1943 WARBECK OF WOLFSTEÏN. CHAPTER I. "Qui perd pêche." THE news of the dispersion of Count Casimir of Vallenstein's noble retinue was quickly buzzed through Vienna: fierce yagers, splendid liverymen, welltrained grooms, were wandering masterless, seeking new employment; and even the fine horses and splendid equipages of their late lord, which had been unreservedly shared amongst them, were now offered to the most liberal buyer for sale. At the levee of the day which saw the departure of Vallensteïn, no other subject was discussed. The Emperor did not VOL. III. B Lawren appear, and the countenance of the Empress still bore the traces of the shock of the preceding evening. Princess Stolberg absented herself on the plea of indisposition, careless at that moment of the guesses and rumours to which her conduct might give birth. Her imperial mistress was well acquainted with the partial kindness she professed for him whose departure, and its singular manner, was at that moment the theme of all tongues, and accorded her every indulgence; while the Princess internally resolved, as soon as she could in some degree recover the agitation which now overwhelmed her, to lay her heart and its secrets at the feet of her benevolent Sovereign, since the weight was more than even her high spirit could sustain alone, and to solicit or accept the sympathy of a less exalted mind was not in her nature. The word "disgrace" was wafted in whispers through the state apartment; for as the illustrious lady who presided did not in any way allude to her late favourite, no one dared to utter his assertions or conjectures aloud. Count Harrach entered in all the parade and splendor of his newly acquired mili tary distinction, in a full.and magnificent uniform, decorated by orders and medals, and all the brilliant appendages which a long probation at court had acquired for him. Big with the theme of the hour, his countenance betrayed a double share of sapient meaning, and as his mind usually contented itself with a freightage of one idea at a time, it did not occur to him that any subject, save the one of which he groaned to be delivered, could be discussed, much less did a single doubt assail him, that it actually laboured under a tacit prohibition. Those who would not themselves hazard breaking the silence of which the Empress gave them the example, rejoiced at the sight of the pompous, garrulous uncle of Vallenstein, who, having knelt and kissed the hand of his mistress, and found himself once more on his feet, cast upon her a speaking look full of wistful inquiry, which receiving no answer, he was compelled to utter forth his sole idea, since, like the helmet of Otranto, it was become too large for the mansion; however, he was courtier enough to discern that it was necessary to come to his point by a circuitous route. "May I presume, madam," said he, "to express to your Imperial Majesty those contradictory emotions which assail me at this moment. In saluting your Majesty's fair hand, I could almost weep to think how long it may be ere my knee shall again be bent in this presence." "You are then summoned to the army, Count Harrach ?" "My illustrious brother has put my services into instant requisition, and the idea that I may be permitted to perish in the cause of my imperial master, alone consoles me for an exile from the sunshine in which I have long ripened. To-mor |