Adelaide of Brunswick/Chapter Six
CHAPTER SIX
In Dresden, everything was running smoothly. The Marquis of Thuringia governed with as much inspiration as wisdom the states which had been left to his care. There were good times within the borders and no troubles with the exterior. Everything announced to Germany that Saxony could only be happy if its government fell into the hands of such a wise man. But if his head was calm, his heart was not happy. Separated from the one he loved, not knowing where she was, knowing that she had escaped from Torgau, but not having heard a word from her, he was in a constant state of uneasiness. He knew that Frederick had undertaken his trip to find Adelaide and would make her extremely unhappy if he ever found her. In spite of all this, he devoted himself to the people in an effort to bring about happiness to others, even if he could not have it himself.
The prince, after having spent some time in Hamburg, made up his mind to visit Holland. In the company of Mersburg, he was beginning to know men as he had never known them before while he was on the throne. He mingled with all classes, and was able for the first time to understand many of the characteristics of those in court who gain what they want through flattery rather than through real merit.
One day he was dining in Amsterdam with one of the most famous merchants in Europe, and keeping his incognito, he engaged him in conversation.
"Sir," the merchant said, "you will have to agree that my occupations and my connections are more important and more vast than those of a reigning prince, and if this truth is established then I am more important and most useful on the earth than a prince."
"Sir," answered Frederick, "I am far from being of your opinion. You work only for yourself. Your worries are only for your fortune. The prince thinks only of the good of his subjects; there is no selfishness in him, while you are inspired only by it … The image of a good prince is something like that of a god, while you only offer that of sordid cupidity."
"And in what class are there not dishonest people? It is the state that we judge and not the one who rules it. I pretend, Sir, that the country is more important than the scepter and that since trade makes men live, it will always be more important than anything else."
"But are you not forgetting the rights of birth?"
"What are they except the effect of luck? Let us suppose that you are a noble. Did you have anything to do with your being one? Your merits can make your position important, Sir, but your ancestors had nothing to do with it."
"Do you believe that these merits depend on us alone?"
"No more than nobility. Our penchants come from nature, I know, but we are the masters of the direction of our efforts. Man is what he is through habit; let him try to adopt good principles from childhood, and the habit of these good principles will take him straight to a state of virtue. One cannot exaggerate the importance of the first impressions one gives to youth and how much they influence the rest of his life. But these cares, these efforts are impossible for the child. He fails if his teacher does not aid him. What care parents should take in the selection of a teacher!"
"I don't see the necessity of it," said a third person in approaching the two conversationalists, "I would a hundred times rather abandon nature to itself than to burden it with a lot of useless advice which is always forgotten as soon as passion gets the upper hand. It is man's nature to resist the brakes which one puts on him, and in that way all the effects of good teaching are lost. Let experience be the only teacher."
"Will it be in time after the mistakes have been made?" asked Frederick.
"Isn't it always necessary for a person to make at least one serious mistake?" said the new speaker. "It is in that way that we avoid making others, and there is nothing that I fear in society like a new man who has never made any mistakes. The certainty that I have that he will make one always makes me fear being the object of his first one."
"Moreover this system is not always sure," continued the man. "If the Prince of Saxony had not made the first mistake in being too indulgent about the conduct of his wife, he would not have been in a position to have assassinated the lover whom she preferred."
"Sir," said Mersburg, "one would suppose that you take pleasure in insulting this prince."
"How could that be since I don't even know him. No Sir, I do not insult people. I am satisfied to instruct them when they want to be, and with respect to that, Gentlemen," continued the unknown man speaking to Frederick and Mersburg, "I invite you to come to my house to have some coffee, and I will tell you some things which will interest you and surprise you on that last point."
Frederick and Mersburg having consented to follow this strange man, he took them into a little dark street where there was a house of rather poor appearance and he had the two men go up some narrow steps to his apartment.
They entered a small room in the middle of which was a large mirror. Next to it was a table which held three or four large books.
