Accompanied by the trusty Brodin, on the next day, Arwed stood trembling as with a paroxysm of ague, in the ante-chamber of the hall in which the royal council held its sittings. The chief clerk of the council approached them with a protecting air.
'This is the young man of whom I spoke to you, my worthy friend,' said Brodin to him, at the same time slipping a heavy purse into his hand; 'let me recommend him to your kindness.'
Brodin departed. The chief clerk led Arwed to the door which communicated with the grand saloon, and opened it. 'Between the door and the inner drapery,' said he, 'you can see and hear every thing that takes place, without being observed. But remember my stipulation. Keep yourself quiet, and if you are discovered, recollect that we have never known each other, and that you slipped in here behind my back.'
'How can I possibly involve you in my fate?' answered Arwed, proceeding to conceal himself in the designated lurking place.
'Not yet,' said the chief clerk, pulling him back: 'the lords of the council must first assemble there, and might easily discover you as they pass.'
At that moment the outer folding doors opened, and in their solemn official dresses, in long, red velvet cloaks and red caps of the same material, the loyal counsellors passed in couples through the ante-chamber into the saloon. They were the counts Gyllenstierna, Rhenskioeld, Stromberg, Horn, Cronhielm, Tessin, Meierfed and Moerner, and the barons Duecker, Taube, Sparre, and Banner.
'They are all here to-day for once,' said the chief clerk. 'Count Spens alone is absent. Indeed the business is of too much importance, and they cannot expedite the ex-minister too hastily!'
One of the queen's chamberlains again threw open the doors, and, in full dress, stiff and stately as the image of the virgin in some place of pilgrimage, with a countenance in which deep hatred vainly sought to conceal itself under assumed dignity, the queen passed by them into the hall. Arwed then slipped into his hiding place, and the chief clerk shut the door after him.
After the ceremony of the queen's reception was over, and the members had taken their seats, the governor, baron Taube, took the floor.
'The special royal commission,' said he, 'has sentenced von Goertz to lose his head under the gallows, and there be buried. The diet has, by a majority of voices, concurred in this verdict, and by her majesty's command the royal council is now assembled to decide whether the sentence shall be carried into full effect, or whether Goertz shall have the benefit of some mitigation of its severity.'
'I consider it dangerous to deal so hardly with Goertz,' said count Cronhielm. 'The late king reposed great confidence in him, and I fear that it may injure the Swedish nation abroad, since Goertz has many adherents and a highly respected family.'
'A man who has endeavored to overthrow the whole kingdom,' cried the passionate Horn, 'who has committed the crimes detailed in the report of the commissioners, is not too severely judged. Clemency towards him may seduce many others to enter upon a similar course, to the great injury of the realm. Besides, he has been tried and sentenced by conscientious men, who, if they have done him injustice, must answer it to their God.'
'It is not my wish that he should go unpunished,' answered Cronhielm. 'But it may be well to remember, that the commencement of our political career will be closely scrutinized, and that the manner of the execution may injure us with the nation, and particularly with our nobility. He may be beheaded, but to bury under the gallows a man who has been employed in so many important affairs by our late king, appears to me to be bad policy.'
'Any Swede who may conduct himself as he has,' cried Horn, exasperated, 'may be punished in the same manner.'
'These altercations do not accomplish our object,' remarked Ulrika. 'I desire the lords counsellors to speak in their due order.'
'When I heard the sentence read,' said baron Banner, 'I expected a harder punishment. When, however, I view the question in relation to the general welfare, it appears to me that the end is attained when the criminal is deprived of life. It can in no way concern the public interests whether he be buried under the gallows or not, I consider it a matter of indifference where he lies.'
'That is also our opinion,' said the three other barons and the counts Cronhielm and Meierfeld, simultaneously.
'As he has been judged by so learned and discriminating a commission,' observed count Tessin, 'and as the knighthood and nobility have approved the sentence, it should be carried into full and complete effect. Should I advise any clemency, it must be in harmony with those who have a more minute knowledge of all the individual views presented by the commission, which are said to be very exact and to comprehend the particulars of Goertz' crimes. The Italian proverb indeed says:Morta la bestia, morto il veneno--but something is necessary by way of example, that others may be deterred from meddling with the business of state--and I know not but it might be well to think of another expedient, which is often resorted to in other places, viz; the erection of a monument, which shall inform posterity of his conduct and his fate, and which may prove a warning to foreigners not to intrude themselves into this kingdom, exciting its subjects to such violence as he has instigated. Yet I only throw out these ideas for the gracious and favorable consideration of your majesty and your excellencies.'
