great crimes with a pretext, to 
 escape from smaller faults less easily excused." 
 He spoke laughingly, and then added, " But 
 still he was a base, bloody tyrant, an un- 
 grateful friend, an ungenerous master. No, 
 no, Francis was too good to be likened to him. 
 No, compare him with the man whose sword 
 hangs yonder — with Bayard, and then how 
 small the king becomes, how great the simple 
 gentleman !" 
 
 " He was noble, indeed !" exclaimed Agnes ; 
 "and it is a consolation, too, to see that men 
 admire him more for his gentler than his 
 sterner qualities. Would that they took his 
 lesson more to heart ; for of the great men, as 
 they are called, of this world, how few are 
 there whose renown does not rise on deeds of 
 blood and rapine, how few whose monument is 
 not raised on violations of all justice and 
 equity ; the marble their fellow-creatures' 
 corpses, and the mortar ruin, devastation, 
 wrong, watered with blood and tears." 
 
 o 2
 
 196 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 Algernon Grey gazed upon her again with 
 the same sad and thoughtful look; and Her- 
 bert replied, "Too true, my child ; but yet" — 
 and he smiled somewhat sarcastically — "I 
 have rarely known the lady who did not love 
 these sanguinary gentlemen more than the 
 humble man of peace. It is you, and such as 
 you, who spur us on to war." 
 
 "War must be, I fear," answered Agnes; 
 ^' and Heaven forbid that any gentleman 
 should be a coward, trembling for so light a 
 thing as life ; but if, when driven unwillingly 
 to strife, men would, like that great hero you 
 have mentioned, soften the rugged trade by 
 the virtues of the Christian and the knight, 
 protect, defend, support, rather than oppress, 
 injure, and trample down, the warrior would 
 be worthy of all love, and great men would 
 become great indeed. As it is, one turns with 
 horror from the blood-stained page of history, 
 where grasping ambition rides in the tinsel 
 chariot of a false renown, over the craunching 
 bones of whole generations slain. The world's
 
 HEIDELBERG. 197 
 
 greatness is not for me ; and, all woman as I 
 am, dear uncle, I would rather be a nun, 
 mewed in a cloister, than the wife of one of 
 these great men." 
 
 She spoke with a fire and energy which 
 Algernon Grey had never seen in her before ; 
 but some of her words seemed to affect Herbert 
 more than might have been expected. He 
 walked suddenly back to the table, and seated 
 himself, leaning his head upon his hand, with 
 a sad and gloomy look. Agnes paused a 
 moment, and then drew gently near, laid her 
 hand upon his, kissed his furrowed brow, and 
 murmured, " Forgive me ! I did not mean to 
 pain you ; I thought not of what I said." 
 
 " It is nothing, it is nothing," answered 
 Herbert ; " it will pass, dear child ;" and al- 
 most as he spoke, a servant, dressed in a 
 different livery from that of the court, entered, 
 saying : " The Dowager Electress, madam, has 
 sent to tell you she is ready when you like 
 to come." 
 
 " I will be with her directlv," answered the
 
 198 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 fair girl; and turning to Herbert again, she 
 added in a sad tone : " I have given pain 
 enough here, for one night at least. — Farewell, 
 countryman," she continued frankly, holding 
 out her soft white hand to Algernon Grey, " I 
 do not know whether we shall ever meet 
 again ; but, methinks, you will remember this 
 night, so unlike any you have probably ever 
 passed." 
 
 Her words were free and unembarrassed ; but 
 Algernon Grey had deeper feelings in his heart, 
 and he merely replied, " I will," at the same 
 time, however, he bent his head and pressed his 
 lips upon the hand she gave him. It was 
 a common act of courtesy in those days, mark- 
 ing nothing but a feeling of friendship or 
 respect ; and Agnes, receiving it as such, drew 
 the light veil, which had fallen upon her shoul- 
 ders, over her head, and left the room. 
 
 For a single instant Herbert remained seated 
 in the same desponding attitude. Then rousing 
 himself, he turned to his guest, saying : " Come, 
 *aste the wine a^ain. It is but sour stuff this
 
 HEIDELBERG. 199 
 
 Rhenish wine at the best, but this is as good as 
 any." 
 
 '* It is better than any that I have ever tasted 
 here," answered Algernon ; " and I do not dis- 
 like these wines. One does not feel as if one 
 were drinking molten fire, as with the heady 
 grape of Burgundy, after which the blood seems 
 to go tingling in fever to the fingers' ends. 
 One more glass, then, to the health of the fair 
 lady who has left us." 
 
 "Yes, she is fair," answered Herbert, thought- 
 full}', after drinking his wine, — ^'Beautiful as 
 her mother, and as good — more gay, but not 
 less thoughtful. — Now, my young friend," he 
 continued, " there is one thing puzzles me in 
 you. That you should think the child lovely 
 does not surprise me, for she is so : I know it, 
 and am accustomed to hear others say so ; but 
 she sets so little store by her beauty, that it 
 gives me no pain. There is a difference 
 between admiration and love. It is evident 
 enough that the blind god has nought to do in 
 the case between you and her; but yet you
 
 200 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 have more than once gazed at her long, and 
 with a sad and serious countenance, as if there 
 were deep thoughts regarding her silently busy 
 at your heart. If you mind not telling them, I 
 would fain hear what those thoughts were." 
 
 " I caught myself so gazing," said Algernon, 
 with a smile, ^^not long before she left the 
 room. It was when she spoke of the horrors 
 and evils of war; and that theme connected 
 itself in my mind with what had passed before. 
 I asked myself, if these bright scenes are 
 destined to be visited by strife and pillage and 
 desolation, what will be the fate of that young 
 fair being, and many others like her. Hard- 
 ships and rude alarms and the daily peril of 
 life is what men are habituated to from boy- 
 hood; but what can woman do at such a 
 season ? She can but sit still and weep, await- 
 ing her destiny, whatever it may be. The clang 
 of the trumpet, or the roll of the drum, gives 
 her no inspiring occupation to while away the 
 hours of suspense ; and, the rude captor's prey 
 in a town taken by assault, death, and worse
 
 HEIDELBERG. 201 
 
 than death, may be her portion. — Such were 
 the thoughts which moved me on this last 
 occasion. If I stared at her so rudely at any 
 other time, I have forgotten the cause." 
 
 " It will be long, I trust," answered Herbert, 
 " very long, before the storm rolls hither, even 
 at the worst ; and till it comes, here she is safe 
 enough. But yet, methinks, good friend, your 
 thoughts take a gloomy turn, and somewhat 
 strange for the youth of the present day. With 
 nine men out of ten in every court of Europe — 
 France, England, Germany — we should have 
 nought but gallant speeches, courtly discourses 
 of small hands and beautiful feet, and eye- 
 brows marvellously turned, or lectures upon 
 bravery, what colours suit with what com- 
 plexions, what ribands and what laces best 
 harmonize, what dress becomes the gay and 
 young, the tall, the short — with an intermixture 
 of sighs and smiles, and some slight touch of 
 roses and other flowers, to give an Arcadian 
 glow to the whole. But here you have been as 
 grave as a judge over a long cause which makes
 
 202 
 
 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 his dinner wait ; speaking with all calm solem- 
 nity, as if you had never been taught to laugh. 
 — Why so sad, my friend ? Time enough for 
 sadness, when real sorrow comes." 
 
 Algernon Grey^s brow became graver than 
 before ; not that he looked hurt, or pained, but 
 there was a sort of stern and serious earnest- 
 ness upon his face, as he replied with brief, 
 slow, pointed words : " Most men have some 
 sad secret in their bosom." 
 
 " So young !" said Herbert, musing. " Nay, 
 I think not most men ; though some few may." 
 
 "Have not you, yourself?" asked Algernon 
 Grey, fixing his eyes upon him steadfastly, 
 *^ and none can say what will be the hour for 
 the poisoning of all life's streams;" and he 
 paused and fell into thought. 
 
 " I knew not that the lady was your niece," 
 he continued after a time ; ^' nor certainly 
 did I expect to meet her here. I seek not 
 dangerous companionships; and, methinks, 
 her society might well be so to any one whose 
 heart is not a stone. However, she is too free
 
 UEIDELBERG. 
 
 203 
 
 and happy, too tranquil in her thoughts and 
 her soul, to be easily won ; and I do trust, 
 when she is won, that she may meet a person 
 well worthy of her." 
 
 " Oh, she will do well enough," answered 
 Herbert. " Women alwavs choose ill ; but, 
 perhaps, she may not choose at all ; and I be- 
 lieve the gross amount of happiness would be 
 on that side, from all I know of men. — We are 
 strange beings. Master Grey — boys unto the 
 last, we covet eagerly each glittering toy we 
 see ; and then misuse it, when we have it safe." 
 
 These last words gave a different turn to the 
 conversation ; and it wandered wide, and lasted 
 long. Before it came to an end, the trumpets 
 of the Elector's party were heard in the court- 
 yard ; and Herbert smiled somewhat cynically, 
 but made ^ observation. Shortly after, the 
 castle clock struck ten; and Algernon Grey 
 took his leave and returned towards his inn on 
 foot, pondering upon the character of the man 
 he had just left, and striving, as we all do when 
 we meet with one unlike the generality of our
 
 204 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 acquaintance, to plunge beneath the surface 
 and discover the hidden things of mind and 
 heart. These reveries were not so profound, 
 however, as to prevent him from remarking 
 that thick clouds were driving over the sky, 
 while the stars shone out and disappeared at 
 intervals, as the grey vapoury veil was cast over 
 them, or withdrawn. The wind, too, had risen 
 high; and the night was very different from 
 that which had preceded. When he, at length, 
 reached the inn, some drops of rain were fall- 
 ing ; and his heart felt sadder, certainly, rather 
 than lighter, from the visit he had paid.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 205 
 
 CHAPTER Vm. 
 
 It was a night of storms and tempests. As is 
 not unusual in hilly districts, thunder, as well 
 as rain, was brought up by the gusty wind. 
 The house, though in the midst of the town, 
 seemed to rock with the violence of the blast. 
 The pannelling cracked ; the arras waved over 
 the door; the rain poured down in incessant 
 torrents ; and when Algernon Grey looked 
 forth from his window, as he did more than 
 once during the long night, he beheld the livid 
 lightning flaming along the streets, reflected as 
 by a mirror from the wet and shining pavement 
 of the causeway. Quick upon the flash came 
 the pealing thunder, as if one of the granite
 
 206 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 mountains had been riven by the bolt of hea- 
 ven, and rolled in crashing fragments into the 
 valley below. 
 
 It was late ere he retired to rest ; and for 
 more than one hour he continued pacing up 
 and down his chamber in deep thought, re- 
 proaching himself for weakness in having given 
 himself up to fascinations, which he now found 
 might soon become too strong for all his reso- 
 lution to resist. It is a painful moment when 
 a firm and determined mind first discovers in 
 itself that weakness which is in all human 
 nature, when it has to accuse itself of having 
 yielded, even in a degree, to temptations which 
 it had resolved to oppose ; when it learns to 
 doubt its own stability and vigour, and is forced, 
 from experience of the past, to attach a con- 
 dition, dependent upon its own strength or 
 feebleness, to every resolution for the future. 
 It is a painful moment, a moment of appre- 
 hension and dread, of doubt and sorrow; and 
 Algernon Grey, more than once, said to him- 
 self, ^' No, I will not go thither again — whether
 
 HEIDELBERG. 207 
 
 William stays here or not, I will go for- 
 ward." 
 
 He was weary, however, and when he did 
 retire to rest, sleep soon visited his eyelids; 
 but the form which had troubled his waking 
 thoughts, visited him with more calming and 
 pleasing influence in his dreams. Agnes wan- 
 dered with him, Heaven knows where ; no 
 longer bringing with her hesitation and doubt 
 as to his own course ; but smiling with all her 
 youthful grace unclouded, and spreading sun- 
 shine around her, even to the very depths of 
 his own heart. As so rarely happens, he re- 
 membered his dream, too, when he awoke ; and 
 it seemed as if imagination was but an agent of 
 Fate, to bind him in those bonds against which 
 he struggled fruitlessly. 
 
 It was late ere he unclosed his eyes. The 
 sun was far up in the sky, but still not showing 
 his face unto the earth ; for the storm had sunk 
 away into dull heavy rain ; and the pattering 
 torrents, which fell from the gutters into the 
 streets, told how heavy was the descending
 
 208 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 deluge. Large undefined wreaths of white 
 vapour were wound round the brows of the 
 hills ; and the eye could not penetrate either up 
 or down the valley beyond a few hundred yards 
 from the spot where the observer stood. 
 
 William Lovet was in an ill humour ; for he 
 had engaged himself to ride again with the 
 court that morning, if the day were fine. But 
 still his spleen took a merry form ; and though 
 his jests were somewhat more bitter than 
 usual, he jested still. Often did he look at the 
 sky, and still the same grave blank presented 
 itself till the hour of noon. Then the expanse 
 grew mottled with slight feathery flakes; the 
 flakes separated themselves wider and wider 
 from each other, drew into distinct masses and 
 left the blue sky visible here and there. The 
 sun shone out over the valley and the plain ; 
 but the clouds upon the higher hills looked 
 only the more black and menacing. However, 
 about half-past twelve o'clock, a page came 
 down to the inn with a billet for Master 
 William Lovet, sealed, perfumed, and tied with
 
 HEIDELBERG. 209 
 
 floss silk of a rose colour^ after the most 
 approved mode of tender epistles of a period 
 somewhat antecedent. William Lovet took it 
 eagerly; but yet he could not make up his 
 mind to open it without some slight touches of 
 his own sarcastic humour. He hung the silk 
 upon his little finger, held the note up to Al- 
 gernon Grey with a gay smile, and then carried 
 it to his nose and to his lips, exclaiming : 
 *' Perfumed with sighs, and flavoured with 
 kisses ! Verily, verily, Algernon, you are like 
 an anchorite at a feast, with delicate dishes and 
 fine wines before you, and yet you will not taste 
 — But I must read the dear contents. Witness 
 all ye gods, that I have sworn no constancy. 
 Of all the silly nations in the world, the 
 Lotophagi were the most foolish ; for after 
 having once tasted their favourite food, they 
 could relish no other. Now ray unpers'erted 
 palate can feast on every sweet thing that is 
 oflered it." 
 
 While he had been utterino: the last words, 
 he had cut the silk and opened the letter ; and, 
 
 VOL. I. p
 
 210 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 having read it through, he turned to his friend, 
 saying, " The expedition is put off till after 
 dinner ; but at two we set forth. Do you come, 
 Algernon ?" 
 
 '* Not I," answered Algernon Grey ; " I have 
 no invitation." 
 
 " That will be soon procured," replied 
 Lovet ; " but faith, I will not press you. For 
 the future, you shall follow your own course ; 
 for I see it is all in vain to hope for anything 
 like the fire of youth in you. I did think, 
 indeed, when I saw you and that lovely Agnes 
 Herbert together, some spark might be elicited ; 
 especially when my fair friend told me that she 
 is as cold as you are : for you see, Algernon — 
 and he laid his finger on his breast, with a 
 laughing look — "by striking flint and steel, two 
 hard, cold things together, men make a fire — 
 but now I give you up. Continue to live on 
 in sanctified decorum, and bring back a virgin 
 heart to England with you. Were you in witty 
 Venice, the ladies of the place would present 
 you with a coral and bells."
 
