The Countess Cosel Part 44

Lowendahl was sitting at the other end of the table.

"It seems to me," said the King to him, "that I have noticed Von Sinen."

"He has returned from Halle," answered the Marshal sourly, looking at the King.

"Von Sinen was sent to Cosel, what news has he brought?"

"The same as always," answered Lowendahl.

"You should have offered her anything she wished in exchange for that paper, even freedom."

"She said that she would not part with it."

Augustus frowned.

"One must have done with her once for all," added Lowendahl.

"Yes, to-morrow we will send a letter to the King of Prussia, asking for her extradition," said the King. "Then we will see what can be done."

"And where does your Majesty order her to be put in the meantime?"

"Let her be taken to Nossen Castle, perhaps she will think it over there. I cannot bear the daring war she has declared against me. I have had enough of it. Denhoff splits my head with her!"

Those words, spoken in a moment of anger and under the influence of wine, were seized upon and utilized the next day. Flemming reminded Augustus of them.

In the letter to the King of Prussia, asking for Countess's extradition, they gave as the reason daring speeches against Augustus, as well as a plot against his life. The public threat justified it. The letter was sent by a courier to Berlin.

King Frederick did not hesitate for a moment. Lieutenant Ducharmoi, of the regiment of the Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, was called by his order.

"You will go to Halle," said the King to him, "and there you will find the Countess Cosel. You will take her under escort, on your responsibility, and you will conduct her to the frontier of Saxony; there you will give her into the hands of a Saxon officer, who will give you a receipt."

Ducharmoi went immediately to Halle, where he found Cosel.

Although prepared for anything bad, she paled at the sight of an officer. Ducharmoi, after having saluted her, told her that he was commanded by the King to conduct her to the frontier of Saxony, where she would be delivered to the Saxon authorities.

She stood for a moment as if struck by a thunderbolt.

"What an injustice! What barbarity!" she exclaimed, and two streams of tears flowed down her cheeks.

From that moment she said not a word more.

They ordered her to pack her things, and put them in a hired carriage.

Ducharmoi offered her his arm, and she descended to her carriage without looking at anybody. The horses went off; the carriage being escorted by a detachment of Prussian cavalry. During the whole of the journey she gave no signs of life. At last the carriage stopped. Cosel shivered; through the window she saw the Saxon uniforms worn by a detachment of dragoons, who were to conduct her further. She called Lieutenant Ducharmoi, who approached her carriage. Then she emptied her pockets; she found a gold box and a beautiful watch, and handed them to the officer.

"Pray, take that as a souvenir from me."

Ducharmoi hesitated.

"I beseech you to accept," said she, "it must not become a prey to those horrid Saxons."

The money she gave to the Prussian soldiers. Then she drew the curtains again, without asking what they were going to do with her.

CHAPTER XXII.

From the moment Cosel pa.s.sed into the hands of the Saxon authorities imprisonment was likely at any time. She pa.s.sed the night in Leipzig.

In the morning an official, wearing a little sword and a big wig, silently executing the orders he had received from his superiors, entered the room in which she had spent a sleepless night, crying. He brought the King's order, instructing him to examine all her things, and to take them away.

She looked at him contemptuously, and did not say a word. He sealed all her boxes, and took the papers and jewels; he searched in her trunks, but could not find that for which he was looking. This humiliating inquisition lasted a couple of hours.

Hardly had she been permitted to rest a moment after such moral torture, than she was ordered to again enter the carriage--not being told where they were going to conduct her.

A detachment of cavalry surrounded the carriage--they rode till the evening. Against the sky, burning with the setting sun, there appeared the walls and towers of a castle, and the carriage, pa.s.sing through a narrow gateway, entered the courtyard.

The place was entirely unknown to her. The castle was empty and had been uninhabited for some time. A few men were standing at the door.

They were obliged to conduct the weakened lady up the stairs leading to a room on the first floor. It was an old habitation, with small windows, enormous fireplaces, thick walls, without any comforts, and spa.r.s.ely furnished with the barest necessities.

Cosel, thoroughly tired, threw herself on the bed.

She pa.s.sed a sleepless night, tormented by horrid thoughts aroused by her imprisonment. The dawn was breaking, the sky was growing red-gold in the east, the servants still slept; only the guard pacing in the corridor broke the silence when Cosel rose and went to the window.

The view from it did not remind her of anything. In front of her there was a vast plain, stretching towards the blue of a far forest. Here and there rose clumps of trees; a few roofs could be seen, and from behind the green columns of smoke were rising.

The castle stood on an eminence, which descended sharply towards a village. On the right hand there was a highway bordered with willows.

The road was deserted.

She did not know the country.

From the room she went softly to another, which was larger, in the middle of it stood an oak table, and against the walls a few benches and chairs. Over the fireplace there was a battered coat-of-arms, cut in the stone, of which there remained only the shield and helmet.

Behind this room, and like it, vaulted, was a small round room in the tower, on the other side of the castle. From here one could see forests, hills, and villages, and here and there in the distance the towers of some knightly castle, built like an eagle's nest on a crag.

Still the country was unknown to her.

In the room in the tower there was some furniture; an empty wardrobe stood against the wall, and on one of its shelves was an old Bible, worm-eaten and covered with dust. Cosel seized it, but the book slipped from her hands, and the yellow leaves scattered on the floor.

In that room there was an iron door, leading somewhere into the mysterious rooms of the castle, in which no living human voice was heard.

The day was breaking. The swallows flew round the windows. Cosel returned to her rooms. The women servants that accompanied her woke up and offered to serve her. She dismissed them. Having stayed her hunger with some warm milk, she went again to the window; she sat on the stone bench and began to look on G.o.d's world, although she had n.o.body in it.

She turned her eyes on the road, where she noticed some vans, men, and herds--clouds of dust. But she soon tired of them and sat at a distance from the window.

The hours were long. At noon they brought her luncheon. One of the servants persuaded her to eat. Cosel went to the table, and, looking at the modest meal, began to cry. The luncheons at which she entertained the King were different!

Then again she went to the window and looked on to the road, not willing to avow to herself that she hoped to see some one there. She believed that Zaklika would seek her out.