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Page 27
As it was near midnight when they sat down, Father Omehr felt at liberty
to leave the room without ceremony. The Lady Margaret stayed no longer
than courtesy demanded, when she rose and retired to her chamber. This
young lady had always been noted for her piety and her charities to the
poor, whose wants she was sure to discover and supply. Under the skilful
and fervent training of Father Omehr, she had learned to repress a
spirit, perhaps naturally quick and imperious, and to practise on every
occasion a humility very difficult to haughty natures. There was even
some austerity in her devotion; for she would subject herself to
rigorous fasts and to weary vigils, and deny herself the luxuries that
her father delighted in procuring for her, little dreaming that they
were secretly dispensed to the sick of the neighborhood. She never
failed to hear Mass, unless prevented by sickness or some other
controlling cause, but every morning laid a bunch of fresh and fragrant
flowers upon the altar of our Blessed Mother. And who shall say that the
sweet lilies of the field, the roses and the violets, colored with the
hues of the dawn, and freshened in the dew of the twilight, when offered
and consecrated by the homage of an innocent heart, are not grateful to
her whose purity they typify! Yet there was a lurking family pride in
Margaret's heart that she could not entirely eradicate, and a sleeping
antipathy to the house of Hers that at times betrayed itself to her
watchful self-examination. The reader must not imagine that, when she
told the missionary at Gilbert's bedside that had the youth fallen in
battle she perhaps would rejoice, she actually desired such an event.
She spoke to one who knew her better. She felt this antipathy, but did
not know its extent; and, with the humility of virtue, she feared that,
although engaged in an act of charity, there might be the fiend of
revenge at the bottom of her soul. Margaret de Stramen was not blind to
her imperfections, and she did not hesitate to impute to herself an
inclination to the un-Christian hate so cherished by her family. But she
endeavored to overcome it by prayer, by the Sacraments, by penance, and
by pondering the splendid example of Jesus of Nazareth.
The Lady Margaret was not one of those fair and fanciful creations,
endowed with such exquisite sensibilities as to perceive and return the
admiration of a young knight-errant with whom she had been associated by
any romantic circumstance. Nor was her disposition of that impulsive
kind which will permit the impression of a moment to overthrow the
prejudices of years. But to her joy and surprise, she found that, far
from rejoicing at Gilbert's misfortune, she had regretted it; and
regretted it, not merely because it might stigmatize the fair name of
Stramen, but also in obedience to an elevated generosity that sickened,
ungratified, at the sight of obtained revenge. She had been almost
constrained to render assistance to the youth; and there are some who
think the sting of a favor worse than the fang of an injury, and are
more disposed to forgive after having benefited. With the facility
peculiar to a gifted woman, she had read in Gilbert's face the
ingenuousness and goodness of his heart, and though she did not ascribe
to him any exalted qualities, she admitted that it was not easy to
believe him guilty of cruelty or meanness. In a word, the sympathies of
the woman were now arrayed against family pride and family prejudice,
and a trial still more dangerous and severe awaited her piety and
resolution.
In the morning, after hearing Mass, she found the duke and her father in
close conversation, while her brother was busily preparing for some
important event. It was soon evident that Rodolph was about to depart,
and that Henry was to accompany him; for the grooms led to the door two
handsome and stalwart steeds, richly caparisoned, and four mounted
men-at-arms rode up and halted upon the terrace, where they waited
motionless as statues of steel.
When their private conference was over, the duke advanced, and took the
Lady Margaret by the hand. "I am selfish enough," he said, "to deprive
you of your brother for a few weeks, to assist me by his counsel, and
protect me by his arm, should it be necessary, in a little adventure we
have resolved to undertake."
"I am too true to you, my lord," replied Margaret, "to desire my
brother's society when you request his assistance. Were I a young
knight, I should esteem it no light favor to march--no matter where--as
an escort to Rodolph, Duke of Suabia."
"And I, fair maiden," returned the duke, "could wander to the end of
the world with such a companion."
"I hope you may not find Henry so agreeable as to carry you so far, for
I expect to welcome you back in a week."
"If I consulted my pleasure," said Rodolph, "I should not be absent a
day, but my duty may detain me a month. I will not offer an apology for
so long a stay, because I fear that before sunset you will have ceased
to think of me, or remember me only in connection with your brother."
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