START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST*** Transcribed from the 1890 Macmillan and Co. edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org THE DOVE IN THE EAGLEâS NEST BY CHARLOTTE M. YONGE [Picture: Sitting at the desk] _ILLUSTRATED BY W. J. HENNESSY_ * * * * * London MACMILLAN AND CO. AND NEW YORK 1890 _The Right of Translation is Reserved_ * * * * * _First Edition_ (2 vols. Crown 8vo), 1866. _New Edition_ (1 vol. Crown 8vo), 1869. _Reprinted_ 1871; January and November 1873; 1875; 1876; 1879; 1882; 1883; 1884; 1888. _New Edition_, 1889. _Reprinted_ 1890. INTRODUCTION IN sending forth this little book, I am inclined to add a few explanatory words as to the use I have made of historical personages. The origin of the whole story was probably Freytagâs first series of pictures of German Life: probably, I say, for its first commencement was a dream, dreamt some weeks after reading that most interesting collection of sketches. The return of the squire with the tidings of the death of the two knights was vividly depicted in sleep; and, though without local habitation or name, the scene was most likely to have been a reflection from the wild scenes so lately read of. In fact, waking thoughts decided that such a catastrophe could hardly have happened anywhere but in Germany, or in Scotland; and the contrast between the cultivation in the free cities and the savagery of the independent barons made the former the more suitable region for the adventures. The time could only be before the taming and bringing into order of the empire, when the Imperial cities were in their greatest splendour, the last free nobles in course of being reduced from their lawless liberty, and the House of Austria beginning to acquire its preponderance over the other princely families. M. Freytagâs books, and Hegewischâs History of Maximilian, will, I think, be found fully to bear out the picture I have tried to give of the state of things in the reign of the Emperor Friedrich III., when, for want of any other law, _Faust recht_, or fist right, ruled; _i.e._ an offended nobleman, having once sent a _Fehde-brief_ to his adversary, was thenceforth at liberty to revenge himself by a private war, in which, for the wrong inflicted, no justice was exacted. Hegewisch remarks that the only benefit of this custom was, that the honour of subscribing a feud-brief was so highly esteemed that it induced the nobles to learn to write! The League of St. George and the Swabian League were the means of gradually putting down this authorized condition of deadly feud. This was in the days of Maximilianâs youth. He is a prince who seems to have been almost as inferior in his foreign to what he was in his domestic policy as was Queen Elizabeth. He is chiefly familiar to us as failing to keep up his authority in Flanders after the death of Mary of Burgundy, as lingering to fulfil his engagement with Anne of Brittany till he lost her and her duchy, as incurring ridicule by his ill-managed schemes in Italy, and the vast projects that he was always forming without either means or steadiness to carry them out, by his perpetual impecuniosity and slippery dealing; and in his old age he has become rather the laughing-stock of historians. But there is much that is melancholy in the sight of a man endowed with genius, unbalanced by the force of character that secures success, and with an ardent nature whose intention overleapt obstacles that in practice he found insuperable. At home Maximilian raised the Imperial power from a mere cipher to considerable weight. We judge him as if he had been born in the purple and succeeded to a defined power like his descendants. We forget that the head of the Holy Roman Empire had been, ever since the extinction of the Swabian line, a mere mark for ambitious princes to shoot at, with everything expected from him, and no means to do anything. Maximilianâs own father was an avaricious, undignified old man, not until near his death Archduke of even all Austria, and with anarchy prevailing everywhere under his nominal rule. It was in the time of Maximilian that the Empire became as compact and united a body as could be hoped of anything so unwieldy, that law was at least acknowledged, _Faust recht_ for ever abolished, and the Emperor became once more a real power. The man under whom all this was effected could have been no fool; yet, as he said himself, he reigned over a nation of kings, who each chose to rule for himself; and the uncertainty of supplies of men or money to be gained from them made him so often fail necessarily in his engagements, that he acquired a shiftiness and callousness to breaches of promise, which became the worst flaw in his character. But of the fascination of his manner there can be no doubt. Even Henry VIII.âs English ambassadors, when forced to own how little they could depend on him, and how dangerous it was to let subsidies pass through his fingers, still show themselves under a sort of enchantment of devotion to his person, and this in his old age, and when his conduct was most inexcusable and provoking. His variety of powers was wonderful. He was learned in many languagesâin all those of his empire or hereditary states, and in many besides; and he had an ardent love of books, both classical and modern. He delighted in music, painting, architecture, and many arts of a more mechanical description; wrote treatises on all these, and on other subjects, especially gardening and gunnery. He was the inventor of an improved lock to the arquebus, and first divined how to adapt the disposition of his troops to the use of the newly-discovered fire-arms. And in all these things his versatile head and ready hand were personally employed, not by deputy; while coupled with so much artistic taste was a violent passion for hunting, which carried him through many hairbreadth âscapes. âIt was plain,â he used to say, âthat God Almighty ruled the world, or how could things go on with a rogue like Alexander VI. at the head of the Church, and a mere huntsman like himself at the head of the Empire.