"Do not leave me thus; give me your blessing, father," said the King, kneeling as he spoke.
The Archbishop, without manifesting the least emotion, raised his eyes and hands to Heaven, prayed for a few moments in a low tone, then stretching out his right hand, he said with a loud voice, "Benedictio Dei omnipotentis descendat super te et maneat semper."
"Amen!" responded the King, who rose and accompanied the prelate to the door of the apartment.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
UNDER THE OAKS.
On the day appointed for the interview between the two sovereigns, Frederic ordered several magnificent tents to be pitched along the bank of the river which was occupied by the German troops, while on the French side, Louis and his suite merely sheltered themselves under a clump of oak-trees.
The King wore a green hunting-dress, a plumed hat, and a short sword. He had left the city under the pretext of hunting in a neighboring forest; for he was anxious that the meeting should seem purely accidental, at least, to the French people, who had a profound contempt for the Antipope Victor, and were displeased with the alliance between Louis VII. and the schismatic Barbarossa.
The annoyance caused him by this forced interview, was apparent on the King's face, and his uneasiness increased as he gazed at the rows of tents stretching far into the distance. Barbarossa, indeed, had come at the head of a numerous army, in order the better to enforce his policy, and all the princes of the Empire were ordered to rendezvous at Laon, with their several contingents on a war-footing.
The King was accompanied by the Duke of Burgundy and the Counts of Champagne and Nevers, the latter of whom was a bold and arrogant noble, bitterly opposed to the papacy. A violent enemy of Alexander, he was none the less so as regarded Victor, and if he favored an alliance between Louis and the German Emperor, it was merely through a hope that this would better enable him to enjoy the fruits of his robberies.
A little later the Primate of France, Peter of Tarantasia and Galdini Sala, appeared near the bridge. The latter, since the fall of Milan, had been residing at Alexander's court, and had now come with the Archbishop of Tarantasia from Cluny, and had apparently been delegated on some secret mission.