"Gentlemen," said the master of the apartment turning towards those whom he had brought there, "you are in the home of the greatest necromancer in Europe, and if this gentleman," he continued, pointing out Frederick, "wishes to know things, I can make him see in this mirror all the events which will come to him for the rest of his days."
"We are at the home of a crazy man," said Mersburg to the prince.
"No," said Frederick, "I believe in this science and I am happy to find out what the future holds in store for me."
"If that is the case," said the necromancer who had heard these last words, "look with the greatest attention at all the things which are going to be seen in that mirror. Look, examine, and remember, but don't ask me any questions. I shall be too busy with my books to be able to answer."
Frederick and Mersburg fixed their eyes on the mirror and here is what they saw distinctly:
They first noticed a tower on the top of which was a sign which read: "She is here."
"Who?" asked the prince impetuously.
Nobody answered. Two individuals soon left the tower and they soon disappeared along with the tower. A moment later, a forest could be seen and along a road there were two armed horsemen who seemed to be following the two people who had left the tower.
Soon this scene was effaced by a cloud which covered the mirror and when the cloud had gone, a large chateau appeared in the depth of some woods. A horseman was following another man on horseback and succeeded in catching him and killed him. Then the conqueror got off the horse and gave his arm to a very tall woman.
Everything disappeared and the necromancer, closing his books, said to Frederick:
"You have just seen, Sir, a part of the events of your life. You probably already know all the causes, and since I cannot foresee the effects, it is impossible for me to present them to you. Study what you have just seen, and perhaps you will be able to prevent some of the things from hurting you. Since I have to undergo a terrific strain to present these things, I will now have to go to bed and I beg you to leave me."
The strange man was indeed all covered with sweat. Frederick, much impressed, offered the man some gold, but he refused it.
"There are certain secrets which cannot be paid for," he said to Frederick, "profit from what you have just seen. How happy men would be if they could read in the night of time as you have just done."
"But I didn't understand any of it," said Frederick.
"I know that, Sir, but one day these veils will be lifted, and you will be able to understand better. I wish I could tell you more, but it is impossible."
Once Frederick went back to his rooms, he could not hold back his uneasiness.
"All that we have just seen is extremely unusual," he said to Mersburg.
"Milord," answered Mersburg, "you should not be too much impressed by these charlatans who are quite numerous in Holland, Switzerland and Germany, and who make a good living from their trade."
"But this one did not even accept any money. Why do you expect me not to believe people who have become instructed in the art of reading in the future? I know that it is only a conjectural science, but it is based on certain known principles. The chances of life resemble those of dice. If you throw them on the table a certain number will appear and because of that a certain number will appear the next time; for nothing is chance in this world; everything depends on what has gone just before. The number of events in each life is fixed in such a way that certain causes must always follow certain effects, as it is certain that a traveler going along route A must find everything which that route can offer, while the one who goes along route B will find something entirely different."
"And so you believe that you can control all the happiness of your life," interrupted Mersburg.
"Certainly," answered the prince, "for one is master of what one foresees. All the studies of the future are chimerical," continued Frederick, "but study well the chances of the past and you will be able to determine those of the future. In each page of history you will find similar situations. As for the man we have just met, he seemed to have given us something important."
"How can you tell, since neither of us understood anything of what appeared in the mirror."
"It is up to us to guess. Moreover, my friend," continued the prince, "I confess that what struck me most is that tower on which one read: 'She is here!' Ah, Count, it is of Adelaide that the mirror spoke. She has, without doubt, left one prison only to enter another. Let's hasten to look for her, and may Saxony not see us again until we bring her back."
"But what road should we take?" asked Mersburg. Besides, this tower which frightens you so much no longer has her since you have seen two people leave it, supposing that she was one of the two. It would seem that she is now free."
"What does it matter? Let's look for her always. Let's search all the towers which we can find. Let's go into all the forests. Let's fulfill the aim of our trip and let nothing stop us in our purpose."
This firm resolution caused the prince to go back to Germany, a country more abundant in towers and forests than Holland. They returned to Hamburg where they had left their arms and started out for Munster.
