Kitabı oku: «The Court Jester», sayfa 8

"Since he knows so well how to make gold, I wonder why he is so stingy," whispered the jester to Antoine. The latter shook his head and made no reply, this being a problem too deep for him to solve.

"But the making of gold," went on Frederick, "is attended with great danger. Nature is very jealous of her riches, and conceals her precious metals in the most inaccessible spots, and in trying to make it we are likely to meet with a terrible explosive."

The emperor took a ring from his finger set with a large diamond. "This stone," said he, "is called the 'indomitable one,' for it is the hardest of all. It is the most beautiful of gems, for it has the flash of the emerald, the gleam of the sapphire, and the glow of the ruby. Around the origin of this stone Nature has woven a mystery; she has allied it to charcoal and other black substances. But I can make it by adding colors to pebbles, as I can make rubies, emeralds, and sapphires."

"Did you make the stone in your ring, Grandfather?" asked the princess innocently.

"No," replied the emperor.

"Why does he not show us one that he has made?" whispered Le Glorieux to Antoine, and it certainly seemed as if the proof of this statement should be forthcoming, since, "If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where is the peck of pickled peppers that Peter Piper picked?" But a writer of his time assures us that Frederick actually made precious stones out of pebbles, so he must have been content to take the emperor's word for it.

"Here," said the royal alchemist, taking up a second scroll of yellow parchment, "is another formula which caused me much trouble and expense to procure. It tells how to make thunder and lightning."

The emperor, with his profound knowledge of the heavens and the secrets of the earth, was an object of too much awe to Le Glorieux to be joked with, as he was in the habit of doing, but he said to Philibert as they left their august host, "Of course, it may be a great pleasure to know how to make thunder and lightning, and a man who is fond of excitement and tired of a quiet life might do it sometimes just to amuse himself. But, speaking for myself, I do not think I should like to mix up such a mess, at least not often."

It was in that same year that the emperor died, leaving Maximilian ruler in name as he had been for some time in fact. He was in possession of the domains of the Hapsburgs, as well as those of the Dukes of Burgundy, and he was served by kings and electors. Still, in spite of his exalted position, he did not become cold and forbidding in his manner, remaining frank and affable as he had been before. Writers have criticised him for his friendly ways, but after all is it not better for a ruler to be the darling of his people than always to be on his dignity, afraid to show a little human friendliness and good feeling?

The year after Maximilian became emperor he was united in marriage to Bianca Sforza, an Italian lady. When this marriage was first mentioned Le Glorieux said to the Lady Marguerite, "I can learn nothing about your new mother save that she is high-tempered, and fond of a certain kind of shellfish. It seems to me there ought to be something more to say about a woman than just that!"

The princess accepted her new mother as a matter of course. This marriage was an affair of mere business; the emperor needed money with which to fight Charles the Eighth of France, and money he would obtain by his marriage with this lady, who was far inferior to her predecessor, Mary of Burgundy, both in education and beauty. Although Frederick had claimed to have discovered the secret of turning quicksilver into gold, he did not seem to have left the recipe behind him, for the purse of his son was always gaunt and longing to be filled.

The Lady Clotilde had not returned to France, as it had been her intention to do; she had found that the climate of Austria agreed with her health to a degree little short of marvelous. She said that there were certain viands that she would not dare to touch in Burgundy, Brittany, or France, but which in the German empire did her all the good in the world. Of course, she was going away soon, next month, or surely the month after; but still the Lady Clotilde lingered on.

Philibert, finding greater advantages here for a young gentleman of rank than in his own country, also remained. It seemed that the Count de Bresse, his father, absorbed in his own schemes – and they were not always innocent ones – had almost forgotten that he owned a son, and the boy was well contented to be thus neglected, being perfectly happy in his new surroundings. In those days nations were almost continually engaged in some kind of turmoil, either fighting each other or trying to make peace, and Austria had its share of such proceedings; but at this time the principal characters of this story saw only the pleasant side of life. Antoine became more and more proficient in his music; Philibert became quite scholarly at the court of this emperor, who surrounded himself with scholars; Le Glorieux amused himself and everybody else, while the princess was put under the care of her tutors, and, taking a leaf from her father's book, was always affable and gracious to her inferiors.

