A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Z

Sidonia The Sorceress V1

W >> William Mienhold >> Sidonia The Sorceress V1




At last he was up; and they heard him clattering over their heads,
then creeping through the trap-door into the corridor, and a
little after, the sound of a door gently opening.

All efforts were in vain to keep the Prince quiet. He must follow
him. He would rush through the trap-door after him, though it cost
him his life! But old Ulrich whispered in his ear, "Now I know
that Prince Ernest has neither honour nor discretion, and
Pomerania has little to hope from such a ruler." All in vain--he
springs out of the coach, but the knight after him, who hastily
gave Marcus Bork the keys of the castle, and bade him go fetch the
household, down to the menials, here to the gallery. Marcus took
them, and left the stables instantly. Then Ulrich seized the hand
of Prince Ernest, who was already on the top of the coach, and
asked him was it thus he would, leave an old man without any one
to assist him. Let him in first through the trap-door, while the
Prince held the lantern. To this he consented, and helped the old
knight up, who, having reached the trap-door, put his head
through; but, alas! the portly stomach of the stout old knight
would not follow. He stretched out his head, however, on every
side, as far as it could go, and heard distinctly low whispering
voices from Sidonia's little room; then a sound as of the tramp of
many feet became audible in the courtyard, by which he knew that
Marcus and the household were advancing rapidly.

But the young lord, who was waiting at the top of the coach, grew
impatient, and pulled him back, endeavouring to creep through the
hole himself. Praised be Heaven, however, this he failed to do
from weakness; so he was obliged to follow the Grand Chamberlain,
who whispered to him to come down, and they could reach the
corridor through the usual entrance. Hereupon they both left the
stables, and met Marcus in the courtyard with his company.

Then all ascended noiselessly to the gallery, and ranged
themselves around Sidonia's door. Ulrich now told eight of the
strongest carls present to step forward and lean their shoulders
against the door, but make no stir until he gave a sign; then when
he cried "Now!" they should burst it open with all their force.

As to the young Prince, he was trembling like an aspen leaf, and
his weakness was so great that two young men had to support him.
In short, as all present gradually stole closer and closer up to
the door of Sidonia's room, the old knight drew forth his lantern,
and signed to the men, who stood with their shoulders pressed
against it; then when all was ready, he cried "Now!" and the door
burst open with a loud crash. Every lock, and bar, and bolt
shivered to atoms, and in rushed the whole party, Ulrich at their
head, with his lantern lifted high up above them all.

Sidonia and her visitor were standing in the middle of the room.
Ulrich first flashed the light upon the face of the man. Who would
have believed it?--no other than Johann Appelmann! The knight hit
him a heavy blow across the face, exclaiming, "What! thou common
horse-jockey--thou low-born varlet--is it thus thou bringest
disgrace upon a maiden of the noblest house in Pomerania? Ha, thou
shalt be paid for this. Wait! Master Hansen shall give thee some
of his gentle love-touches this night!"

But meanwhile the young Prince had entered, and beheld Sidonia, as
she stood there trembling from shame, and endeavouring to cover
her face with her long, beautiful golden hair that fell almost to
her knees. "Sidonia!" he exclaimed, with a cry as bitter as if a
dagger had passed through his heart--"Sidonia!" and fell
insensible before her.

Now a great clamour arose amongst the crowd, for beside the couch
lay the helmet and cuirass of the ghost; so every one knew now who
it was that had played this trick on them for so long, and kept
the castle in such a state of terror.

Then they gathered round the poor young Prince, who lay there as
stiff as a corpse, and lamented over him with loud lamentations,
and some of them lifted him up to carry him out of the chamber;
but the Grand Chamberlain sternly commanded them to lay him down
again before his bride, whom he had arranged to wed privately at
Crummyn on the following night. Then seizing Sidonia by the hand,
and dashing back her long hair, he led her forward before all the
people, and said with a loud voice, "See here the illustrious and
high-born Lady Sidonia, of the holy Roman Empire, Duchess of
Pomerania, Cassuben, and Wenden, Princess of Rügen, Countess of
Gützkow, and our Serene and most Gracious Lady, how she honours
the princely house of Pomerania by sharing her love with this
stable groom, this tailor's son, this debauched profligate! Oh! I
could grow mad when I think of this disgrace. Thou shameless one!
have I not long ago given thee thy right name? But wait--the name
shall be branded on thee this night, so that all the world may
read it."

Just then her Grace entered with Clara, followed by all the other
maids of honour; for, hearing the noise and tumult, they had
hastened thither as they were, some half undressed, others with
only a loose night-robe flung round them. And her Grace, seeing
the young lord lying pale and insensible on the ground, wrung her
hands and cried out, "Who has killed my son? who has murdered my
darling child?"