 HEIDELBERG. 211 
 
 " And I would give them in return a veil and 
 a pair of gloves," answered Algernon Grey. 
 
 " Oh, they wear masks," cried Lovet. 
 
 " I know they do," said his companion, " and 
 I am not fond of masks." 
 
 " Well, well, I must have dinner quick, and 
 ride up to the castle," was the reply. " Every 
 one to his own course, and happiness of his own 
 kind to each." 
 
 The dinner was obtained. William Lovet 
 equipped himself in his bravery ; and Algernon 
 Grey remained at the inn, pondering over the 
 rencontre that was before him. To few men, 
 even of the most gallant and determined, are 
 the hours preceding a meeting of this kind the 
 most pleasant in life. And, though perhaps no 
 man ever lived who had a smaller sense of per- 
 sonal danger than Algernon Grey, yet they 
 were peculiarly painful and disagreeable to him. 
 Bred, like almost every man of noble family 
 at that time, to arms, he had been in his boy- 
 hood inured to peril and accustomed to look 
 death in the face ; but still, educated with very 
 
 p 2
 
 212 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 Strict notions in regard to religion, he could not 
 free his mind from a belief, that to slay a fellow- 
 creature in such an encounter was a crime. 
 The habits of the day, the general custom of 
 society, had their eifect upon him, as upon all 
 others; but still a conscientious repugnance 
 lingered in his mind and produced that gloom 
 which no feeling of apprehension could create. 
 There was no alleviating circumstance either — 
 there was nothing to excite or to carry him 
 forward. He had no personal quarrel with his 
 adversary ; he had neither animosity nor anger 
 to stimulate him; and, as I have said, the inter- 
 vening hours were very dull and painful. He 
 wrote some letters and memoranda, however; 
 more to occupy the time than for any other 
 reason. He ordered his horse to be ready, and 
 the page to accompany him. He examined his 
 sword-blade, and tried it on the ground ; and 
 at length, when the sun was approaching the 
 horizon on its decline, he mounted and rode 
 slowly out, with a calm, grave air, telling his 
 servants to have supper prepared against his
 
 HEIDELBERG. 213 
 
 return. Not the slightest suspicion was en- 
 tertained of his purpose ; and the page rode 
 gaily after, looking round at every thing they 
 passed, and wondering whither his master was 
 bound. 
 
 When they had approached the river, how- 
 ever, it presented a very different scene from 
 that which had been seen from its banks for 
 several weeks before. The 2:reen Neckar, so 
 clear and glassy, was now a turbid ton'ent, red, 
 swollen, and impetuous. The waters had risen 
 in the course of the day and night several feet, 
 and were dashing against the piers of the 
 bridge and the walls of the curious old castel- 
 lated houses, which then bordered the river, in 
 impotent fur3\ Many of the rocks, which in 
 ordinary weather raise their heads high above 
 the stream, were now either entirely covered, 
 or washed over from time to time by the waves, 
 which a strong south-west wind occasioned in 
 its struggle with the angry current of the 
 stream. As the horse of Algernon Grey set 
 its foot upon the bridge, a heavy rumblinc?
 
 214 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 sound from the east and north, low but distinct, 
 and pealing long among the hills, told that the 
 dark clouds, which were still seen hanging there, 
 were pouring forth their mingled lightning and 
 rain into the valleys of the Odenwald. But the 
 moment that Algernon Grey had passed the 
 slope of the bridge, he saw before him that which 
 engrossed his whole attention. The Baron of 
 Oberntraut was waiting for him under the 
 archway of the opposite bridge-house, although 
 the time appointed had hardly arrived; and, 
 quickening his pace, the young Englishman 
 rode on and joined him. Their salutations 
 were perfectly courteous; and Oberntraut 
 remarked, in a calm indifferent tone, *' We are 
 both a little before our time, I think ; but the 
 river is still rising, and this road by the bank 
 has sometimes enough water on it to wet our 
 horses' pasterns. With your good leave, I will 
 show you the way. The stream has not yet 
 come up, I see." 
 
 Thus saying, he turned to the right at the 
 foot of the bridge, ascending the river ; but
 
 HEIDELBERG. 215 
 
 it may be necessary to say that, at the time I 
 speak of, the right bank of the Neckar pre- 
 sented a very different aspect from that which 
 it now displays. No houses were to be seen 
 between Neunheim on the one hand, and 
 the old religious foundation of Neuburg, now 
 called the Stift, on the other. The road 
 was not elevated as it is now; but ran low, 
 within a few feet of the ordinary level of the 
 stream. The woods upon the Heiligberg, or 
 Holy Mountain, and the other hills towards 
 Neckarsteinach came sweeping down to within 
 a few feet of the road ; and, here and there, a 
 path, large or small, according to the necessi- 
 ties of the case, led away up to the north, 
 wherever a village was situated in any of the 
 dells, or a small piece of level ground, terraced 
 upon the face of the mountain, had afforded 
 the peasants an opportunity of planting the 
 apple or plum tree. The vine was not 
 seen, unless it were a small patch in the 
 neighbourhood of Neunheim, or of the Stift 
 Neuburg.
 
 216 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 Along the low horse-road, which served as 
 a towing-path for the boats, the Baron of 
 Oberntraut led the young Enghsh gentleman, 
 at a slow and quiet pace, till they were within 
 about a third of a mile of the latter place. 
 There the hills receded a little, leaving some 
 more level ground, still apparently thickly 
 wooded; and, at a spot, where stood a boat- 
 man's hut, with two or three rude barks, 
 moored to the shore, the entrance of a by-way 
 was seen, which narrowed within view, till the 
 space was not larger than would admit the 
 passage of a single horse. At the entrance 
 of this path the Baron drew in his rein, saying 
 to his companion : " We will leave the horses 
 and pages here, if you please, and proceed for 
 a couple of hundred yards on foot." 
 
 Algernon Grey consented, of course; and 
 orders were given to the two youths to lead 
 the horses after their masters, as far as they 
 could up the path — which, indeed, could not 
 be done for more than three or four yards — 
 and then to wait there.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 217 
 
 " If you will excuse me," continued Obern- 
 traut, " I will precede vou." 
 
 Algernon Grey merely bowed his head, 
 without reply, till the other had gone on 
 forty or fifty yards, when he said : " The sun 
 is going rapidly down, if not gone already be- 
 hind the hills ; and I think if we do not hurry 
 our pace, we shall not have light." 
 
 " Oh, it is the wood makes it so dark here," 
 answered his companion, in a gay and some- 
 what self-sufficient tone ; ^' we shall have more 
 light in an instant ; and the twilight lasts long 
 here." 
 
 Thus saying he walked forward; and in 
 less than two minutes led the way out upon 
 a small green meadow, of not more than a 
 quarter of an acre in extent, the second 
 crop of grass from which had been lately 
 carried away, leaving the turf smooth and 
 short. 
 
 " This place seems made for the pui-pose," 
 said Algernon Grey, drily. 
 
 " It is often used for such," answered Obcrn-
 
 218 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 traut, advancing into the midst, and throwing 
 off his cloak. 
 
 Algernon Grey followed his example, drew 
 his sword, and laid the belt and sheath with 
 the cloak. 
 
 " Oar weapons are of the usual length, I 
 suppose," said Oberntraut, speaking through 
 his teeth ; for there was more bitterness in his 
 heart than he wished to appear. 
 
 *' I really do not know," answered Algernon 
 Grey; "but you had better measure them;" 
 and he laid his by the side of his adversary's. 
 There was a considerable difference, however ; 
 the English blade was not so long as the Ger- 
 man by at least two inches ; and when the Baron 
 observed it, his cheek flushed and his brow 
 contracted ; but his heart was noble and just, 
 though somewhat impetuous and fierce; and, 
 after a moment's pause, he said : " I cannot 
 fight you with this disparity; we must put it 
 off till another day. It is my fault, too ; I 
 should have sent you the measure of my 
 weapon, or asked the length of yours."
 
 HEroELBERG. 219 
 
 *' It matters not," answered the young 
 Englishman; "your sword is a little longer 
 than mine; but my arm is somewhat longer 
 than yours ; thus the difference is made up ; 
 and nothing of this kind should ever be put 
 off for slight punctilios. Besides, my stay in 
 this country must be short; and I may not 
 have another opportunity of gratifying you. 
 With thanks, then, for your courtesy, I say 
 we must go forward as the matter is." 
 
 " Well, well," answered Oberntraut ; " if 
 such is your opinion, I am ready." 
 
 "We had better move the cloaks out of the 
 way," answered Algernon Grey ; " I see the 
 light will not fail us." 
 
 " Oh, no fear of that," said the Baron ; 
 " these thinojs do not take long." 
 
 The young Englishman smiled; and, the 
 field having been cleared, advanced, with cere- 
 monious courtesy, and saluted his adversary. 
 Oberntraut returned the compUment ; and 
 their sw^ords then crossed. 
 
 The great school for the use of that weapon
 
 220 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 with which both gentlemen were now armed, 
 was, in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- 
 turies, the low, fallen land of Italy, where 
 Algernon Grey had passed several years. In 
 point of strength, the two adversaries were 
 very equally matched ; for, though the young 
 Englishman was somewhat taller and more 
 supple, yet Oberntraut was several years older, 
 and had acquired that firmness and vigour of 
 muscle, which is obtained long enough before 
 any portion of activity is lost. The latter was 
 also very skilful in the use of his arms ; but 
 here Algernon Grey, from the schools in which 
 he had studied, was undoubtedly superior. He 
 was also superior in perfect coolness. There 
 was no angry passion in his breast, no haste, 
 no impetuosity. He came there to defend 
 himself, to oppose an adversary, but neither 
 eager nor fearful. He felt as if he were in 
 a hall of arms with baited weapons, merely 
 trying his skill. He was anxious to disarm 
 his opponent, not to hurt him; and in the 
 first three passes Oberntraut was taught that 
 
 oiii— : r<P»-~«
 
 HEIDELBERG. 221 
 
 he was pitted against a complete master of the 
 rapier. At first this discovery served to make 
 him more cautious ; and he used all his skill ; 
 but it was all in vain. He could not approach 
 his adversary's breast; wherever his point 
 turned, the blade of Algernon Grey met it ; and 
 more than once the Baron felt that he had laid 
 himself open to the riposte, but that, from some 
 cause, his adversary had not seized the oppor- 
 tunity. Repeated disappointments, however, 
 rendered him irritable and incautious. He 
 watched, indeed, his opponent's defence, think- 
 ing to learn what he called the trick, and over- 
 come it by another sort of attack ; but, when- 
 ever he chanojed his mode, Alo;emon met it 
 with a different parry ; and the clashing sword 
 passed innocuous by his shoulder or his hip. 
 
 The light began to wane perceptibly, and as 
 cool and perhaps cooler than when he began, 
 the young Englishman recollected his adver- 
 sary's words, and thought, " These things take 
 longer than you imagined, my good friend, with 
 a man who knows what he is about."
 
 222 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 A slight smile curled his lip, at the same 
 time ; and thinking that he was mocking him, 
 Oberntraut renewed the attack with tenfold 
 fury. Algernon Grey gave a momentary glance 
 to the sky ; the rose had died away from above ; 
 heavy clouds were driving over in detached 
 masses ; a drop of rain fell upon his hand ; and 
 he saw that, in two or three minutes, the air 
 would become quite dark. 
 
 "I must wound him," said he to himself, 
 "or in this dull twilight I shall get hurt; 
 he is too keen to be disarmed ; I must wound 
 him, but slightly." 
 
 At the same moment Oberntraut made a 
 furious pass; the young Englishman parried 
 the lunge, but, though his adversary's breast 
 was left unguarded, his heart smote him, and 
 he would not return it, lest he should touch 
 some vital part. The Baron pressed him close 
 with pass after pass ; and step by step the 
 young Englishman retreated. Then suddenly 
 changing his mode, Algernon assumed the attack, 
 drove his adversary before him in good guard.
 
 UEIDELBERG. 223 
 
 and then, in the Italian manner, took a bound 
 back and stood in defence. Oberntraut, follow- 
 ing the method, of which he had some know- 
 ledge, sprang forward and lunged. Algernon 
 parried and returned; but at the same moment 
 the Baron's foot slipped on the wet grass, the 
 sword's point caught him on the right breast 
 close to the collar-bone, and passed out behind 
 the shoulder. He staggered up, raised his 
 weapon, let it fall, and sank slowly on the 
 ground. 
 
 However cool and self-possessed a man may 
 be — though he may think himself fully justified 
 in what he has done, though he may have been 
 acting in self-defence, though the act may 
 have been inevitable — -yet no one can inflict a 
 real and serious injury upon another without 
 feeling a certain degree of regret, if not re- 
 morse, unless his heart be as hard as adamant. 
 It is at such moments that the strange link 
 of consanguinity which binds the whole human 
 race together is first known to us ; it is 
 then that we feel we are brothers, and that
 
 224 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 we have raised a hand against a brother's 
 life. 
 
 The moment that the deed was done — and it 
 was evidently more than he had intended to 
 do — Algernon Grey felt a pang shoot through 
 his heart, and he said internally : " Would that 
 he had not driven me to it, would that he had 
 not provoked it 1" but, casting down his sword 
 at once, he knelt by Oberntraut's side, and, 
 raising his head and shoulders on his knee, 
 exclaimed in kindly and eager tones : " I hope 
 you are not much hurt!" 
 
 "A little faint," said Oberntraut, slowly; 
 *'not much — I shall be better presently, and 
 able to go on." 
 
 " Nonsense, nonsense !" exclaimed Algernon 
 Grey, vehemently, '' to go on in combat against 
 a man with whom you have no qudrrel, who 
 has never injured, insulted, or offended 
 you, who was friendly disposed towards 
 you ? My good friend, I will draw the sword 
 against you no more; I have had enough 
 of it.''
 
 HEIDELBERG. 225 
 
 "Methinks, so have I," said Oberntraut, 
 faintly, with a light smile passing over his face. 
 " You are a master of the science ; — that pass 
 was splendid." 
 
 "It was the turf!" cried Algernon Grey; 
 " had you not slipped, I should have hardly 
 touched you." 
 
 Oberntraut pressed his hand, saying, "If 
 you could stop the bleeding — it is soaking 
 through all my doublet ; — you had better call 
 the page.^' 
 
 "I will try to staunch the blood first," 
 answered Algernon Grey ; " no time is to be 
 lost — five minutes more and we shall not see 
 the wound;" and, opening the vest and shirt 
 of his opponent, which were now both drenched 
 in blood, he tore his handkerchief in two, 
 making each half into a sort of compress, as he 
 had often before seen the surgeons do, when 
 hurried on the field of battle. He fixed one on 
 the wound before, the other on the aperture 
 behind the shoulder, and with the Baron's scarf 
 and his own, bound them tightly down, stopping 
 
 VOL. I. Q,
 
 226 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 the flow of blood, at least in a degree. Then, 
 after gazing at him for a moment or two, he 
 said, " I will leave you only during an instant, 
 and send the page for a litter or something to 
 bear you to the town." 
 
 '* No, no," answered his former adversary ; 
 " send up to the Stift Neuburg, they will take 
 me in and tend me well. Then a surgeon can 
 be brought ; — but remember, whatever hap- 
 pens, this is not your fault ; it was my own 
 seeking — my own doing, — no one is to be 
 blamed but myself. Methinks the bleeding has 
 stopped." 
 
