"But I have agreed to the interview, and yet the traitor has gone!"
"You refused to influence Alexander to appear before the council."
"Am I the Pope's sovereign? Is it my place to give orders to the Head of the Church?"
"You can invite him, you can act on him by friendly representations; in a word, you can fulfil the letter of the treaty without in any way violating your conscientious scruples."
Adèle easily reassured her husband. The Archbishop Peter of Tarantasia, a well-known prelate, whose reputation for sanctity extended beyond the frontiers of France, was at that moment present at the Court, and it was determined to select him as the most suitable person to influence the Pope.
He was at once summoned to the royal presence, and soon afterwards made his appearance. The calmness of the noble old man was in striking contrast with Louis' emotion, and his whole person the most severe rebuke to the prelates of the Court. The Archbishop wore a cassock of coarse cloth, without embroidery, fastened at the waist with a belt. His bald head had merely a crown of curly white hair, and his long beard falling upon his breast gave him a venerable mien. Extreme age and the practice of austerity, had bent his body, but his eyes still glowed with a divine light, and his face was a happy mingling of sweetness and Christian charity.
"Welcome, holy prelate!" cried Louis, advancing hastily to meet him.
He explained his situation, and continued,--
"And now tell me, father, am I not as wretched as King David when he was pursued by Absalom? The Count of Champagne is my own wife's brother."
"I have long known the crafty arts of the Imperial Court, and the skill with which it has led away others in its train," replied Peter. "The Count Henry has been tricked. He swore to execute a treaty whose results he could not foresee. We must seek a way by which his oath to Barbarossa may not be violated."