Here stepped forward Ulrich, and said, "The young lord was not
dead; but, if it so pleased God, was in a fair way now to regain
both life and reason." Then he related all which had led to this
discovery; and how they had that night been themselves the
witnesses of Sidonia's wickedness with the false ghost. Now her
Grace knew his secret, which he had not told until certain of
success.

As he related all these things, her Grace turned upon Sidonia and
spat on her; and the young lord, having recovered somewhat in
consequence of the water they had thrown on him, cried out,
"Sidonia! is it possible? No, Sidonia, it is not possible!"

The shameless hypocrite had now recovered her self-possession, and
would have denied all knowledge of Appelmann, saying that he
forced himself in when she chanced to open the door; but he,
interrupting her, cried, "Does the girl dare to lay all the blame
on me? Did you not press my hand there when you were lying after
you fell from the stag? Did you not meet me afterwards in the
lumber-room--that day of the hunt when Duke Barnim was here last?"

"No, no, no!" shrieked Sidonia. "It is a lie, an infamous lie!"
But he answered, "Scream as you will, you cannot deny that this
disguise of the ghost was your own invention to favour my visits
to you. Did you not drop notes for me down on the coach, through
the trap-door, fixing the nights when I might come? and bethink
you of last night, when you sent me a note by your maid, wrapped
up in a little horse-cloth which I had lent you for your cat, with
the prayer that I would not fail to be with you that night nor the
next"--Oh, just Heaven! to think that it was upon that very night
that Clara should break her shoe-string, by which means the
Almighty turned away ruin and disgrace from the ancient,
illustrious, and princely house of Pomerania--all by a broken
shoe-string! For if the ghost had remained away but that one
night, or Clara had not broken her shoestring, Sidonia would have
been Duchess of Pomerania; but what doth the Scripture say? "Man's
goings are of the Lord. What man understandeth his own way?"
(Prov. xx. 24).

When Sidonia heard him tell all this, and how she had written
notes of entreaty to him, she screamed aloud, and springing at him
like a wild-cat, buried her ten nails in his hair, shrieking,
"Thou liest, traitor; it is false! it is false!"

Now Ulrich rushed forward, and seized her by her long hair to part
them, but at that moment Master Hansen, the executioner, entered
in his red cloak, with six assistants (for Ulrich had privately
sent for him), and the Grand Chamberlain instantly let go his hold
of Sidonia, saying, "You come in good time, Master Hansen; take
away this wretched pair, lock them up in the bastion tower, and on
the morn bring them to the horse-market by ten of the clock, and
there scourge and brand them; then carry them both to the frontier
out of our good State of Wolgast, and let them both go their ways
from that, whither it may please them."

When Sidonia heard this, she let go her paramour and fell fainting
upon the bed; but recovering herself in a little time, she
exclaimed, "What is this you talk of? A noble maiden who is as
innocent as the child in its cradle, to be scourged by the common
executioner? Oh, is there no Christian heart here to take pity on
a poor, helpless girl! Gracious young Prince, even if all the
world hold me guilty, you cannot, no, you cannot; it is
impossible!"

Hereupon the young lord began to tremble like an aspen leaf, and
said in a broken voice, "Alas, Sidonia! you betrayed yourself: if
you had not mentioned that trap-door to me, I might still have
believed you innocent (I, who thought some good angel had guided
you to it!); now it is impossible; yet be comforted, the
executioner shall never scourge you nor brand you--you are branded
enough already." Then turning to the Grand Chamberlain he said,
that with his consent a hangman should never lay his hands upon
this nobly born maiden, whom he had once destined to be Duchess of
Pomerania; but Appelmann, this base-born vassal, who had eaten of
his bread and then betrayed him like a Judas, let him be flogged
and branded as much as they pleased; no word of his should save
the accursed seducer from punishment.

Notwithstanding this, old Ulrich was determined on having Sidonia
scourged, and my gracious lady the Duchess must have her scourged
too. "Let her dear son only think that if the all-merciful God had
not interposed, he would have been utterly ruined and his princely
house disgraced, by means of this girl. Nothing but evil had she
brought with her since first she set foot in the castle: she had
caused his sickness; item, the death of two young knights by
drowning; item, the terrible execution of Joachim Budde, who was
beheaded at the festival; and had she not, in addition, whipped
her dear little Casimir, which unseemly act had only lately come
to her knowledge? and had she not also made every man in the
castle that approached her mad for love of her, all by her
diabolical conduct? No--away with the wretch: she merits her
chastisement a thousand and a thousand-fold!" And old Ulrich
exclaimed likewise, "Away with the wretch and her paramour!"

