ANXIETIES OF THEOBALD—WORSHIP OF MARY--- THEOBALD INFORMED WHERE HE IS.
"No news yet?" asked the chevalier, sadly; "and the night has come, and a long day has also passed! Matthew led me to hope the speedy arrival of the express; but he does not come: and I know not why, I experience in my heart oppression and anguish. O, who will tell me what has become of Hildegarde and my children? But what have I to fear? Rothenwald is impregnable, and should all our enemies surround it, is it not under the protection of Our Lady? Who shall conquer it?"
"He who dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High," said Gottfried, "shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Happy is the man who makes his refuge in the shadow of his wings, until his calamity be overpast."
"Your confidence is then in God alone!" replied Theobald. "You do not even name the Holy Virgin!"
"It is because she did not create me, nor does she keep me alive. This woman, blessed as she has been, did not purchase me with her blood, and is only a creature of God. What dependence can I place upon a creature?"
"But," said Theobald, "if God made the queen of heaven and the angels, and if all power has been given them----"
"Chevalier!" exclaimed Gottfried, "it is Jesus—it is the Eternal Son of the Father—it is the King, sitting on the holy mount of Zion—who says these words, applying them to himself, 'All power has been given to me in heaven and on earth.' Beware then, for the love of your soul, of attributing this authority to a woman, to whom, when she forgot that she was in the presence of her son, Jesus said, reproachfully, 'Woman! what have I to do with thee?'"
Upon this, Gottfried approached Theobald, whom he looked at affectionately, as he pressed his hand, saying, "May God himself be with you, and strengthen your heart! To-morrow, certainly, we shall have news of your family, and we know it will be good news, since it will be the will of God: and God, Theobald, is love."
Gottfried went out, and Matthew came to sit with the chevalier, whom he was to take care of during the night, and to whom he had orders to say a few words about Arnold and his arrival.
The night rolled away, and Theobald could not sleep. He was suffering, and sometimes groaned, and the name of Hildegarde was continually on his lips.
Matthew did not cease to pray to God in his heart, that he would visit this soul in mercy; and as the chevalier exclaimed, "O, how my heart aches!" Matthew approached him, and said, "My lord is suffering. What can I do for him?"
"Ah, Matthew!" replied Theobald, "it is my heart that suffers. It seems to me that it will break."
"If my lord," said Matthew, gently, "could weep, it would surely relieve him."
"Weep!" exclaimed Theobald, looking at Matthew; "weep, do you say? I do not know what it is. I have never wept. Shall the Iron-Hearted become a woman?"
"'Jesus wept!' is written in the Gospel," replied Matthew. "And our good Saviour is our pattern in all things."
"You weep, then, here?" said the chevalier, with visible interest; "for here you do in all things like Jesus?"
Matthew, (humbly.)At least, we desire to. Our pious lord—
Theobald. Gottfried is then a nobleman?
Matthew. My master is the Count of Winkelthal.
Theobald, (with agitation.)The Count of Winkelthal, Matthew? Arnold, the Lion, was then his son? Am I then, indeed, in the house of his father?
Matthew. Arnold is the only son of my master; and he is not dead!
"Not dead!" exclaimed Theobald, extending his hands to the domestic. "Tell me, Matthew, are you sure of this?"
Matthew. Arnold is living. God has preserved him, and he is here; he is near you—yes, in the room adjoining!
"Now I can weep!" said Theobald, putting his hands over his face, and sobbing aloud.
Matthew approached him with emotion, and Theobald, passing his arm around the neck of the servant, leaned his head upon his bosom, weeping abundantly, and saying,
"Have pity on me, Matthew. My soul is overwhelmed!"
"O, my lord!" said the Christian to him, "it is God himself who has visited you and who calls you. Fear not; and let your tears flow before him."
"Matthew! dear Matthew!" said Theobald, clasping his hands; "pray to God for me!"
Matthew knelt beside the bed of the chevalier, and poured out his soul in prayer. Theobald was still weeping when the servant rose; and it was only by degrees that he became composed, and at last fell asleep.
ARNOLD INFORMED OF WHAT HAS TAKEN PLACE—HIS JOYFUL SURPRISE—ABSENCE OF GOTTFRIED.
So passed the night in the chamber of Theobald. Arnold had slept quietly. Ethbert did not at first speak of Theobald; and it was not until morning, after his master had awakened and had with Ethbert lifted his soul to God in prayer, that the servant pronounced the name of Rothenwald, lamenting the ruin of that beautiful and splendid dwelling.
"It is the Lord!" replied Arnold: "'He casteth down and he raiseth up, and his judgments are over all the earth.' But what bitterness for the wife, alas! for the widow of the unfortunate Theobald! Imprudent man! why did he flee? Would it not have been better for him to have submitted to numbers, and been taken prisoner? He would now be living, and his house would not have been burned!"