'I still adhere to the opinion I before advanced,' said count Horn; 'and God knows that I am not influenced by any prejudice. But I am convinced that smaller offences are oftentimes more severely punished. From affection to my native country must I adhere to the sentence.'
'If we examine the circumstances of this case,' remarked count Stromberg deliberately, 'we find them very bad. I am therefore compelled to support the opinion of count Horn.'
'For his pernicious projects,' said count Rhenskioeld, 'Goertz has well deserved the punishment of death. I suggest however for the gracious consideration of your majesty, whether mercy should not be extended to him in consideration of his family.'
'As it appears to me,' said count Gyllenstierna, taking up the argument, 'the present question is only whether the condemned shall be buried under the gallows. That he must die, is already decided by a majority of the voices. Now, the object being accomplished by his death, I see no objection to his being buried any where else, so that his family may be spared too great suffering through such ignominy.'
'He is disgraced sufficiently when he falls under the hands of the executioner,' said the queen in her most scornful tone. 'As for the rest, the diet may do what they please with him.'
'It must be confessed,' said Cronhielm timidly, 'that he was not permitted to exercise the right of defence so fully as the law allows, and that he had not the benefit of legal counsel. Besides, he is a member of the Franconian nobility, who are very jealous of their privileges. They will maintain that the accused could not be legally judged here, and, to avoid irritating them, it appears to me that it would be well not to deal too severely with him.'
'I know nothing to induce me to suppose,' said Horn, 'that Goertz had not the privilege of defending himself.'
'If he had not,' said Tessin, 'he must be allowed a new trial.'
'I call for the votes of the special commission,' said Cronhielm. 'Stiernkrona has explicitly declared it contrary to law and equity to deprive Goertz of the means of defending himself.'
'Let the record of the commission be brought here,' said the queen angrily, to baron Banner. He hastened into the ante-chamber and sent the chief clerk to bring it, while slight hopes were once more raised in the bosom of the listening Arwed. Meanwhile there was a long pause in the council room, during which count Cronhielm was compelled to bear the inconvenient criticisms of his brother counsellors for his last speech.
'As governor of Stockholm,' said Baron Taube, interrupting the general silence, 'it is my duty to inquire how the execution shall be conducted?'
'The conclusion is,' answered the queen impatiently, 'that the governor is to deal with baron von Goertz according to the sentence of the commission, as confirmed by the diet.'
'It is quite superfluous, then,' cried Cronhielm, rising up with feelings of resentment, 'that we should further discuss an affair in relation to which her majesty has already issued her commands.'
'Certainly, wholly superfluous,' said Horn, likewise rising. The others followed his example. The council broke up its sitting without waiting for the record of the commission, and, reverentially conducted by her attendants, the queen, like a thunder cloud which had ignited and exploded with wide spread desolation, proudly moved through the ante-chamber.
'Stat pro ratione voluntas!' cried Arwed with suppressed rage. 'Wo to the country where the holy halls of justice can be profaned by such a sentence!'
On the 12th March, all Stockholm was stirring with unusual commotion. The streets leading to the place of execution were thronged with people impelled by strongly excited curiosity. Cavalry and infantry were drawn up before the council house on the Suedermalm, before the principal door of which stood the carriage destined for the conveyance of the baron von Goertz.
Arwed entered Goertz' prison, supporting the faltering steps of Georgina with one arm, whilst with the other hand he led the wailing Magdalena. Lieutenant general Rank was sitting alone in the room, reading a paper which he had taken from among others which lay upon the table.
'Is it you, my good captain?' exclaimed he, taking Arwed's hand. Then, looking at his companions, he sighed, 'Alas! poor, poor, children!'
'Where is my father?' asked Georgina in an almost inaudible tone, sinking down upon a stool.
'In the next room,' answered Rank. 'Conradi is with him.'
'What are you reading there, general?' asked Arwed without interest, merely to break the painful silence.
'The epitaph of our friend,' answered Rank, handing the paper to him. 'He sketched it himself.'
Georgina had sprung from her seat, and hanging upon Arwed's arm, looked with him upon the manuscript.
'Read aloud,' said she. 'Something like a dense cloud waves before my eyes. I cannot see the letters.'
'Will it not prove too great a trial for you?' asked Arwed with tender care.
'I am here,' she answered, 'to take a last leave of my father, before his death by the sword of the executioner. What else can shake me?'
Struggling to suppress his tears, Arwed proceeded to read:
'A la veille de conclure un grand traite de paix, mon héros périt, la royauté avec lui. Dieu veuille qu'il n'arrive pis! Je meurs aussi. C'est toujours mourir en magnifique compagnie, quand on meurt avec son roi et la royauté.'
