CHAPTER IV
THE COZENING OF THE AMBASSADOR
The next moment Joan had disappeared, and when she was seen again shehad assumed the skirt she had previously worn over her dress offorester, and was again the sedate lady of the castle, ready to lead thedance, grace the banquet, or entertain the High State's Councillor ofPlassenburg, Leopold von Dessauer.
But when she went upstairs she met on the middle flight a grey-beardedman with a skull cap of black velvet upon his head. His dress also wasof black, of a distinguishing plain richness and dignity.
"Whither away, Ambassador?" she cried gaily at the sight of him.
"To see to your principal's wound and that of the other whom your swordcountered in the trial bout!"
"What? You saw?" said the Duchess, with a quick flush.
"I am indeed privileged not to be blind," said Dessauer; "and never didI see a sight that contented me more."
"And you stood at the window saying in your heart (nay, do not deny it)'unwomanly--bold--not like my lady the Princess of Plassenburg. Shewould not thus ruffle in the courtyard with the men-at-arms!'"
"I said no such thing," said the High Councillor. "I am an old man andhave seen many fair women, many sweet princesses, each perfect to theirlovers, some of them even perfect to their lords. But I have neverbefore seen a Duchess Joan of Hohenstein."
"Ambassador," cried the girl, "if you speak thus and with that flash ofthe eye, I shall have to bethink me whether you come not as anambassador for your own cause."
"I would that I were forty years younger and a prince in my own right,instead of a penniless old baron. Why, then, I would not come on anyman's errand--no, nor take a refusal even from your fair lips!"
"I declare," said the Duchess Joan impetuously, "you should have norefusal from me. You are the only man I have ever met who can speak oflove and yet be tolerable. It is a pity that my father left me the evilheritage that I must wed the Prince of Courtland or lose my dominions!"
At the sound of the name of her predestined husband a sudden flashingthought seemed to wake in the girl's breast.
"My lord," she said, "is it true that you go to Courtland after leavingour poor eagle's nest up here on the cliffs of the Kernsberg?"
Von Dessauer bowed, smiling at her. He was not too old to love beautyand frankness in women. "It is true that I have a mission from my Princeand Princess to the Prince of Courtland and Wilna. But----"
Joan of the Sword clasped her hands and drew a long breath.
"I would not ask it of any man in the world but yourself," she said,"but will you let me go with you?"
"My dear lady," said Dessauer, with swift deprecation, "to go with theambassador of another power to the court and palace of the man you areto marry--that were a tale indeed, salt enough even for the Princes ofRitterdom. As it is----"
The Duchess looked across at Dessauer with great haughtiness. "As it is,they talk more than enough about me already," she said. "Well--I know,and care not. I am no puling maid that waits till she is authorised bya conclave of the empire before she dares wipe her nose when she hath acold in the head. Joan of the Sword Hand cares not what any prince maysay--from yours of Plassenburg, him of the Red Axe, to the fat MargrafGeorge."
"Oh, our Prince, he says naught, but does much," said Dessauer. "He hathbeen a rough blade in his time, but Karl the Miller's son mellowed him,and by now his own Princess hath fairly civilised him."
"Well," said Joan of the Sword, with determination, "then it is settled.I am coming with you to Courtland."
A shade of anxiety passed over Dessauer's countenance. "My lady," heanswered, "you let me use many freedoms of speech with you. It is theprivilege of age and frailty. But let me tell you that the thing isplainly foolish. Hardly under the escort of the Empress herself would itbe possible for you to visit, without scandal, the court of the Princeof Courtland and Wilna. But in the train of an envoy of Plassenburg,even if that ambassador be poor old Leopold von Dessauer, the thing, Imust tell you, is frankly impossible."
"Well, I am coming, at any rate!" said Joan, as usual rejecting argumentand falling back upon assertion. "Make your count with that, friend ofmine, whether you are shocked or no. It is the penalty a respectablediplomatist has to pay for cultivating the friendship of lone femaleslike Joan of Hohenstein."
Von Dessauer held up his hands in horror that was more than halfaffected.
"My girl," he said, "I might be your grandfather, it is true, but do notremind me of it too often. But if I were your great-great-grandfatherthe thing you propose is still impossible. Think of what the MargrafGeorge and his chattering train would say!"
"Think of what every fathead princeling and beer-swilling ritter fromhere to Basel would say!" cried Joan, with her pretty nose in the air."Let them say! They will not say anything that I care the snap of myfinger for. And in their hearts they will envy you the experience--shallwe say the privilege?"
"Nay, I thought not of myself, my lady," said Dessauer, "for an old man,a mere anatomy of bones and parchment, I take strange pleasure in yoursociety--more than I ought, I tell you frankly. You are to me more thana daughter, though I am but a poor baron of Plassenburg and the faithfulservant of the Princess Helene. It is for your own sake that I say youcannot come to Wilna with me. Shall the future Princess of Courtland andWilna ride in the train of an ambassador of Plassenburg to the palace inwhich she is soon to reign as queen?"
"I said not that I would go as the Duchess," Joan replied, speaking low."You say that you saw me at the fight in the courtyard out there. If youwill not have the Duchess Joan von Hohenstein, what say you to theSparhawk's second, Johann the Squire?"
Dessauer started.
"You dare not," he said; "why, there is not a lady in the German land,from Bohemia to the Baltic, that dares do as much."
"Ladies," flashed Joan--"I am sick for ever of hearing that a lady mustnot do this or that, go here or there, because of her so fragilereputation. She may do needlework or embroider altar-cloths, but shemust not shoot with a pistolet or play with a sword. Well, I am a lady;let him counter it who durst. And I cannot broider altar-cloths and Iwill not try--but I can shoot with any man at the flying mark. She musthave a care for her honour, which (poor, feckless wretch!) will besmirched if she speaks to any as a man speaks to his fellows. Faith! Forme I would rather die than have such an egg-shell reputation. I can carefor mine own. I need none to take up my quarrel. If any have a word tosay upon the repute of Joan of the Sword Hand--why, let him say it atthe point of her rapier."
The girl stood up, tall and straight, her head thrown back as it wereat the world, with an exact and striking counterpart of the defiance ofthe young Dane in the presence of his enemies an hour before. Dessauerstood wavering. With quick tact she altered her tone, and with a softaccent and in a melting voice she added, "Ah, let me come. I will makesuch a creditable squire all in a suit of blue and silver, with just atouch of nutty juice upon my face that my old nurse knows the secretof."
Still Dessauer stood silent, weighing difficulties and chances.
"I tell you what," she cried, pursuing her advantage, "I will see theman I am to marry as men see him, without trappings and furbelows. Andif you will not take me, by my faith! I will send Werner there, whom yousaw fight the Dane, as my own envoy, and go with him as a page. On thehonour of Henry the Lion, my father, I will do it!"
Von Dessauer capitulated. "A wilful woman"--he smiled--"a wilful, wilfulwoman. Well, I am not responsible for aught of this, save for my ownweakness in permitting it. It is a madcap freak, and no good will comeof it."
"But you will like it!" she said. "Oh, yes, you will like it very much.For, you see, you are fond of madcaps."
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