â His _bon-mots_ are numerous, all thoroughly characteristic, and showing that brilliancy in conversation must have been one of his greatest charms. It seems as if only self-control and resolution were wanting to have made him a Charles, or an Alfred, the Great. The romance of his marriage with the heiress of Burgundy is one of the best known parts of his life. He was scarcely two-and-twenty when he lost her, who perhaps would have given him the stability he wanted; but his tender hove for her endured through life. It is not improbable that it was this still abiding attachment that made him slack in overcoming difficulties in the way of other contracts, and that he may have hoped that his engagement to Bianca Sforza would come to nothing, like so many others. The most curious record of him is, however, in two books, the materials for which he furnished, and whose composition and illustration he superintended, _Der Weise King_, and _Theurdank_, of both of which he is well known to be the hero. The White, or the Wise King, it is uncertain which, is a history of his education and exploits, in prose. Every alternate page has its engraving, showing how the Young White King obtains instruction in painting, architecture, language, and all arts and sciences, the latter including magicâwhich he learns of an old woman with a long-tailed demon sitting, like Mother Hubbardâs cat, on her shoulderâand astrology. In the illustration of this study an extraordinary figure of a cross within a circle appears in the sky, which probably has some connection with his scheme of nativity, for it also appears on the breast of Ehrenhold, his constant companion in the metrical history of his career, under the name of Theurdank. The poetry of _Theurdank_ was composed by Maximilianâs old writing-master, Melchior Pfinznig; but the adventures were the Kaisarâs own, communicated by himself, and he superintended the wood-cuts. The name is explained to mean âcraving glory,ââGloriÃ¦memor. The Germans laugh to scorn a French translator, who rendered it âChermerci.â It was annotated very soon after its publication, and each exploit explained and accounted for. It is remarkable and touching in a man who married at eighteen, and was a widower at twenty-two, that, in both books, the happy union with his lady love is placed at the endânot at the beginning of the book; and in _Theurdank_, at least, the eternal reunion is clearly meant. In this curious book, KÃ¶nig RÃ¶mreich, by whom every contemporary understood poor Charles of Burgundyâthus posthumously made King of Rome by Maximilian, as the only honour in his power, betroths his daughter Ehrenreich (rich in honour) to the Ritter Theurdank. Soon after, by a most mild version of Duke Charlesâs frightful end, KÃ¶nig RÃ¶mreich is seen on his back dying in a garden, and Ehrenreich (as Mary really did) despatches a ring to summon her betrothed. But here Theurdank returns for answer that he means first to win honour by his exploits, and sets out with his comrade, Ehrenhold, in search thereof. Ehrenhold never appears of the smallest use to him in any of the dire adventures into which he falls, but only stands complacently by, and in effect may represent Fame, or perhaps that literary sage whom Don Quixote always supposed to be at hand to record his deeds of prowess. Next we are presented with the German impersonation of Satan as a wise old magician, only with claws instead of feet, commissioning his three captains (_hauptleutern_), FÃ¼rwitz, Umfallo, and Neidelhard, to beset and ruin Theurdank. They are interpreted as the dangers of youth, middle life, and old ageâRashness, Disaster, and Distress (or Envy). One at a time they encounter him,ânot once, but again and again; and he has ranged under each head, in entire contempt of real order of time, the perils he thinks owing to each foe. FÃ¼rwitz most justly gets the credit of Maximilianâs perils on the steeple of Ulm, though, unfortunately, the artist has represented the daring climber as standing not much above the shoulders of FÃ¼rwitz and Ehrenhold; and although the annotation tells us that his âhinder half footâ overhung the scaffold, the danger in the print is not appalling. FÃ¼rwitz likewise inveigles him into putting the point (_schnÃ¤bel_) of his shoe into the wheel of a mill for turning stone balls, where he certainly hardly deserved to lose nothing but the beak of his shoe. This enemy also brings him into numerous unpleasant predicaments on precipices, where he hangs by one hand; while the chamois stand delighted on every available peak, FÃ¼rwitz grins malevolently, and Ehrenhold stands pointing at him over his shoulder. Time and place are given in the notes for all these escapes. After some twenty adventures FÃ¼rwitz is beaten off, and Umfallo tries his powers. Here the misadventures do not involve so much folly on the heroâs partâthough, to be sure, he ventures into a lionâs den unarmed, and has to beat off the inmates with a shovel. But the other adventures are more rational. He catches a jesterâof admirably foolish expressionâputting a match to a powder-magazine; he is wonderfully preserved in mountain avalanches and hurricanes; reins up his horse on the verge of an abyss; falls through ice in Holland and shows nothing but his head above it; cures himself of a fever by draughts of water, to the great disgust of his physicians, and escapes a fire bursting out of a tall stove. Neidelhard brings his real battles and perils. From this last he is in danger of shipwreck, of assassination, of poison, in single combat, or