The Lost Manuscript Part 52

The Chamberlain was in great perplexity, and felt his position endangered by the secret. At last, placed in a position between father and son, he chose the path of frank disclosure to the rising sun, and acquainted the Prince with his father's question.

"You see what importance his Serene Highness attaches to the communication; the details must be imparted to him."

The Prince was equally confounded.

"It was only a word thrown out casually," he rejoined, with hesitation.

"So much the better," said the Chamberlain; "all that remains to be said is, what gave rise to your Highness's wish. It may naturally seem strange to the Prince that his subjects or magistrates should apply to your Highness instead of to him. This, so far as I know, does not seem to have been the case."

"No," replied the Prince, "I heard of it at the house of the Rector. I simply asked the Councillor about it when he was here. I wanted to be able to give an answer," he added, shrewdly.

The Chamberlain was satisfied, and in his report extolled the Professor and Ilse, at whose house it was very pleasant to visit, and he did not fail to observe that the Hereditary Prince enjoyed calling there. He was rejoiced when, a few days after, a communication was made on business by the Cabinet Secretary, and followed by a letter from the Sovereign himself, in which he expressed his great satisfaction in the conduct of the Hereditary Prince and the Chamberlain.

Ilse was equally rejoiced when her father wrote to her:

"Ilse, are you a witch? An order has been given to begin building the road immediately; the surveyor is already here to mark it out."

At dinner Ilse took the letter out of her pocket with great delight, saying:

"Read, you incredulous man, and see what our little Prince has been able to accomplish; after all we did him injustice. My poor gray excited his pity, and he wrote everything to his dear father."

The next time that Ilse met the Hereditary Prince, she began, after the first greeting, in a low voice:

"My home owes warm thanks to your Highness, who has had the kindness to exert yourself for our road."

"Is it to be built?" asked the Prince, surprised.

"Does not your Highness know it? Your intercession has induced his Grace, your father, to have it made."

"My intercession would have had little effect," continued the Prince.

"No, no," he added, earnestly disowning it. "I did not write to my father. It was altogether his own decision."

Ilse remained silent: she could not understand what should prevent the son of a Prince from openly laying before his father a request on a matter of business, the fulfillment of which would be beneficial to many; that he should disown all partic.i.p.ation in what he had evidently done, appeared to her a quite inappropriate display of modesty.

The last letter from Court had confirmed the Chamberlain in his opinion that the intimacy of the Hereditary Prince in the Rector's house was not distasteful to his father. He reflected sometimes on the reasons for this interest in persons, who were so far removed from the sphere of princely notice. He could not understand it. At all events it was his duty not to keep the Prince away from their home, and likewise to make himself agreeable to the Rector and his wife. This he did willingly and honestly, and oftentimes went to the Professor's without the Prince; he asked him to recommend books to him, showed great deference for his judgment about men, and was guided by the Professor's advice in the choice of the Prince's teachers. The energetic dignity and proud frank character of the learned man attracted the courtier, and Werner became a valuable acquaintance to him. He was also sincerely attached to Ilse, and there were times when she too could discover something of the worth and depth of heart of the Chamberlain.

But although the Chamberlain possessed all the pliancy of a courtier, and knew that the visits to the Rector's house were acceptable both to his young master and the latter's father, he showed little complaisance for the young Prince's wishes. Indeed, he was inclined to make difficulties if the Hereditary Prince, which seldom happened, would propose to join Werner's at tea; he went there with him at proper intervals, but after the road affair he avoided any greater intimacy for the Prince. On the other hand, the Chamberlain endeavored to make the Prince at home with the students, and in a way that accorded with his rank. Of the different a.s.sociations which were denoted by colors, customs, and statutes, the corps of the Markomanns was then the most distinguished. It was the aristocratic club, included many sons of old families and some of the best fencers; its members wore their colored caps in the haughtiest manner, were much talked of, and not very popular. The Chamberlain found a relative of his in this corps, and the leaders were found to possess the qualifications necessary to appreciate properly the social position of his young master.

Thus the Prince became intimate with the a.s.sociation, he invited the students to his apartments, sometimes joined in their lesser drinking bouts, and was agreeably introduced by them into the customs of academic life. He took fencing lessons, and, in spite of his small delicate figure, showed some apt.i.tude for it, and the swing of the rapier in his room daily endangered the mirror and chandelier.

Ilse expressed her astonishment to her husband that the Prince, who had at first so quickly and easily opened his heart to them, had held back so cautiously since the road affair.

"Has he thought me too forward?" she asked, with vexation; "it was said with the best intentions. But I find, Felix, it is not with these great people as with us. If we once put confidence in people we feel at home with them; but they are like the birds that sing a song close to your ear, and then at once fly off and seek another resting-place far away."

"The following year they will perhaps come again," replied her husband; "any one who tries to domesticate them will be disappointed. If their airy path brings them near, you may take pleasure in them; but one should not trouble oneself about these triflers."

Nevertheless, in secret Ilse was vexed with the unfaithfulness of her little songster.

"My duty brings me to you to-day," began the Chamberlain, on entering the Professor's room. "Among the lectures which are desired for the Hereditary Prince is one upon Heraldry. I beg of you to recommend to me a teacher who could give him a short course upon the subject. In the capital, there was no suitable person, and I confess without blushing that my knowledge is much too scanty for me to be able to impart any to the Prince."

The Professor reflected.