CHAPTER IX
PHILIBERT IN DANGER

Three years had passed. Philibert and Antoine now were tall youths, and Marguerite was a slender, graceful maiden of fifteen.

"I am sorry that she is growing up," said Cunegunda to Le Glorieux.

"Then am I to infer that you are fond of dwarfs?" asked he.

"No, but do you not see that as soon as she becomes a woman she must marry?"

"Most women do," he returned, "and most of them are equally discontented, whether they do or do not."

"And small wonder, since they must marry men," said Cunegunda. Le Glorieux could always throw her into a temper. "I did not marry again, and I am not discontented," she added.

"I have no doubt that you have made many a man discontented by refusing them right and left," said the fool politely.

Cunegunda smiled, but looked serious again as she said dolefully, "Our princess must marry and go to live in a strange land. How I wish that she were merely the child of a nobleman instead of being the daughter of the emperor; then she could remain in Austria. Now she must go away."

"You are getting ready to cry again," said the jester, in an injured tone. "I am supposed to make people laugh. Even his Majesty laughs at me. But there seems to be something about me that makes you cry. If you will tell me what it is I will change it, both for your benefit and my own. That you can not see the point of a joke, no matter if it is as big as my head, is perhaps not your fault; but it seems to me that you might keep from bursting into tears every time you see me or hear the jingle of my bells."

Philibert de Bresse approached; he was dressed in all the grandeur of the time, and a fine sword hung by his side. "What is the trouble with Dame Cunegunda?" he asked.

"Nothing in particular," replied the fool, "save that she wants our princess to marry a hair-dresser, or some person of the kind."

"I said nothing about a hair-dresser, and you know it!" snapped the indignant woman. "I do not want my little lady to go away to a strange country. I am now past middle age, and I am attached to my own land and do not want to leave it."

"I was not aware that the emperor was arranging a foreign match for you," remarked Le Glorieux.

Deeming this piece of satire too trivial to notice, Cunegunda said, "I must go with my lady wherever she goes, for so I promised her mother."

"Is that promise to hold good until she is ninety?" asked Le Glorieux.

"It is to hold good as long as there is breath in my body, and she does not forbid me to accompany her."

"But there is no danger – I mean there is no prospect of the Lady Marguerite's making a foreign marriage?" asked Philibert hastily.

"I am very much inclined to believe that there is," replied Le Glorieux. "If nothing of the kind happens soon, it will not be the fault of that dark-browed Spanish envoy, Don Juan Manuel. He is quiet and cold, but he is always thinking. Not that most people are not always thinking when they are quiet, for few people's brains are swept quite empty of thoughts, but his thinking counts for something. He knows quite well what he is about, does Manuel. He is always talking to our emperor, who listens with a great deal of attention to all that he says, and whatever it is, it will be a good thing for Spain, you can make up your mind to that."

"And who is this Spaniard who has so much influence over the Emperor of Austria?" asked Philibert hotly. "He is a nobody, an ordinary Castilian, who managed to attract the attention of the Queen of Spain, afterward gaining her confidence when he became her secretary."

"Well, that he did gain her confidence, and that he has a good deal of influence over Max, is a fact nevertheless," returned the fool. "The young Prince of the Asturias is of the right age to marry, and will be a suitable match for our princess, and, so far as I am concerned, I am perfectly willing that they should marry, for I think that I should like to live in Spain. The climate is very fine, there would not be so much trouble in keeping warm as there is here, and I am fond of oranges."

"The Spanish match is not made yet, and how do you know that the Lady Marguerite would take you with her, even if she should go to Spain?" asked Cunegunda disdainfully.

"How do I know that she would take her shoes with her to Spain?" he inquired. "I have become a necessity to her; she could not get on without me. Besides that, I was a present to her from the Lady Anne, now Queen of France. If I was valuable when I was the present of a mere duchess, my value has increased tenfold now that I am the gift of a queen. So do not talk any more nonsense about my not going, for I shall be the first one to be considered."