in battle; tumults of the people beset him; he is imprisoned as at Ghent. But finally Neidelhard is beaten back; and the hero is presented to Ehrenreich. Ehrenhold recounts his triumphs, and accuses the three captains. One is hung, another beheaded, the third thrown headlong from a tower, and a guardian angel then summons Theurdank to his union with his Queen. No doubt this reunion was the life-dream of the harassed, busy, inconsistent man, who flashed through the turmoils of the early sixteenth century. The adventures of Maximilian which have been adverted to in the story are all to be found in Theurdank, and in his early life he was probably the brilliant eager person we have tried in some degree to describe. In his latter years it is well known that he was much struck by Lutherâs arguments; and, indeed, he had long been conscious of need of Church reform, though his plans took the grotesque form of getting himself made Pope, and taking all into his own hands. Perhaps it was unwise to have ever so faintly sketched Ebboâs career through the ensuing troubles; but the history of the star and of the spark in the stubble seemed to need completion; and the working out of the character of the survivor was unfinished till his course had been thought over from the dawn of the Wittenberg teaching, which must have seemed no novelty to an heir of the doctrine of Tauler, and of the veritably Catholic divines of old times. The idea is of the supposed course of a thoughtful, refined, conscientious man through the earlier times of the Reformation, glad of the hope of cleansing the Church, but hoping to cleanse, not to break away from herâa hope that Luther himself long cherished, and which was not entirely frustrated till the re-assembly at Trent in the next generation. Justice has never been done to the men who feared to loose their hold on the Church Catholic as the one body to which the promises were made. Their loyalty has been treated as blindness, timidity, or superstition; but that there were many such persons, and those among the very highest minds of their time, no one can have any doubt after reading such lives as those of Friedrich the Wise of Saxony, of Erasmus, of Vittoria Colonna, or of Cardinal Giustiniani. _April_ 9, 1836. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS âShe was too young and too delicate to reject _Page_ 37 civilization, and she let Christina braid her hair, bathe her, and arrange her dress, with sensations of comfort that were almost like healthâ _Front_ Henceforth mine own lady-mother is the mistress of this 126 castle, and whoever speaks a rude word to her offends the Freiherr von Adlerstein ââNo; only I saw that you stayed here all alone,â she 269 said, clasping her handsâ CHAPTER I MASTER GOTTFRIEDâS WORKSHOP THE upper lattices of a tall, narrow window were open, and admitted the view, of first some richly-tinted vine leaves and purpling grapes, then, in dazzling freshness of new white stone, the lacework fabric of a half-built minster spire, with a masonâs crane on the summit, bending as though craving for a further supply of materials; and beyond, peeping through every crevice of the exquisite open fretwork, was the intensely blue sky of early autumn. The lower longer panes of the window were closed, and the glass, divided into circles and quarrels, made the scene less distinct; but still the huge stone tower was traceable, and, farther off, the slope of a gently-rising hill, clothed with vineyards blushing into autumn richness. Below, the view was closed by the gray wall of a court-yard, laden with fruit-trees in full bearing, and inclosing paved paths that radiated from a central fountain, and left spaces between, where a few summer flowers still lingered, and the remains of others showed what their past glory had been. The interior of the room was wainscoted, the floor paved with bright red and cream-coloured tiles, and the tall stove in one corner decorated with the same. The eastern end of the apartment was adorned with an exquisite small group carved in oak, representing the carpenterâs shop at Nazareth, with the Holy Child instructed by Joseph in the use of tools, and the Mother sitting with her book, âpondering these things in her heart.â All around were blocks of wood and carvings in varying states of progressâsome scarcely shaped out, and others in perfect completion. And the subjects were equally various. Here was an adoring angel with folded wings, clasped hands, and rapt face; here a majestic head of an apostle or prophet; here a lovely virgin saint, seeming to play smilingly with the instrument of her martyrdom; here a grotesque _miserere_ group, illustrating a fairy tale, or caricaturing a popular fable here a beauteous festoon of flowers and fruit, emulating nature in all save colour; and on the work-table itself, growing under the masterâs hand, was a long wreath, entirely composed of leaves and seed-vessels in their quaint and beauteous formsâthe heart-shaped shepherdâs purse, the mask-like skull-cap, and the crowned urn of the henbane. The starred cap of the poppy was actually being shaped under the tool, copied from a green capsule, surmounted with purple velvety rays, which, together with its rough and wavy leaf, was held in the hand of a young maiden who knelt by the table, watching the work with eager interest. She was not a beautiful girlânot one of those whose âbright eyes rain influence, and judge the prize.