"Many a one, in the winter, will sit by the glare of the fire,
Late in the evening then; the light-giving torches preparing,--
During the time that his wife his favourite ditties is singing,
Throwing the shuttle along, with a dexterous hand through the texture."
"His wife?" maliciously asked the Duchess. "But if he has got no wife?"--
From the other side there now arose a loud shout of delighted laughter. They had put their Hunnic cousin on a board, and were carrying him high above their heads; as they used to carry the newly chosen king on his shield, in the olden days of election. Even in this elevated position, he made some gleeful capers.
"And may not have a wife?" said Ekkehard absently. His forehead was burning. He covered it with his right hand. Wherever he looked, the sight pained him. Yonder, the loud joy of the wedding-guests; here the Duchess, and in the distance, the glittering mountains. An inexpressible pain was gnawing at his heart; but his lips remained closed. "Be strong and silent," he said to himself.
He was in reality no longer as he used to be. The undisturbed peace of his lonely cell had forsaken him. The late battle, as well as all the excitement, brought on by the Hunnic invasion, had widened his thoughts; and the signs of favour which the Duchess had shown him, had called up a fierce conflict in his heart. By day and by night, he was haunted by the recollection, how she had stood before him, hanging the relic round his neck, and giving him the sword, that had been her husband's; and in evil moments, self-reproaches,--misty and unexpressed as yet,--that he had received these gifts so silently, passed through his troubled soul. Dame Hadwig had no idea of all that was stirring in his heart. She had accustomed herself to think more indifferently of him, since she had been humiliated by his apparently not understanding her; but as often as she saw him again, with his noble forehead clouded by grief, and with that mute appealing look in his eyes,--then the old game began afresh.
"If you take such delight in agricultural pursuits," said she lightly, "I can easily help you to that. The Abbot of Reichenau has provoked me. To think of asking for the pearl of my estates, as if it were a mere crumb of bread, which one shakes down from the table-cloth, without so much as looking at it!"
Here something rustled in the bushes behind them, but they did not notice it. A dark brown colour might have been seen between the foliage. Was it a fox, or a monk's garment?--
"I will appoint you steward of it," continued Dame Hadwig. "Then you will have all that, the lack of which has made you melancholy to-day; and far more still. My Saspach is situated on the merry old Rhine, and the Kaiserstuhl boasts the honour, that it was the first to bear the vine in our lands. The people are honest and good thereabouts, though they speak rather a rough language."
Ekkehard's eyes were still resting on the ground.
"I can also give you a description of your life there; though I have not Virgil's talent for painting. Fancy that autumn has come. You have led a healthy life; getting up with the sun, and going to bed with the chickens,--and so vintage-time has arrived. From all sides men and maids are descending, with baskets full of ripe, luscious grapes. You stand at the door looking on ..."