 Algernon Grey hurried away, found the path 
 without difficulty, and ran down towards the 
 road ; but the moment his own page saw him 
 coming, he threw the reins of the horses to 
 the other and sprang to meet his master, ex- 
 claiming, " Away, my lord, away, or you will 
 not be able to pass. The river is rising rapidly ; 
 the water is already upon the road." 
 
 *^ Mind not me," exclaimed Algernon Grey, 
 "but hasten with all speed up to the building there
 
 HEIDELBERG. 227 
 
 Upon the left. Fly, boy, fly ! and give notice 
 that there is a gentleman lying wounded in the 
 wood. Beg the people to send down bearers 
 instantly to carry him up thither." 
 
 The boy gazed at him with a look of sur- 
 prise and consternation, and seemed about to 
 ask some question, when Algernon Grey ex- 
 claimed, " Away ! inquire nothing ; his life 
 depends upon your speed." 
 
 The page instantly darted off to execute the 
 commission, when suddenly a sound was heard 
 as of the feet of many horses coming at a rapid 
 pace round the wood and the rocks beyond. 
 The boy paused and drew back for an instant ; 
 and a part of the splendid train of the 
 Elector and his Princess swept along, with 
 their horses' hoofs splashing in the water, 
 which was now two or three inches deep on 
 that part of the road. The boy then ran 
 on, and Algernon Grey advanced a step or 
 two to catch some stragglers of the part}' and 
 bid them send a surgeon quickly from the 
 town ; but, ere he reached the broad road, two 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 or three cavaliers dasbed past like light- 
 ning, without noticing him; and the next 
 instant a shrill piercing shriek broke upon 
 bis ear.
 
 UEIDELBERO. 229 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The court of the Elector, Frederic the Fifth, 
 was, as I have in some degree shown, one of 
 the gayest as well as one of the most splen- 
 did in Europe. Nay, the merriment and re- 
 velry that reigned therein, puzzled the stern 
 Calvinistic ministers not a little, how to ex- 
 cuse a degree of levity in the Prince and Prin- 
 cess, which they undoubtedly thought most un- 
 becoming in the heads of the severe Puritanical 
 party in Germany. They would have censured 
 and interfered, beyond all doubt, if they had 
 dared ; but the ministers of a sect whose re- 
 ligious teachers have little real power beyond 
 thatwhich thefanalicism of their disciples affords' 
 are rather apt to grow sycophantish in the case
 
 280 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 of great personages, whose countenance and 
 protection are necessary to the support of their 
 authority, if not to their existence. It thus 
 happened, that Scuhetus and his brethren, as 
 the good man's own writings show, were ex- 
 ceedingly lenient to the amiable lightness of 
 the Elector, and contented themselves with 
 very severe and menacing sermons before the 
 court, while they seized every opportunity of 
 apologizing for the gaiety of the prince and his 
 consort, on the score of youth, prosperity, and 
 habit. 
 
 Thus day after day,. some new party of plea- 
 sure, some sport, some revel — interrupted only 
 by occasional wild bursts of fanaticism, which 
 had their interest and excitement also — kept up 
 the thoughtless spirits of the court of the Palati- 
 nate, and sometimes afforded opportunity for 
 pursuits not quite so innocent. 
 
 On the evening of which we have just been 
 speaking, a large party, though somewhat less in 
 number than that of the preceding day, issued 
 forth from the gates of the castle, crossed the
 
 HEIDELBERG. 231 
 
 bridge and took its way along the same road 
 which was afterwards pursued by Algernon 
 Grey and the Baron of Oberntraut. I will not 
 pause to describe the amusements of the after- 
 noon, nor to tell how the cavalcade was led 
 through paths and by-ways which had seldom 
 seen ought so gay before. Schdnau, which they 
 had visited on the preceding day, was merely 
 passed through, to the renewed admiration of the 
 good peasants ; and then by a narrow road, which 
 naturally separated the party into pairs, the 
 glittering troop reached a little village with a 
 curious contradictory name, called Alt Neudorf, 
 or Old New Town. The look of the village 
 seemed somewhat desolate to the eyes even 
 of the fair Electress, who was naturally inclined 
 to any wild expedition ; but the whole party v/ere 
 soon agreeably surprised to find a hou?e end 
 garden in the midst of the place, decked out 
 with flags and banners and pieces of tapestry, as 
 if for their reception, while well known servants 
 of the court appeared at the doors, in quaint 
 dresses, to receive the priacely personages, and
 
 232 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 a rich collation of cold meats, fine wines and 
 fruits, was spread in a large room hung like a 
 royal tent and carpeted with dry moss. 
 
 During the ride thither, William Lovet had 
 maintained his place by the side of the fair 
 Countess of Laussitz ; but he seemed in a less 
 cheerful and amiable humour than the day be- 
 fore ; and directing her eyes by his own towards 
 the person of a lady who rode near, he said, as 
 they approached the village : — 
 
 '* You told me she would not be here." 
 
 " Why what difference does her presence or 
 absence make to you, servant?" asked the 
 countess ; " do you hate her so that you cannot 
 bear her sight ? You are as dull and sullen as 
 if you had been crossed in love by her." 
 
 Lovet saw that he had shown his ill-humour 
 too far, and replied, with a more smiling air, 
 " I thought women were better politicians. 
 Beauty. Can you not divine why I am vexed? 
 It is not that I am displeased to have her here, 
 but not to have her somewhere else. On my 
 good cousin's stay in this country depends my
 
 HEIDELBERG. 233 
 
 own by your fair side ; for I have sworn to keep 
 him company for a year. If he goes I must go, 
 and how could I live without you for twelve 
 months ?" 
 
 "But what has that to do with Agnes Her- 
 bert ?'* asked the lady. 
 
 " What ! were those bright eyes only made to 
 pierce my heart and not to see ?" cried Lovet. 
 " Have you not perceived that love caught him 
 by the hand that very first night ; and now he 
 is strugghng to free himself Had she remained 
 behind, he would have seen her, as he did last 
 night ; and another link would have been added 
 to the chain which keeps him here, and me at 
 your small feet. You must help me, bright one, 
 to rivet this young girl's chain around his neck. 
 I, too, must find a moment during our ride to- 
 day to prompt her, even at the loss of some 
 part of my sunshine." 
 
 In the train of the Elector there were more 
 persons than William Lovet not altogether con- 
 tented with the events of the day. Critical 
 moments were approaching, when decision was 
 necessary, and when each decision, even upon
 
 234 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 a small and apparently trifling point, might in- 
 fluence the destinies not only of the Palatinate, 
 but of the whole of Germany ; and, more re- 
 motely, of the whole world. There were some 
 men at the court of the Elector who took this 
 wider and more comprehensive view, and were 
 anxious to see all his acts well weighed, and his 
 whole thoughts directed to the consideration of 
 questions so great in magnitude. At the same 
 time there were others of a narrower scope, 
 who were anxious to fix his opinions in favour 
 of that party to which they belonged, or of 
 that particular course which their party ad- 
 vocated. The levity and revelry of the court, 
 of course, interfered with the purposes of each ; 
 and, on the present occasion, two or three of 
 the young sovereign's counsellors, frustrated in 
 former efforts to obtain his ear, had followed 
 the cavalcade in the hope that some oppor- 
 tunity would occur of enforcing each his 
 separate opinion. The two most influential 
 persons present, as politicians, were the cele- 
 brated Louis Camerarius and the Viscount 
 Achates de Dohna, lately the Electoral Am-
 
 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 235 
 
 bassador at Prague.* Very different, indeed, 
 were the two men, and very different their 
 views ; but, without attempting to paint the 
 characters of each, it may only be necessary to 
 say that, upon this occasion, Camerarius sought 
 eagerly to keep the ear of the Elector entirely 
 to himself, filling it with flattering prospects 
 of greatness to come ; while Dohna only en- 
 deavoured, from time to time, to place before 
 the eyes of his master, by a few brief w^ords, 
 the dangers and difficulties of an undertaking, 
 to which his more flattering or more interested 
 courtiers were hurrying him too eagerly forward. 
 
 It was not till the collation was over, nor 
 even till the party had passed through the 
 small village of Ziegelhausen, that either the 
 one or the other found any opportunity 
 of advancing his particular notions.' Then, 
 however, on the narrow way, which varied 
 in width at different places, the Elector rode 
 a few steps in advance, calling Camerarius to 
 his side ; while the Princess Elizabeth, with 
 
 * By some historians he is called Baron de Dohna,
 
 236 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 some ladies and gentlemen, followed, having 
 Dohna on her left hand, between her and the 
 river. The pace at which they proceeded was at 
 first slow ; and the wind, as I have said, blew 
 strong up the turbulent stream. Thus, when the 
 prince and his counsellor raised their voices, 
 the sound was distinctly carried to the party 
 behind. Once or twice, just as they quitted 
 Zieojelhausen, the horse of Dohna was seen to 
 prance and curvet, as if either it or its rider 
 had become suddenly impatient ; and at length 
 the voice of Camerarius was heard by the whole 
 group round the Princess, saying, "They cannot 
 pretend that your Highness had any hand in it. 
 The whole affair is of Bohemian manufacture." 
 
 Dohna struck his horse sharply with the spur, 
 was in an instant by the prince's side, and an- 
 swered aloud, '* So is the gold chain round your 
 neck, Counsellor Camerarius." 
 
 Then, reining in his horse, he fell back to 
 the side of the Electress, leaving Camerarius 
 a little confused. The latter was too old a 
 courtier, however, to suffer his anger and
 
 HEIDELBERG. 237 
 
 shame to be apparent ; and merely saying, 
 "The viscount seems angry this evening," he 
 went on with his flowery discourse. 
 
 '* Should such a choice be made," he said, 
 it can but be looked upon as the call of 
 Heaven. That a mixed population of different 
 creeds and sentiments should unite in placing 
 on their throne a prince, not only strong by 
 his own power and his high qualities, but who 
 is also the head and main stay of the great 
 Protestant Union of Germany, must be the 
 result of some supreme directing power, su- 
 perior to the mere wisdom of man." 
 
 Dohna was at the prince's side again in 
 an instant. '^How long will the Union last 
 united?' he said; "has it ever been united? 
 Has it ever acted in harmony? Throw that 
 out of the calculation, except as an element of 
 discord." 
 
 Camerarius gave him a furious look, the 
 Elector was silent, and Dohna let them again 
 pass on, resuming his conversation with the 
 Electress.
 
 238 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 The next words that were heard were from 
 the mouth of Frederic; though several sen- 
 tences had been spoken in the mean while, 
 which did not reach the ears of those behind. 
 
 " They are, indeed, a determined race," he 
 said ; " ready to shed their best blood, rather 
 than submit to the tyranny of the Roman 
 church." 
 
 ^'They have shown themselves, for ages, 
 your Highness," answered Camerarius, " re- 
 solute and vigorous in support of any cause 
 they undertake." 
 
 Dohna spurred forward again : *' I know 
 them better than any one," he exclaimed, 
 " and I will not conceal that, though they 
 are headstrong and obstinate, fierce and pas- 
 sionate, they are ready to abandon any leader 
 on the first grievance, and refuse him all 
 vigorous support, unless he square his con- 
 science to their prejudices." 
 
 This time he did not seem disposed to 
 withdraw ; for the road was wider ; and 
 Camerarius, trusting he had produced some
 
 HEIDELBERG. 239 
 
 effect, was unwilling to pursue the subject 
 farther, in the presence of such an opponent. 
 They were now passing the Stift Neuburg, 
 and, casting his eyes forward, he exclaimed, 
 " We had better hurry our pace, my lord ; the 
 water there seems rising rapidly over the road." 
 
 " Quick, quick !" cried Frederic, shouting to 
 those behind ; " spur on, or we shall be cut off 
 by the river." 
 
 A couple of hundred yards farther, the road 
 was found covered with the water; and the 
 Elector suddenly drew in his horse with an 
 air of hesitation. 
 
 " Is that the spirit to win, or keep a crown ?" 
 murmured Dohna to himself; and, striking his 
 spurs into his horse's side, he exclaimed aloud, 
 " This way, your Highness, this way ! I will 
 show you the path. The water is not two 
 inches deep ;" and, riding hastily on, he soon 
 reached a spot where the causeway rose again 
 above the level to which the river had risen. 
 Those who were immediately behind, followed 
 at once ; and, though the whole of the electoral
 
 240 HEIDELBEBG. 
 
 party had separated into distinct groups, 
 another and another passed without fear or 
 danger. 
 
 We must turn, however, here, to the last 
 personages of the cavalcade, and follow them 
 from Ziegelhausen. 
 
 In that village Agnes Herbert had lin- 
 gered behind ; for her horse had fallen 
 lame; and she had called one of the atten- 
 dants of the court to examine the beast's 
 foot, when she suddenly found an English 
 gentleman, William Lovet, by her side. 
 As soon as he perceived what was the mat- 
 ter, he sprang to the ground, and before 
 the attendant could interfere had examined 
 the horse's hoof, and extracted a stone which 
 had fixed itself firmly between the frog and 
 and the shoe ; then remounting, with a bound, 
 he said, with a graceful inclination of the head, 
 "That is soon remedied. He will go well 
 now ; but do not hurry him." 
 
 Agnes went on ; and Lovet kept close to her 
 side, saying, ^^ I am mistaken, or I have had
 
 HEIDELBERG. 241 
 
 the honour of seeing you before. Mv noble 
 cousin x\lgernon was your prisoner during a 
 night of sweet captivity." 
 
 Agnes bowed her head, answering, " I was 
 obliged to obey the electress, even in a 
 jest." 
 
 " I will not tell him," replied William Lovet, 
 with a smile, " that you consented only from 
 duty." 
 
 " His demeanour made the duty a pleasure," 
 answered Alice. 
 
 *' Ah, well may you say so/' said Lovet, look- 
 ing down thoughtfully ; " he is a great winner of 
 good opinions. Most men gain upon others by 
 concealing all that is evil within them, Algernon 
 by showing all that is in his heart, having 
 nothing that is not noble to conceal ;" and then, 
 merely to break the discourse for a time, he 
 pointed down the valley, saying, ** What a 
 beautiful scene this is ! I know not whether it 
 be more splendid, as when I saw it first, sleeping 
 calmly in the evening sunshine, with the Neckar 
 as placid and clear as a lake, or now, with yon 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 242 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 red and stormy sky, fading away into the night, 
 and the tempestuous waters of the river below, 
 foaming and fretting among the rocks and 
 shallows." 
 
 " The Neckar is terribly swollen," replied the 
 fair girl ; " I never recollect to have seen it such 
 a torrent, except in winter ;" and, gazing down 
 the dark mass of rushing waters, all turbid and 
 confused, whirling in eddies near, and dashing 
 fiercely over the dark rock beyond, a feeling 
 almost of awe crept over her. 
 
 "It is very fine, indeed," rejoined Lovet; 
 " and I can appreciate it better now than I could 
 some time ago ; for the society of my cousin has 
 taught me to look upon the beauties of nature 
 with a different and more marking eye than 
 heretofore. There seems a grand harmony 
 between his heart and everything that is lovely 
 — except, indeed," he added, " the loveliness of 
 your sex, fair lady ; for I never knew him, that 
 I remember, bestow ten words, even upon the 
 fairest of them, in my life." 
 