â She was too small, too slight, too retiring for such a position. If there was something lily-like in her drooping grace, it was not the queen-lily of the garden that she resembled, but the retiring lily of the valleyâso purely, transparently white was her skin, scarcely tinted by a roseate blush on the cheek, so tender and modest the whole effect of her slender figure, and the soft, downcast, pensive brown eyes, utterly dissimilar in hue from those of all her friends and kindred, except perhaps the bright, quick ones of her uncle, the master-carver. Otherwise, his portly form, open visage, and good-natured stateliness, as well as his furred cap and gold chain, were thoroughly those of the German burgomaster of the fifteenth century; but those glittering black eyes had not ceased to betray their French, or rather Walloon, origin, though for several generations back the family had been settled at Ulm. Perhaps, too, it was Walloon quickness and readiness of wit that had made them, so soon as they became affiliated, so prominent in all the councils of the good free city, and so noted for excellence in art and learning. Indeed the present head of the family, Master Gottfried Sorel, was so much esteemed for his learning that he had once had serious thoughts of terming himself Magister Gothofredus Oxalicus, and might have carried it out but for the very decided objections of his wife, Dame Johanna, and his little niece, Christina, to being dubbed by any such surname. Master Gottfried had had a scapegrace younger brother named Hugh, who had scorned both books and tools, had been the plague of the workshop, and, instead of coming back from his wandering year of improvement, had joined a band of roving Lanzknechts. No more had been heard of him for a dozen or fifteen years, when he suddenly arrived at the paternal mansion at Ulm, half dead with intermittent fever, and with a young, broken-hearted, and nearly expiring wife, his spoil in his Italian campaigns. His rude affection had utterly failed to console her for her desolated home and slaughtered kindred, and it had so soon turned to brutality that, when brought to comparative peace and rest in his brotherâs home, there was nothing left for the poor Italian but to lie down and die, commending her babe in broken German to Hausfrau Johanna, and blessing Master Gottfried for his flowing Latin assurances that the child should be to them even as the little maiden who was lying in the Godâs acre upon the hillside. And verily the little Christina had been a precious gift to the bereaved couple. Her father had no sooner recovered than he returned to his roving life, and, except for a report that he had been seen among the retainers of one of the robber barons of the Swabian Alps, nothing had been heard of him; and Master Gottfried only hoped to be spared the actual pain and scandal of knowing when his eyes were blinded and his head swept off at a blow, or when he was tumbled headlong into a moat, suspended from a tree, or broken on the wheel: a choice of fates that was sure sooner or later to befall him. Meantime, both the burgomeister and burgomeisterinn did their utmost to forget that the gentle little girl was not their own; they set all their hopes and joys on her, and, making her supply the place at once of son and daughter, they bred her up in all the refinements and accomplishments in which the free citizens of Germany took the lead in the middle and latter part of the fifteenth century. To aid her aunt in all house-wifely arts, to prepare dainty food and varied liquors, and to spin, weave, and broider, was only a part of Christinaâs training; her uncle likewise set great store by her sweet Italian voice, and caused her to be carefully taught to sing and play on the lute, and he likewise delighted in hearing her read aloud to him from the hereditary store of MSS. and from the dark volumes that began to proceed from the press. Nay, Master Gottfried had made experiments in printing and wood-engraving on his own account, and had found no head so intelligent, no hand so desirous to aid him, as his little Christinaâs, who, in all that needed taste and skill rather than strength, was worth all his prentices and journeymen together. Some fine bold wood-cuts had been produced by their joint efforts; but these less important occupations had of late been set aside by the engrossing interest of the interior fittings of the great âDome Kirk,â which for nearly a century had been rising by the united exertions of the burghers, without any assistance from without. The foundation had been laid in 1377; and at length, in the year of grace 1472, the crown of the apse had been closed in, and matters were so forward that Master Gottfriedâs stall work was already in requisition for the choir. âThree cubits more,â he reckoned. âChild, hast thou found me fruits enough for the completing of this border?â âO yes, mine uncle. I have the wild rosehip, and the flat shield of the moonwort, and a pea-pod, and more whose names I know not. But should they all be seed and fruit?â âYea, truly, my Stina, for this wreath shall speak of the goodly fruits of a completed life.â âEven as that which you carved in spring told of the blossom and fair promise of youth,â returned the maiden. âMethinks the one is the most beautiful, as it ought to be;â then, after a little pause, and some reckoning, âI have scarce seed-pods enough in store, uncle; might we not seek some rarer shapes in the herb-garden of Master Gerhard, the physician? He, too, might tell me the names of some of these.â âTrue, child; or we might ride into the country beyond the walls, and seek them. What, little one, wouldst thou not?â âSo we go not far,â faltered Christina, colouring. âHa, thou hast not forgotten the fright thy companions had from the Schlangenwald reitern when gathering Maydew? Fear not, little coward; if we go beyond the suburbs we will take Hans and Peter with their halberts. But I believe thy silly little heart can scarce be free for enjoyment if it can fancy a Reiter within a dozen leagues of thee.â âAt your side I would not fear. That is, I would not vex thee by my folly, and I might forget it,â replied Christina, looking down. âMy gentle child!