Chapter XXXVI · KNAVERY.

At sunrise, Antonio was prowling about the vicinity of the Count of Champagne's castle. He passed the park-gates, and, cautious as a fox in search of his prey, concealed himself behind a clump of bushes near the court-yard, whence he could perceive what was going on in the building.

"Rechberg likes early walks," he said to himself. "I shall not have long to wait. If he only knew that Bonello's daughter is at an hour's distance from here, nothing could prevent him going to her at once. But as this interview would upset all my calculations, I must be prudent.--Good, there he is at last, with his head down, as if he were counting the pebbles on the road.--He is coming towards me as though I had called him!--Oh! your servant, my lord Count."

"Ah! is that you, Antonio? I imagined you were still in Pavia."

"It is my duty to be wherever the master of the world is."

"I do not understand your meaning."

"You have not heard then that Barbarossa, with all his troops, entered Dôle yesterday?"

"Indeed!"

"Your looks and your surprise rather indicate that you do not desire to join him there."

"I wish, Antonio, that it were possible to avoid this interview.--My troubles will begin--"

"I bring news of your betrothed.--I regret extremely that they are not more agreeable ones.--But who could imagine her capable of such a thing?--I would have suspected myself sooner."

"What do you mean to say?"

"You will need all your courage, but I must tell you the truth."

"Explain yourself!"

"Yesterday I met Pietro, who was once betrothed to Hermengarde."

"I beg your pardon, sir; Pietro never was her betrothed."

"Well, at any rate, he is now."

"Villain!" said Erwin, growing pale, and grasping his sword-hilt.

"Is this your idea of gratitude, my lord? Through interest for you, I communicate something of importance, and by way of thanks you seize your sword!--Farewell, Count!"

"Stop a moment!--Ah! what is this you tell me? Pardon my violence, but my heart is broken."

"Pietro himself has assured me that Hermengarde regrets her engagement to one who is related to the tyrant, the scourge of her country, the persecutor of the Church."

Rechberg was thunderstruck; he was unable to speak.

"Compose yourself, Count, and be a man! Perhaps Pietro has exaggerated."

"Oh! if I could only know the truth."

"I have some business to attend to, to-morrow, at La Flèche. Hermengarde is there, and I will announce to her your arrival at Laon. From her manner of receiving the news, her looks and actions, I can judge whether Pietro's assertions are true or false."

"Thanks, dear Antonio; I shall be greatly indebted to you for the service."

"Make yourself perfectly easy on this point, and trust to me."

"Where shall I hear from you?"

"Here; do not leave the castle until I see you again."

"The time will seem very long. Farewell."

Antonio hurriedly crossed the park in the direction of Laon. Pietro was waiting for him at the gate.

"Well, Antonio, what have you done?" he asked.

"He believed everything I told him.--He is so guileless. To-morrow you and I must go to La Flèche.--He sends me to see his betrothed."

"We will not speak of his arrival!"

"I shall simply state that Rechberg and the French Countess have come here together, and that report says they are to be married soon, as the Emperor urges the alliance, and Rechberg himself makes little opposition."

"She will never believe you."

"Perhaps not, at first; but she will begin to doubt, and I know how to change doubts into certainty."

"In what way?"

"You shall know in due time. Now you had better leave me, for we are near the palace-yard; but do not forget to-morrow at daybreak."

Antonio entered the court-yard, where he met the Count of Champagne on his way to see the Bishop, who was awaiting him in the King's antechamber.

"I have had a hard battle to fight, Count," said the prelate. "His Majesty is very uneasy about Barbarossa's military organizations. I warn you to be prepared for everything."

The Count seemed unconcerned.

"I have not acted without proper authority," he said; "your own letter gave me full powers."

"Certainly! shield yourself behind the instructions received from me; it will induce Louis to reflect on the past. Perhaps he is already ashamed of his conduct."

At this moment the King entered. The courtiers were interrupted, for Manasés had still much to tell the Count; but there was nothing to be done but to wait for a more favorable opportunity. Henry advanced towards his sovereign and then knelt and kissed his hand respectfully. The French prince, though naturally kind and generous, often allowed himself to be led away by evil counsellors. His frivolous and vacillating character made him the tool of parties who profited by their influence, to allure him to the commission of bad actions. But as soon as his spirit had regained its wonted calm, he at once rejected the advice and the decisions which had been suggested to him. This explains the continued series of weaknesses which marked his reign. His conduct towards Alexander III. was an exact reflex of his character, and at one time he was for, at another against him. A powerful faction had sprung up since His Holiness had declared the necessity of resisting the encroachments of the clergy, and of defending the Church against the disloyal nobility. At the head of this faction was Queen Adèle, the sister of the Count of Champagne, and a relative of the Antipope Victor, and every means was employed to picture to the king, in the most gloomy colors, the dangers which his kindness towards Alexander might entail upon the French monarchy. A strong argument was the inevitable peril of a war with Germany, and the prospect of an alliance between Frederic and Henry of England, the sworn enemy of France.