"I do not want to go away to a strange country," reiterated Cunegunda, and she went away wiping her eyes.

Philibert walked slowly to the other end of the room, seeming to be absorbed in unpleasant thought, and the jester followed him, chattering all the while, but getting no reply.

"Philbert, my boy," said he, "I can see that you are in a sour and unhappy frame of mind. I feel that the remark I made about the climate and the oranges of Spain has made you restless and envious. Besides that, you do not want to be separated from me, for nobody does. Now, I have a great deal of influence with my young mistress, and I will persuade her to let you go to Spain in her suite. Think of it! How fine it will be to hear the pretty señoritas tinkling their guitars, to pluck the olives from the trees – not that I care for them when they are plucked – and to see that great palace which the Spanish sovereigns snatched from the Moors; and they say there is a bedstead made from the gold that the Admiral Columbus brought from the new lands across the sea; perhaps, if we manage it right we may be allowed to sleep in that – in the bed, I mean, not the sea."

"Do not talk to me of Spain," said Philibert impatiently. "I hate the country, and I never want to see it."

"Philibert, my boy," said the fool, not at all disturbed by this outburst, "you are growing quick-tempered. I have noticed it for some time. Try to cultivate a sweet and gentle disposition. I hope I am not conceited, but really you would be more agreeable if you were more like me."

The sound of gay laughter and buzz of conversation was heard, and the Lady Marguerite and her ladies, followed by a number of gentlemen, entered the salon. The princess wore a gown of white, with wide sleeves that almost touched the floor; the heavy braids of her hair, wound with ropes of pearls, fell far below her waist, while a fillet of the same jewels clasped her brow. She came toward the window near which Philibert and the jester stood, and said with a bright smile, "I am very happy. My father has promised that I shall go with him to the mountains when he goes to hunt chamois. Never before would he give his consent to my going."

"To climb rocks and leap chasms after chamois would, I should think, be very entertaining pastime for a lady," said Le Glorieux. "And you will look well if your long locks should get caught in a crag and leave you suspended like a spider from its web."

"Oh, I do not intend to hunt," she replied, laughing. "We ladies will stop at the inn at the foot of the mountain, and go just a little way up to see the hunters start."

"It will be more enjoyable if Philibert and Antoine and I should go along," said Le Glorieux.

"Oh, yes; you shall go, if you like, and one of you shall get me a flower of the edelweiss from some inaccessible crag."

Señor Manuel, the Spanish envoy, now joined them, in a hesitating manner, as one who does not wish to intrude, yet who has something of importance to say. "I have something here that I was ordered to give to your Highness," said he. "It is a gift from his royal Highness, the Prince of the Asturias." He drew a small packet from his breast, which he placed in her hand with a profound obeisance, and withdrew without more words.

"Oh," said the princess, "I wonder what it can be!" She tried eagerly to undo the wrappings, for she was young enough to be very anxious regarding a present. Taking a seat in the window she busied herself with the cord, which she twisted into a hopeless tangle in her haste to untie it. "Come, Philibert," she called impatiently, "please cut this cord for me."

He took the package from her hand and broke the cord in his strong fingers so suddenly and so vigorously that the wrappings fell apart and a portrait fell with a sharp click to the floor.

"You must not open a package as if you were trying to throttle an assassin," said Le Glorieux reproachfully, as Philibert with an apology recovered the portrait and placed it in the Lady Marguerite's hand.

"Her Highness is unfortunate in asking the assistance of one so awkward," murmured Philibert, and with a bow he withdrew.

But Marguerite did not look at him, so intent was she in examining the portrait. "Come and see what was sent to me by Don Juan, Prince of the Asturias," she said to the other ladies, some of whom were young, and all as eager to see it as herself. The portrait was painted on ivory, and was surrounded by diamonds; it was of a youth on the threshold of manhood, a gentle, pleasing face, with blue eyes and fair hair.

"I thought Spaniards were dark," said Marguerite.

"The Prince could not well be dark, since his father and mother both are fair," said one of the gentlemen, who had visited the court of Spain. "His mother, Queen Isabella, is descended from the great English House of Plantagenet, both of her parents coming from that royal family."