'Very true!' exclaimed Georgina. 'The ruins of royalty are a worthy mausoleum for the great man; but his children despair.'
Arwed continued:
'Mors regis, fidesque in regem et ducem, mors mea.'
'That means?' asked Georgina in a faint voice.
'The death of the king and fidelity to him and to the duke are the cause of his death.'
'Alas, how true!' sighed Georgina, and, breaking out in a flood of tears, she sunk upon Arwed's shoulder.
The door of the adjoining room now opened, and Goertz entered with a serene countenance, followed by the weeping Conradi. 'Father!' shrieked his daughters, throwing themselves into his arms.
'My dear children!' cried he, joyfully pressing them to his bosom, and kissing them tenderly.
'If that adamantine heart were here,' said Arwed to Conradi, with deep emotion, 'this scene would yet melt it.'
'I thank God that the queen is not here,' answered the latter. 'She would remain inexorable, and thus aggravate her responsibility in the next world.'
The outer prison door was now opened, and with a brutal air colonel Baumgardt walked into the room. He was followed by chief judge Hylten, who appeared yet more miserable than before, leaning upon his clerk. The outer hall was soon filled with Swedish grenadiers.
'Goertz, your time has come!' cried Baumgardt, roughly.
'In God's name, your blessing, my father!' cried Greorgina, kneeling and drawing Magdalena down with her to his feet.
'Continue good!' cried Goertz in a broken voice, laying his hands upon their heads, 'so that I may give a good account of you to your mother, and that you may say joyfully to your God, when you come after me, Father, here am I, and here are those whom thou hast given me.'
'Amen!' said Conradi, moving towards the door.
'Thanks for your love,' said Goertz, embracing Rank and Arwed, and then turning to follow his spiritual assistant.
'Now let us forth,' cried Georgina wildly, grasping the hands of the youth and of the little Magdalena, 'that we may arrive before him!'
'You cannot support the scene!' said Arwed anxiously to her.
'And should I die in his last moments,' answered Georgina, 'what a happy death!'
Goertz had overheard this conversation, and turned once more towards his daughters. 'You will go hence directly back to your dwelling,' said he earnestly.
'Father!' stammered Georgina, 'shall I not see you once more?'
'It is your father's last command!' cried Goertz. 'Wouldst thou bind my soul to earth, through sorrow for thee, when its wings were already joyfully raised to take its flight to its creator? Take my daughters home, Gyllenstierna!'
'Forward!' growled Baumgardt. 'God bless you, my loves!' cried Goertz with a stronger voice, and followed his guards.
Nine days had passed, since the ground under the Swedish gallows had drunk the blood of the worthy German. The evening was closing in, all the bells of the capital were tolling, and the thunder of cannon was heard from the Ritterholm, in honor of the royal hero who at this hour was committed to the tomb of his fathers. Arwed entered Georgina's room. He found her with Magdalena and her only maid, (whom she still retained,) in their traveling dresses.
'I thank you for coming so punctually,' said Georgina. 'You are now to render me the last service. It is not without danger, but I know you, and therefore demand it without hesitation.'
'Every thing for thee!' cried Arwed passionately.
'Then accompany me,' said she, 'upon my way to the performance of a difficult duty, in which I need a man's aid. Have every thing ready,' said she to her maid servant. 'If heaven favor our attempt, we shall soon return, directly to leave this horrible country!'
She took Arwed's arm and proceeded with him to the bank of the Norderstrom. 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 think not,' she calmly answered. 'Public duty and curiosity have drawn all Stockholm to witness the funeral solemnities of the king, and I hope to find the place deserted. And of what consequence would be my life? I risk it joyfully in the performance of my filial duty! If you fear the service, say where I shall land you.'
'You afflict me undeservedly!' complained Arwed. 'Sooner should the royal council affix my name to the gallows from which you are about to tear its prey, than I would desert your side. Only for you was I anxious. Even if every thing succeed, this undertaking is unsuited to your years and sex.'
'Ah, dear Arwed!' said Georgina, 'I have lived long in a short time, and great afflictions give new strength to the heart. Seek not to dissuade me.'
Both remained silent while the convoy moved rapidly and undisturbedly onward. At length the boat landed, and they got out. Two of the servants drew a litter from beneath the deck, and bore it ashore. The others followed with cords, shovels and pick-axes.
'Remain here,' said Arwed to Georgina. 'I will superintend the labor and spare you at least that pain.'