 Agnes thought — " He has bestowed more on
 
 HEIDELBERG. 243 
 
 me;" but she did not reply: and William Lovet 
 continued, — 
 
 " Not that he is a woman-hater,'' he said, 
 for he is courteous and kind to all ; but, on the 
 contrary, I believe he has formed so high an 
 estimate of woman's excellence, that he never 
 finds his fancy fulfilled." 
 
 " If excellence is like other rare things," 
 answered Agnes, " methinks it would take more 
 than ten words to draw it forth." 
 
 " Ay, but he is very quick in his judgment," 
 said her companion. " He, like many another 
 man, imagines that nature has written much 
 upon the countenance, that she tells much in the 
 voice and manner; and that, unless both be well 
 tutored by long experience, a keen observer 
 will read the book aright, and know much of the 
 contents from the first page. — I have seldom 
 known him wrong, 1 must confess." 
 
 *' Such keen-sightedness may, perchance, be 
 a dangerous quality," the lady replied ; " I 
 mean, even for his own peace." 
 
 " Oh, no, he is ever on his guard," replied 
 
 R 2 ^
 
 244 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 Lovet, in a frank tone ; " be never spends any 
 time on one whom he does not think worthy 
 of esteem ; but, with a courteous nothing, some 
 filigree words of hant-pas commonplace, meant 
 to cover very little reverence, retires into him- 
 self again." 
 
 Agnes ran rapidly over in her own mind all 
 that had passed between her and Algernon Grey, 
 and asked herself, " Has he done so with me ?" 
 The answer was evident ; and she would fain 
 have fallen into thought ; but she did not wish 
 to show, or to admit even to herself, that the 
 matter w^as one w^orthy of much meditation; and 
 she inquired almost immediately, '^ Does he 
 deal thus with men?" 
 
 " Oh dear, no," answered Lovet; " there, 
 knowing that he is safe, all the fine fancies of 
 his mind, and all the generous feelings of his 
 heart, become apparent. It were worth your 
 while to overhear him pour forth, in words of 
 impassioned eloquence, sentiments that are 
 worthy of a better age than ours. You would 
 find him a very different being from what he
 
 HEIDELBERG. 245 
 
 has seemed. You must not think him, indeed, 
 a cold and formal egotist, vvrapp^ed up in the 
 contemplation of his own fancied cxcellonce. I 
 know, with women, this is often his character, 
 though his person and his manners have great 
 captivation for them too." 
 
 Agnes replied not ; but looked forward on the 
 road before, saying, '* It is growing very dark, 
 "we had better ride on faster. My horse goes 
 easily now;" and, shaking the rein, she put her 
 jennet into a quick canter. In a moment after, 
 a boy, dressed as a page, ran out from the wood, 
 and, catching the rein of Lovet's horse, ex- 
 claimed, " Oh, sir, help here; there is a gentle- 
 man badly hurt — dying, I am afraid.** 
 
 *'Isit your master?" demanded Lovet, rein- 
 ing in his horse ; while Agnes paused, listening 
 with eager ears beside him. 
 
 " No, no," answered the boy ; *' it is the other 
 gentleman." 
 
 " Then the other gentleman must take care 
 of himself," answered Lovet. "Let go the 
 rein, boy," he continued, in a sharp tone; " the
 
 246 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 stream is rising fast. Come on, come on, fair 
 lady, or in this increasing darkness we shall get 
 into mischief — come on, come on!" and he 
 dashed forward along the path. 
 
 Agnes paused for an instant, and then ex- 
 claimed, ** Run up to that large building, 
 my good boy ; they will give you speedy help." 
 
 Then, seeing the danger of farther delay, she 
 struck the jennet with the whip, and the beast 
 darted on through the water upon the path. 
 Lovet was now some thirty or forty yards in ad- 
 vance, and she saw his horse swerve away from 
 some object in the wood near the boat-house. 
 He kept him steady with the spur, however; and 
 Agnes, as she came to the same spot, turned her 
 head to see what had alarmed the beast. She just 
 caught sight of some horses and a page gathered 
 together in an opening of the road ; but at that 
 moment her jennet shied violently away at the 
 unexpected sight. She tried to keep his head 
 forward with the rein, but the beast reared and 
 struggled against it ; his feet passed the limit of 
 the road; and, in a moment, horse and rider
 
 HEIDELBERG. 247 
 
 plunged over into the midst of the rushing 
 stream. 
 
 A loud and piercing shriek rang upon the 
 air; Lovet turned his head and looked. Then, 
 muttering between his teeth, " Hal we must 
 find another, " he dashed on till he reached a 
 spot where the road was free of water. 
 
 At the same moment, however, that the 
 heartless exclamation passed his lips, the tall, 
 powerful form of Algernon Grey appeared from 
 the wood. The young cavalier cast a rapid 
 glance over the dark and foaming surface of the 
 stream. He saw a horse's head and neck rise 
 above the water, and a woman's form, still 
 keeping the seat, but evidently with a great 
 effort, holding fast by the mane and the saddle. 
 Another loud scream met his ear, and, with the 
 rapid calculation of a quick, clear mind, he 
 darted to the spot where the rude barks were 
 moored, sprang into the first he could reach, 
 cast it loose, and, with a vigorous effort, pushed 
 it forth into the stream. 
 
 In the mean time, the horse, with the instinct
 
 248 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 of self-preservation, turned itself in the strug- 
 gling waters and endeavoured to breast the 
 current, striking violently with its fore feet to 
 keep its head above the torrent, and rolling 
 fearfully under its fair burden. Agnes still 
 clung to it, uttering shriek after shriek ; but, 
 whirled round by the eddies, in spite of all its 
 efforts the animal was carried further down. 
 A black looking rock still raised its round head 
 partly above the waves : and as they were 
 carried near, though the strength both of rider 
 and beast was failing, the poor animal, by a 
 violent effort, got its fore feet upon the rock, 
 straining to clamber up. The attempt was fatal 
 to the jennet: the water by the side was deep: 
 there was no hold for its hind feet: the fore 
 feet slipped ; and back it rolled into the over- 
 whelming torrent. 
 
 With heart failing and strength gone, Agnes 
 loosed her hold and addressed one brief prayer 
 to Heaven. But at that moment, a strong arm 
 was thrown round her, and she felt herself 
 dragged out of the water into something whic^i
 
 HEIDELBERG. 249 
 
 yielded and swaj'ed under the pressure of her 
 weight. She saw the strugglins; agonies of the 
 
 O DO O D 
 
 horse ; she saw a human figure, and a boat half 
 sinking with the water which had poured into 
 it as it heeled in receiving her ; and then, 
 with her brain whirling and her heart sick, she 
 closed her eyes and pressed her fingers upon 
 them. 
 
 At the same moment a hand grasped hers 
 warmly, and a voice she knew, said : " You 
 are safe, you are safe ! God's name be praised !
 
 250 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Agnes Herbrt left her hand in that of her 
 deliverer. For more than a minute she made 
 no reply; she asked no question. The voice v^ras 
 enough ; she knew v^^ho it was that had saved 
 her. But she knew not as yet the perils which 
 still hung over both him and her. At length 
 he let go her hand ; and she heard a noise in 
 the frail skiff, which made her instantly open 
 her eyes. Then it was she perceived the full 
 danger of their actual situation. Even in the 
 grey twilight she could see that the edge of the 
 small boat was within an inch of the surface of 
 the boiling stream, that the bark itself was half 
 full of water, while Algernon Grey was busily
 
 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 251 
 
 employed in baling it oat with his hands, as 
 the only means he had of freeing it even in 
 a degree. 
 
 ** Oh, thank you, thank you;" she cried; 
 " for how much have I to be grateful !" 
 
 " Speak not of that, sweet lady," answered 
 the young Englishman ; " but for pity's sake, 
 watch every thing with a keen eye as we are 
 carried down the stream ; for I cannot — dare 
 not even attempt to reach the land. Tell me 
 the moment you perceive a rock ; for, with 
 all this water in the boat, the least touch would 
 sink us." 
 
 " Here, take my velvet cap," cried Agnes, " it 
 is better than nothing ;"' but, ere Algernon 
 Grey could use it twice to bale out a part of 
 the water, his fair companion cried : "A rock, 
 a rock ! — There, on the right !" and Algernon, 
 rising cautiously, took the short pole, which 
 was the only implement the boat contained, 
 and watched eagerly in the bow, till they 
 neared a spot where one of the rude masses of 
 granite still held its head above the current
 
 252 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 which dashed and whirled around it. Then 
 lightly touching it with the pole he kept the 
 boat off in deeper water; and in another in- 
 stant, scarcely able to keep his feet, found 
 himself whirled round in the vortex, formed by 
 the impeded torrent the moment it was free. 
 
 Oh, what a terrible period was the passage 
 down that stream. At each instant some new 
 danger beset them — now the rocks — now the 
 shallows — now the rapids — now the eddies: 
 no means of approaching the shore ; and rea- 
 sonable doubts, that any effort to do so would 
 not lead to immediate destruction ! The sky 
 became darker and darker every moment ; and, 
 though by the aid of Agnes, afforded to the 
 best of her power, a considerable portion of 
 the water in the bark was cast back into the 
 stream, still the fragile lightness of the skiff, and 
 the depth to which it had sunk, rendered it 
 little probable that those it contained would 
 ever reach the land in safety. The close falling 
 night, the roaring of the torrent, the howling 
 of the wind blowing strong against them, the
 
 HEIDELBERG. 253 
 
 agitated surface of the stream, now tossing 
 them to and fro, now whirling them round and 
 round, might well have daunted a strong heart 
 inured to peril, much more that of Agnes 
 Herbert, Algernon Grey felt for her terror, 
 as well as for her danger ; and ever and anon 
 he said : '' Let us trust in God, dear lady ! — 
 Fear not, fear not ! There is a stronger arm 
 than mine to protect you. — It is now that faith 
 in Heaven is a comfort indeed." 
 
 But still, with eager eye, and steady nerve, 
 and skilful hand, he watched and guided as 
 well as he could, the boat along the troubled 
 surface of the river. 
 
 Night fell; not a star was to be seen; the 
 clouds swept thick and dark over the sky ; 
 but still, from time to time, a momentary light 
 was afforded by a broad sheet of summer 
 lightning, which for an instant cast a blue 
 glare through the valley of the Neckar. The 
 mountains were seen and lost; the rocks, the 
 trees, the woods stood out and disappeared 
 like phantoms in a dream ; and at length, walls
 
 254 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 and towers became, for one brief moment, 
 visible ; and then all was black again. 
 
 " We must be near the bridge," said Agnes ; 
 " do you not hear the water rushing more 
 fiercely ? Heaven help us now ! for, if we 
 strike against the piers, we are lost." 
 
 " Sit quiet there," answered Algernon ; " I 
 will go into the bow ; and be assured, dear 
 lady, I will live or die with you. Only re- 
 member, if I am forced to swim, lie quiet on 
 my arm ; for, if you clasp me, we both 
 sink." 
 
 " I will not stir," she said in a firm tone ; 
 and Algernon Grey went carefully forward. 
 
 He heard the roar of the river, evidently 
 dashing in fury against some obstruction ; and 
 then he thought he caught the tones of human 
 voices speaking above. Then came a broad 
 sheet of lightning ; and he saw the bridge, with 
 its manifold arches and its towered gates 
 close at hand. He had but time to stretch 
 forth his arm, and, with a violent effort, keep 
 the boat from the pier, when it shot in fury
 
 HEIDELBERG. 255 
 
 through the vault, and issued forth at the other 
 side. 
 
 ** We have to thank God again," he said, 
 regaining his balance, which he had nearly 
 lost ; " that danger is passed ; and, if I remem- 
 ber right, the stream is clearer below." 
 
 " Much, much," said Agnes. " The rocks 
 cease as soon as the mountains fall away; but 
 there are many sand-banks." 
 
 " We must watch still," replied her com- 
 panion, " but the stream seems already less 
 rapid." 
 
 The fearful rushing sound of the swollen 
 Neckar diminished shortly after they had passed 
 the bridge. They could even hear, or fancied 
 that they heard, the hum of human voices 
 from within the town. Lights were seen in 
 various windows, and cheerful images of happy 
 life came thick before their eyes, as they were 
 hurried on, along the course of that dark head- 
 long stream, with many a peril still before 
 them. 
 
 " That must be the boat-house at Neunhim,"
 
 256 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 said Agnes, at length, after a long silent pause ; 
 " they have got a fire there, though the night 
 is so sukry." 
 
 "They must be caulking their boats, I 
 think," replied Algernon ; " and from the dis- 
 tance of the fire I should judge we are in the 
 mid-stream. I will call to them as we pass — 
 perchance they may hear and help us." 
 
 A moment or two after he raised his voice 
 and shouted aloud ; but no one answered — no 
 form darkened the light in the hut, as if one of 
 the inhabitants had come out to see who called. 
 Rapidly the boat hurried past, and all was 
 silence. The river was less turbulent, but seemed 
 hardly less swift; the noise subsided to a low 
 whispering murmur, as the tide poured through 
 the widening banks ; and faintly marked ob- 
 jects — willow, and shrub, and decayed oak, 
 which were hardly distinguishable from the 
 banks or the sky — seemed to move away with 
 the speed of lightning. 
 
 At the end of about half an hour, during 
 which the two had not raised their voices above
 
 HEIDELBERG. 257 
 
 a whisper, Agnes said aloud, *•' There is a star ! 
 There is a star ! The sky must be clearing. 
 Do you not think it is lighter already ?" 
 
 " Assuredly, dear lady," replied Algernon 
 Grey, " the moon must soon rise ; last night 
 she was up by this time. See, there is a glow 
 upon the clouds round what seems a hill-top 
 there to the right." 
 
 "It is the Heiligberg," answered Agnes. "I 
 have seen a gleam like that when the moon was 
 coming up in the east. Oh ! Heaven send 
 that she may disperse the clouds and give us 
 light" 
 
 Algernon Grey turned his eyes to the sky, 
 and he found cause to hope. The clouds were 
 breaking fast; the stars gleamed faintly out 
 here and there ; and the edges of the vapoury 
 fragments looked white and fleecy. Alice 
 gazed in the same direction ; and for five 
 minutes both were silent. Then the boat 
 grated heavily with a sudden shock, and stood 
 fast in the midst of the stream. The two 
 voyagers were nearly thrown down by the con- 
 
 VOL. I. 8
 
 258 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 cussion, but Algernon exclaimed, "Fear not ! 
 fear not ! We are on a bank, but no harm can 
 happen ; the water must be very shallow here. 
 Let us sit calm till the moon rises ; she must 
 be even now just behind those hills. It is 
 growing lighter every moment." 
 
 He was right in his judgment ; and in less 
 than ten minutes the sky was clear or nearly 
 clear of clouds. The moon, indeed, could not 
 yet be seen ; but her pale silvery light spread 
 over the whole heavens ; and everything around, 
 to the eyes so long accustomed to utter dark- 
 ness, appeared to stand out as if in the broad 
 beams of day. Upon the left, the bank seemed 
 somewhat steep and rugged, and no landing- 
 place could be discerned ; but to the right was 
 a piece of low sedgy ground, which the young 
 Englishman doubted not was partially over- 
 flowed by the swollen stream. 
 