â the old man said approvingly. âMoreover, if our good Raiser has his way, we shall soon be free of the reitern of Schlangenwald, and Adlerstein, and all the rest of the mouse-trap barons. He is hoping to form a league of us free imperial cities with all the more reasonable and honest nobles, to preserve the peace of the country. Even now a letter from him was read in the Town Hall to that effect; and, when all are united against them, my lords-mousers must needs become pledged to the league, or go down before it.â âAh! that will be well,â cried Christina. âThen will our wagons be no longer set upon at the Debateable Ford by Schlangenwald or Adlerstein; and our wares will come safely, and there will be wealth enough to raise our spire! O uncle, what a day of joy will that be when Our Ladyâs great statue will be set on the summit!â âA day that I shall scarce see, and it will be well if thou dost,â returned her uncle, âunless the hearts of the burghers of Ulm return to the liberality of their fathers, who devised that spire! But what trampling do I hear?â There was indeed a sudden confusion in the house, and, before the uncle and niece could rise, the door was opened by a prosperous apple-faced dame, exclaiming in a hasty whisper, âHousefather, O Housefather, there are a troop of reitern at the door, dismounting already;â and, as the master came forward, brushing from his furred vest the shavings and dust of his work, she added in a more furtive, startled accent, âand, if I mistake not, one is thy brother!â âHe is welcome,â replied Master Gottfried, in his cheery fearless voice; âhe brought us a choice gift last time he came; and it may be he is ready to seek peace among us after his wanderings. Come hither, Christina, my little one; it is well to be abashed, but thou art not a child who need fear to meet a father.â Christinaâs extreme timidity, however, made her pale and crimson by turns, perhaps by the infection of anxiety from her aunt, who could not conceal a certain dissatisfaction and alarm, as the maiden, led on either side by her adopted parents, thus advanced from the little studio into a handsomely-carved wooden gallery, projecting into a great wainscoated room, with a broad carved stair leading down into it. Down this stair the three proceeded, and reached the stone hall that lay beyond it, just as there entered from the trellised porch, that covered the steps into the street, a thin wiry man, in a worn and greasy buff suit, guarded on the breast and arms with rusty steel, and a battered helmet with the vizor up, disclosing a weather-beaten bronzed face, with somewhat wild dark eyes, and a huge grizzled moustache forming a straight line over his lips. Altogether he was a complete model of the lawless Reiter or Lanzknecht, the terror of Swabia, and the bugbear of Christinaâs imagination. The poor childâs heart died within her as she perceived the mutual recognition between her uncle and the new comer; and, while Master Gottfried held out his hands with a cordial greeting of âWelcome, home, brother Hugh,â she trembled from head to foot, as she sank on her knees, and murmured, âYour blessing, honoured father.â âHa? What, this is my girl? What says she? My blessing, eh? There then, thou hast it, child, such as I have to give, though theyâll tell thee at Adlerstein that I am more wont to give the other sort of blessing! Now, give me a kiss, girl, and let me see thee! How now!â as he folded her in his rough arms; âthou art a mere feather, as slight as our sick Jungfrau herself.â And then, regarding her, as she stood drooping, âThou art not half the woman thy mother wasâshe was stately and straight as a column, and tall withal.â âTrue!â replied Hausfrau Johanna, in a marked tone; âbut both she and her poor babe had been so harassed and wasted with long journeys and hardships, that with all our care of our Christina, she has never been strong or well-grown. The marvel is that she lived at all.â âOur Christina is not beautiful, we know,â added her uncle, reassuringly taking her hand; âbut she is a good and meek maiden.â âWell, well,â returned the Lanzknecht, âshe will answer the purpose well enough, or better than if she were fair enough to set all our fellows together by the ears for her. Camilla, I sayâno, whatâs her name, Christina?âput up thy gear and be ready to start with me to-morrow morning for Adlerstein.â âFor Adlerstein?â re-echoed the housemother, in a tone of horrified dismay; and Christina would have dropped on the floor but for her uncleâs sustaining hand, and the cheering glance with which he met her imploring look. âLet us come up to the gallery, and understand what you desire, brother,â said Master Gottfried, gravely. âFill the cup of greeting, Hans. Your followers shall be entertained in the hall,â he added. âAy, ay,â quoth Hugh, âI will show you reason over a goblet of the old Rosenburg. Is it all gone yet, brother Goetz? No? I reckon there would not be the scouring of a glass left of it in a week if it were at Adlerstein.â So saying, the trooper crossed the lower room, which contained a huge tiled baking oven, various brilliantly-burnished cooking utensils, and a great carved cupboard like a wooden bedstead, and, passing the door of the bathroom, clanked up the oaken stairs to the gallery, the reception-room of the house. It had tapestry hangings to the wall, and cushions both to the carved chairs and deep windows, which looked out into the street, the whole storey projecting into close proximity with the corresponding apartment of the Syndic Moritz, the goldsmith on the opposite side. An oaken table stood in the centre, and the gallery was adorned with a dresser, displaying not only bright pewter, but goblets and drinking cups of beautifully-shaped and coloured glass, and saltcellars, tankards, &c. of gold and silver. âJust as it was in the old manâs time,â said the soldier, throwing himself into the housefatherâs chair. âA handful of Lanzknechts would make short work with your pots and pans, good sister Johanna.