"Did his pursuers say," asked Ethbert, "that he was dead?"
Arnold. They were two of our chevaliers; and I was informed, that their intention was to seize him; that they called to him repeatedly, and at last, in the wood, pierced his horse with a lance, that they might be able to take him prisoner; but they declared that, in falling, the horse had crushed his rider, who had been killed immediately by striking his head against a rock. Such was their account. The Lord knows whether it was so; but Theobald has perished. Poor widow! Sorrowful and feeble orphans!
"My lord would then have defended him," said Ethbert, feelingly, "had he been able?"
Arnold, (with warmth.)I would have preserved his life at the peril of my own.
Ethbert. The life of your enemy?
Arnold. Does Ethbert forget the word of his God? Or, does he not yet know that "if we love those who love us," we act only like publicans and men of the world?
Ethbert. Arnold, the Lion, will, therefore, bless the Lord, when he learns that the Iron-Hearted was not killed, and that he was taken, a living man, from the spot where he fell.
"Ethbert! is that the truth?" said Arnold, seizing the arm of his servant.
"It was I, my lord, who held the torch which illuminated the dark forest, and it was between the trunks of the oaks and pines that I saw first a horse extended on the motionless body of a warrior."
Arnold. And this warrior----
Ethbert. Was Theobald! Yes, my lord, it was he who had just, as he thought, struck your death-blow.
Arnold. And who directed your steps thither, at night?
Ethbert. God, himself. O, what a work of his wonderful love! Yes, God himself guided your noble father and your son to the Stag Cliffs at the moment when Theobald, flying before the two chevaliers, passed through the defile of the wood; and your father summoned Matthew and myself to descend there with him.
Arnold, (with adoration.)My father! sent from God to the murderer of his son? How wonderful are the ways of the Most High! But, Ethbert, did you not say that he was dead?
Ethbert. We thought so. But your pious and benevolent father, my lord, knelt, touched the supposed, corpse, and exclaimed, "He is not dead!" and aided by our hands, disengaged him. He extended him on the mossy ground, called for water, bathed and refreshed the pale countenance of the chevalier; his life returned, and your father glorified God.
"Theobald is living!" said Arnold, lifting towards heaven his eyes filled with tears. "O, who will make it known to his wife and children?"
Ethbert. Your father, my lord, commissioned the captain who brought you here, to inform them of his safety; but she is still ignorant of the asylum of her husband.
"And where is he?" asked Arnold.
Ethbert turns, and pointing to one side of the chamber, says, "Behind that wall, my lord—Theobald is in your father's bed."
Arnold clasped his hands, praying, and blessing God. Erard, who had just entered softly, approached him, and said to him, with tenderness, "Good papa, have you slept well? It is I, papa!--It is your little Erard! Will you not embrace me?"
"O, my son," said Arnold, placing one hand upon the shoulder of his child, "if you knew how good the Lord is!"
"O, yes, dear papa," said Erard; "God is good—since he has preserved you."
"And he has also preserved Theobald," added the father.
"Theobald, papa!--the cavalier who was dead! and whom grandpapa, by the goodness of God restored! Do you know him?"
Erard looked at Ethbert, as if to know whether he might continue; and his father, who saw this look, said to him, "Yes, dear child—I know him; and I know that God has confided him to our care. O, Erard, remember that even an enemy has a claim on our love."
"Yes, dear papa," continued the child, "and, like the good Samaritan, we should love him and bind up his wounds. Papa, that is what grandpapa did the other night, in the wood. O, if you knew how afraid I was at first! Think, papa—a dead man!--blood!
"But now this chevalier is so good to me! I have just been to see him with Matthew; and he wept as he embraced me."
"Theobald wept, and embraced you, my son!" asked the father.
Erard. Yes, dear papa; and even said to me, placing his hand on my head, "May the God of thy father bless thee, and make thee resemble him!"
Arnold, (much affected.)Erard, did he say that to you?
Erard. Yes, dear papa; and when I was coming away, he called me back, and giving me this flower, said to me, "Erard, go to your father and tell him that Theobald sent this:" and he wept much. Here it is, dear papa. I did not dare to give it to you at first, because I did not know whether Ethbert----
"Embrace me, my child," said Arnold; "and go, and tell my good father, that I entreat him to come to me."
Erard. O, dear papa, grandpapa would have come before—but he went away in the night, with two servants, in a carriage.
Arnold. My father went away in the night, Erard! And do you know, and can you tell me where he is gone?
Erard. No, papa. Only he said, when he set out—for I was awake and heard him—"Go by way of the heath."