'No,' answered she, 'it must all be fulfilled. But you may accompany me, that I may have a friend to lean upon if the body should prove weaker than the will.'
The melancholy company moved silently forward through the stillness of the night. At length the gallows arose awfully before them in huge and undefined outline.
'It was here,' whispered one of the servants, stopping.
'Here?' sobbed Georgina, falling down and kissing the holy ground.
'Now to the work, faithful friends,' said she, rising up.
With restless zeal the labor was commenced with pick-axe and shovel, and soon the silver clamps upon the black coffin glistened from the depth. Two of the servants sprang into the grave and made room for themselves on each side until they succeeded in passing the cords under the coffin. It was slowly drawn up and placed upon the litter.
During the time which had thus elapsed, Georgina had stood by with folded hands, engaged in prayer. The litter was quickly raised, and the little train moved silently back to the shore with its sad burden. Georgina followed, requiring all of Arwed's strength to sustain her tottering steps. The coffin was placed in the boat, which immediately put off.
'It is done!' cried Georgina, convulsively clasping Arwed's hand. 'I thank thee.'
'And now?' asked the faithful youth.
'You will soon learn,' answered Georgina, remaining buried in reflection until they landed at the Blasiusholm. A merchant ship lay at anchor near by. The maiden now arose, as in the golden times of her happy love, and throwing her arms about Arwed's neck, pressed her ice-cold lips to his. 'Farewell forever, dear Arwed!' breathed she in a scarcely articulate tone.
'What say you?' cried Arwed in alarm, encircling her with his arms.
'It cannot be otherwise,' answered she, extricating herself from his embrace. 'This ship takes me and my father's corpse to Hamburg.'
'Not without me, faithless one!' angrily exclaimed Arwed. 'Fly to the new world--fly from life, if you will--and still I will accompany you!'
'Let us not revive our former sad strife,' said she sorrowfully. 'I must not become yours. You may pain me, but you cannot shake my determination, which is as unmovable as are my misfortunes.'
'Georgina!' implored Arwed, clasping her knees. 'You have always conducted towards me with such a knightly delicacy, my Arwed,' said Georgina, laying her cold hand upon his heated brow, 'that I may safely compare you with any of the lofty exemplars of former times. My love for you is, indeed, yet stronger than in the moments of its first confession,--but the blot which rests upon my name forbids my uniting myself with the son of him who sentenced my innocent father to a criminal's death. Believe me, even were I weak enough to yield to your request, we could not be happy together. The remembrance of all that has occurred would, like a fearful spectre, stand between us, and self-contempt would follow me even to your arms. Now, the consciousness of having offered up my love upon the altar of duty, will raise me above myself and give me strength worthily to bear the afflictions laid upon me by my God. Wherefore, my friend, I demand of you our separation as your last love-service, and a true knight must obey his mistress, when with tearful eyes and broken accents she says to him,Let us part!'
'I go!' exclaimed Arwed, clasping Georgina once more to his bosom and to his lips, and rushing forth.
'That was the death of the heart!' cried the unhappy maiden, pressing her clasped hands upon her bosom.--' What may hereafter come is not worth consideration. Let me but satisfy the world of my father's innocence, just God, and then take me to thyself and to him in thy heavenly kingdom.'
The next morning, as lieutenant general Rank was mounting the steps to Arwed's quarters, the latter, coming furiously out, rushed directly against him.
'Whither so hasty, my good Gyllenstierna?' cried Rank, grasping his arm. 'I was coming to seek you, and have something of importance to say.'
'And I have something of yet greater importance to do, sir general,' answered Arwed in a singular tone. 'I shall take upon myself to act as a lawyer, and talk to the judges about a second appeal.'
'I fear you are planning some evil, and shall not suffer you to go out!' cried Rank, dragging the youth entirely up the steps. When they had reached his room he gave him a searching look. 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. I will now devote the rest of my miserable life to some useful purpose, and assume the office of Nemesis. 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. 'He is dead!'
'Dead!' reiterated Arwed, shuddering.
'Even before the execution of Goertz, was he attacked by apoplexy,' pursued Rank, 'and instantly expired. His death was for a time kept a secret from the people, who might have drawn various sinister conclusions from the occurrence, but I cannot understand how you could have remained so long ignorant of it.'
'I have paid no attention to the news of the capital during the last week,' answered Arwed in a low tone of voice. 'Dead! The executioner gone before the victim! I am sorry for it. I will then seek the public prosecutor, and thank him for the gratitude he evinced towards his patron.'