â âHeaven forbid!â said poor Johanna under her breath. âMuch good they do you, up in a row there, making you a slave to furbishing them. Thereâs more sense in a chair like thisâthat does rest a manâs bones. Here, Camilla, girl, unlace my helmet! What, knowâst not how? What is a woman made for but to let a soldier free of his trappings? Thou hast done it! There! Now my boots,â stretching out his legs. âHans shall draw off your boots, fair brother,â began the dame; but poor Christina, the more anxious to propitiate him in little things, because of the horror and dread with which his main purpose inspired her, was already on her knees, pulling with her small quivering hands at the long steel-guarded bootâa task to which she would have been utterly inadequate, but for some lazy assistance from her fatherâs other foot. She further brought a pair of her uncleâs furred slippers, while Reiter Hugh proceeded to dangle one of the boots in the air, expatiating on its frail condition, and expressing his intention of getting a new pair from Master Matthias, the sutor, ere he should leave Ulm on the morrow. Then, again, came the dreaded subject; his daughter must go with him. âWhat would you with Christina, brother?â gravely asked Master Gottfried, seating himself on the opposite side of the stove, while out of sight the frightened girl herself knelt on the floor, her head on her auntâs knees, trying to derive comfort from Dame Johannaâs clasping hands, and vehement murmurs that they would not let their child be taken from them. Alas! these assurances were little in accordance with Hughâs rough reply, âAnd what is it to you what I do with mine own?â âOnly this, that, having bred her up as my child and intended heiress, I might have some voice.â âOh! in choosing her mate! Some mincing artificer, I trow, fiddling away with wood and wire to make gauds for the fair-day! Hast got him here? If I like him, and she likes him, Iâll bring her back when her work is done.â âThere is no such person as yet in the case,â said Gottfried. âChristina is not yet seventeen, and I would take my time to find an honest, pious burgher, who will value this precious jewel of mine.â âAnd let her polish his flagons to the end of her days,â laughed Hugh grimly, but manifestly somewhat influenced by the notion of his brotherâs wealth. âWhat, hast no child of thine own?â he added. âNone, save in Paradise,â answered Gottfried, crossing himself. âAnd thus, if Christina should remain with me, and be such as I would have her, then, brother, my wealth, after myself and my good housewife, shall be hers, with due provision for thee, if thou shouldst weary of thy wild life. Otherwise,â he added, looking down, and speaking in an under tone, âmy poor savings should go to the completion of the Dome Kirk.â âAnd who told thee, Goetz, that I would do ought with the girl that should hinder her from being the very same fat, sourkrout-cooking, pewter-scrubbing housewife of thy mindâs eye?â âI have heard nothing of thy designs as yet, brother Hugh, save that thou wouldst take her to Adlerstein, which men greatly belie if it be not a nest of robbers.â âAha! thou hast heard of Adlerstein! We have made the backs of your jolly merchants tingle as well as they could through their well-lined doublets! Ulm knows of Adlerstein, and the Debateable Ford!â âIt knows little to its credit,â said Gottfried, gravely; âand it knows also that the Emperor is about to make a combination against all the Swabian robber-holds, and that such as join not in it will fare the worse.â âLet Kaiser Fritz catch his bear ere he sells its hide! He has never tried to mount the Eagleâs Ladder! Why, man, Adlerstein might be held against five hundred men by sister Johanna with her rock and spindle! âTis a free barony, Master Gottfried, I tell theeâhas never sworn allegiance to Kaiser or Duke of Swabia either! Freiherr Eberhard is as much a king on his own rock as Kaiser Fritz ever was of the Romans, and more too, for I never could find out that they thought much of our king at Rome; and, as to gainsaying our old Freiherr, one might as well leap over the abyss at once.â âYes, those old free barons are pitiless tyrants,â said Gottfried, âand I scarce think I can understand thee aright when I hear thee say thou wouldst carry thy daughter to such an abode.â âIt is the Freiherrâs command,â returned Hugh. âLook you, they have had wondrous ill-luck with their children; the Freiherrinn Kunigunde has had a dozen at least, and only two are alive, my young Freiherr and my young Lady Ermentrude; and no wonder, you would say, if you could see the gracious Freiherrinn, for surely Dame Holda made a blunder when she fished her out of the fountain woman instead of man. She is Adlerstein herself by birth, married her cousin, and is prouder and more dour than our old Freiherr himselfâfitter far to handle shield than swaddled babe. And now our Jungfrau has fallen into a pining waste, that âtis a pity to see how her cheeks have fallen away, and how she mopes and fades. Now, the old Freiherr and her brother, they both dote on her, and would do anything for her. They thought she was bewitched, so we took old Mother Ilsebill and tried her with the ordeal of water; but, look you, she sank as innocent as a puppy dog, and Ursel was at fault to fix on any one else. Then one day, when I looked into the chamber, I saw the poor maiden sitting, with her head hanging down, as if âtwas too heavy for her, on a high-backed chair, no rest for her feet, and the wind blowing keen all round her, and nothing to taste but scorched beef, or black bread and sour wine, and her mother rating her for foolish fancies that gave trouble. And, when my young Freiherr was bemoaning himself that we could not hear of a Jew physician passing our way to catch and bring up to cure her, I said to him at last that no doctor could do for her what gentle tendance and nursing would, for what the poor maiden needed was to be cosseted and laid down softly, and fed with broths and possets, and all that women know how to do with one another. A proper scowl and hard words I got from my gracious Lady, for wanting to put burgher softness into an Adlerstein; but my old lord and his son opened on the scent at once. âThou hast a daughter?