 It 
 
 "Do you know where we are, dear lady?" 
 he asked ; *' 1 can see neither house nor 
 village." 
 
 '^ I cannot tell," answered Agnes. " I should
 
 HEIDELBERG. 259 
 
 think we must have passed Edingen by the 
 time which has elapsed. Do you not think we 
 could reach the land ? Oh, let us try ; for 
 wherever it is, we shall be better there than 
 on the bosom of this dreadful river." 
 
 Algernon Grey smiled upon her with that 
 warm heartspringing look w^e only can give to 
 those we have cherished or protected. " It is 
 only dreadful now, this same fair Neckar," he 
 said, '' because we came too near it in an angry 
 mood. To-morrow it will be as calm and 
 sweet as yesterday." 
 
 '' And would be so," answered Agnes, " if it 
 flowed over our graves. It will ever be dread- 
 ful to me, from this night forth." 
 
 " Not so to me,'* replied her companion, 
 " for it has afforded me a great happiness. But 
 I "will try to push the boat off the bank and 
 guide it to yonder low ground on the right. 
 Little will do it, if we can once get afloat 
 again." 
 
 His efforts were not in vain, though it 
 required all his strength to force the little skiff 
 
 s 2
 
 260 
 
 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 from the firm bed into which the rapid current 
 of the stream had carried it. As soon as it 
 was free, however, he perceived an increase 
 of the water in the bark ; and, judging rightly, 
 that the sudden shock upon the shoal had 
 seriously damaged it, he saw that not an instant 
 was to be lost. Resting the end of the pole 
 upon the sand-bank, as the boat swung round, 
 he gave it a vehement impulse towards the 
 shore. It drifted on with the current, but took 
 an oblique direction, which Algernon Grey 
 aided, using the boat-pole as a feeble sort of 
 rudder ; but still the river was deep and swift, 
 the bank some yards distant, and the water in 
 the bark gaining fast. 
 
 " The boat seems sinking," said Agnes, in a 
 low, sad tone. 
 
 " Fear not ! fear not ! " replied her com- 
 panion, cheerfully ; "in a quiet stream, such 
 as this is here, I could swim with you three 
 times across without risk. But we are nearing 
 the bank ! " and, sounding the water with 
 the pole, he found the bed of the river, and
 
 HEIDELBERG. 261 
 
 pushed the boat to shore just as she was set- 
 tling dowu. 
 
 It was a low swampy piece of ground that 
 they touched, covered with long sedge and 
 bulrushes growing upon overflowed land. Al- 
 gernon Grey sprang out at once, and finding 
 water still up to his knees, he leaned over into 
 the boat, and took his sweet companion in his 
 arms. 
 
 " I must carry you for a little way," he said, 
 " and now we mav, indeed, thank God with 
 our whole heart for a great deliverance. You 
 shall walk as soon as we reach dry ground, 
 dear lady, for you are wet, and I fear must be 
 cold." 
 
 " Oh, no," she answered, " either terror or 
 the sultry air has kept me warm enough. But 
 how can I ever thank you for all you have 
 done." 
 
 She lay in his arms : her heart beat against 
 his; her breath fanned his cheek when she 
 spoke. What were the feelings of Algernon 
 Grey at that moment ? He would not ask
 
 262 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 himself; and he was wise. He gave up his 
 whole thoughts to her, to cheer, to soothe, to 
 protect her, to remove from her mind not only 
 the impression of the past peril, but also all 
 feeling of the embarrassment and difficulty of 
 her actual situation, left to wander, neither 
 well knew whither, with a man, a young man 
 whom she had known but a few days, in the 
 darkness and solitude of night. 
 
 He felt his load light and his burden a 
 pleasant one, it is true, as he bore her on for 
 more than a hundred yards through the marsh. 
 He would have wilhngly had her lie there far 
 longer — perhaps for life; but still as soon as 
 they came upon the dry sandy ground, he 
 set her gently down and drew her arm through 
 his. 
 
 " Now, sweet comrade," he said, gaily, " we 
 must fight our way to some village where you 
 can find rest for the night. Do you not feel 
 weary ? Terror is a sad sapper of human 
 strength." 
 
 " Not so tired, perhaps, as I might expect to
 
 HEIDELBERG. 263 
 
 be," answered Agaes, " considering that I had 
 a long ride before this terrible event took 
 place. — Alas, my poor jennet, that bore me so 
 often and so well, I shall never see you more ! 
 — Yet I am wrong to speak so : my whole 
 thoughts should be gratitude." 
 
 " We have both much cause for thankful- 
 ness," rephed Algernon, " and see, dear lady, 
 the beautiful moon, to guide us on our way, is 
 rising over the hill, half hidden by the woods, 
 half seen through the tree tops. How quickly 
 she wanders on along her blue way. But we 
 must take a lesson from her, and speed for- 
 ward likewise. What path shall I choose ? for 
 I have no knowledge of this land." 
 
 "And I very little of this part," said the 
 lady ; " but one thing is clear ; by bending our 
 course towards the hills again, we shall at all 
 events approach the town." 
 
 " That must be far," answered her com- 
 panion, " and those small limbs of yours will 
 hardly bear you thither to-night ; but let us to 
 the right at all events; as likely to find a
 
 264 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 resting-place there as on any other path ;" and 
 bidding her rest upon his arm for support, he 
 led her on. 
 
 Theirs was a strange ramble through the 
 wide fields and plains that stretch out between 
 the foot of the Bergstrasse and the Rhine; 
 and yet not without deep interest to both. 
 Each had at heart feelings of many a varied 
 character sufficient to fill up long hours of dull 
 life, and each was disinclined to dwell upon 
 the most thrilling emotions of all ; but yet, — 
 however they might fly to other subjects, how 
 anxiously soever they might strive to with- 
 hold their thoughts from anything that might 
 agitate or overpower, — still those emotions 
 presented themselves in vague and indistinct 
 forms, mingling with thought, seizing hold 
 upon fancy, and giving a tone and colour to all 
 that was said, without either of them being 
 aware that they deviated from the ordinary 
 course of conversation between persons of their 
 birth and station. The scene, too, and the 
 season, the hour, the atmosphere, the circum-
 
 HEIDELBERG. 265 
 
 Stances, the events that had lately taken place, 
 the prospects of the future in their very indefi- 
 nite obscurity, all had an influence, and seemed 
 to combine to nourish a growing passion in 
 their hearts. The moon rose bright from 
 behind the trees upon the mountain tops, 
 shining like the bright pure vision of young 
 and innocent love. The clouds, -which at the 
 outset of their stormy and perilous course had 
 swept like the evils of life over the whole 
 sky, had now vanished as if by magic, leaving 
 but here and there a fragment whirling upon 
 the wind, to obscure the twinkling stars with 
 its light veil. In the south-west, some half 
 •way up the heaven, shone a lustrous planet, 
 beaming calm, steadfast, serene, like the un- 
 dying light of hope ; and, while opposite 
 stretched in grand masses the hill-slopes of the 
 Bergstrasse, beneath that star appeared the wavy 
 outline of the Haardt mountains, still coloured 
 with a purple hue, as if the rays of the de- 
 parted sun had not yet entirely left them. 
 Above, and to the south and east, all was
 
 266 ^ HEIDELBERG. 
 
 bright and silvery with the light of the risen 
 moon. The stars themselves were there ex- 
 tinguished in the flood of splendour ; but on the 
 borders of the sky the twinkly lights of night 
 looked out, like gems on the robe of their 
 queen ; and, from time to time, a bright 
 meteor crossed the expanse, bursting from 
 space, and dying ere it reached the earth, like 
 the light thoughts of many a great mind, which 
 perish in the brain that gives them birth. 
 
 The air was warm, and yet stirred by a 
 strong breeze. There was a certain languor 
 in it, a love-like, luxurious softness, disposing 
 to gentle thoughtfulness ; and a sweet perfume 
 rose up from some of the shrubs of the field, 
 mingling harmoniously with that bland air, and 
 rendering its softening powers still greater. 
 Over the wide plain which they traversed, the 
 moon's beams fell bright, but not clear ; for a 
 thin vapour, too light to obstruct the view, and 
 only serving to diffuse and generalize the light, 
 rose up from the drenched fields in the warm 
 air.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 267 
 
 Rescued from death, and brought safely 
 through innumerable perils by him on whose 
 arm she leaned, the heart of Agnes Herbert 
 might well dwell fondly on the thought of one 
 whose words, whose manners, and whose look 
 had before captivated her fancy, if not touched 
 her heart. All the terrors she had felt, all the 
 dangers she had passed, all the services he had 
 rendered, all the kindness and tenderness he 
 had shown that night, mingled, strangely in 
 memory with the words and the conduct of 
 the two preceding evenings, with the interest 
 she had previously felt in him, and with the 
 account given of him by his companion and 
 friend. But she, like himself, would not pause 
 to think of such things — at least she would not 
 scan them ; and gladly she joined in conversa- 
 tion upon any topic, which would lead her 
 mind away from that on which it lingered. 
 
 Many and varied, too, were the subjects 
 with which he strove to entertain her, to wile 
 her mind away from the thoughts of her 
 situation, and to lighten the minutes of their
 
 268 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 long and devious course, as they wandered on 
 in search of some human habitation. 
 
 " How bright the night has become," said 
 Algernon Grey, after a pause. "Thus ver}^ 
 often, when we least expect it, the storms that 
 hang over some part of every man's career, are 
 wafted away, and all is clear again." 
 
 " And but the brighterfor the storm," said 
 Agnes. 
 
 " Ay," he rejoined, '^ I fear me much, sweet 
 lady, that we should never enjoy the sunshine 
 but for the shade. It is in the varieties of crea- 
 tion and the constant changes of the world's life, 
 that the grand harmony of the whole consists. 
 Let the tone of an instrument be ever so sweet, 
 what effect would it produce upon the ear, if it 
 had but one note? How poor is a concert 
 with but two or three instruments ! But in the 
 succession and combination of many notes and 
 many tones, how grand, how beautiful is the 
 melodious harmony ! — Skies ever blue, and pas- 
 tures ever green," he continued, changing to a 
 gayer tone, " would, I believe, become very
 
 HEIDELBERG. 269 
 
 dull and wearisome, notwithstanding all the 
 verses of pastoral poets." 
 
 " So men think, I have been told," an- 
 swered Agnes ; " and that they choose their 
 wives of tempers that may give them some 
 variety." 
 
 " Yes, but there may be pleasant varieties, 
 too," answered Algernon Grey, "even in one 
 character. The storm is, in itself, a grand thing ; 
 but no man, methinks, would unroof his house 
 to let it in ; and, besides, dear lady, all things 
 have their fitness. The drums and trumpets 
 of an army are fine enough, mellowed by 
 the open air ; but who would think of enjoy- 
 ing a full choir thereof in a narrow room ? 
 After all," he continued, " in most classes of 
 society this same marriage may be called a 
 matter of fate rather than of choice, arranged 
 by friends, or fixed by circumstances. Man 
 little knows how rarely in life he is a fi:ee 
 agent, and, above all, how rarely in this respect. 
 Then again," he continued, " even when man 
 or woman is truly said to make a choice, do
 
 270 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 thej ever know that which they choose. We 
 walk about with vizards, my sweet friend ; ay, 
 even up to the steps of the altar ; and the 
 real face is seldom seen till the ring is on the 
 finger." 
 
 He spoke very seriously ; but Agnes replied 
 with a laugh : ^' Perhaps, if it were not so, no 
 one would marry at all ; and yet," she added, 
 in a graver tone, " if I thought I did wear one 
 of these same masks, I would never rest till I 
 had torn it off; for I would much rather never 
 be loved, than lose the love I had obtained." 
 
 " A far happier fate !" answered Algernon 
 Grey; and then changing the subject suddenly, 
 he said, ^' How is it our discourse ever gets so 
 grave ? With this fair scene around us, and 
 such a joyful escape as we have both had, 
 methinks, we ought both to be more gay. It 
 wants but the nightingale's song to make this 
 moonlight night complete in beauty." 
 
 '' Ah I but the dear nightingale," answered 
 the lad}^, '' is penurious of his melody here ; 
 and in the month of June, or, at the latest.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 271 
 
 this last month, all his sweet notes come to 
 an end. I know not why ; for the people 
 give the nightingale another flower; but, in 
 my mind, he is always associated with the 
 violet. His song is so sweet, so tranquil, so 
 fragrant I may call it, so unlike the gay and 
 perfumed rose, the flower of summer sunshine, 
 whose blushing breast seems to court the gaze 
 he shrinks from, that I can never fancy he 
 would love the rose ; while the calm violet, 
 pouring forth her sweet breath in the shade, 
 is his true image." 
 
 As she spoke, a distant light seemed to 
 glimmer on the plain ; but in a different 
 direction to that in which their steps were 
 bent; and they paused for a moment to re- 
 mark it. 
 
 "It moves, it moves," said Algernon Grey; 
 *' it is but an ignis-fatuus. How many of them 
 are there in this world. Each man of us, I '^. 
 
 believe, has his own, which he follows blindly. / , 
 
 Love here, ambition there, avarice elsewhere, 
 the desire of worldly honours, the gewgaw y* ~
 
 272 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 splendours of pomp and state, the miserable 
 false light of fanaticism, the dull foul lamp of 
 superstition, are all so many Will-o'-the-wisps, 
 leading us ever from the broad, straightforward 
 way. So will not we, fair lady ; but by your 
 good leave, go upon this path, which will 
 conduct us somewhere. Here are tracks of 
 wheels, I see, with the moonlight glistening 
 on the pools the storm has left — but your step 
 seems weary. Do I go too fast ?" 
 
 " Oh, no," she answered ; " yet I confess, a 
 little rest, a roof over my head, and a cup of 
 cold water would not be unpleasant. The 
 thought of a village and all its quiet comforts 
 which that light afforded, has made me feel . 
 more fatigued since I saw it." 
 
 *^ Oh, yes," answered Algernon Grey, ^^ there 
 is something very sweet in human associations, 
 which we know not till we are deprived of 
 them for a time. The mind of man, I am 
 sure, was never intended for solitude ; for the 
 very thoughts of home-happiness and quiet con- 
 verse with our fellow-creatures — ay, even of
 
 HEIDELBERG. 273 
 
 their proximity, though they be strangers to 
 us, makes the heart yearn for all the warm 
 companionships of society when we are de- 
 prived of it." 
 
 " But I have society," said Agnes, simply, 
 " when you are with me." 
 
 Algernon Grey made no reply, but changed 
 the subject to courts and courtly festivals, and 
 then went on interweaving, as he was v.ell 
 able, hghter with graver conversation, and 
 striving, not without success, to inter^t and 
 occupy his fair companion's mind. The arts, 
 then almost at their height, or at least very 
 little declined, were one theme. Poetrv fur- 
 Dished another. War, the chase, the pursuits of 
 men of his own day, the habits of the world, 
 the diflPerences between countries, then marked 
 out more strongly than at present, all passed 
 under light reyiew, and sometimes speaking 
 gravely, sometimes jesting lightly, he gave that 
 variety to all he said which he himself had 
 praised. 
 
 Whether from weariness or from thoiightful- 
 
 VOL. L T
 
 274 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 ness, I know not, but Agnes grew more silent as 
 
 they went on. Certain it is, that the words of 
 
 William Lovet often came back to her mind. 
 