'Would you contend with a cripple? Fehmann also has been smitten. He now lies very low, and, if he ever recover, he will, nevertheless, remain a maimed man the remainder of his life. The living body of the wretched Hylten is daily consumed by worms, and doctor Molin has fallen backwards from his seat and broken his neck.'
'And thus all the ringleaders escape me!' cried Arwed, stamping with his foot. 'Stiernkrona is innocent, and the rest were little more than miserable tools.'
'You see, my young friend,' said Rank, seizing Arwed's hand, 'that God himself will fulfill the duties of judge in this case. Assume not the office of avenger with bold presumption!'
'Only one of them now remains,' cried Arwed fiercely; 'but he shall not escape me!'
'Whom do you mean?' anxiously asked Rank.
'Colonel Baumgardt,' answered Arwed, 'who arrested the martyr, in obedience to the commands of a man who at that time had no authority to issue such an order. Had it not been for his shameful readiness on that occasion, the noble blood of Goertz would not have flowed.'
'You are right, but I warn you,' said Rank. 'Directly by means of that arrest has Baumgardt acquired great favor with the queen. A challenge upon that ground would not be accepted by him, and would bring you to a prison.'
'I thank you for the warning,' answered Arwed. 'But fortunately the colonel has injured me personally, and is therefore prepared to receive a challenge from me.'
'If that be the case,' said Rank, 'and you are not provided with a second, I offer you my services in that capacity.'
'You, general!' cried Arwed with astonishment.
'I am your friend,' said Rank, 'and will openly prove it, and at the same time abjure my political faith. Let it be considered as settled. Before the duel, however, I advise you to resign your commission. Indeed it was for that purpose I came to seek you. You have made many and powerful enemies. Nothing but your father's power and influence has hitherto preserved you, and even he is angry with you now. If he also should give you up, you would be lost without redemption.'
'Only he who gives himself up, is lost,' said Arwed. 'Yet will I follow your good counsel. Under the present circumstances there is no longer honor nor pleasure for me in the Swedish service.'
'It is unfortunate for you, Gyllenstierna,' cried Rank dejectedly. You have in you the metal for a Horn or a Torstenson, and it is to be regretted that your talents cannot be devoted to the service of your country. Whenever you need my services in your proposed affair, you know where to find me.'
He took his leave, and Arwed accompanied him to the door. On his return he passed a mirror, and the reflection of his disordered figure caught his attention.
'I look as bad,' cried he, 'as a highway robber, going forth in pursuit of his prey. This is not as it should be. Even the just anger of an honorable man should not wear this appearance. Stern business should be sternly executed; but with a due regard to outward appearances, so that the wretch whom I am about to punish may not be able to complain that I have neglected what good manners prescribe.'
He drew the pistols from his bosom, and laid them aside. Then ringing for his servant, he dressed himself with unusual care. The rich gala uniform contrasted strangely and frightfully with the suppressed anger upon his beautiful pale face. He buckled on his sword again, and proceeded to the Ritterholm in search of his antagonist.
The parade before the palace had commenced. The troops were already marched to the square, and the officers were walking to and fro in masses, or conversing together in isolated groups. 'Have you heard of it?' asked adjutant Kolbert, slopping up to Arwed; Baumgardt has become a major general, and had conferred upon him the order of the seraphim. It will be announced to-day in general orders.'
'There he comes already,' scoffingly observed count Posse, who had joined the group; 'and his face shines as did that of Moses when he retired from the presence of the Most Holy.'
'I am glad of it,' said Arwed, 'I shall have an opportunity to congratulate him upon the spot.'
Meanwhile Baumgardt had descended the palace steps with a stately air, and now approached them. Already, at a distance, glistened the star and band upon his breast, and with proud condescension he bowed right and left to the subaltern officers who gathered round for the purpose of congratulating him.
With firm and rapid strides Arwed stepped directly in front of the fortunate man. The latter was somewhat surprised when he recognised him, and turned pale upon observing the frightful earnestness expressed by his features. 'I must most respectfully request a short conversation with you, sir major general,' said Arwed very courteously. 'You will have the goodness to remember that I reserved this claim when we separated at Amal.'
'I know not....' stammered Baumgardt, in the embarrassment of his surprise.
'You allowed yourself,' proceeded Arwed, 'in the parsonage at Tanum and in the camp before Frederickshall, to use certain expressions injurious to my honor, and my situation now for the first time allows me to ask an explanation of them.'
'Whatever I may have said,' answered Baumgardt sullenly, 'was in the discharge of my official duty, and therefore I am not to be called to account for it by any person.'
'According to my view,' said Arwed coolly, 'on that occasion you overstepped the bounds of your duty. You will therefore have the goodness to give me the satisfaction due to a man of honor.'