During this time Adelaide and her companion were spending sad days in the frightful prison where they had been placed and the more their work advanced the more fright took over their souls. An old blind man who brought them their food and who only spoke to them by monosyllables gave them no inkling of their fate. When Schinders appeared at the end of the month, as he had announced, he examined their work and did not find it very much advanced.
"It seems to me that you love life," he said to his prisoners, "I imagined, however, that it would not have so much attraction for you in the frightful situation in which you find yourself. But it does not matter; as I have told you, you are the mistresses of your fate, a few months more or less are not of great importance. Since you like life so much, you can enjoy all the poisons of it."
Then passing into the little garden with his prisoners:
"What!" he said in a harsh voice, "these graves have not even been started. If you are not in a hurry to prepare a place for your mortal remains, I shall let them be devoured by the crows, or I will make of them the nourishment of the fish in the pond."
"This is of little importance for us," said Adelaide. "We don't care what becomes of our bodies when they are no longer animated with the principle which inspires them today. What is sure is that this principle will always be imprinted with the hatred which it owes to its tyrants."
"It is not the wife of Frederick who should reproach those who punish the tyrannies of her husband."
"Frederick was never a tyrant. He is a feeble and credulous man who has been deceived by his enemies. But no matter what be the case, you can rest assured that when it will be necessary to leave this earth, our graves will be ready and we will show as much courage as you show barbarism."
"Milady," said Schinders with impertinence, "you speak as if you were still on the throne of Saxony."
"I shall always have the sentiments which made me worthy of being there."
"There are moments in life when that type of energy becomes only a weakness."
"It can only become a weakness with beings as ferocious as you are."
"Ah, Milady, do not antagonize your executioners."
"What does it matter," said Adelaide, "what does it matter whether we breathe a few hours more or less. One cannot leave such monsters early enough."
"Sir," said Bathilda, "do not be surprised at our language, and realize that the hope of dying soon gives the right to say anything."
"You are out of your heads, Miladies," said Schinders. "The attitude which you are taking is bad and it will bring you even more disagreeable things."
At that he put his head out of the door and yelled: "Stolbach! I am putting you in the place of the blind man. You will be better than he is to keep these ladies and you will answer to me for them with your head."
This new guardian was the most frightful looking being that it was possible to see. His legs were small and crooked and his arms were extremely long. There was an enormous hump between his two shoulders which balanced one even larger on his chest. His voice resembled that of the cry of peacocks. He had the ears of an ape and the face of an old dog. His mouth was like an oven on the edge of which one had placed a few horse teeth at a great distance one from the other. His thick reddish hair gave him the appearance of a fox, but from his meanness, one would take him to be a wolf and from his ferocity, he seemed like a tiger. It was hard, by looking at him, to determine whether his origins were human or animal. The two women drew back in horror on seeing this frightful monster. They knew, however, that there was no point in protesting.
"Stolbach," said Schinders, "not only will you watch these women, but you will see to it that they work hard. I am anxious to have them turned back to nature, that never should have let them come on the earth."
With that the man turned and went out slamming the iron door.
"I imagine that your hope has now disappeared," said Adelaide when Stolbach had gone out.
"No more than before, Milady. The circumstances have not changed, why should hope diminish?"
"You mean that this terrible looking guardian does not alter our hopes for escape?"
"Not at all. Perhaps we will be able to influence this one easier than we could the other. For you must realize that we cannot escape without help. You know that we two alone could never accomplish that."
"That is right, but you can be assured that we will never get anything from this Stolbach. The face is the mirror of the soul, and so what hope can we have from this creature?"
Two weeks passed in uneasiness and tears when Adelaide, enervated by sadness and despair, felt her forces grow weak. One morning she felt so ill that she had to stay in bed and asked Bathilda to work alone. At the lunch hour, Stolbach made Bathilda go into the garden with him saying that he had to talk to her.
"Come back quickly," said Adelaide to her, "for I am feeling very ill."