"He is then gone to Waldhaus," said Ethbert; "since the heath is on the direct road to the chateau."
These are the fruits of Christian love! It is active, fervent, and does not put off until to-morrow the good that may be done to-day. Sure and powerful consolation was necessary for the heart of the wife and mother whom God had afflicted, and the servant of the "God of consolation" was hastening, in his name, to Hildegarde, whom he hoped to bring to him whose death she was deploring.
FRIENDLY MEETING OF THE WARRIORS—MUTUAL FORGIVENESS—THEOBALD'S DESIRE FOR INSTRUCTION—RETURN OF GOTTFRIED—THE BIBLE—LESSON OF LOVE TO ENEMIES.
Arnold did not at first reply to Ethbert. His mind was troubled; but having sent away his son, he said to the servant, "Ethbert, God has given you wisdom. Go, therefore, now, to the chevalier, and bear him, in the name of the Lord, the salutation of Arnold. You will also say to him, that my great desire, my true and cordial desire, is to come to him. But say nothing of my father."
Ethbert entered the chamber of Theobald, who said to him, as soon as he saw him, "Ethbert, I have not yet seen your master to-day. Is he sick?"
"My master," said Ethbert, "is not now in the castle. But, my lord, you must know that God is now displaying his goodness—"
Theobald. To me, you would say, Ethbert. I know that Arnold is living; that he is here; that he is near me.
Ethbert. And my lord knows also that a disciple of Christ can love even an enemy?
Theobald. I was ignorant of it; but I have learned it here. Ethbert, do not fear to tell me all. Do you know whether Erard carried to his father a flower?
Ethbert. I know that his father blessed God when he received it, and that the desire of his soul is that the Baron of Rothenwald----
Theobald. Say, simply, Theobald—and you may also say, his friend, his humbled and repentant friend.
Ethbert, (respectfully.)The father of Erard says to the chevalier Theobald, that the cordial desire of his heart is to visit him, without delay.
"Arnold! Arnold!" exclaimed the chevalier; "do you hear my voice? O, why can I not come to you, and ask your pardon?"
"Theobald," was heard through the partition, "I am coming! Ethbert! Ethbert!"
The domestic immediately went out, and Theobald remained, with his eyes fixed on the door, until he heard the steps of Arnold and of his servant. Then his heart failed him, and he covered his face with his hands, while Arnold entered, and approached the bed, beside which he sat down, saying, "O, Theobald! I must give way to my joy! It is beyond my strength. May God support us at this hour!" At these words Ethbert left the room, saying, "Amen."
"It was I—it was I who struck you!" exclaimed Theobald, bathing with tears the hands with which he had covered his face. "Arnold, it was my sword that made this still bleeding wound! Pardon! pardon! in the name of God alone! Arnold, forgive! O forgive one who would have been your murderer!"
"And let our tears and our hearts mingle," said Arnold, rising, and embracing Theobald, "to bless this great God who sees us and who has brought me to you!"
"To me!" exclaimed Theobald, looking at Arnold, and coloring. "Ah, that bandage! that wound!"—and he began again to weep.
"But for this wound," replied Arnold, with energy, "would you be here, and would Theobald ever have been my friend?"
"Yes, thy friend, noble and charitable soul!" repeated Theobald. "You said to me, Arnold, when I advanced to kill you, 'Why would you shed my blood and take my life?' To-day, here is my blood and my life! It belongs to you. I call God, who now hears me, to witness."
"O, how wonderful are his ways!" said Arnold. "What an admirable Providence has united us—you, the Iron-Hearted, and me, the Lion!" added he, smiling. "Did the Baron of Rothenwald think, three days since, that he would be lying in the bed of the Earl of Winkelthal, and peacefully smiling at the words of a Calixtan?"
Theobald reddened: this last word had surprised and disturbed him; and it was only by controlling the secret indignation of his soul, that he said, "I did not know that peace and charity entered these lofty towers and innumerable battlements. I had been told, Arnold—and I believed it—that impiety alone made its dwelling here."
"No, Theobald—it is not impiety; it is the word of the Lord, and the love of Jesus, we trust, which directs and consoles our hearts."
Theobald. Yours! yes: I believe it; for I see it hourly. But these Taborites, Arnold—this ferocious and cruel Ziska—do they know the name of Jesus—they who persecute the Holy Church?
Arnold. You have seen them only at a distance, Theobald; and you do not even suspect that it was for the cause of Jesus and for his holy gospel that John Huss ended his days at the stake.
Theobald, (surprised.)Were not this Huss and his friend Jerome infidels?
Arnold. Ah, Theobald! was that John Huss an infidel, who, when the sentence that condemned him to be burned was read to him, immediately threw himself on his knees, exclaiming, "O, Lord Jesus, pardon my enemies! Pardon them, for the love of thy great mercy and goodness?"
