old, now, I
should die of sorrow! Be persuaded by me. My guards are few, but they
are faithful. Avoid this meeting. Let us set out this night--nay, this
very hour. Once within my dominions, we may set at defiance Duke
Albrecht and all the black banditti of Kalbs-Braten. I have many friends
and feudatories. The Hetman, Chopinski, is devoted to me. Count Rudolf
of Haggenhausen is my sworn friend. No man ever yet saw the back of
Conrad of the Thirty Mountains. We shall rear up the old ancestral
banner of my house; give the Red Falcon to the winds of heaven; besiege,
if need be, my perfidious kinsman in his stronghold--and, in the face of
heaven, my Leopold, will I acknowledge the heir of Mandeville as the
partner of my life and of my power!'

"'Dearest, best Amalia! your words thrill through me like a trumpet--but
alas, it may not be! I dare not follow your counsel. Shall it be said
that I have broken my word--shrunk like a craven from a meeting with
this Albrecht;--a meeting, too, which I myself provoked? Think it not,
lady. Poor Mandeville has nothing save his honour; but upon that, at
least, no taint of suspicion shall rest. Farewell, beautiful Amalia!
Believe me, we shall meet again; if not, think of me sometimes as one
who loved you well, and who died with your name upon his lips.'

"'O Leopold!'

"I tore myself away. Two hours afterwards I had passed the eastern gate
of Vienna, and was riding towards the place of rendezvous. The moon was
up, but a fresh breeze ever and anon swept the curtains of the clouds
across her disk, and obscured the distant prospect. The cool air played
gratefully on my cheek after the excitement and fever of the evening; I
listened with even a sensation of pleasure to the distant rippling of
the river. For the future I had little care, my whole attention was
concentrated upon the past. I felt no anxiety as to the result of the
encounter; nor was this in any degree surprising, since, from my
earliest youth, I had accustomed myself to the use of the sword, and was
reputed a thorough master of the weapon. Neither could I believe that
Duke Albrecht was capable, after having given his solemn pledge to the
contrary, of any thing like deliberate treachery.

"I was about halfway to the clump of trees, which he of Kalbs-Braten had
indicated, when a heavy bank of clouds arose, and left me in total
darkness. Up to this time I had seen no one since I passed the sentry;
but now I thought I could disce