Louis understood the position, but the Pope was there, and he could not make up his mind to leave the Head of the Church without protection, or to give him up to his enemy Barbarossa.

On the other hand, Alexander's friends, comprising, with few exceptions, all the Episcopacy of France, were opposed to Frederic's plans, and proved to Louis that the Emperor only sought to humble the Pope, and to subjugate all the other sovereigns. The king was sufficiently clear-sighted to understand the truth of the statement, but he made a grave mistake in supposing that he could deceive his rival by diplomatic negotiations. The German troops, encamped on the very borders of France, revealed unmistakably the intentions of their leader, which greatly disturbed and annoyed the King; and as soon as the formalities of the reception were finished, his discontent became manifest.

"What is the meaning of this?" said he to the Count of Champagne; "what contract is this you have made with the Emperor? Who gave you unrestricted powers in this matter?"

"Your Majesty himself, by directing me, through your Chancellor, to conclude a treaty of alliance. Deign to assure yourself of the truth of my assertion, by examining this document."

"We regret our Chancellor's precipitation," replied the King, after a cursory glance at the letter. "He should not have countenanced, so hastily, an alliance hostile to the Holy Father."

"Allow me to remind your Majesty of what happened," said Manasés. "When Alexander, by his gross discourtesy, so gravely insulted the royal envoys, and when, in consequence, it was determined to break off all intercourse with him, I could not foresee that your generosity would so soon forget the outrage. My instructions to the Count contain nothing more nor less than the expression of your own will."

"You know perfectly well how to excuse yourself, my lord Bishop; the fault is entirely our own.--Let it be so! but this fault, the result of an unfortunate misunderstanding, must have no further consequences!"

Manasés bowed deprecatingly before his sovereign's displeasure, but an attentive spectator might have noticed the courtier's suppressed anger.

"But, Sire!" remarked the astonished Count of Champagne, "this treaty in no way affects your own royal prerogatives."

"Indeed!" said the King; "we are then free? We are not tied down to anything?"

"You are merely pledged to a personal interview with the Emperor, and to make Alexander be present."

"What is that you say?" cried the King, furiously. "Force Alexander to be present at an assembly which is to condemn him?--And I am to aid in this!--Is that in the treaty?"

"Yes, Sire," answered Henry.

"No! by all the saints, it shall not be!" exclaimed the monarch, with increased passion. "Shame on you, Count, for signing an agreement which dishonors us! The Head of the Church has sought refuge within our territory, and we are to act against him so disloyally?--We are to use violence to force him before a tribunal composed of the Emperor's creatures! No! by Saint Denis! we would sooner lose our crown and our life!"

The courtier waited until the storm had passed, and when the King had become more calm, he said,--

"Allow me, Sire; you make a grave mistake in this interpretation of the treaty. There is nothing said about violence. You are merely to use your influence to persuade Alexander to be present at the plenary council. If he be innocent, if he be the lawful Pope, he will be charmed with this opportunity of asserting his rights."

"Very good!--You have exceeded your powers, and the treaty is invalid. Alexander can do what he pleases; and we, whatever appears to us to be just and proper. Are we then nothing but the Emperor's vassals? Have we no longer liberty to act in accordance with our own ideas?"

"I repeat that the treaty in no way interferes with your supremacy," replied the Count of Champagne; "but what was I to do? The Emperor was on the point of concluding an alliance with England against you; ought I to have permitted such a contract to be signed?"

The King made no answer to this crafty observation of his courtier; but it was not without its effect, for it was the fear of this very alliance between Frederic and the English monarch, which had made him, in the first instance, open the negotiations.

"And how is Barbarossa preparing for our alliance?" asked Louis, who was seeking a new pretext for his ill-humor. "Is he not on our very frontiers, at the head of a powerful army? Is not that, of itself, a threat?"

As if in answer to the question, a loud flourish of trumpets rang out in the palace-yard.

"What is that?" said the King.

He approached the window. A troop of knights had halted before the palace, and a chamberlain came up to announce the arrival of Frederic's envoys.