 "He does not speak thus to every one," she 
 
 thought ; and she asked herself whether it was 
 
 merely to cheer the w^ay for her, that he thus put 
 
 forth his powers, or that he really esteemed and 
 
 held her highly. If the first, she was bound to 
 
 be grateful, though, to say sooth, she would rather 
 
 have believed the latter. Either conclusion, 
 
 however, was pleasant to her — ay, very pleasant 
 
 — almost too much so; for she grew frightened. 
 
 It lasted but an instant; and indeed then, 
 
 with the happy sophistry of woman's heart, she 
 
 quelled her own alarm. " Surely," she thought^ 
 
 "one may esteem and like without fear or 
 
 danger. Am I such a vain fool as to believe 
 
 that every man who may see something better 
 
 in me than the light coquettes of a court, must 
 
 therefore love me ? Am I such a weak fool that 
 
 I must needs love, unasked, the first man who 
 
 seems to treat me as a rational creature ? I am 
 
 silly indeed even to let my thoughts rest on such
 
 HEIDELBERG. 275 
 
 a matter. I will think of it no more. I will act as 
 if such idle flmcies had never crossed mj brain, 
 but as the heart prompts, and as nature leads." 
 She became more cheerful upon her delusion; 
 but the way was long and wearisome. The soft 
 ground loaded the tired foot; the turnings of 
 the road disappointed expectation ; and, though 
 the brig-ht moon still shone out to miide them, 
 no village could be distinctly seen ; for the 
 thick orchards and* small woods, which then 
 occupied a large part of the valley of the Rhine, 
 cut off the view from those who wandered 
 in the low ground. The lady's garments too, 
 fitted for the ride of the morning, were all un- 
 suited to her long night ramble, and fatigue 
 seized upon poor Agnes, and well nigh over- 
 powered her. Twice she sat for some minutes 
 by the road-side to rest ; and, whenever the 
 wetness of the swampy ground gave fair excuse, 
 Algernon Grey took her in his arms and carried 
 her ; but still she w^as well nigh sinking from 
 pure exhaustion, when a village clock struck 
 clear and loud the hour of eleven. No great 
 
 T 2
 
 276 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 distance could exist between the musical bell 
 and the ears that so gladly heard it ; and with 
 renewed hope and strength they let themselves 
 be guided by the sound through the trees, till 
 the tones of laughing voices came upon the air. 
 " There must be a village close at hand," said 
 Algernon Grey, "and happily some Fair or 
 merry-making seems to have kept the good 
 peasants up and waking. See there are cot- 
 tages !" and the moment after they entered the 
 long street of a small hamlet with the church at 
 the further end, and beyond, rising high above 
 the houses, the tow^er of some old castle built 
 upon a mound. 
 
 The cottages were all dark and silent, and 
 the merry voices they had heard seemed to 
 go on before them singing in chorus. 
 
 SONG. 
 
 Bruise the grape ! draw the wine ! 
 Oh the fruit of the vine ! 
 
 It was given to console for the flood : 
 To bring light to the eye, 
 And to raise the heart high, 
 
 And to warm the old world with new blood.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 277 
 
 When shut up in the ark, 
 Xoah swam in the dark, 
 
 And no dove had returned to his breast ; 
 He dreamed a glad dream, 
 That he saw a red stream 
 
 Flow forth from the cluster when pressed. 
 
 " TVe are wear}-," he said, 
 " We are cold, and half dead. 
 
 But there 's comfort beneath this grim sea : 
 When we touch the hill top 
 The vine shall spring up, 
 
 And its warm juice shall set the heart free." 
 
 Bruise the grape ! draw the wine ! 
 Oh, the fruit of the vine ! 
 
 It was given to console for the flood: 
 To bring light to the eye, 
 And to raise the heart high, 
 
 And to warm the old world with new blood. 
 
 Thus sung the peasants as they walked along, 
 and Algernon Grey exclaimed, with a smile, 
 " Their song gives good council, sweet lady. 
 Though I saw last night that you were no wine 
 drinker, you must now even consent to take 
 some of the juice of the grape, whose qualities 
 these good men celebrate. The inn where they
 
 278 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 have been tasting it cannot be far, and you will 
 at length have rest and refreshment." 
 
 "Rest, rest," said Agnes, "is all I need;" 
 but Algernon would not believe that food too 
 was not w^anted. 
 
 At length a light was seen streaming forth 
 from a door not far from the church; and a 
 good stout country girl, throwing forth into the 
 midst of the street some torn and scattered 
 flowers, which had decked the little hall of the 
 hostelry for the country festival, appeared at 
 the door. It was a glad sight for poor Agnes 
 Herbert, and she drew a long deep sigh, while 
 Algernon Grey inquired if they could have re- 
 freshment there, and rest for the night. 
 
 The girl seemed hardly to comprehend him, 
 but called the bustling landlady, who gazed at 
 the two gaily dressed, but worn and travel- 
 stained strangers, for a moment with looks of 
 doubt and wonder. Agnes, however, in few quiet 
 words, explained her situation, using, as far as 
 she knew it, the jargon of the country; and the 
 good woman's whole manner was changed in a
 
 HEIDELBERG. 279 
 
 moment. Instead of doubt and suspicion of her 
 guests, which she had before displayed, she was 
 now all motherly tenderness towards the young 
 and beautiful creature before her, although she 
 was not without some embarrassments, also, as 
 to the accommodation of her unexpected visi- 
 tors. Situated in a remote and distant villao-e, 
 where a traveller very rarely staid for the night, 
 she had neither room nor bed prepared ; and, 
 though plenty of supper, she said, was to be 
 obtained in a moment, and as good wine as anv 
 in the Circle, she did not see how she could get 
 two beds ready, although her daughter would 
 willingly give up her own for the young lady's 
 convenience. Algernon Grey relieved her from 
 a part of her difficulties by telling her that he 
 could sleep very well where he was, and that the 
 table or the bench in the large room, where she 
 had received her guests, would form a bed good 
 enough for him, if she would prepare a room for 
 Agnes as soon as possible. With this latter in- 
 junction she promised to comply; but there were 
 two obstacles to its literal fulfilment, namely.
 
 280 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 first, the good landlady's determination that 
 her guests should partake of a supper before 
 they slept; and secondly, that the hostess 
 herself, and all her people were boors of the 
 Palatinate, who are not celebrated for the 
 quickness of their evolutions. 
 
 In vain did the young gentleman hurry her; 
 in vain did Agnes protest that she wanted rest 
 before all things ; half a dozen dishes, dressed 
 in various strange manners, were placed on the 
 table before them, as they sat by a dim and 
 comfortless lamp, the mistress of the house 
 observing sagely, that it could do them no harm 
 on earth to eat some supper after so many 
 adventures, and that, in the mean time, the 
 lady's bed could be prepared. 
 
 After having discovered that they w'ere in 
 the village of Shriesheim, Agnes Herbert and 
 Algernon Grey were left for more than half an 
 hour alone in the dinner-room oi the little inn ; 
 and deeply did the fair girl feel his conduct 
 during that time ; for although, with kindness 
 and every gentle attention, he pressed her to
 
 HEIDELBERG. 281 
 
 take some food and drink some Avine ; though, 
 with cheerful gaiety he strove to amuse and 
 cheer her, yet there was no token of respect 
 that he did not show, to diminish or remove any 
 embarrassment springing from her position with 
 regard to himself. He made her smile ; he 
 even made her laugh ; he awakened her fancy, 
 to lead her thoughts to gay and happy images: 
 he rendered his conversation light, playful, and 
 sunshiny, but took care that it should be suffi- 
 ciently reserved to place his fair companion at 
 her ease, and to make her almost forget that she 
 was not with him in one of the saloons of the 
 palace of Heidelberg. Her weariness somewhat 
 decreased as she sat and listened ; and, to tell 
 the truth, by the time the landlady returned to 
 conduct her to her bedroom, Agnes Herbert 
 was more disposed to remain where she was, 
 and listen to sounds which fell with dangerous 
 softness on her ear. 
 
 Nevertheless she rose instantly, and held out 
 her hand to her companion, bidding him fare- 
 well for the night. He took it, and pressed his
 
 282 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 lips upon it, wishing her good rest, and fair 
 dreams. 
 
 Agnes gazed upon him with a smile as he 
 did so, saying, " Methinks it is I ought to kiss 
 your hand, and thank you again and again for 
 all your acts of kindness in every way, all of 
 which I have felt, from the saving of my life to 
 the soothing of my mind; but I must leave 
 others to do it who are more capable — I have 
 no words."
 
 UEIDELBEKG. 283 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 One of the first cares of Algernon Grey, when 
 Agnes had left him for the night, was to send 
 off a messenger to the castle of Heidelberg, to 
 announce, even at that late hour, that the lady 
 was in safety. It was with difficulty, indeed, 
 that any one could be procured to undertake 
 the task; for Germany is a country in which 
 there are some things that people will not do 
 even for money. But a man was at length 
 found to walk the distance, and to set out at 
 once. The young Englishman's next thought 
 w^as how to obtain horses for the following 
 morning ; but it was not till the messenger had 
 departed thaf this occurred to him ; and when
 
 284 
 
 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 it did he felt some doubt as to whether a 
 woman's saddle could be obtained for the lady. 
 The good hostess undertook the task, how- 
 ever, without making any difficulty, naming a 
 neighbouring farmer's horse for himself, of 
 whose qualities he was very willing to run the 
 risk, and saying that their minister's daughter 
 had a nice ambling pad, which she would lend 
 very willingly to bear that pretty lady to the 
 castle. 
 
 This being settled, and pure water having 
 been procured to wash away from his face and 
 neck the traces of all he had lately gone 
 through, Algernon Grey was left alone in the 
 hall, to find repose as he best could. But 
 for a long time he sought no rest, at least 
 for the busy brain and anxious thought. 
 During the three or four hours last past, his 
 mind had been fully occupied, at first with 
 perils and dangers, and with a sweeter and 
 not less engrossing task at an after period; 
 but now, suddenly reverting to still earlier 
 events, he turned to inquire what might 
 be the result to the adversary whom he had
 
 HEIDELBERG. 285 
 
 met in the wood, of his sudden departure 
 from the scene of strife. Apprehensions 
 crowded upon him for the fate of the Baron 
 of Oberntraut. The page, he feared, might 
 have seen him hurry to the rescue of Agnes, 
 and, thinking only of duty lo his mnster, 
 might have neglected to fulfil the orders he 
 had received, in his anxiety to trace and assist 
 him. The wounded man might have been left 
 to bleed to death on the meadow, and, though 
 he felt that he was not to blame, yet Algernon 
 Grey would have given a king's ransom to be 
 sure that his opponent had met with proper aid 
 and treatment. 
 
 Thought, he knew, was fruitless, upon this 
 subject at least ; and yet he continued to 
 think upon it for some time, till the image of 
 Agnes Herbert began to mingle with these 
 waking reveries, and with it a new source of 
 anxiety ; she was so beautiful, so gentle, so full 
 of every grace and quality which he had 
 dreamed of as perfection in woman, that he 
 could not but think of her with tenderness. 
 He would not believe that he thought of her
 
 286 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 with love ; and yet he dreaded his own sensa- 
 tions. Once more he made strong resolutions 
 to quit Heidelberg and the Palatinate imme- 
 diately — to see her no more — to wander far — 
 to forget her. Poor youth 1 he had some expe- 
 rience of the world, but he had not learned 
 how completely all human resolutions are the 
 sport of circumstances ; he had not yet learned 
 that if in our weakness or our passions we do 
 not break them voluntarily, there are a thou- 
 sand little incidents over which we have no 
 control, which step in between us and their 
 execution. His determination was firm and 
 strong, however ; his conviction of the right 
 course was not in the least shaken ; and, 
 making up his mind at length to accompany 
 Agnes back to the castle, letting her see no 
 change or difference in his manner, but to 
 leave her there and to depart the next day, 
 he seated himself near the table, bent his 
 head upon his arms, and gradually sank into 
 sleep. 
 
 In that strange, mysterious state, when a 
 dull heavy curtain falls between the mortal
 
 HEIDELBERG. 287 
 
 senses and all their external objects, when life 
 alone remains, and the spirit is cut off from all 
 communication with the rest of creation, while 
 fancy yet from time to time — ay, and memory 
 too — wakes up with strange caprices, to deal 
 with past and future things ; — in that great 
 mystery of sleep, which none have solved, 
 notwithstanding the laborious idleness of their 
 efforts, images, not new perhaps, presented 
 themselves to his eyes, but surely arranged in 
 novel and fantastic forms. Neither was it 
 remembrance of the things last past that called 
 up the visions to his eyes; he saw not his 
 adversary lie bleeding on the grass ; he saw 
 not the drowning horse, the sinking girl ; no 
 fierce engulfing stream rolled before his eyes ; 
 no whirlinor bark bore him onwards throusrh 
 the darkness of the night. Yet Agnes was with 
 him in his dreams. Bright, as in her festival 
 beauty she had led him through the castle 
 halls, she now guided him through gardens of 
 sweet flowers, stopping here and there to pluck 
 them, and wind them into coronets for his 
 brow. Then came another form across them,
 
 288 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 beautiful but fierce like a young tigress, and 
 aimed a dagger at his heart, when William 
 Lovet grasped her hand and plunged it in her 
 own bosom. 
 
 The vision passed away, more profound 
 sleep succeeded; and M'^hen Algernon Grey 
 woke on the following morning, the early light 
 was shining through the uncurtained windows 
 of the room. His toilet was necessarily brief ^ 
 but the matutinal peasantry were all astir 
 before it was finished. A substantial break- 
 fast was soon laid out for him and his fair 
 companion ; and, after waiting for a few mo- 
 ments, he sent up to inquire if she were ready. 
 Agnes had been long up, and immediately 
 joined him in the hall, refreshed with sleep, 
 though somewhat pale with the terrors and fa- 
 tigues of the preceding day. All her cheerful- 
 ness had returned, but yet it is an invariable 
 law of human nature that no great emotions can 
 be felt without leaving some permanent effect 
 behind. The scenes she had gone through, 
 the agitation she had felt, even the feelings she 
 had experienced while wandering through the
 
 HEIDELBERG. 289 
 
 fields at night with Algernon Grey, had made 
 their impression, never to be erased. I will 
 not attempt to look into her heart, for she 
 would not look into it herself; but yet there 
 were external signs and indications, which, to 
 any experienced and observing eye, would 
 have told the change. There was a deeper 
 tone in her manner ; there was more soul and 
 spirit in her look ; there was a thoughtful- 
 ness even in her gayest smile. All spoke of 
 the heart, and of newly-awakened sensations 
 therein ; and it seemed to Algernon Grey, as 
 she advanced, and, raising her eyes full of deep 
 thankfulness to his face, placed her hand in his, 
 that she had now all which had been previously 
 wanting to render her beauty well nigh divine. 
 The meal passed gaily over ; they spoke of 
 the adventures of the past day with the plea- 
 sant gratulation of dangers ended. They spoke 
 of their mornino; ride back to Heidelbers: with 
 the sweet anticipation of pleasure to come ; 
 and, when breakfast was done, they mounted 
 the two horses which had been procured for 
 them, and, with a youth on a third to bring 
 
 VOL. I. U
 
 290 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 those which they rode back, they set out, with 
 the bright morning sun shining on their way. 
 The clouds and storms of the preceding day 
 were all dispersed ; and, in one bosom, at least, 
 was a gay and cheerful heart, unburdened with 
 anticipations of evil, or regret for any act in 
 the past. As they rode along at the best pace 
 which their horses could command, Agnes 
 poured forth to her companion's ear all her 
 bright and sparkling thoughts, lighted up by 
 that purest of enjoyment, which the expectation 
 of giving pleasure to others affords to a fine spirit. 
 She talked of the joy her uncle would feel in 
 clasping her in his arms again, after he had 
 thought her lost for ever; of the calm, but 
 hardly less heartfelt satisfaction of the Princess 
 Dowager in seeing her once more ; and, al- 
 though in Algernon's bosom many a bitter and 
 painful thought arose, many a struggle, when 
 he fancied that the last hours of their compa- 
 nionship were passing away for ever, he would 
 not suffer any appearance of his own gloom 
 to bring a shadow over her young happiness. 
 Thus fled the time ; till, once more turning
 
 HEIDELBERG. 291 
 
 along the course of the Neckar, the town and 
 the hills, and the laughing valley, and the proud 
 castle, appeared before their eyes ; and, crossing 
 the bridge, and threading the narrow streets, 
 they began to ascend the hill. For one moment 
 they paused as they w^ent up, to breathe their 
 horses and to gaze over the scene ; and Agnes, 
 before they proceeded, let fall her rein, and, 
 clasping her hands, exclaimed, " I never 
 thought to see all this aojain." 
 