'I do not know,' answered Baumgardt, 'whether I as a general am bound to fight with a captain.'
'But as a cavalier you dare not refuse satisfaction to the count Gyllenstierna,' cried Arwed warmly. 'If, however, you have any doubts upon that point, the corps of officers at the capitol may decide the matter.'
'I doubt only,' said Baumgardt scornfully, 'whether you can find any one willing to act as your second in so extraordinary an affair, in which I see only the quixotism of youth, which I am willing to pardon.'
'I have consented to act as the count's second,' said Rank, who had just joined them.
'Your excellency!' exclaimed Baumgardt with surprise. 'That is indeed quite another affair. I fight with pistols, and fire advancing,' said he to Arwed, after a moment's reflection.
'The choice was yours,' answered Arwed, bowing. 'I thank you for meeting my wishes in this manner. When shall it be?'
'To-morrow morning at ten o'clock, upon the Peckholm, opposite the park,' answered Baumgardt, gloomily.
'I shall have the honor to await you there,' said Arwed, with a very low bow, and turned upon his heel.
The next morning Arwed was walking silently up and down the banks of the Peckholm with lieutenant general Rank, awaiting the arrival of the boat which was to bring his adversary. Arwed's pistols with their apparatus were lying upon his cloak, which was spread out under a tall pine tree.
'You are so tranquil, my friend!' said Rank, breaking the long silence; 'indeed, the moments passed in awaiting a duel are most intolerable. I know it by my own experience. Perhaps you begin to regret your proceeding? It is not to be doubted that the pistol shot which you are about to exchange will be the burial salute of your happiness in this kingdom--for the queen will never pardon you. Therefore, if your resolution has become somewhat weaker, it is yet time. Major general Baumgardt is too happy with his new promotion and his new orders, not to wish to wear his honors some years yet, and will very willingly agree to any other reparation.'
'No, general,' answered Arwed; 'God forbid that I should meanly convert an honorable combat into a piece of buffoonery. A reconciliation between a challenge and a duel, I have always deemed a contemptible proceeding. It was the firmness, even, of my resolution, that made me still, as it places me near the gates of death, which to me is a consideration of great solemnity, and as I shall contend for the innocence of our friend before the eyes of all Europe.'
'Brave youth!' cried Rank, embracing him with much emotion. 'In heaven's name fight. If you fall, I will revenge your death as a good second should.'
At this moment the clock of St. Katharine's tower struck ten, and directly afterwards Baumgardt's boat landed through the splashing waves of the lake. In company with another officer he jumped ashore, and gave a coldly polite greeting to those who had been waiting his arrival. With silent activity the two assistants placed the barriers, and, thrusting their swords into the ground some distance apart, stretched a cord from one to the other.
'How many paces, general?' asked Rank, stepping midway of the cord.
'Twenty!' answered Baumgardt morosely.
'That is a great distance!' calmly remarked Arwed, and each measured twenty paces from the cord and marked the points.
'Here, Gyllenstierna!' cried Rank, and Arwed took his place, whilst Baumgardt stepped to the opposite point, which his second had marked. Both stood eyeing each other with folded arms. The weapons were not yet placed in their hands, but the glances of hatred exchanged were more deadly than the bullets.
The seconds had loaded the pistols, and the combatants now received them from their hands. 'Let him prevail who has the right!' whispered Rank to Arwed, stepping aside.
'It is yet proper to ask,' said Baumgardt's second, 'whether this affair may not be arranged in some other way?'
'In no other possible way!' cried Arwed. 'In this the major general will certainly agree with me.'
'In no other way!' muttered the general. His second then left his side, and the two combatants began slowly advancing, and with each step mentally measuring the distance which divided them from each other. They had advanced scarcely five steps, when with Baumgardt the fear of death prevailing, and with Arwed his eagerness for the fight conquering all prudence and discretion, they both fired almost at the same moment. Arwed's ball struck Baumgardt's hat from his head, and his opponent's grazed Arwed's left arm. But the latter, throwing away the discharged pistol, and taking the loaded one in his right hand, cautiously advanced.
Baumgardt followed his example, and advanced with a pale face, blue lips and bristling hair. While Arwed was observing the alteration which extreme anxiety caused in the countenance of his adversary, the latter elevated his weapon and continued slowly to approach, with his eye intently fixed upon Arwed's breast. Then swelled Arwed's heart, and the thirst for blood which now sparkled in Baumgardt's eyes, reminded him of the fiendlike expression of his face on the morning of the execution of Goertz.