â quoth the Freiherr. âSo please your gracious lordship,â quoth I; âthat is, if she still lives, for I left her a puny infant.â âWell,â said my lord, âif thou wilt bring her here, and her care restores my daughter to health and strength, then will I make thee my body squire, with a right to a fourth part of all the spoil, and feed for two horses in my stable.â And young Freiherr Eberhard gave his word upon it.â Gottfried suggested that a sick nurse was the person required rather than a child like Christina; but, as Hugh truly observed, no nurse would voluntarily go to Adlerstein, and it was no use to wait for the hopes of capturing one by raid or foray. His daughter was at his own disposal, and her services would be repaid by personal advantages to himself which he was not disposed to forego; in effect these were the only means that the baron had of requiting any attendance upon his daughter. The citizens of old Germany had the strongest and most stringent ideas of parental authority, and regarded daughters as absolute chattels of their father; and Master Gottfried Sorel, though he alone had done the part of a parent to his niece, felt entirely unable to withstand the nearer claim, except by representations; and these fell utterly disregarded, as in truth every counsel had hitherto done, upon the ears of Reiter Hugh, ever since he had emerged from his swaddling clothes. The plentiful supper, full cup of wine, the confections, the soft chair, together perhaps with his brotherâs grave speech, soon, however, had the effect of sending him into a doze, whence he started to accept civilly the proposal of being installed in the strangerâs room, where he was speedily snoring between two feather beds. Then there could be freedom of speech in the gallery, where the uncle and aunt held anxious counsel over the poor little dark-tressed head that still lay upon good Johannaâs knees. The dame was indignant and resolute: âTake the child back with him into a very nest of robbers!âher own innocent dove whom they had shielded from all evil like a very nun in a cloister! She should as soon think of yielding her up to be borne off by the great Satan himself with his horns and hoofs.â âHugh is her father, housewife,â said the master-carver. âThe right of parents is with those that have done the duty of parents,â returned Johanna. âWhat said the kid in the fable to the goat that claimed her from the sheep that bred her up? I am ashamed of you, housefather, for not better loving your own niece.â âHeaven knows how I love her,â said Gottfried, as the sweet face was raised up to him with a look acquitting him of the charge, and he bent to smooth back the silken hair, and kiss the ivory brow; âbut Heaven also knows that I see no means of withholding her from one whose claim is closer than my ownânone save one; and to that even thou, housemother, wouldst not have me resort.â âWhat is it?â asked the dame, sharply, yet with some fear. âTo denounce him to the burgomasters as one of the Adlerstein retainers who robbed Philipp der Schmidt, and have him fast laid by the heels.â Christina shuddered, and Dame Johanna herself recoiled; but presently exclaimed, âNay, you could not do that, good man, but wherefore not threaten him therewith? Stand at his bedside in early dawn, and tell him that, if he be not off ere daylight with both his cut-throats, the halberdiers will be upon him.â âThreaten what I neither could nor would perform, mother? That were a shrewish resource.â âYet would it save the child,â muttered Johanna. But, in the meantime, Christina was rising from the floor, and stood before them with loose hair, tearful eyes, and wet, flushed cheeks. âIt must be thus,â she said, in a low, but not unsteady voice. âI can bear it better since I have heard of the poor young lady, sick and with none to care for her. I will go with my father; it is my duty. I will do my best; but oh! uncle, so work with him that he may bring me back again.â âThis from thee, Stina!â exclaimed her aunt; âfrom thee who art sick for fear of a lanzknecht!â âThe saints will be with me, and you will pray for me,â said Christina, still trembling. âI tell thee, child, thou knowst not what these vile dens are. Heaven forfend thou shouldst!â exclaimed her aunt. âGo only to Father Balthazar, housefather, and see if he doth not call it a sending of a lamb among wolves.â âMindâst thou the carving I did for Father Balthazarâs own oratory?â replied Master Gottfried. âI talk not of carving! I talk of our child!â said the dame, petulantly. â_Ut agnus inter lupos_,â softly said Gottfried, looking tenderly, though sadly, at his niece, who not only understood the quotation, but well remembered the carving of the cross-marked lamb going forth from its fold among the howling wolves. âAlas! I am not an apostle,â said she. âNay, but, in the path of duty, âtis the same hand that sends thee forth,â answered her uncle, âand the same will guard thee.â âDuty, indeed!â exclaimed Johanna. âAs if any duty could lead that silly helpless child among that herd of evil men, and women yet worse, with a good-for-nothing father, who would sell her for a good horse to the first dissolute Junker who fell in his way.