Here the young lord made an effort to spring forward to save her,
but fell fainting on the ground; and while the attendants were
busy running for water to throw over him, Clara von Dewitz,
turning away the executioner with her hand from Sidonia, fell down
on her knees before her Grace, and besought her to spare at least
the person of the poor, unfortunate maiden; did her Grace think
that any punishment could exceed what she had already suffered?
Let her own compassionate heart plead along with her words--and
did not the Scripture say, "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord."

Hereupon her Grace looked at old Ulrich without speaking; but he
understood her glance, and made answer--"No; the hangman must do
his duty towards the wretch!" when her Grace said mildly, "But for
the sake of this dear, good young maiden, I think we might let her
go, for, remember, if she had not opened out this villainy to us,
the creature would have been my daughter-in-law, and my princely
house disgraced for evermore."

Now Marcus Bork stepped forward, and added his prayers that the
noble name he bore might not be disgraced in Sidonia. "He had ever
been a faithful feudal vassal to her princely house, and had not
even scrupled to bring the secret wicked deeds of his cousin
before the light of day, though it was like a martyrdom of his own
flesh and blood for conscience' sake."

Here old Ulrich burst forth in great haste--"Seven thousand
devils! Let the wench be off, then. Not another night should she
rest in the castle. Let her speak--where would she go to? where
should they bring her to?"

And when Sidonia answered, sobbing, "To Stettin, to her gracious
lord, Duke Barnim, who would take pity on her because of her
innocence," Ulrich laughed outright in scorn. "I shall give the
driver a letter to him, and another to thy father. Perhaps his
Grace will show thee true pity, and drive thee with his horsewhip
to Stramehl. But thou shalt journey in the same coach whereon thy
leman clambered up to the trap-door, and Master Hansen shall sit
on the coach-box and drive thee himself. As to thy darling
stablegroom here, the master must set his mark on him before he
goes; but that can be done when the hangman returns from Stettin."

When Appelmann heard this, he fell at the feet of the Lord
Chamberlain, imploring him to let him off too. "Had he not ridden
to Spantekow, without stop or stay, at the peril of his life, to
oblige Lord Ulrich that time the Lapland wizard made the evil
prophecy; and though his illustrious lady died, yet that was from
no fault of his, and his lordship had then promised not to forget
him if he were but in need. So now he demanded, on the strength of
his knightly word, that a horse should be given him from the ducal
stables, and that he be permitted to go forth, free and scathless,
to ride wherever it might please him. His sins were truly heavy
upon him, and he would try and do better, with the help of God."

When the old knight heard him express himself in this godly sort
(for the knave knew his man well), he was melted to compassion,
and said, "Then go thy way, and God give thee grace to repent of
thy manifold sins."

Her Grace had nothing to object; only to put a fixed barrier
between the Prince and Sidonia, she added, "But send first for Dr.
Gerschovius, that he may unite this shameless pair in marriage
before they leave the castle, and then they can travel away
together."

Hereupon Johann Appelmann exclaimed, "No, never! How could he hope
for God's grace to amend him, living with a thing like that, tied
to him for life, which God and man alike hold in abhorrence?" At
this speech Sidonia screamed aloud, "Thou lying and accursed
stable-groom, darest thou speak so of a castle and land dowered
maiden?" and she flew at him, and would have torn his hair, but
Marcus Bork seized hold of her round the waist, and dragged her
with great effort into Clara's room.

Now the tears poured from the eyes of her Grace at such a
disgraceful scene, and she turned to her son, who was slowly
recovering--"Hast thou heard, Ernest, this groom--this servant of
thine--refuses to take the girl to wife whom thou wast going to
make Duchess of Pomerania? Woe! woe! what words for thy poor
mother to hear; but it was all foreshadowed when Dr. Luther--" &c.
&c.

In short, the end of the infamous story was, that Sidonia was
carried off that very night in the identical coach we know of, and
Master Hansen was sent with her, bearing letters to the Duke and
Otto from the Grand Chamberlain, and one also to the burgomaster
Appelmann in Stargard; and the executioner had strict orders to
drive her himself the whole way to Stettin. As for Appelmann, he
sprung upon a Friesland clipper, as the old chamberlain had
permitted, and rode away that same night. But the young lord was
so ill from grief and shame, that he was lifted to his bed, and
all the _medici_ of Grypswald and Wolgast were summoned to
attend him.

