C. F. van der Velde

“ Then will I follow you to Gyllensten, or where else you please, patiently, as a lamb follows its mother. Do not this time say no. It is the last request I shall ever make of you.'
'So all-powerful is the magic of this singular being,' said Arwed to the judge, 'that she compels me to consent to what I ought to refuse. Yours is a sad case, Christine; you might have prepared an earthly heaven for some worthy man, through your love.'
'That she might!' cried Mac Donalbain, agonized with sorrow and repentance, 'that she might, had she not thrown away her love upon me. ”

“ Megret and Mac Donalbain bade their host good night and went to their chambers. Christine kissed her father with humble tenderness, and in a low voice asked him, 'are you still angry?'
'Amend yourself, perverse girl,' said the old man; and gently parting the golden locks from her fair forehead, impressed upon it an affectionate parental kiss.
'My kind, kind father! indeed I do not deserve so much love,' cried the maiden, with deep emotion, pressing his hand to her heaving bosom. She then arose and departed, giving an unfriendly glance and a slighting nod as she passed Arwed. ”

“ There a boat was in waiting, in which were Goertz' Holstein servants. The oars moved and the boat soon floated forth upon the peaceful lake. Georgina, wrapped in her cloak, sat upon the deck observing the stars which here and there discovered themselves in the deepening gloom of the evening.
'What project have you in hand, Georgina?' at length asked Arwed anxiously.
'I will now make it known to you,' answered she. 'I am going for my father's corpse. Ungrateful Sweden shall not hold his bones.'
'My God, you risk your life!' cried Arwed with alarm. ”

“ I pity you, poor youth, but your case cannot be helped!'
'I do not yet give up every hope,' said Arwed. 'They dare not murder Goertz without a trial, and if they will but give him a fair one he must be acquitted.'
'Do you think so?' murmured the old man; 'so do not we think here in Stockholm, and all Sweden cries out guilty against him.'
'The voice of the people is not always the voice of God,' said Arwed. 'I still trust in holy justice. But I have a favor to ask of you, my father. The baron's daughter wishes to see her father. ”

“ You hope I shall pardon you in another world! It is possible I may, if in that world earthly conceptions of honor disappear, and a woman without virtue is no longer a disgrace to her sex.'
'Will you not make an attempt,' asked Arwed, 'to tear the poor victim from her seducer? Let us seek her! Your arm reaches further than she can have flown in the course of the night.'
'Why should I?' said the governor, with listless anger. 'Should I bring her back, I should be compelled to take the life of the villain, whose wife she already is in the sight of God, and she would have nothing left on earth. ”

“ So near the source of eternal truth, I may now speak the truth to you. I have loved you, Arwed, loved you with all the powers of my passionate soul, from the moment when you stood before me in the knight's hall in the full perfection of youth and manliness. But this love was my misery, for I was already secretly married. The caprices with which I often tormented you, alas, they came from a bleeding heart! At Ravensten did Mac Donalbain's infamous profession first become fully clear to me, and I made every possible effort to withdraw him from it. But the chains of vice hold strong! ”

“ May you also be truly happy! May you deserve that happiness through obedience to your father's wishes! Believe me, Arwed, there is something better in this life than the intoxication of passion. I feel it in this heavy hour. Think of me sometimes, not only without anger, but with tranquil kindness, as you would of a beloved being who has preceded you to that eternal world where you hope to see her once again. I shall never forget you.
'GEORGINA VON EYBEN.'
Poor Arwed sank upon a seat as if annihilated. ”

“ Read the letter for me, dear Arwed.'
He read:
'I esteem the memory of the renowned and unfortunate baron von Goertz too much to receive without emotion the intelligence that there is yet remaining one of those children who were made orphans by the tyranny and shocking injustice of the queen Ulrika Eleonore and of the persons who presided in her courts and councils. His innocent blood has remained too long unavenged. Sweden, through long, unhappy, desolating, distracting years, has paid the tribute demanded by the anger of heaven for the crime committed against a great and unfortunate man. ”