 Her eyes were raised to heaven in thankful- 
 ness, and then turned with a momentary glance 
 to Algernon Grey. From an impulse she could 
 not resist, she held out her hand to him, saying, 
 simply, '* But for you — but for you !" 
 
 They rode on more slowly, and, as they 
 entered the court-yard of the castle, Algernon 
 Grey said, " I must here leave you, dear lady, 
 I believe ; but be assured, that to have rendered 
 you service in a moment of peril has been a 
 happiness which will brighten many a future 
 hour." 
 
 "But you will come with me to my uncle?*' 
 
 replied Agnes, with a start, and a look almost of 
 
 u 2
 
 292 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 alarm. " Oh, come, I beseech you ; it is but 
 fit that the dehverer of his child — of one that he 
 loves as his child — should take her back to his 
 bosom. Oh, come." 
 
 " If it will give you pleasure," replied Alger- 
 non Grey, with a faint smile ; for he could not 
 resist the temptation to linger still for a moment 
 beside her, and he felt himself weak. 
 
 At the farther angle of the court there were 
 a number of gentlemen and officers collected 
 together, talking in the morning air ; and, when 
 Agnes and her companion rode up, several of 
 them sprang forward to assist her in dismount- 
 ing ; but she paused till Algernon Grey was by 
 her side, and then suffered him to lift her from 
 her horse. Returning courteous, but brief 
 answers to the congratulations, which showed 
 how much anxiety had been felt for her fate 
 during the preceding night, she looked round 
 to her companion, saying, " Now I will lead 
 the way to my uncle. I know he would never 
 forgive me, if I did not bring you to him at 
 once." 
 
 But, at that moment, a tall, elderly man.
 
 HEIDELBERG. 293 
 
 dressed in a military garb, advanced and laid 
 his hand on Algernon Grey's shoulder, saying, 
 '' I am sorry for the task, sir, but I am com- 
 manded to arrest you, wherever I may find you, 
 in the Elector's name. I have sought for you 
 all through the town this morning. Give up 
 your sword." 
 
 Algernon Grey merely smiled, replying, " I 
 have no sword to give up, sir. May I know my 
 ofFence?" 
 
 " Your fatal encounter with the Baron of 
 Oberntraut," replied the old oflScer ; " his father 
 last night formally charged you with the murder 
 of his son ; and the Elector issued instant orders 
 for your apprehension." 
 
 Agnes had turned deadly pale ; and she raised 
 her hand to her head, and thought deeply for a 
 moment. 
 
 "Where is the Elector?" she exclaimed, at 
 length; "I will see his Highness myself. — This 
 gentleman saved my life ; he rescued me, when 
 all others abandoned me ; he perilled existence a 
 dozen times for a person whom he hardly knew 
 — and is this his reward ?"
 
 294 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 " Fear not, dear lad}^," replied Algernon 
 Grey ; " this can have no bad results — a little 
 inconvenience, but nought else. I met the 
 Baron of Oberntraut, as one honourable gentle- 
 man meets another, when called by him to the 
 field; I met him without provocation on my 
 part, without anger or animosity, in a place of 
 his own choosing, on a quarrel of his own seek- 
 ing. I spared him as long as I could; and, 
 though I deeply grieve to hear that he is dead, 
 I will ever maintain, that the wound I gave 
 him was only in defence of my own life." 
 
 " He was supposed to be dying, though not 
 dead," replied the old officer, " when the news 
 came last night. This morning we have no 
 intelligence." 
 
 " Where is the Elector ?" asked Agnes again ; 
 " can any one tell me where I shall find him?" 
 
 " He was in the Princess's cabinet a few 
 minutes ago, fair lady," said a young gentle- 
 man, stepping forward; " I do not think he has 
 come forth yet." 
 
 With a quick step, a flushed cheek, and an 
 eager eye, Agnes hurried away ; and, at the
 
 HEIDELBERG. 295 
 
 same moment, the old officer whispered to a 
 page who stood by : " Run and tell old Obern- 
 traut, he may want a word or two." He 
 then turned to his prisoner, saying : " As I 
 know not what may be the Elector's pleasure, 
 sir, concerning you, it may be as well, that I 
 should take you to his presence as speedily as 
 possible. We can wait for him in his audience 
 room, till he comes forth from the Princess's 
 apartments. Have the goodness to follow me." 
 Thus saying, he led the way to the castle, 
 up the stairs and through a gallery above ; and 
 then opening the door, he cqpducted his prisoner 
 across a sort of waiting-hall, which displayed 
 numerous doors on either side. At one of these, 
 as he crossed, Algernon Grey beheld his fair 
 companion of the night before, standing with a 
 page by her side. Her beautiful head was 
 bent down ; her eyes fixed upon the ground ; 
 and she moved not in the least, though the 
 sound of steps must have reached her ear. 
 The old officer then opened a door on the 
 opposite side ; and the young Englishman fol- 
 lowed into a small room containing but one
 
 296 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 chair. There they paused for about ten minutes, 
 left entirely alone ; and, at the end of that 
 time, the old chamberlain, who had so un- 
 willingly introduced Algernon and his cousin 
 to the Elector's presence on the night of the 
 nineteenth of August, passed through with a 
 hurried step. As he went, his brow gathered 
 into a heavy frown ; and he glanced at Algernon 
 Grey, with his teeth set and his fingers clasped 
 tight upon the sheath of his sword. A moment 
 after a bustle was heard without ; and the door 
 being thrown open, the Elector entered with a 
 stern brow, accompanied by several of his 
 officers, and followed by Agnes Herbert and the 
 chamberlain. Without noticing in any manner 
 the young Englishman, the Prince advanced 
 towards the chair, but did not sit down, turning 
 as soon as he had reached it, and looking round. 
 
 "May it please your Highness," said the 
 gentleman who stood by Algernon's side, "I 
 have, according to your commands, arrested 
 Master Algernon Grey here present, and crave 
 your further orders concerning him." 
 
 The young gentleman took a step forward
 
 HEIDELBERG. 297 
 
 before the Prince could reply ; and with a calm 
 and well-assured countenance demanded, al- 
 most haughtily, for what offence his liberty had 
 been abridged. The proud spirit of the free 
 islander, the source of so much that is good, 
 and alas, too often the source of so much that 
 is disagreeable, showed itself for a moment in 
 his tone and manner, though he took care to 
 use all courtly terms and titles of reverence, 
 and in the end softening his lofty bearing, 
 professed himself ever wilHng to abide by the 
 laws of the land in which he sojourned, adding, 
 " But knowing my innocence of all oiFence, I 
 claim fair and equal justice, and a full inquiry, 
 ere I am punished in any shape." 
 
 "Justice and fair inquiry you shall have, sir; 
 fear not," answered the Elector, somewhat 
 offended by his bold tone. " It is fortuuate 
 that we have been in England, and know that 
 noblemen of that country fancy themselves 
 equal to the princes of other lands, or we 
 might think your bearing somewhat strange. — 
 My lord of Obemtraut, you laid a charge 
 against this gentleman yesterday late at night
 
 298 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 — a most serious charge. We had not at that 
 hour time to inquire fully ; but will now hear 
 you further." 
 
 " I charged him, your Highness, with the 
 murder of my son," exclaimed the old cham- 
 berlain, coming forward, " the cool deliberate 
 murder of my only child." 
 
 " What is he dead, then ? " inquired the Elec- 
 tor, with a look of stern grief. 
 
 " Not yet, sir," replied the other, *' but he is 
 dying. I saw him an hour ago — his voice could 
 be hardly heard — his eyes were faded and dull, 
 and his strong limbs, which have so often served 
 the state, were feeble as an infant's; but this 
 man, I say — this stranger who comes here, it 
 may be as a spy into your court, seeks a 
 quarrel with one of your best servants, lures 
 him at nightfall into a remote place, and there, 
 having left the two pages behind that no eye 
 may see, slays a man, who, as we all know, in 
 fair honest fight and deeds of arms, had no 
 superior — scarce, indeed, an equal. It is of 
 this I charge him, your Highness — it is for this 
 I demand his punishment. Justice I will have
 
 HEIDELBERG. 299 
 
 by one means or another, and if by honied 
 words, which he can well use, he should escape 
 the arm of law, let him look well to himself, for 
 I and mine will do ourselves right at last." 
 
 " Hush ! hush !*' exclaimed the Elector; "you 
 injure a good cause by such rash threats. — 
 What would you, lady ? I am glad to see you 
 safe. — I will speak with you presently. — This 
 is no scene for 3^ou." 
 
 '* Pardon, your Highness," answered Agnes, 
 with the bold bearing of strongly roused feel- 
 ings; "it is a scene in which I must bear a 
 part whether I will or not. Listen to me for 
 a moment. To this noble gentleman I owe 
 my life, and I must raise my voice against his 
 enemies. As I followed your royal lady here 
 last night, my horse, frightened at some object 
 in the wood, plunged over the bank into a 
 torrent against which no living thing could 
 struggle. He perished there, poor beast I Your 
 Highness's servants saw it. They can tell you 
 all." 
 
 *' I have heard, I have heard," answered 
 Frederic, bowing his head.
 
 300 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 " All abandoned me," continued Agnes. — 
 " Your followers — some of them stout soldiers — 
 the gentleman who rode by my side, those 
 who went before and they who followed — not 
 one would venture on that frightful stream to 
 aid a drowning girl, when this noble man, 
 almost a stranger, in a frail bark, not stronger 
 than a toy, which sank ere we reached land, 
 came, found, and saved me. Many a time 
 that night he perilled life for me— for one 
 •without a claim upon his goodness. Ay, at the 
 very moment when this old lord declares he 
 had just committed cool deliberate murder, 
 he risked life, and all life gives, on the first 
 generous impulse of his heart. Is this likely, 
 noble prince ? — Is this possible ? Oh, no ! the 
 same high heart that bade him venture on that 
 dark stream, at the scream of a dying girl, be 
 you sure has ruled his actions whatever they 
 were, in his dealing with a proud adversary. 
 Believe it not, believe it not ! or else believe 
 that honour is a name, truth falsehood, and 
 noble self-devotion but a murderer in dis- 
 guise."
 
 HEIDELBERG. 301 
 
 She spoke eagerly, vehemently, and her 
 beautiful countenance, lighted up with the 
 roused energies of her heart, beamed like 
 that of some reproving angel, till in the end 
 the emotions that she felt overpowered her, 
 and the light went out in tears. 
 
 " My lord and prince !" cried the old lord 
 of Obemtraut, his bitter rage taking the form 
 of scorn under the restraint, such as it was, of 
 a formal sense of courtesy towards a woman. 
 " It is easy to understand and to forgive a lady 
 pleading for her lover. But let us have done 
 with such trash now. Love tales are not for 
 such occasions !" 
 
 " Sir, you imply, if you do not assert, a 
 falsehood," said Algernon Grey, sternly; ''the 
 very name of love has never been mentioned 
 between this lady and myself. When I pushed 
 off the skiff to save her, I saw not even who 
 she was. But I will beseech you, dear lady, to 
 leave us. In the justice of this noble prince I 
 will fully rely, and, by staying, you only expose 
 yourself to wrong constructions from the fury of 
 a rude old man."
 
 302 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 The lord of Oberntraut laid his hand upon 
 his sword, and partly drew it ; but one of the 
 attendants held his arm, whispering a caution 
 in his ear ; and Agnes replied, " I go then, but 
 only to call a better voice than mine to advo- 
 cate the same cause." 
 
 "Now, Master Algernon Grey," said the 
 Elector, " what have you to say to this charge 
 brought against you ? Speak, if you will ; but 
 if you do, I need not, I think, remind you that 
 the truth is ever best, and in this case more 
 especially, as it must undergo full inquiry before 
 judges who will not be deceived." 
 
 " It is my habit, sir, to speak the truth," 
 answered the young Englishman ; '- and if the 
 Baron of Oberntraut be still living, I require 
 that his statement be taken from his own lips. 
 He is a brave and noble gentleman, and will 
 not belie even an adversary. Let his state- 
 ment be compared with mine, and they will be 
 found to tally, I am sure. I declare then, in 
 this presence, that he fixed a quarrel on me for 
 I know not what : that he himself led me to 
 the spot, made all the arrangements, attacked
 
 HEIDELBERQ. 303 
 
 me first, I passively parrying his thrusts till 
 the last moment, and then only lunged in self- 
 defence. He will tell you, too, that I did all 
 in man's power to staunch the blood and 
 give him help; and I should have returned 
 to remain with him, after having sent my 
 page for aid, had not that lady's cries called 
 me to another task, and the swollen Neckar 
 borne us both far away. Let his own boy 
 be asked if he did not hear him give me 
 directions on the road he followed, invite me 
 to dismount, and lead the way himself. This 
 is my simple tale, and, unless a gentleman 
 and a soldier may without shame refuse such 
 invitations, I have done no wrong in yielding to 
 his." 
 
 "In this land, sir," answered the Elector, 
 sternly, " a gentleman and a soldier not only 
 may without shame, but must, refuse such in- 
 vitations; for, by my own law, now of some 
 four years' date, all such encounters are pro- 
 hibited most strictly." 
 
 " Then his be the blame," replied Algernon 
 Grey, " for leading a stranger unacquainted
 
 304 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 with the law your Highness names, to violate 
 it. Gladly would I have avoided that which I 
 personally do not approve, but which habit not 
 only sanctions but requires." 
 
 " My noble prince, this tale must be false," 
 exclaimed the old lord of Oberntraut ; " you 
 know my son right well, and that he is not one 
 rashly to violate your Highness's laws." 
 