"So much the better if he is light," remarked the jester. "My own hair is light, being indeed of a fine reddish tinge, though the cap I wear conceals its beauty from the world, which is a pity. I never have known many Spaniards, but I am sure I should be fonder of a light-haired one than of that dark ambassador with his black hair always as smooth as glass, like the head of a snake, and who glides in and out so silently that you never see him until he stands before you."

Marguerite's ladies expressed a great deal of admiration for the picture, which they considered a very handsome face, but perhaps their opinion was biased by the fact that the original was the future king of one of the richest and most powerful nations in Europe. But Marguerite slipped the portrait beneath her girdle and expressed no further opinion concerning it.

The court was now staying in the royal castle of Innsbruck in the Tyrol. Maximilian cherished a fond affection for this country, because he had added it to the possessions left him by his father. In his bedchamber at Innsbruck are to be found these lines, "I, king by the grace of God, wear the crown that I may protect the poor, and be just to all, and in order that we may all live in peace eternal."

The landlord of the The Hunter's Rest, the inn at the foot of the mountains where his Majesty went to hunt, had entertained the emperor more than once; but he was somewhat overwhelmed by the company of ladies, who now formed a part of the imperial party. Maximilian, as usual upon such occasions, was plainly dressed; he wore a green hunting suit somewhat the worse for wear, for he was not particular regarding his personal appearance when engaged in his favorite pastime of chasing the chamois. An Alpine hat with a single feather was worn where the crown of the Hapsburgs had rested, while his aristocratic feet were encased in stout hunting boots. Yes, the emperor was more like one of themselves; he was always so merry, laughing and joking with the landlord's wife, chucking the roly-poly children under their chins, exchanging a good-natured word with anybody who happened to drop in, that he won all hearts, and they forgot their awe of the emperor in their admiration of the man.

But these ladies in their elegant fur-trimmed gowns and their dainty little ways, – would anything that the inn afforded be half good enough for them? The landlord soon found, however, that the greatest lady among them, the princess herself, was sweet and gracious, and she even kissed the dimpled face of the baby, an act on her part which never was forgotten, and which the child herself lived to tell to her grandchildren, always pointing to the exact spot which her good mother had informed her had been brushed by the rosy lips of her Highness, the Lady Marguerite of Hapsburg. And the other ladies were obliged to unbend in imitation of their young mistress, and so they were far less awe-inspiring than had been expected.

The ladies accompanied the hunters a little way up the mountain, until the ascent became steep and tiresome, and then they returned to the inn. There the princess, who was very fond of pets, was greatly attracted by a baby chamois, a little kid, which had been adopted by the landlord's children. He was a cunning little fellow, with bright eyes that seemed to sparkle with fun when she stroked his foolish little face and soft velvety ears. When she spoke to him he would turn his head to one side as if reflecting upon what the lady had said, seeming to be thinking very hard with a view of giving a suitable reply, and then he would double himself up and roll about like a kitten.

In the meantime the emperor's party were climbing higher, an ascent which grew more and more difficult as they continued. Le Glorieux, who had hunted the chamois in the company of his late master, was acquainted with the ways of this elusive animal, which is one of the most difficult in the world to hunt. But to Philibert and Antoine the experience was new and strange. These three were a little behind the others when Le Glorieux said, pointing to the right, "There is one!"

"Oh, that," said Philibert, "is nothing but a rock. You are prepared to see a chamois in every distant object."

"I am very much mistaken," said the other, "if that is not a sentinel sent out to watch for danger, while the others may take their breakfast in peace. You have no idea what a very clever animal the chamois is. If a good many kings and emperors were half as keen to scent danger it would be a great deal better for the countries they rule."

"What is the good of a chamois being a sentinel?" asked Antoine. "If that is one he is too far away from the others to call their attention to danger."

"Not a bit of it," was the reply. "He is too clever to get too far away to give the signal; trust him to look out for that. If he should see us he would say in his way, which would be to stamp his forefeet and give a shrill kind of a whistle, 'Here are some of those disgusting human beings with their bows and arrows. Get out of their way as fast as you can, every one of you!'"