And such was the end of Sidonia von Bork at the ducal court of
Wolgast. But old Küssow told me that for a long while she was the
whole talk of the court and town, many wondering, though they knew
well her light behaviour, that she should give herself up to
perdition at last for a common groom, no better than a menial
compared to her. But I find the old proverb is true for her as
well as for another, "The apple falls close to the tree; as is the
sheep, so is the lamb;" for had her father brought her up in the
fear of God, in place of encouraging her in revenge, pride, and
haughtiness, Sidonia might have been a good and honoured wife for
her life long. But the libertine example of her father so
destroyed all natural instincts of modesty and maidenly reserve
within her, that she fell an easy prey to the first temptation.

In short, my gracious Prince Bogislaus XIV., as well as all those
who love and honour the illustrious house of Wolgast, will
devoutly thank God for having turned away this disgrace in a
manner so truly wonderful.

I have already spoken of the broken shoe-tie, but in addition, I
must point out that if Sidonia had counselled her paramour to take
the armour of Duke Philip, which hung in the same lumber-room, in
place of that belonging to the serpent knight, that wickedness
would never have come to light. For assuredly all in the castle
would have believed that it was truly the ghost of the dead duke,
who came to reproach his son for not holding the oath which he had
sworn on his coffin, to abandon Sidonia. And consequently, respect
and terror would have alike prevented any human soul in the castle
from daring to follow it, and investigate its object. Therefore
let us praise the name of the Lord who turned all things to good,
and fulfilled, in Sidonia and her lover, the Scripture which
saith, "Thinking themselves wise, they became fools" (Rom. i. 21).




END OF FIRST BOOK.



BOOK II.

FROM THE BANISHMENT OF SIDONIA FROM THE DUCAL COURT OF WOLGAST UP
TO HER RECEPTION IN THE CONVENT OF MARIENFLIESS.




CHAPTER I.

_Of the quarrel between Otto Bork and the Stargardians, which
caused him to demand the dues upon the Jena._


MOST EMINENT AND ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE!--Your Grace must be informed,
that much of what I have here set down, in this second book, was
communicated to me by that same old Uckermann of Dalow of whom I
have spoken already in my first volume.

Other important facts I have gleaned from the Diary of Magdalena
von Petersdorfin, _Priorissa_ of the convent of Marienfliess.
She was an old and worthy matron, whom Sidonia, however, used to
mock and insult, calling her the old cat, and such-like names. But
she revenged herself on the shameless wanton in no other way than
by writing down what facts she could collect of her disgraceful
life and courses, for the admonition and warning of the holy
sisterhood.

This little book the pious nun left to her sister Sophia, who is
still living in the convent at Marienfliess; and she, at my
earnest entreaties, permitted me to peruse it.

Before, however, I continue the relation of Sidonia's adventures,
I must state to your Grace what were the circumstances which
induced Otto von Bork to demand so urgently the dues upon the Jena
from their Highnesses of Stettin and Wolgast. In my opinion, it
was for nothing else than to revenge himself upon the burgomaster
of Stargard, Jacob Appelmann, father of the equerry. The quarrel
happened years before, but Otto never forgot it, and only waited a
fitting opportunity to take vengeance on him and the people of
Stargard.

This Jacob Appelmann was entitled to receive a great portion of
the Jena dues, which were principally paid to him in kind,
particularly in foreign spices, which he afterwards sold to the
Polish Jews, at the annual fair held in Stramehl.

It happened, upon one of these occasions, as Jacob, with two of
his porters, appeared, as usual, carrying bags of spices, to sell
to the Polish Jews, that Otto met him in the market-place, and
invited him to come up to his castle, for that many nobles were
assembled there who would, no doubt, give him better prices for
his goods than the Polish Jews, and added that the worthy
burgomaster must drink his health with him that day.

Now, Jacob Appelmann was no despiser of good cheer or of broad
gold pieces; so, unfortunately for himself, he accepted the
invitation. But the knight had only lured him up to the castle to
insult and mock him. For when he entered the hall, a loud roar of
laughter greeted his appearance, and the half-drunk guests, who
were swilling the wine as if they had tuns to fill, and not
stomachs, swore that he must pledge each of them separately, in a
lusty draught. So they handed him an enormous becker, cut with
Otto's arms, bidding him drain it; but as the Herr Jacob
hesitated, his host asked him, laughing, was he a Jesu disciple,
that he refused to drink?

Hereupon the other answered, he was too old for a disciple, but he
was not ashamed to call himself a servant of Jesus.

