And he pointed to where, at the extremity of the garden, Clemence, half hidden by the rose-trees, was kneeling before an image of the Madonna. Near her stood the little Adelaide with clasped bands, gazing alternately at the image and at her weeping mother. Rinaldo saw the mother and the child; he understood the Duke's anger; he resolved to complete his infernal work.
"She is a pious woman," he said; "a model for her sex! The separation will be most painful to her. I understand it well; but it is also painful for a valiant prince to witness the extinction of his race."
"Oh! the pangs of separation, the grief which they cause a loving heart, may be healed in time," said Henry; "but, my dear Count, this action will be not only cruel and pitiless, but it will be criminal in the sight of God."
"Criminal in the sight of God! this is a new phase to give to the affair. The Pope annuls your marriage; he knows his privileges, and is responsible for the consequences."
"Yes, your Pope," replied Henry, with an angry sneer. "Tell me, can the act of that puppet of the Emperor make an evil act a good one?"
"This is certainly a grave point for a timid conscience," said Dassel, ironically.
"But yourself, my dear Count? Years ago, the Emperor put that archiepiscopal ring on your finger; tell me, how it happens that you have not yet been consecrated? All that is needed is your request. Victor will be delighted. But--and it is natural enough--you despise the consecration of the Anti-Pope! And yet you pretend that his intervention ought to be sufficient for me?"
"There is no hurry about my consecration," replied Rinaldo, quickly; "but your Highness makes a mistake in being influenced by such scruples of conscience, which are, to say the least, exaggerated."
"Exaggerated!"
"Certainly! Is it not the Emperor's prerogative to appoint the Bishop of Rome? The history of the Empire is there to prove the correctness of my assertion."