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The very magnitude of the force at my command is an assurance of peace." They now arrived at the branching hill-road leading up to the gates of Stolzenfels just above them, and conversation ceased, but the Countess was fated to remember before the afternoon grew old the final words Cologne spoke so confidently.
"A signal which calls your men from the Lahn to the landing at Stolzenfels?" "Yes," repeated Mayence. "My Lord, I have kept my promise not only to the letter, but in the spirit as well. My troops are marching peaceably away, and will reach their barracks some time to-morrow.
"Guardian, I have one question to ask, and that will settle the matter here on the border of the Rhine, before we reach Stolzenfels. Do you thoroughly approve, with your heart, mind, and conscience, of the proposition to be made to me?" "I do," replied the Archbishop, in a tone of conviction that none could gainsay. "Heart and soul, agree." "Then, Guardian, your crisis that never came vanishes.
The kleine Rittersaal occupied a fine position on the river-side front of Stolzenfels, its windows giving a view of the Rhine, with the strong Castle of Lahneck over-hanging the mouth of the Lahn, and the more ornamental Schloss Martinsburg at the upper end of Oberlahnstein.
Without a written order from his master he dare not allow any one to visit the prisoner. He would be delighted to oblige his Lordship of Cologne, but he was merely a poor wretch who had no option in the matter. "Very well," said Cologne. "I have just come from your master, who is stopping with my brother Treves at Stolzenfels.
You doubtless have made similar arrangements for bringing your three thousand down upon Stolzenfels, but the gates of this Castle are now closed. Indeed, Stolzenfels was put in condition to withstand a siege very shortly after you and your ward entered it, and it is garrisoned by two hundred fighting men, kindly provided at my suggestion by my brother of Treves.
He was Henry III., and of course much attention was paid over here to his dancing sister." "Why, Guardian, what you say gives a new interest to old Stolzenfels. I have never been within the Castle, but now I shall view it with delight, wondering through which of the rooms the English Princess danced. Why did Isabella come from England all the way to the Rhine?"
Here was her revered, beloved friend forcing hilarity which she knew he could not feel, breaking bread and drinking wine with a colleague while three thousand of his armed men peered down on the roof that sheltered him, ready at a signal to pounce upon Stolzenfels like birds of prey, capturing, and if necessary, slaying.
"They seem to be unarmed." "Their weapons are stored under guard in the Church of St. Castor, and can be in the hands of the soldiers within a few minutes after a signal is rung by the St. Castor's bells." "Are there any troops in Coblentz from Mayence?" "No, my Lord." "How many of my men have been placed behind the Castle of Stolzenfels?"
"Three thousand are concealed in the forest near the hilltop." "How many men has my Lord of Mayence within call?" "Apparently only the scant half-dozen that reached Stolzenfels with him yesterday." "Are you sure of that?" "Scouts have been sent all through the forest to the south, and have brought us no word of an advancing company.
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