'Your time has come! Forward!' cried the youth, in the same words Baumgardt had used on that occasion, raising his arm at the same moment. With sudden terror Baumgardt fired and missed--whilst his arm, struck and shattered by Arwed's ball, fell helplessly by his side.
'My God!' cried his second, springing to his side, and supporting the fainting man.
'My arm is gone!' said Baumgardt, grating his teeth and sinking upon the grass over which his blood was streaming. 'I am an invalid for life. Why could not the booby's bullet have struck my heart or head, and so have ended the matter at once!'
Arwed now approached his adversary with Rank, who had bound a handkerchief upon his bleeding arm.
'I am sorry, general,' said he, kindly, 'and my anger vanishes with your running blood. May this misfortune awaken in you a true and heartfelt repentance for what you have done. I am appeased,--make your peace with God!'
'What are you chattering there?' cried Rank indignantly, whilst Baumgardt scornfully rejected Arwed's proffered hand.
'Take my hand,' said Arwed; 'it is the hand of reconciliation. Imagine that it is offered to you by the innocent Goertz, whom your conduct led to the scaffold.'
'Did not I tell you,' cried Baumgardt to his second, 'that this senseless quarrel had a political origin? You will be a witness for me with her majesty.'
Overcome by pain, he fell back powerless.
'Your thoughtless words will cost you your head,' said Rank, hastily dragging the youth with him down to the shore.
Arwed was sitting in his quarters, and his regimental surgeon had just finished bandaging the wound in his arm, when old Brodin entered in great perplexity.
'His excellency, your father,' whispered he, 'desires to speak with you alone. He will be here directly.'
'It will not be a very pleasant interview,' sighed Arwed, motioning the surgeon to absent himself.
'You are not far out of the way,' said Brodin, after the surgeon had retired. 'His excellency is very angry with you. I have, therefore, hastened here before him to prepare you for his visit and to beg of you, as an old, true and zealous servant of your house--if the anger of the old gentleman should carry him too far, that you will still remember that he is your father, and listen to what he may please to say to you, not as a captain of the guards, but as a son.'
'I thank you for the warning, worthy friend, and will obey you,' answered Arwed.
The door now opened, and with a flaming, red face, the old counsellor entered.
'The old tell-tale already here,' cried he, 'plotting with the lost son? I would be alone with the captain.'
Brodin made a submissive, exculpatory gesture, whereby he at the same time seemed to beg permission to remain--but the old man pointed angrily towards the door, and Brodin unwillingly retired.
'So, you have fought to-day with major general Baumgardt?' asked the father with assumed calmness.
'Yes,' answered the son, 'but without any important consequences. I am but slightly injured, and his life is also out of danger.'
'Right!' cried the father, with somewhat increasing vehemence. 'So the trifle of rendering a general, who is particularly valued by the queen, a cripple for life, is a mere ordinary affair.'
He walked two or three times up and down the room, and then opened a window and looked out. After a while he turned again towards Arwed.
'God is my witness,' cried he, shutting the window with great violence, 'God is my witness, that I have been forbearing as an angel, but your conduct would make an Epictetus furious. To challenge the major general just at the moment when the queen, by promotion and knighthood, had declared him her favorite--to shatter his arm, and then confidentially to tell him that it was on account of his arresting Goertz, to which arrest Ulrika is probably indebted for her crown! Would it indeed be possible, by the widest stretch of fancy, to imagine a proceeding more senseless and ruinous than yours?'
'The party spirit,' answered Arwed, 'which divides our country, early teaches every Swede to choose his side; and, in a land so disturbed by political storms, a peculiar disgrace seems to rest upon neutrality. Blame me not then, my dear father, if I also have formed my principles; and be not angry because they are not exactly like yours. If you have nothing to pardon me for, except that, having once chosen my party, I have remained true to it in every emergency, that circumstance should, as I think, honor me in your eyes.'
'Honor!' cried the counsellor angrily. 'Youdare to talk of honor,you!'
'What mean you by that? 'asked Arwed with vehemence.
'Where were you on the evening of the king's funeral solemnities?' thundered the father.
'With Georgina,' answered he, not without great astonishment at the question.
'The body of Goertz,' said the counsellor, with fierce energy, 'was on that very night stolen from the place of execution. You, perhaps, can tell how it happened.'
'I find it very natural,' answered Arwed, 'that those who loved the unhappy man, and are firmly convinced of the injustice of his condemnation, should, at least, have borne off his remains from the unworthy resting place in which he was left by the malice of his enemies.'
'And if,' proceeded the counsellor, in a slow, cutting tone, 'if a Swedish officer had commanded this nocturnal expedition, what fate do you think would await him under the present government?'