 Frederic smiled; and, notwithstanding the 
 sad importance of the occasion, a light murmur, 
 somewhat like a laugh, ran round the court, 
 to hear so peaceable a character given to the 
 young baron. But the Elector immediately 
 exclaimed, '* Silence, gentlemen. This is un- 
 becoming ! I am sorry, sir, to show severity 
 to any one of your land," he continued, speaking 
 to Algernon Grey ; '* but, at all events, till your 
 adversary's state is better known, and till we 
 are sure what the termination will be, you must 
 endure confinement as best you may; I will 
 myself inquire of those who have tended his 
 wounds, whether they are mortal or not, and, 
 when they shall judge it necessary, will cause 
 his own account to be taken from his lips. 
 
 V
 
 HEIDELBERG. 305 
 
 Fear not : you shall have justice ; but at present 
 you must retire. My good lord of Helmstadt, 
 will you see him conveyed to the great tower, 
 near the English building. Let him have the 
 vacant rooms on the third floor ; and I will 
 afterwards put him in ward of some inferior 
 ofiicer." 
 
 •'Look that you hold him safe, Helmstadt !" 
 exclaimed the old lord of Oberntraut; '* for I 
 call Heaven to witness that I will require blood 
 for my son's blood, if not from him, from those 
 who hold him." 
 
 "Silence, sir!" said the Elector, '^and quit 
 my presence ;" and waving his hand, as signal, 
 to the lord of Helmstadt, then chief marshal, 
 to remove his prisoner, the Elector turned to 
 the Chancellor, Christopher of the Green, by 
 Wegersberg, and spoke to him for several 
 minutes, in a low tone. 
 
 VOL. L 

 
 306 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 In the large round room I have described in a 
 former chapter, with its column in the midst, 
 decked out with arms and banners, just as it had 
 appeared when Algernon Grey first saw it, sat 
 Colonel Herbert, the English Knight as he was 
 called at the castle, at the same hour when his 
 visitor was brought before the Elector on the 
 charge of murder. His brow was grave and 
 thoughtful ; his eyes bent down, as if he were 
 considering some subject deeply. Nevertheless, 
 it must be said that his mind was not affected 
 by any immediate apprehensions for his niece, 
 though he was not yet aware of her return to the 
 castle ; but Algernon Grey's message of the 
 night before had reached him duly, showing that
 
 HEIDELBERG. 307 
 
 she had been rescued from the great peril which 
 she had encountered. 
 
 The first news of the preceding evening had 
 represented her as lost to him for ever. When 
 her horse had plunged over, the greater part of 
 the train of the Prince and Princess had, as I have 
 shown, galloped quickly forward. William Lovet 
 had followed immediately after the accident; and 
 the small party of servants and attendants, whom 
 Agnes and the Englishman preceded, saw the 
 accident as well as he did; but not one of them 
 ventured to make an effort for the lady's deli- 
 verance. All that they thought fit to do, was to 
 hurry on as quickly as possible, and to inform 
 the Elector of what had occurred, very naturally 
 believing the case to be a hopeless one, and the 
 lady lost beyond recovery. Frederic, for he was 
 in truth a kind-hearted and an amiable prince, 
 at once stopped the cavalcade, and eagerly 
 consulted with those around him what was to be 
 done. But all agreed, that long ere assistance 
 could be rendered, the lady must have perished, 
 so that it was in vain to attempt aught for her 
 
 deliverance. EHzabeth of England, though not 
 
 X 2
 
 308 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 more hopeful than the rest, urged immediate 
 search, or exertion in some way ; but her voice 
 was overruled by those who felt that no exertion 
 could be successful ; and one old man even 
 ventured to saVj — " It is all in vain. The 
 Neckar will have its dues ; a certain number are 
 drowned in it every year; and if it had not 
 taken this one, it would have taken another.'* 
 
 In deep, stern, solemn bitterness of heart; 
 with that feeling of despair which nothing can 
 produce but the loss of the only one truly and 
 entirely beloved, Colonel Herbert had passed the 
 hours from the moment that the first news had 
 been communicated to him till he heard a hurried 
 foot ascending the stairs of the tower ; and then 
 he started up and gazed towards the door. He 
 had not wept — his was too stern and powerful a 
 nature for tears ; but, concentrated in the heart's 
 deepest recesses, the feelings which in other per- 
 sons so often melt away like spring thunder- 
 clouds in falling drops, burned and seared, till 
 all seemed desolate as a desert. 
 
 *' They have found the body," he said to 
 himself, when he heard the step ; but his servant
 
 HEIDELBERG. 309 
 
 ran in with a face of joy, exclaiming, *' The 
 lady is saved, Sir Henry, the lady is saved; 
 here a peasant has come from the country to 
 bear the news to the castle." 
 
 " Where is he?" exclaimed Herbert; " bring 
 him hither — quick ! " 
 
 " Alas ! sir," cried the man ; " the hall-porter 
 has let him go." 
 
 Herbert seized him by both the hands, and 
 gazed earnestly in his face, — " Are you lying?" 
 he exclaimed; " Are you lying?" 
 
 *' No, Sir Henry, I would not lie for the 
 world — on such a matter as this," the servant 
 answered. " The hall-porter sent his boy ; and 
 before I would bear you the news I went up to 
 inquire ; but there I found it was beyond all 
 doubt. The man had come on foot three or 
 four leagues from a village down the river ; and 
 the gentleman, who saved the lady, had given 
 him two gold pieces to bear the tidings. He 
 fancied himself as rich as a prince, the porter 
 said ; and had gone to get himself drink in the 
 town." 
 
 "Enough, enough !" answered Herbert; "a
 
 310 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 man would not give gold to spread such a 
 report falsely. Leave me!" and, seating him- 
 self at his table again, he remained in deep 
 thought, without one exclamation of joy, with 
 scarcely the movement of a muscle, till the 
 castle clock struck two ; and then, retiring 
 into his bedroom, he laid himself down and 
 slept profoundly. When he rose on the fol- 
 lowing morning, a new train of somewhat 
 anxious thoughts took possession of him. 
 "Who was it that had saved his Agnes?" he 
 asked himself. "Who was it that had borne 
 her company through the past long night? 
 Was it one who could be trusted ? One who 
 would respect the purity of her mind and 
 heart, and guard her like a child from all that 
 would sully as well as injure ? " 
 
 He was still busy with these fancies, when 
 his ear caught a light step on the stair ; he 
 knew it well ; and, starting up, threw wide the 
 door. In an instant Agnes was in his arms, 
 and a few moments were given up to joy and 
 gratulation. But the lady soon turned to a 
 different theme. " I will tell you all here-
 
 HEIDELBERG. 311 
 
 after," she said; "but at present you must 
 come to the Elector to plead for and defend 
 the saviour of your Agnes ;" and with rapid and 
 eager words she gave a clear brief account of 
 all that had taken place since her arrival at the 
 castle. 
 
 Herbert gazed upon her glowing coun- 
 tenance, as she spoke, with a thoughtful and 
 inquiring look, and then said in a low voice : 
 **" So it was this Englishman, then, was it?" 
 
 " Yes," exclaimed Agnes, eagerly ; " all 
 others abandoned me ; even his own cousin, 
 who had been riding by my side, spurred on 
 and left me. But for him, I must inevitably 
 have perished." 
 
 "And he fought Oberntraut, too," continued 
 Herbert, in the same tone, " and vanquished 
 him, — that were no easy task. But I knew 
 what would take place between those two — I 
 saw it ; but deceived myself as to the time, 
 else I would have stopped it." 
 
 " Nay, come," said Agnes, laying her hand 
 upon his arm ; " if you come not speedily they 
 will have sent him to prison."
 
 312 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 " Stay awhile, my child," answered Herbert. 
 *' So this young man was kind to you ?" 
 
 " Most kind," replied Agnes, somewhat sur- 
 prised at her uncle's manner : ** nothing that 
 could be done to make me comfortable was 
 left undone by him." 
 
 " He has seen much of the worldr-^been in 
 courts, and camps, and corrupt foreign lands," 
 said Herbert, musing. " Where slept he at the 
 place of your last night's rest?" 
 
 " In the hall below," answered Agnes. 
 
 "And doubtless, by the way, he cheered 
 and comforted you?" continued her uncle. 
 
 " With the kindest courtesy," replied the 
 lady. 
 
 " And with tales of love?" said Herbert. 
 
 *' Not one word," cried Agnes, with the warm 
 blood mounting into her cheek ; " nought that 
 could be so construed for an instant. What is 
 it that you seek to know ?" she added, pressing 
 her hand upon his arm, and looking full into 
 his face. " Why do you speak so strangely ? 
 I have nought to tell — not a syllable to 
 say that your ear would not be well pleased
 
 HEIDELBERG. 313 
 
 to receive. If you seek to know how my 
 deliverer treated me — it was as a kind and 
 gentle brother towards a sister just saved from 
 danger, — somewhat colder, perhaps ; than a 
 brother might have been, but still as tender, as 
 considerate, as feeling. He aided, supported, 
 cheered, strengthened me, with more reve- 
 rence than was needed, perhaps; but yet I 
 thanked him for it, for it set me at my ease ; 
 and through those long hours I walked, hanging 
 on his arm as if it had been your own, with the 
 same confidence and trust, and to the end was 
 not deceived ; for not one word, nor act — and I 
 am sure I may say thought also — was there 
 which could give me even a moment's pain. — 
 Surely you do not doubt your Agnes ? " 
 
 '' No, no, my child," cried Herbert, throwing 
 his arms round her ; " I wished but to be sure 
 that this young man was what I thought him. 
 
 Now let us go, I am ready to plead his 
 
 cause for you, and I trust I shall not plead it 
 vainly. I saw the challenge given, and though 
 I was not near enough to hear the words, feel 
 sure that it came from Obemtraut. Come,
 
 314 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 Agnes," and, with the lady leaning on his arm, 
 he walked quickly from his own tower to that 
 part of the castle where the apartments of 
 Frederic and Elizabeth were situated. He 
 was there informed that the Elector was still 
 in the small hall, as it was called; and, hurry- 
 ing thither, he threw open the door. The 
 figure which his eye first sought did not appear; 
 for Algernon Grey had already been removed. 
 But the Elector was still standing at the farther 
 end of the room, conversing with the gentle- 
 men around him ; and Herbert advanced at 
 once towards the Prince, bowing low as he 
 approached. 
 
 " Ah, Herbert, is that you ? '' exclaimed 
 Frederic, when he saw him; *^I wish to speak 
 with you a moment alone. — Gentlemen, I 
 need not detain you longer. Stay you, 
 fair lady : I have counsel for your ear 
 also.'' 
 
 At the hint thus given, the room was in- 
 stantly cleared of all persons but the Prince, 
 the English officer, and his niece ; and, as 
 soon as the door was closed, Frederic ex-
 
 HEIDELBERG. 315 
 
 claimed: "What is it, Herbert? there seems 
 an angry spot upon your brow. The affair of 
 this young nobleman, I will warrant. Well, 
 that will be easily explained." 
 
 "You mistake me, noble Prince," answered 
 Herbert ; " I may be deeply grieved to find 
 that a noble gentleman, who has not only just 
 saved this dear child's life at the hazard of his 
 own, but through a long night, when she had 
 no one else to protect her, has treated her with 
 that mingled respect and courtesy — that ten- 
 derness, united with reverence, which none 
 but the noble heart can feel or show — should 
 have fallen under your indignation ; but auger, 
 on my part, towards the Prince I serve, is out 
 of the question." 
 
 "You have heard the cause?" said Frederic, 
 interrupting him ; " this sad duel with young 
 Oberntraut." 
 
 *' Oh, yes, your Highness, I know all that," 
 replied Herbert ; '-'I saw Oberntraut seek the 
 quarrel, and give the challenge." 
 
 "Then you are sure it came from him?" 
 inquired Frederic.
 
 316 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 " I heard not the words which were spoken, 
 sir," answered Herbert ; " but there are looks 
 and gestures as good as any words, and from 
 them I feel quite sure that the challenge came 
 from him, who has fallen, it seems. Besides, 
 it was he '^ho stopped my young friend, calling 
 him from m}^ side, and, as he did so, I marked 
 the frowning brow and flashing eye — the lip 
 that quivered with scorn and anger, and the 
 impatient gesture of the hand. It must have 
 been hard to bear that demeanour of his, and 
 yet the other's was calm and grave, as if resist- 
 ing passion rather than yielding to it. Let the 
 matter be inquired into, my Prince ; and if it 
 be as I say, surely you will not visit the faults 
 of Oberntraut on the head of Master Grey, 
 even by imprisonment." 
 
 "For his own safety, Herbert," replied the 
 Prince, putting his hand upon his arm, " he 
 must endure confinement for a while. If this 
 young lord recovers we can easily settle all 
 differences between them, and quiet down the 
 old man's rash heat ; but if he dies, you know 
 old Oberntraut, and are well aware he would
 
 HEIDELBERG. 317 
 
 move heaven and earth, and take any means, 
 lawful or unlawful, for revenge. In that 
 case, we must get this young gentleman out 
 of the Palatinate as secretly as may be. In 
 the mean time, however, he must be a 
 prisoner; for a chance-meeting betw^een him 
 and the old man might be fatal to one or 
 both." 
 
 *' I trust your Highness will take care then," 
 answered Herbert, ^' that all shall be done to 
 make his imprisonment light." 
 
 " As light as may be," replied the Prince. 
 " I have been forced to put on a stern face, 
 and use harsh words, in order to satisfy my 
 court that I show no unjust favour to one of 
 my fair lady's countrymen ; but, at the same 
 time, I never dreamt of dealing hardly with him, 
 and I was but even now thinking of giving him 
 into your custody, my good friend. Then you 
 can attend to all his wants and wishes, — but 
 you must be responsible to me for his safe 
 custody, and you shall swear, upon your 
 honour, that by no indulgence you grant him, 
 shall he be seen beyond the walls of his present
 
 318 HEIDELBERG. 
 
 prison at any time when old Oberntraut is 
 within the castle-gates." 
 
 '^' " Then the youth must be mewed up al- 
 together," answered Herbert, " unless we bring 
 him out to walk at night, for that fierce old 
 wolf is here from sunrise till evening close." 
 
 "All that you must arrange as you can," 
 answered the Prince. " I would not, for half 
 
 mv dominions, have those two meet But 
 
 will you accept the custody, and give the 
 promise ? for I must now go." 
 
 "Well, well, since it may be no better," 
 rejoined the English officer, bluntly, " I must 
 even take what your Highness is pleased to 
 grant : I give you my honour then, sir, to 
 observe the orders you have given, but I must 
 have a soldier or two to keep guard, for we 
 cannot prevent him, I suppose, from seeing his 
 friends." 
 
 " During the day," answered Frederic, 
 " but not after nightfall. You can take a 
 guard if you think it necessary. Come to me 
 in half an hour and you shall have an order 
 for his custody. We must hear the tale of
 
 HEIDELBERG. 319 
 
 your strange adventures, fair lady, at some 
 other time, — for the present, fare-you-well !" 
 
 Thus saying, the Prince quitted the room 
 by the door on his right side ; and, drawing 
 Agnes's arm through his, Herbert returned 
 towards his own lodging, saying ; " You shall 
 be his little gaoler, Agnes ; and, as he has dealt 
 nobly and truly by you, so you shall repay his 
 services by kind services in return." 
 
 ENP OF VOL. I.
 
 Loudon : 
 
 Printed by Stewart and Murrat, 
 
 Old Bailey.
 
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