“ The king, following the glance of his nephew, perceived Arwed and advanced towards him.
'Who?' asked he with some embarrassment.
'Gyllenstierna,' answered Arwed with a profound inclination: 'a Swedish nobleman, who begs of your majesty that be may be permitted to fight under your banners.'
'Count Gyllenstierna?' inquired Charles, leaning on his giant sword, 'The father is a determined opponent of my administration!' said he to his brother-in-law, as Arwed bowed affirmatively, and a convulsive smile distorted the lips of his well-formed mouth. ”

“ What you advise, that will I do.'
'Thou art magnanimous, Arwed,' said Georgina, smiling through her tears. 'Thou wishest to flatter a maiden's vanity, so that she may the less acutely feel the sorrow of parting. How shall I be so presumptuous as to counsel a youth who is as headstrong as ever could have been the king himself?'
'Upon my honor!' cried Arwed impatiently, 'I desire thy counsel in real earnest. ”

“ The laurels of victory are some compensation for wounds received in battle; but to be crippled in a miserable unimportant skirmish, is the most dreadful thing imaginable.'
'It is indeed, uncle!' cried Arwed; 'and I can now say with the king of France at Pavia, that I have lost every thing but honor!'
'You are right,' replied the old man with a tremulous voice, his thoughts recurring to his fugitive daughter. 'Happy they who can say as much!' and with a deep sigh his white head sank upon his laboring bosom. ”

“ It overpowers the unhappy man to be reminded of her.'
'This is a consequence of my fatal delay!' cried Megret wildly, and beating his forehead. 'There is now nothing, nothing more in this world which can give me joy. My honor wounded by unworthy treatment, my love scorned and betrayed, what now remains for me?'
'A consciousness of rectitude, colonel,' said Arwed earnestly. 'It is a firm rock of safety amid the storms of life.'
'Consciousness of rectitude!' cried Megret with frightful vehemence, and then drawing a deep sigh, he hastened from the apartment. ”

“ The travelers alighted before the door of the sheriff's residence, and the governor immediately entered upon business, which crowded upon him like the unceasing rush of the storm-lashed waves. Megret, with a few internally muttered oaths, was seeking Christine, who had disappeared from his view soon after their arrival, and Arwed remained standing at the house door, amusing himself with watching the confused crowd in the public square. While he was thus employed, a sudden movement occurred among the living masses, as if an island of human heads was forming in one particular spot. ”

“ But my whole life has been nothing but a long chain of frustrated wishes and abortive plans. The myrtle-wreath was torn from my brow, the laurel withers even while I grasp it, and I have failed to obtain the cypress crown.'
'Is the war over?' asked the uncle.
'For the present, yes,' answered Arwed, 'until it may please our enemies to recommence it--for there is no talk of peace either with the Danes or Russians.'
'Not with the nearest and most powerful of our enemies?' indignantly cried the governor. 'Woman's rule is everywhere the same--too weak for resistance, too wilful for reconciliation. ”

“ So bring him in, Georgina, for no doubt you hold him in ambuscade ready for the occasion.'
'You do me great injustice, dear father,' said Georgina, whose maiden sensibility was touched. 'Arwed is in the Swedish camp, before Frederickshall. He has already conquered a battery, for which the king has named him a captain in the guards.'
'That, I confess, is being far on the way to a fieldmarshalship:' said Goertz, jestingly, to conceal his surprise. 'At present I rejoice that your choice does you honor every way: what further may come, is in the hands of God. ”

“ Arwed had handed over the child to one of the miners' wives, and availed himself of the first tub which again came up, to descend into the pit for the purpose of looking after the unhappy mother, and doing every thing in his power for her welfare. The brave youth felt a slight shudder, when, by the celerity of his movement, the black, rocky walls around him, as if raised by some magic power, appeared to fly up into the air so swiftly as soon to shut out the light of day from the entrance, which appeared like a distant star shining down upon him ”

“ The princess Ulrika Eleonore, of Hesse, gave an assembly and card patty--and the variously adorned nobility floated through the gilded rooms, soothing, caressing, deceiving, calumniating, fondling and boring each other. Behind the curtains of one of the most retired windows leaned the affectionate Georgina, gazing with anxious interest over the lake towards the Suedermalm, where in quiet obscurity lay before her the place where she had met and parted with her lover. Near her sat the princess, with the governor, Baron Taube, and the elder Gyllenstierna, at a card table. ”