Then they all roared with laughter, and Otto spoke--

"My good lords and dear friends, ye know how that the Stargard
knaves joined with the Pomeranian Duke to ravage my good town of
Stramehl, so that it can be only called a village now. And it is
also not unknown to you that my disgrace then passed into a
proverb, so that people will still say, 'He fell upon me as the
Stargardians upon Stramehl.' Let us, then, revenge ourselves
to-day. If this Jesu's servant will not drink, then tear open his
mouth, put a tun-dish therein, and pour down a good draught till
the knave cries 'enough!' As to his spices, let us scatter them
before the Polish Jews, as pease before swine, and it will be
merry pastime to see how the beasts will lick them up. Thus will
Stramehl retort upon Stargard, and the whole land will shout with
laughter. For wherefore does this Stargard pedlar come here to my
fairs? Mayhap I shall visit his."

Peals of laughter and applause greeted Otto's speech; but Jacob,
when he heard it, determined, if possible, to effect his escape;
and watching his opportunity, for he was the only one there not
drunk, sprang out of the hall, and down the flight of steps, and
being young then, never drew breath till he reached the
market-place of Stramehl, and jumped into his own waggon.

In vain Otto screamed out to "stop him, stop him!" all his
servants were at the fair, where, indeed, the people of the whole
country round were gathered. Then the host and the guests sprang
up themselves, to run after Jacob Appelmann, but many could not
stand, and others tumbled down by the way. However, with a chorus
of cries, curses, and threats, Otto and some others at last
reached the waggon, and laid hold of it. Then they dragged out the
bags of spices, and emptied them all down upon the street,
crying--

"Come hither, ye Jews; which of you wants pepper? Who wants
cloves?"

So all the Jews in the place ran together, and down they went on
all-fours picking up the spices, while their long beards swept the
pavement quite clean. Hey! how they pushed and screamed, and dealt
blows about among themselves, till their noses bled, and the place
looked as if gamecocks had been fighting there, whereat Otto and
his roistering guests roared with laughter.

One of the bags they pulled out of the waggon contained cinnamon;
but a huntsman of Otto Bork's, not knowing what it was, poured it
down likewise into the street. Cinnamon was then so rare, that it
sold for its weight in gold. So an old Jew, spying the precious
morsel, cried out, "Praise be to God! Praise be to God!" and ran
through Otto Bork's legs to get hold of a stick of it. This made
the knight look down, and seeing the cinnamon, he straightway bid
the huntsman gather it all up again quick, and carry it safely
home to the castle.

But the old Jew would by no means let go his hold of the booty,
and kept the sticks in one hand high above his head, while with
the other he dealt heavy buffets upon the huntsman. An apprentice
of Jacob Appelmann's beheld all this from the waggon, and knowing
what a costly thing this cinnamon was, he made a long arm out of
the waggon, and snapped away the sticks from the Jew. Upon this
the huntsman sprang at the apprentice; but the latter, seizing a
pair of pot-hooks, which his master had that day bought in the
fair, dealt such a blow with them upon the head of the huntsman,
that he fell down at once upon the ground quite dead.

Now every one cried out "Murder! murder! Jodute! Jodute! Jodute!"
and they tore the bags right and left from the waggon, Jews as
well as Christians; but Otto commanded them to seize the
apprentice also. So they dragged him out too. He was a fine young
man of twenty-three, Louis Griepentroch by name. There was such an
uproar, that the men who held the horses' heads were forced away.
Whereupon the burgomaster resolved to seize this opportunity for
escape; and without heeding the lamentations of the other
apprentice, Zabel Griepentroch, who prayed him earnestly to stop
and save his poor brother, desired the driver to lash the horses
into a gallop, and never stop nor stay until the unlucky town was
left far behind them.

Otto von Bork ordered instant pursuit, but in vain. The
burgomaster could not be overtaken, and reached Wangerin in
safety. There he put up at the inn, to give the panting horses
breathing-time; and now the aforesaid Zabel besought him, with
many tears, to write to Otto Bork on behalf of his poor brother,
to which the burgomaster at last consented; for he loved these two
youths, who were orphans and twins, and he had brought them up
from their childhood, and treated them in all things like a true
and loving godfather. So he wrote to Otto, "That if aught of ill
happened to the young Louis Griepentroch, he (the burgomaster)
would complain to his Grace of Stettin, for the youth had only
done his duty in trying to save the property of his master from
the hands of robbers." The good Jacob, however, admonished Zabel
to make up his mind for the worst, for the knight was not a man
whose heart could be melted, as he himself had experienced but too
well that day.

Copyright (c) 2007. famouswriterz.com. All rights reserved.