Theobald, (affected.)Arnold! did John Huss, indeed, speak thus?
Arnold. He did! John Huss knew Jesus, and, like Jesus, prayed for his murderers. No, Theobald; he who loves—who loves unto death, and who can pray for his executioners—is not an infidel.
"O, Hildegarde! Hildegarde!" exclaimed Theobald, groaning; "what hast thou done, and what have I done! Poor prisoners! What injustice!"
Arnold. Your heart is oppressed, Theobald; some sorrowful remembrance distresses you.
The chevalier was about to reply, when a noise was heard at the door, which was opened by Gottfried, holding Erard by the hand.
"Here they both are!" said the old man to the child. "Look, Erard, and see whether the chevalier hates thy father. See, if what Ethbert told me was not true!
"This dear child," added he, "had some fears for his father: for he knows all, Theobald."
Theobald, (with tenderness.)Come, then, Erard, and give me your hand. Come, my child, and also pardon me. O, how I need pardon from every heart here! Say, Erard, will you not forgive me?
Erard, (giving his hand to the chevalier.)I love you much, since my father loves you.
"Well, my son!" said Gottfried. "Go now to Ethbert, and tell him to be in readiness to accompany me."
Theobald. Shall you leave us again? Will it be for many hours?
Gottfried. It is on your behalf, chevalier, that I must now act. The express which we expected, did not come, and I feared that my message had not reached your dear Hildegarde. I, therefore, went myself to tell her of your welfare.
Theobald. Is it possible! O, tell me if all is well with her!
Gottfried. Thanks to God, Hildegarde and her precious children are well—very well. She has been very anxious until last night. My message did not reach her until then; and her express, who did not start until day-break, was detained on the way. I met him, and bring you more than he would have said himself.
Theobald. She knows, then, that her husband is---- with the Count of Winkelthal?
Gottfried. Hildegarde knows that her husband is with his friends, and she blesses God with us.
"Theobald," added Gottfried, "there should be no difference between us. Jesus will unite us by his grace."
Theobald. As he has already done, has he not? The old father, after having bound up with his trembling hands the wounds of a stranger—of an enemy—afterwards to bestow all the treasures of his kindness, and more than paternal charity, on him whose hands he supposed to be stained with the blood of his son! O, may this Jesus, who makes us love, reveal himself in my soul also! Arnold, my dear Arnold! teach me to know him!
"Theobald," replied Arnold, "he who desires to know Jesus is no longer a stranger to his love."
Theobald. And yet, my true friends, how far am I still from that charity which flows in your hearts like a river! You have pardoned even me; and you can love, pity, succor, and console your enemies! Arnold, it is to Hildegarde that your father is going—to her who, shall I tell you? caused the eyes of two of your brethren to be put out!
Arnold. No, Theobald, no; you could not have done that!
Theobald, (with a groan.)O, what was our injustice!--our cruelty! (He weeps.) And when their eyes were pierced, they stretched out their hands on all sides, saying, "Where are you, lord of Rothenwald, that we may take your hand and pardon you in the name of Jesus!"
Gottfried, (with solemnity.)Theobald, these two blind men are now with me; they knew, last evening, who was the chevalier brought here from the forest, and they have already prayed God for you many times! They have even asked Ethbert to assure you of their sincere love, before God their Saviour.
Theobald. O, withdraw from me!--leave me! I am stained with blood! God of heaven, how severely hast thou punished me!
Arnold. Is that to say, Theobald, that you believe us to be better and more charitable than God? Rash and blind man that you are! You see, that, by his grace in our hearts, we can forget and forgive an injury—an offence; and through the same grace of the same God, show mercy and love to our enemies,—you see that, you are affected by it, you admire it; then, when you look towards that God who teaches his children to be charitable or merciful, you see only an angry Judge—an implacable avenger—an enemy, about to strike you! Theobald, do you comprehend your mistake?
"But, Arnold," resumed Theobald, with humility, "by what right, wicked as I am, can I ask God to pardon me?"
"By the right," replied Gottfried, taking from among his books a Bible, which he placed on Theobald's bed, "yes, by the right that every man, every sinner has, who reads and believes the word of God, to receive its precious invitations and promises."
Theobald, (laying his hand on the Bible.)Tell me, my friends, is it by reading and believing this Bible that you learned to love your enemies?
Gottfried and Arnold, (together.)Yes, Theobald.
Theobald. I will then read it also; and, if God enables me, I will believe it: for, if men have called me the Iron-Hearted, I need now that God should soften my heart and make me his child—his ransomed one; and that his Spirit should teach me, like you, my noble friends, to imitate Jesus, in pardoning injuries and loving those who hate me!
THE END.