One of the huntsmen now said that they would be obliged to go back and come up the other side of the gorge, as they must get above the game in order to shoot it, so they went down a steep ravine, climbing over ledges of rock and up the other side. But in the meantime the sentinel had done his duty and had informed his friends of the presence of the men with their bows and arrows, and the party, which now could see the flock, numbering some twenty animals, saw a scampering that was wonderful to behold. With a series of remarkable leaps they sprang over a gulch and climbed up rocks so steep it seemed as if no living creature could have found a footing.

Round the other way went the hunters after them, rushing pell-mell over rocks and shrubs, but all the animals escaped save one, which seemed doomed eventually to become the prey of Maximilian. Higher and higher climbed the frightened chamois, higher and higher followed the straight athletic figure of the emperor. Once when he was hunting chamois Maximilian had found himself in a position so perilous that it seemed to him that nothing but the suddenly-developed wings of a bird could possibly extricate him, but he did not remember former dangers now, for he thought of nothing but the capture of the frightened creature flying before him.

Finally the hunted animal could go no farther, finding it impossible to climb higher, or to pass its pursuer in a downward flight. So there was nothing to do but to wait in trembling expectancy the death that was sure to come. The emperor seized his knife, and the chamois, as if willing at last to yield to the inevitable, seemed to lean its soft body toward the cruel blade, then fell headlong down the rocks, from where it was afterward taken by the attendants.

And thus the hunt continued, and Philibert, though he watched it with interest, had turned his mind upon the attainment of one object, and that was finding a cluster of edelweiss. Sometimes our thoughts appear to be reflected in the mind of some one besides us, and it now seemed to be the case, for Le Glorieux said, "I am not foolishly squeamish, I should hope, and I have stood up in battle and shot at men who were able to defend themselves, but I can not say that it amuses me in the least to see a chamois killed. They are such gentle things, and they make such a plucky effort to save themselves, and they look at their captor with such piteous eyes when they are stabbed, that I do not see anything enjoyable in it, though, of course, I am nothing but a fool. And, as our little princess wants a sprig of edelweiss, I shall go in pursuit of a flower instead of a chamois."

"Le Glorieux, dear Le Glorieux, let me get the flower for her," pleaded Philibert.

"What matters which of us gets it, so long as she has it?" asked the fool. "Let us both look for it, and then it will be more likely to be found."

"Very well, if you think best, but I like to do things for her, Le Glorieux. I went to the wars with my father when I was so young that I scarcely remember the love of a sister, and when the Lady Marguerite smiled at me the first night that I saw her, with a look of kindness that no one else ever had given me, I felt as if I could give up my life for her."

"She always is kind," said the jester; "she never is haughty, even to her servants. I loved her in the first place because she was her mother's daughter, but now I love her for herself. She never has a harsh word or a sharp tongue for the poor fool, and seems to remember that he has feelings as well as the rest of the world."

The edelweiss is a flower which grows upon dizzy heights, blooming under the snow. The great difficulty sometimes experienced in finding it renders it the more desirable. Philibert had seen the flower and knew that it usually grew in dangerous places; but this fact did not make him hesitate for a moment in his resolve to pluck it. After searching for some time he was at last rewarded by seeing a cluster of the snowy blossoms hanging over the edge of a dark rock some distance below him. There was no way to reach it but to attempt a dangerous descent by climbing down the cliff to where the flowers grew. But the boy, in his eagerness to obtain the flower, did not think of the danger, and forthwith began to climb downward, finding a foothold on rough projections, and clinging to others, sliding cautiously downward, for there was a little level space just above the plant where he knew he could stand while securing it. It was a foolhardy feat, and would not have been undertaken by any but a rash youth, who gave no thought to possible consequences, and who was resolved to accomplish what he had undertaken in spite of everything. A stunted shrub grew out of the rocks some distance above the flower, and Philibert grasped it, thinking to swing himself downward. This act was his undoing, for the treacherous limb broke with a sharp snap, and the youth was precipitated downward, not to the level space beside the flower, but over it and some twenty feet down to another level space, where he lay for some time stunned and unconscious.

