"Who will it be?"
"Erwin of Rechberg."
"Very good; he will then leave the castle. But are you sure of him?"
"Perfectly. Rechberg is a valiant knight: if it be necessary, I will tell him her name, and that will be sufficient for him to consider it a duty not to leave her until she is at her journey's end."
"Antonio, be active, faithful, and discreet, and you will lose nothing. Now go; invent some pretext to hasten your departure."
Antonio found the Duchess ready, but Erwin was not to be found; he had gone, early in the morning, to the Imperial camp, and thither the spy went to look for him.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE QUEEN OF FRANCE.
The Count of Champagne had secured the cooperation of a more powerful ally than the Bishop of Orleans. His sister Adèle, as we have already stated, was Queen of France. The indecent haste with which this marriage had been consummated--within a fortnight after the death of Queen Constance--joined to the general absence of affection that he had shown for his deceased wife, had excited the indignation of the people against the King, while the new alliance had created for him many new enemies, not the least formidable of whom was the King of England.
Adèle exercised an immense influence over her husband. She was a relative of the Antipope Victor, whose cause she warmly espoused, and, consequently, did all in her power to further an alliance between Louis and Barbarossa. Pope Alexander, on the contrary, was odious to her, on account of his opposition to her marriage, and his threats of excommunication. After a long interview with her brother, she repaired to the King's apartments. Louis was seated in a high-backed chair, his head resting upon his hands, his eyes cast down, and his whole face bearing an expression of anger and uneasiness.