reason did he give, and what instructions did he lay upon you?"

"He thought you should have by your side some one akin to you. His
instructions were that in no circumstances was I to offer any remark
upon the proceedings. Indeed, I am not allowed to speak unless in answer
to a question directly put to me, and then in the fewest possible
words."

Hildegunde ceased her cross-examination, and seated herself by a window
which gave a view of the steep mountain-side behind the Castle, where,
sheltered by the thick, dark forest, she knew that her guardian's men
lay in ambush. She shuddered slightly, wondering what was the meaning of
these preparations, and in the deep silence became aware of the
accelerated beating of her heart. She felt but little reassured by the
presence of her kinsman, whose lips moved without a murmur, and whose
grave eyes seemed fixed on futurity, meditating the mystery of the next
world, and completely oblivious to the realities of the earth he
inhabited.

She turned her troubled gaze once more to the green forest, and after a
long lapse of time the dual reveries were broken by the entrance of an
official gorgeously appareled. This functionary bowed low, and said with
great solemnity:

"Madam, the Court of my Lords the Archbishops awaits your presence."

* * * * *

The _kleine Rittersaal_ occupied a fine position on the river-side front
of Stolzenfels, its windows giving a view of the Rhine, with the strong
Castle of Lahneck over-hanging the mouth of the Lahn, and the more
ornamental Schloss Martinsburg at the upper end of Oberlahnstein. The
latter edifice, built by a former Elector of Mayence, was rarely
occupied by the present Archbishop, but, as he sat in the central chair
of the Court, he had the advantage of being able to look across the
river at his own house should it please him to do so.

The three Archbishops were standing behind the long table when the
Countess entered, thus acknowledging that she who came into their
presence, young and beautiful, was a very great lady by right of descent
and rank. She acknowledged their courtesy by a graceful inclination of
the head, and the three Princes of the Church responded each with a bow,
that of Mayence scarcely perceptible, that of Treves deferential and
courtly, that of Cologne with a friendly smile of encouragement.

In the center of the hall opposite the long table had been placed an
immense chair, taken fr