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The worthy chaplain, who loved the youth as a son, did not seek to interfere with the course of his wooing, and so in due time the lovers were betrothed. At the end of a year the alarming news reached them that the baron was returning from the wars, bringing in his train a noble bridegroom for Etelina. In despair the lovers sought the old chaplain and begged his advice.
Early on the following morning came the baron and his train, with the noble knight chosen as a husband for Etelina. Rheinhard looked in vain for his daughter among the crowd of retainers who waited to welcome him. Where is my little maid? he asked. The chaplain answered evasively. The damsel was ill abed, he replied. When the noble lord had refreshed himself he should see her.
Rough in appearance, abrupt in conversation, and inclined to harshness in all his dealings, he inspired in the breast of his only daughter a feeling more akin to awe than affection. The gentle Etelina grew up to be a maiden of singular beauty, of delicate form and feature, and under the careful tutelage of the castle chaplain she became as good as she was beautiful.
While peering into the gloom, however, he stumbled and fell headlong into the dungeon below. A judgment! he shrieked as he fell, then all was silence. The bruised remains of the proud baron were interred in the parish church of Linz, and henceforth Etelina and her husband lived happily at Okkenfels.
Within, on a pile of damp leaves, lay Etelina and her child, both half-dead with starvation. Rheinhards anger speedily melted at the pathetic sight, and he freely forgave his daughter and Rudolph, his hitherto unrecognized guide, and bade them return with him to Okkenfels. Etelinas first request was for a pardon for the old chaplain, and Rheinhard himself went to raise the heavy trap-door.
Lovers she had in plenty, for the charms of Etelina and the wealth of her noble father, whose sole heiress she was, formed a combination quite irresistible in the eyes of the young gallants who frequented the castle. But none loved her more sincerely than one of the barons retainers, a young knight of Linz, Rudolph by name.
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