Bathilda left assuring her that she would return as soon as the man had told her the motive of the tête-à-tête that he wanted to have. After about ten minutes the man came rushing out of the little garden and left hurriedly. Adelaide waited for almost an hour and then fearing that something had happened to her companion, she painfully got out of bed and made her way outside. She found Bathilda in tears and sobbing as though her heart would break.
"Oh, my dear Mistress," she said holding out her arms. "I have failed you completely. That creature offered to give us our liberty if I would yield to his desires; but I just couldn't. I could have saved our lives, but not at that price."
"No, you haven't failed me. Death is better than such infamy."
Then the princess took Bathilda back into their room, and they were sitting there wondering what Stolbach would do next when he suddenly burst into the room. They shuddered at the sight of him, but he did not molest them. Instead he put two men's suits on a chair.
"Young lady," he said to Bathilda, "I couldn't help seeing the extreme disgust which you showed at the thought of having anything to do with me. If I had been better endowed by nature, perhaps you would have accepted my proposal. In any event I do not intend to require you to do any such thing for me, but I am going to do a lot for you. By means of these clothes which you can put on, I will help you to escape. Since you did not wish to recompense me in one way, I must have some reward in another. I know that you have some money and you will have to give me some. On that subject you are going to find me reasonable because I am asking of each of you only two hundred gold florins. For that amount I will accompany you until you reach safety."
"Oh, Stolbach, you are a good man," cried Adelaide. "In this way you will have no crime on your conscience. The sum which you ask is perhaps a little high in our present circumstances, but in one way or another we will give you what you require."
Adelaide noticed that Bathilda was looking at her with her eyes filled with doubt and suspicion. She could not trust this strange appearing man.
"We have to," she said in a whisper, "we have no other choice. It is our only chance."
And the sum was promptly given to Stolbach. Since they might need some of their money, a large part of it was given in the form of jewels.
"Come, dress quickly," said their guardian, "moments are precious. I must work for my own safety too. Just imagine what Schinders would do to me if he caught us!"
The two women were soon dressed, and Stolbach took them in the little boat to land. Then he walked with them along the path which had brought them from the main road. Once there, he left them after telling them to keep their disguises until they reached Frankfort.
They were already worn out, and so after some hours of walking when they reached a little inn, they were forced to stop. They were able to buy food and drink, and after resting a while, Adelaide said:
"Well, my dear friend, what is going to become of us in this costume? We are in as much danger as we were before. If they discover that we are women, we will be taken as tramps since we cannot reveal our true identity. Our trunks are lost. At least we still have a little money since Stolbach only took about half of our resources. Let's recommend ourselves to Providence since that is our only hope."
Just as they were going to leave the inn, a hermit came up to them:
"My children, I see that you are worn out with traveling. Come to my home, and you will find there peace, rest and safety."
"We are seeking neither help nor asylum," said the princess. "We are from Frankfort and some bandits have stolen our carriage, and all we want is an honest way to go back home."
"In that case," said the hermit, "you cannot be in a better place than at my house. It is near the main road to the city where you wish to go and I am sure you will be able to find the opportunity of getting a ride very soon."
"What do you think about it?" Adelaide whispered to her companion. "Perhaps he can help us. If we find him to be reliable, we can tell him our story. At least he can give us some advice."
The two travelers having accepted the offers of the hermit, all three started off on foot. It took two hours for them to reach their destination. It was a charming retreat situated on the edge of a limpid brook, and was about four hundred feet from the main road. The cabin was constructed of thatch, and was in a thicket of linden trees which gave it shade.
As soon as they were inside, the hermit gave them milk and figs.
"I have no bread right now," he said to them. "I usually ask the travelers to provide that part of the meal. But what I have will hold you until tomorrow when I can get more provisions."
Night came. The hermit prepared a bed of straw for his guests and they were so tired that they slept soundly until daybreak when they found the hermit ready to go to get some provisions.
"Here are some pitchers of milk," he said. "And this afternoon I will bring some better refreshments and you will lack nothing in my home. Don't go outside, however, as there are bandits which infest this part of the country. Wait for the help which will be necessary for you to reach Frankfort. I promise that I will bring you everything you need on my return."