"You are a strange fellow," whispered the Duke, smiling; "what would have been the consequence had I committed the trespass?"
"As I did not know you at that time," replied the other as softly, "I should have run you through on the spot, and hung your body on the nearest oak."
The Duke bit his lips and felt annoyed; but he took his friend's hand, and said, "You would have been perfectly justified, and we should have been justly carried off in our sins. But look, they are bringing more offerings to the bride."
The attendants of the knights and nobles who had been invited to the wedding, appeared, carrying all kinds of curious household utensils, stuffs for wearing apparel, and such like. It being known in Stuttgardt that the feast was given in honour of the Duke's favourite, an embassy of burghers, worthy respectable men, dressed in black, with swords by their sides, short hair and long beards, had been appointed to offer their presents and congratulations upon the occasion. One carried an embossed silver goblet, another a large jug of the same metal ornamented with inlaid medallions and filled with wine. They first approached the Duke in great respect and bowed, and then turned to Albert von Sturmfeder.
The man who bore the goblet, having saluted the bridegroom with a cheerful smile on his countenance, said:
May joy attend the wedded pair,
And bliss increasing be their share!
Accept this gift from Stuttgardt's town,
And length of days your union crown.
'Tis generous wine that cheers the soul,