e, as the youngest
of the three, was prevailed upon to act as spokesman, and with a smile
he regarded the young man before he began.

"I reside farther than my two colleagues from your fair, if turbulent,
city of Frankfort, and perhaps that is one reason why I know little of
the town and its ways from personal observation. You are a young man
who, I may say, has greatly commended himself to us all, and so in
whatever questions I may put, you will not, I hope, imagine that there
is anything underneath them which does not appear on the surface."

Roland drew a long breath, and some of the color left his face.

"What in the name of Heaven is coming now," he said to himself, "that
calls for so ominous a prelude? It must be something more than usually
serious. May the good Lord give me courage to face it!"

But outwardly he merely inclined his head.

"We have all been young ourselves, and I trust none of us forget the
temptations, and perhaps the dangers, that surround youth, especially
when highly placed. I am told that Frankfort is a gay city, and
doubtless you have mixed, to some extent at least, in its society." Here
the Archbishop paused, and, as he evidently expected a reply, Roland
spoke:

"I regret to say, my Lord, that my opportunities for social intercourse
have hitherto been somewhat limited. Greatly absorbed in study, there
has been little time for me to acquire companions, much less friends."

"What your Highness says, so far from being a drawback, as you seem to
imagine, is all to the good. It leaves the future clear of complications
that might otherwise cause you embarrassment." Here the Archbishop
smiled again, and Roland found himself liking the august prelate. "It
was not, however, of men that I desired to speak, but of women."

"Oh, is that all?" cried the impetuous youth. "I feared, my Lord, that
you were about to treat of some serious subject. So far as women are
concerned, I am unacquainted with any, excepting only my mother."

At this the three prelates smiled in differing degrees; even the stern
lips of Mayence relaxing at the young man's confident assumption that
consideration of women was not a matter of importance.

"Your Highness clears the ground admirably for me," continued Cologne,
"and takes a great weight from my mind, because I am entrusted by my
brethren with a proposal which I have found some difficulty in setting
forth. It is this. The choice of an Empress is one of the most mom