'Hadst thou accepted my offer, brother,' said Tuiskoshirer, in a tone of friendly reproach, 'thou wouldst have spared thyself this, and who knows how many more afflictions.'
Followed by Dilbek, he went forth. Alf remained, in a pensive mood, thoughtlessly playing with the coins which had been left upon the table. 'Yes, truly,' murmured he at length, with bitterness, 'he who dares to coin money is held in higher consideration than he who is obliged to receive it in the way of business.'
The gentle Clara then approached him. 'Do not be angry with my sister,' said she, entreatingly, in her kind way. 'Her heart is good in the main, and she will soon repent of an error into which she has been led by her vanity and pride.'
'Good hearted child!' exclaimed Alf, affected by the faithful intercession of the rejected one; 'why has not that ungrateful girl thy heart and soul, or thou her beautiful exterior? Then nothing would have been wanting to my happiness!' He went out; and Clara retired to her chamber, where she secretly and bitterly wept over the well intended but deeply wounding eulogium of the beloved youth.
CHAPTER XIV.
The next morning Alf returned from a visit to the royal orator Rothman, with whom, to make an end at once of all apprehensions, he had arranged that his baptism and his marriage with both of the sisters should take place that afternoon. As he approached Trutlinger's house he was not a little astonished to find some of the yeomen of the guard, in the green and ash-colored livery, before the house door, holding some saddle horses. A milk white palfrey with costly trimmings and a purple gold-embroidered covering, particularly attracted his attention. Anxious to learn what it all meant, he walked into the parlor, where he encountered Tuiskoshirer and the lord steward Dilbek, in their court dresses.
'Hail, hail! prosperity has befallen thee, my brother!' cried the little prophet, ardently embracing him. 'Even as Abraham was accounted worthy of being commanded to offer to the Lord the most beloved object which he possessed upon earth, so likewise art thou also elected and favored among thousands; not merely to present, but really and truly to offer up, thy heart upon the altar of duty to thy king and lord.'
'Madness seems to catch early in the morning,' sighed Alf peevishly, 'and I cannot understand a word of all this. Both of you being gentlemen, you have nothing to neglect, and have leisure to spend the day as you please. I, however, am a handicraftsman, who must labor for my livelihood; therefore tell me in short plain words what you want of me, so that I may give you a proper answer and then go to my workshop.'
'Thy answer, my good fellow, is of very little consequence,' replied Tuiskoshirer with a malicious laugh. 'We await our answer from the worthy maiden Eliza, to whom we are sent by our all-merciful king to request her to become his third wife and queen of Zion.'
'My God!' stammered Alf, becoming deathly pale and leaning against the wall for support.