Arwed, by this question, perceiving with a secret shudder that his father knew all, remained silent.
'Dishonorable dismission!' sternly exclaimed the counsellor; 'and possibly, as an especial mercy, imprisonment for life!'
'If the senate require only my confession to enable it to pass the sentence,' cried Arwed with violence, 'you may be the bearer of that confession to it. I am too proud to deny what my heart impelled me to do.'
The father stood a long time looking at his son with powerful emotion. 'Yes!' he finally broke forth, 'yes, you are a Gyllenstierna! With our failings you unite all the virtues of our family. Holding fast that which has been once chosen--noble even in our errors--so were we always. And so much the deeper is my regret that so many good qualities must be forever lost to the country.'
'From these expressions,' said Arwed, 'I must infer that you bring me already the decision of my fate. If so, speak it without hesitation. I am prepared to receive it.'
'The queen was beside herself,' answered the counsellor, 'when she heard of your last misdeed; and had she obeyed the first suggestions of her rage, you would now have been in chains, awaiting a decision involving life or death.'
'Little souls are generally cruel,' observed Arwed.
'As a father I pleaded for my disobedient son,' continued the counsellor; 'and it is not strange that the man, whose duty it will be to place the crown upon Ulrika's head at Upsala, should not plead entirely in vain. A full pardon was not, indeed, to be thought of. Yet have I succeeded so far in the business, that she has left the designation of your punishment to her husband. To him I shall now lead you; and what he thinks proper to inflict, must be received by you with humility and thankfulness.'
'If consistent with honor,' answered Arwed, taking his hat; 'otherwise I shall demand a court martial.'
They went forth together. In the entrance-hall they were joined by two officers of the guards, who, with them, entered a carriage which was waiting at the door. They soon arrived at the palace upon the Ritterholm. The two Gyllenstiernas, with their companions, ascended the steps to the apartments of the prince of Hesse, who came forward to meet them with a sealed paper in his hand. Only lieutenant general Rank was with him, who gave an encouraging wink to Arwed.
'You have deeply erred, captain Gyllenstierna,' said the prince, earnestly. 'The severe letter of the law must inevitably crush you, were not the hand of mercy interposed. But my wife wishes to convince the nobles of the land that her royal heart gladly inclines to mercy, willingly pardoning when it is in her power to do so, and she also wishes to evince her respect for your worthy father, by even undeserved kindness towards his son. Yet must you be informed, that a man who has declared open war against the state through his audacious acts, cannot remain in his country's service, and that the government must be secured from any repetition of his offences. Therefore receive from me your dismission from the Swedish army. You may thank your heroism before Frederickshall, and the distinction of which my royal brother-in-law thought you worthy, that this dismissal is united with the title of major, which you will henceforth be entitled to bear. Yet your crime must not go entirely unpunished. Wherefore the queen banishes you forever from the limits of the capital, and exacts from you a promise that you will never pass the frontier of the nation, and that you will never again meddle with the political affairs of this kingdom, under pain of death. Your father will receive your promise, and will determine your future place of residence. May time make you wiser!'
Handing to the youth the paper containing his discharge from the service, he departed and was followed by Rank. 'God bless your royal highness!' cried the elder Gyllenstierna after him.
'So, I am a prisoner of state in Sweden,' said Arwed with a bitter smile. 'It is fortunate that my prison is tolerably spacious. Where is it your pleasure that I shall go, my father?'
'To Gyllensten, to my brother,' answered the counsellor, 'after you have signed the required promise, which I must return to her majesty.'
He pointed to a paper lying upon the marble table. Arwed hastily run his eye through the written promise, and subscribed his name to it; upon which the two officers, who had hitherto guarded the door, immediately left the room.
'To Gyllensten!' exclaimed Arwed, gratefully kissing his father's hand, 'to the loved resort of my childhood, to my good old-uncle! How good you still are, my father, even when you punish. How deeply do I regret that I have caused you so much sorrow.'
'You bad boy!' cried the father with strong emotion, pressing him to his bosom. 'And if I pardon you every thing else, I will not pardon you for depriving yourself of the power of serving your father-land, whose golden age is just commencing.'
'May heaven grant,' answered Arwed, 'that Sweden may not soon wish back the departedironage! I shall always think that the strong will of one only ruler can direct the government more consistently and happily, than the constantly divided opinions of the four and twenty little kings who are now to rule the country, even though you yourself are one of these kings, my father.'
'Silence! you are incorrigible!' cried the old counsellor, drawing his son with him out of the palace.