â âI will take care that he knows it is worth his while to restore her safe to us. Nor do I think so ill of Hugh as thou dost, mother. And, for the rest, Heaven and the saints and her own discretion must be her guard till she shall return to us.â âHow can Heaven be expected to protect her when you are flying in its face by not taking counsel with Father Balthazar?â âThat shalt thou do,â replied Gottfried, readily, secure that Father Balthazar would see the matter in the same light as himself, and tranquillize the good woman. It was not yet so late but that a servant could be despatched with a request that Father Balthazar, who lived not many houses off in the same street, would favour the Burgomeisterinn Sorel by coming to speak with her. In a few minutes he appeared,âan aged man, with a sensible face, of the fresh pure bloom preserved by a temperate life. He was a secular parish-priest, and, as well as his friend Master Gottfried, held greatly by the views left by the famous Strasburg preacher, Master John Tauler. After the good housemother had, in strong terms, laid the case before him, she expected a trenchant decision on her own side, but, to her surprise and disappointment, he declared that Master Gottfried was right, and that, unless Hugh Sorel demanded anything absolutely sinful of his daughter, it was needful that she should submit. He repeated, in stronger terms, the assurance that she would be protected in the endeavour to do right, and the Divine promises which he quoted from the Latin Scriptures gave some comfort to the niece, who understood them, while they impressed the aunt, who did not. There was always the hope that, whether the young lady died or recovered, the conclusion of her illness would be the term of Christinaâs stay at Adlerstein, and with this trust Johanna must content herself. The priest took leave, after appointing with Christina to meet her in the confessional early in the morning before mass; and half the night was spent by the aunt and niece in preparing Christinaâs wardrobe for her sudden journey. Many a tear was shed over the tokens of the little services she was wont to render, her half-done works, and pleasant studies so suddenly broken off, and all the time Hausfrau Johanna was running on with a lecture on the diligent preservation of her maiden discretion, with plentiful warnings against swaggering men-at-arms, drunken lanzknechts, and, above all, against young barons, who most assuredly could mean no good by any burgher maiden. The good aunt blessed the saints that her Stina was likely only to be lovely in affectionate home eyes; but, for that matter, idle men, shut up in a castle, with nothing but mischief to think of, would be dangerous to Little Three Eyes herself, and Christina had best never stir a yard from her ladyâs chair, when forced to meet them. All this was interspersed with motherly advice how to treat the sick lady, and receipts for cordials and possets; for Johanna began to regard the case as a sort of second-hand one of her own. Nay, she even turned it over in her mind whether she should not offer herself as the Lady Ermentrudeâs sick-nurse, as being a less dangerous commodity than her little niece: but fears for the well-being of the master-carver, and his Wirthschaft, and still more the notion of gossip Gertrude Grundt hearing that she had ridden off with a wild lanzknecht, made her at once reject the plan, without even mentioning it to her husband or his niece. By the time Hugh Sorel rolled out from between his feather beds, and was about to don his greasy buff, a handsome new suit, finished point device, and a pair of huge boots to correspond, had been laid by his bedside. âHo, ho! Master Goetz,â said he, as he stumbled into the Stube, âI see thy game. Thou wouldst make it worth my while to visit the father-house at Ulm?â âIt shall be worth thy while, indeed, if thou bringest me back my white dove,â was Gottfriedâs answer. âAnd how if I bring her back with a strapping reiter son-in-law?â laughed Hugh. âWhat welcome should the fellow receive?â âThat would depend on what he might be,â replied Gottfried; and Hugh, his love of tormenting a little allayed by satisfaction in his buff suit, and by an eye to a heavy purse that lay by his brotherâs hand on the table, added, âLittle fear of that. Our fellows would look for lustier brides than yon little pale face. âTis whiter than ever this morning,âbut no tears. That is my brave girl.â âYes, father, I am ready to do your bidding,â replied Christina, meekly. âThat is well, child. Mark me, no tears. Thy mother wept day and night, and, when she had wept out her tears, she was sullen, when I would have been friendly towards her. It was the worse for her. But, so long as thou art good daughter to me, thou shalt find me good father to thee;â and for a moment there was a kindliness in his eye which made it sufficiently like that of his brother to give some consolation to the shrinking heart that he was rending from all it loved; and she steadied her voice for another gentle profession of obedience, for which she felt strengthened by the morningâs orisons. âWell said, child. Now canst sit on old Nibelungâs croup? His back-bone is somewhat sharper than if he had battened in a citizenâs stall; but, if thine aunt can find thee some sort of pillion, Iâll promise thee the best ride thou hast had since we came from Innspruck, ere thou canst remember.â âChristina has her own mule,â replied her uncle, âwithout troubling Nibelung to carry double.â âHo! her own! An overfed burgomaster sort of a beast, that will turn restive at the first sight of the Eagleâs Ladder! However, he may carry her so far, and, if we cannot get him up
{'title': "The Dove in the Eagle's Nest by Charlotte M. Yonge", 'source': 'Project Gutenberg', 'lang': 'en'}