e, he shuddered, changed color, and fell on his
knees before the throne.

"Mercy! Pity!" he cried. "Condemn me to death if you will, but do not
dishonor the escutcheon of my family."

"Silence! Your sentence has been pronounced, and it shall be executed,"
said Frederic.

"Sire," resumed Herman, dragging himself like a worm to the foot of the
throne, "gracious lord, kill me, but in pity do not inflict this
outrage. See these scars," (and tearing open his doublet, he bared his
breast;) "I received them fighting in your cause, and yet now you would
doom me to eternal ignominy!"

"Lead him away," said the stern lawgiver, unmoved by the prayers of the
abject wretch.

The captain and his aids dragged off the condemned man, who mingled
threats and maledictions with his entreaties.

_CHAPTER XXII_.

_VANITY_.

As soon as Herman's sentence had been pronounced, Erwin left the Camp,
and sought the solitude of a neighboring wood, where he might meditate
at his leisure.

He had considered it his duty to complain of Herman's conduct, but the
demeanor and profound despair of the culprit almost made him regret the
step which he had taken. Rechberg, like all generous-hearted men, was
painfully impressed by the sight of even a well-merited punishment, and
as he reflected upon the sufferings of the disgraced soldier, he was
forcibly reminded of his own troubles. Would the inflexible will of the
Emperor consent to Bonello's pardon? The question was a doubtful one,
but he hoped for the best, and it needed all this hope to sustain his
faltering courage. His reverie was long and absorbing, but suddenly a
strange restlessness took possession of his imagination; and yielding
to his presentiments, he retraced his steps to the Camp as hurriedly as
though he had been informed of the arrival of his lady-love. Still he
could not possibly expect it, for he was ignorant of the designs of the
Empress. However, Hermengarde had really come, and had entered the
Imperial tent at a most opportune moment. Beatrice felt some slight
apprehension of her husband's anger, but as the Emperor and the
Chancellor Rinaldo had gone over to Lodi after the audience of the
ambassadors, she was reassured as to the success of her plans, for a
few days at least.

Her reception of Hermengarde was cordial in the extreme, and was at
first attributed by the latter to the kind offices of Count Rechber