When he returned to his senses he was lying flat on his back on a narrow ledge of rock, and dangerously near the edge, with a little stream of blood trickling from his temple. Rising to his feet he moved his legs and arms as vigorously as possible, to see if any bones were broken, but was delighted to find that, with the exception of the cut, which did not seem to be a deep one, he had sustained no serious injury.

But Philibert would have been far more comfortable and easy in his mind on safe ground with a broken arm than he was in this lonely spot, though comparatively uninjured. For the depth below him was so great that it made him dizzy to look over the edge of his resting-place, while above him the rock was so steep that not even a chamois could have climbed it. And there above him, as it had been but a short time ago below him, was the edelweiss, its flowers nodding at him impudently as if defying him to come up and take them. "I will have you yet," said he, though he felt that in the circumstances this sounded a good deal like an empty boast.

Each member of the hunting party had a horn at his side to blow in case of need, but that of Philibert was flattened by his fall, and would not give forth the faintest sound. His friends would miss him and search for him, but he had heard of people who had been lost for ever among these cold, silent mountains, and he could not help thinking that possibly this was to be his own fate, for he knew that, intent upon his search, he had wandered quite a distance from his companions, who might not know in what direction to look for him. And all this for a cluster of starlike blossoms that looked over the edge of the rock above him and nodded in derision! He put his hands to his mouth and called as loudly as he could, but the rocks echoed his call and seemed to throw it back at him disdainfully and mockingly.

He repeated the call until he was tired, then he sat down quietly to think. How long could he remain here before he froze or starved to death? He had heard of life being sustained on roots and herbs, but there was nothing here but rock, and nothing above him but rock, while below him there seemed to be naught save the empty air. After a while, when the excitement caused by his new position had given way to despair, he found that the wound on his temple really did pain him, and turning quite faint he remained for a long while with his eyes closed.

After what seemed to be a very long time the sound of a horn was borne to him on the air, a sound which seemed to the lost one as sweet as the song of an angel. He rose to his feet, and, putting his hands to his mouth once more, he called three times with all his strength. An answering call reassured him, and soon hearing voices, he called again, and was overjoyed to see the faces of his friends looking over the precipice above.

"In the name of all the saints, boy," called Maximilian, "are you hurt?"

"No, your Majesty, only a little bruised."

There was the hurried buzz of conversation, which he could not distinguish, and the looped end of a rope was lowered to him, which he secured about his body. Then he was slowly drawn up, and as he swung opposite the nodding blossoms, Philibert reached out his hands and grasped them, pulling them out by the roots.

"What is the matter with the boy? Is he out of his senses?" asked the emperor, who was anxiously watching the ascent to terra firma.

"No, I do not know that you could call him out of his senses exactly," replied Le Glorieux. "The Lady Marguerite wanted some edelweiss blossoms, and he was trying to find them for her. I have no doubt that he was after that very bunch when he fell. There is one thing that I have noticed about Philibert," went on the jester, "and that is that when he starts out to do a thing he will do it if it threatens every drop of blood in his body."

"He is a foolhardy youth," said the emperor. "I can understand how one could take almost any risk to kill a chamois, but not to pluck a handful of weeds." But he looked pleased, nevertheless, for he was a man who could appreciate perseverance. And he examined Philibert's wound with careful attention, saying that the two boys and the jester should return to the inn in the company of one of the guides. And Philibert de Bresse still clutched the flowers which he had risked so much to obtain.

Behind the mountaineer's hut, where the remainder of the party expected to spend the night, Le Glorieux took from the spot where he carefully had placed them, a cluster of snowy blossoms, which, with great difficulty, a scratched face, and some bruises, he had gathered before he heard of Philibert's mishap. These children of the snow he threw over the cliff unseen by his companions. "Let him have all the praise and the honor of it," said he to himself. "You are nothing but a fool, Le Glorieux, and you must not be selfish."

The princess received the flowers with a little cry of joy, and she thanked the donor with a smile so beaming, inquiring so tenderly about his wound, that Philibert felt repaid a thousandfold for the trouble he had taken to gratify her wish.