"Among my colleagues I know no one whom I could recommend. It is possible that Magister Knips may have knowledge of that kind. He is well informed in all these by-paths of learning; but he has grown up in a low condition of life, and his manner is highly obsequious and old-fashioned."

This old-fashioned obsequiousness did not appear any hindrance to the Chamberlain; and as he himself wished to make use of the opportunity to ascertain clearly the meaning of a mysterious figure in his own coat of arms, which looked very much like a pitchfork, but which was really a Celtic Druid's staff, he replied:

"There need not be many lectures, and I can be present myself."

Magister Knips was called, and was, as usual, at hand, and was presented to the Chamberlain. The grotesque figure appeared comical to the latter, but not at all objectionable. His modesty was undeniable; his obsequiousness could not be greater. If one could put him into a tolerable coat, he might, for a temporary object, be allowed to sit at the same table with the Hereditary Prince and the Chamberlain. So the Chamberlain asked whether Master Knips could undertake to give some lectures upon heraldry.

"If the gracious and n.o.ble gentleman might be content perchance with German and French emblazonry, I believe I may venture to offer him my undoubtedly unsatisfactory knowledge. But of English coats of arms and figures my knowledge is not extensive, because of lack of opportunity.

I would, however, endeavor to give some information upon the new investigations concerning the Honorable Ordinary."

"That will not be necessary," replied the Chamberlain; and, turning to the Professor, he said: "Will you allow me to arrange details with Master Knips?"

The Professor left them to transact the business, and the Chamberlain continued, more freely:

"I will, trusting to the recommendation of the Rector, endeavor to ascertain whether the Hereditary Prince can avail himself of your instruction and derive the proper advantages therefrom."

Knips bowed lower and lower, until he almost disappeared into the ground; but his head was reverently bent towards the eye of the Chamberlain. The latter mentioned a liberal sum as the price of the lessons. Knips smiled, and his eyes twinkled.

"I must further request, Master Knips, that you will not object to a.s.sume a becoming appearance for the intended lectures. A black coat, and trousers to match."

"I have them," replied Knips, raising his voice.

"White waistcoat and white cravat," continued the Chamberlain.

"I have those likewise," warbled Knips.

The Chamberlain considered it preferable to ascertain, by his own inspection, the capabilities of the candidate in this respect.

"Then I beg of you to make your appearance at the apartments of the Hereditary Prince in fitting guise. There we will confer upon details."

Knips appeared the following morning in his state dress, and the Chamberlain thought that the man did not look so bad after all. He gave him to understand that a learned discussion was not required, but rather a rapid survey, and, on his departure, presented to him a bottle of perfume, for his white pocket-handkerchief, in order to consecrate Knips' atmosphere.

Knips prepared himself for his first lesson. He began by drawing forth his paint-box, several complete letter-writers, and a book or two on etiquette. He painted several coats of arms, and from the books he abstracted some respectful forms of speech, such as the servile language of our Government officials have sanctioned in intercourse with the great, and learnt them all by heart. At the proper hour he presented himself to the Chamberlain, polished and fragrant, like a flower whose strength of stem had been extracted by the heat of the midday sun. Thus he was brought into the presence of the Prince, and almost withered into nothingness as he approached the chair in which he was to sit; he began his lecture by drawing out of a small portfolio a design of the Prince's ancestral coat of arms and a sketch of the Chamberlain's armorial bearings; he laid them before the Prince with the deepest reverence, and added his first explanations.

His lecture, to use the Chamberlain's own words, was magnificent; his obsequious arabesques which wound themselves into his discourse were prolix, it is true, but not disagreeable; they were comical, yet well-suited to the scrolls he was lecturing on. He frequently brought drawings, and books on heraldry, and engravings from the library for inspection, and showed himself more thoroughly informed than was, perhaps, necessary. If he chanced to fall into historical discussions, which were more interesting to him than his hearers, the Chamberlain would simply have to raise his finger, and Knips respectfully resumed the proper topic. The gentlemen took more pleasure in his lectures than in many of those given by the Magister's patrons. The lessons were continued throughout the term, for it was discovered accidentally that Knips had a good deal of knowledge of tournaments, tilting, and other knightly amus.e.m.e.nts. He told the Prince about the old festivities of his n.o.ble house, described the ceremonial accurately, and even knew the names of those who had a.s.sisted at them. His knowledge appeared wonderful to his hearers, though it cost him little trouble to collect this information. At the conclusion of the course he was richly rewarded, and his hearers regretted that this strange figure, with his old-fashioned knowledge, was no longer to lecture before them.

"Look here, mother," cried Knips, entering his room, and taking a small roll of money out of his pocket; "that is the largest sum I have ever earned."

The mother rubbed her hands. "My blessing upon the gracious gentlemen who know how to value my son!"

"To value?" replied Knips, contemptuously. "They know nothing about me or my learning, and the less one teaches them the better they are pleased. It is a labor for them even to look for what stands at everybody's disposal, and what has been put in hundreds of folios is new to them. I treated them like little boys, and they did not find it out. No, mother, they understand how to value me even less than the Professor world here. No one appreciates my knowledge. Yes, there is one that does," he murmured to himself, "but he has more pride than the Chamberlain. The Chamberlain seems to wish to inform himself about the old tilts and masquerades; I will send him my little edition of Rohr as a present. There is so little in it that it is good enough for him. I bought the book for four groschens; the parchment is still tolerably white. I will wash it with sal-ammoniac, and paste his coat of arms into it. Who knows what may come of it?"