“ Danemora is only a pretext to keep me in ignorance.'
'Truly no,' answered Arwed. 'Megret has appointed it for our place of meeting.'
'Is it so!' cried the old man. 'I am sorry for it, and have a thousand times repented of the charge I gave you. It would be a dreadful thing if you should fall in this miserable combat. You can and must yet become right useful to your father-land. Promise me at least that you will pursue this affair no further than honor absolutely demands.'
'Forgive me, dear uncle,' said Arwed. 'I cannot give you that promise. But one of us will leave the field alive. ”

“ After a pause, shaking his head, he observed, 'I only wish to know what delight men can find in what is called love?'
'It is indeed the greatest happiness in life, your majesty,' answered Arwed with enthusiasm.
'It would not be well for me that it should be so, for then should I have missed the greatest good,' said the king. 'Yet will a place in history always remain to me, and fame with posterity!' He walked to the chimney, and, collecting the coals together with his foot, observed, 'I will cause her father to be written to. I will speak to Goertz myself. ”

“ Meantime the strong old man, who had partially recovered, raised himself up in his chair, and his first glance fell upon Arwed.
'You have read?' he asked, and as Arwed answered in the affirmative, he stretched out his hand to receive the billet, which Arwed with some hesitation handed to him. Having motioned to his people to withdraw, he again read it through.
'No, I will not curse thee, unhappy girl!' said he coldly, and tearing the note. 'An ungrateful child bears already the curse of heaven in her heart, and where love is dead the flames of anger find no nourishment. ”

“ From Arwed's pale countenance, wild glaring eyes and disordered dress, it was evident that he had not been in bed the preceding night, and the handles of a pair of pistols were seen projecting from the bosom of his coat.
'Young man, what do you intend?' asked Rank. 'I have become your friend, and cannot allow you to make yourself unhappy.'
'The injustice,' answered Arwed, 'which conducted Goertz to the scaffold, has robbed me of all the happiness of my existence. Georgina has rejected me and bidden an eternal farewell to Sweden. ”

“ Thou hast indeed always asserted this sad necessity, but I could never bring myself to believe it. Credit me, my father is good, and by no means so haughty and violent as the Swedes consider him. Ungrateful men indeed, hate him--but he loves his newly adopted country. Thy house is one of the most honorable--and even if he had other plans respecting me, he would not be able to withstand my prayers if I dutifully opened my heart to him.'
'I love thee with all my soul, Georgina,' said Arwed with flashing eyes: 'but at the same time Swedish pride claims its rights. ”

“ The judges who condemned the innocent, shall answer it to me before the mouth of my pistol or the point of my sword, and with their worthy president will I make a beginning!'
'Calm yourself,' said Rank. Count Ribbing cannot be called to account by you.'
'He shall, he must!' cried Arwed, with flashing eyes. 'The wretch, by signing the sentence, has declared that Goertz had lived dishonorably and should therefore die ignominiously! It will be honor enough for him to die as a cavalier by the hands of an honorable man!'
'He can no longer be held answerable to you,' repeated Rank. ”

“ Your father desires this union, but he leaves your will free. Yet should I think, that as your beloved has loosed the chains which bound you, you certainly would make some effort to gratify an old man who loves you with his whole heart, and knows not better how to secure the happiness of his only child than by placing her hand in yours.'
'I gratefully acknowledge your paternal goodness,' answered Arwed, evasively. 'But I beg of you to leave me time for self-examination. My sorrow is yet new, and for Christine I may safely affirm that a union with me is very far from her thoughts. ”

“ By my mother's ashes, I will keep my word! In any event life has henceforth no joy for me.'
'Well, come down!' cried Arwed, angrily; 'by my honor I will be silent.'
'Thanks, thanks!' said Christine descending; 'you are a Gyllenstierna and will keep your word. And now, nothing more upon this unpleasant subject. Let us return to our companions. My disguise is a jest I played off upon you. ”