The Emperor CHAPTER XV "She left off breathing, and no more By this we knew that she was dead; LONGFELLOW. IN Tuscany the news of the Pope's imprisonment caused universal consternation, and the Great Countess, who had so warmly upheld the dignity of the papal throne, was justly indignant at the treatment to which Pascal had been subjected. Ere she could make definite arrangements to come to his succour a heavier blow fell upon her, from the crushing effects of which her health and spirits never recovered. At first she received with incredulity the reports which reached her of the Pope's yielding the point for which his predecessors had suffered and died. A message from Henry, however, conveying the news of his coronation and of his intention to pay her a visit on his way home to Germany, placed the matter beyond all possibility of doubt. As soon as the lengthy ceremonials were ended, the Emperor, elated with his newly-acquired dignity, proceeded to Tuscany to make the acquaintance of his mother's friend. Uncertain how events had ended in Rome, for Henry was on his way ere the couriers had been despatched by the Pontiff to apprise her of what had happened, Matilda had no assurance whether her relative came in the character of friend or foe. She, therefore, as a precautionary measure, awaited his arrival at Canossa, where the late King had performed his world-renowned penance. Perhaps his son was reminded of this abasement of human pride as between the rugged hills the stronghold came in sight. Whilst the weary horses slowly and painfully toiled up the steep craggy ascent from the village he had leisure to picture the expedition undertaken by his parents more than thirty years before. Many times had the Emperor, when a boy, stood at his mother's knee and heard with unwearied interest the harrowing details of that fearful journey. Arrived at the summit of the rock upon which the castle was built, Henry paused, and with keen interest gazed upon the wonderful panorama of mountain and lowland which lay spread out in all its vastness before him. Not since the days when his ancestor, Otto, had been the honoured guest of its founder, had a German Emperor been permitted to pass into the precincts of the citadel, and Henry was unable to conjecture, from the absence of military challenge, as to what reception awaited him. As he went into the inner enclosure there appeared before his mind the figure of his late father standing there in the winter's cold, a suppliant for the honour the son had wrested from the feeble hands of the custodian of St Peter's Keys. He found Matilda in the midst of a bevy of maidens, engaged in animated discussion with the nobles and learned men of the day who frequented her Court. The susceptible young Emperor could not fail to be struck with admiration at the noble type of womanhood before him. He realised that he was in the presence of the princess whose riches, beauty and attainments had deservedly won for her a European reputation. Her tall and upright form was displayed to advantage as she rose to receive her guest with that dignified yet winning manner which had made her pre-eminently the most popular ruler of her age. The sixty-three years which had passed over Matilda had left no furrows to tell of The Emperor at Canossa the troubles and misfortunes which they had brought in their train. She was still beautiful and retained, in a wonderful degree, that regal courtesy by which she so strongly impressed her personality upon the beholders. Long and almost reverently Henry gazed upon the straight and regular features which had been so often described to him by the grateful Bertha. He noted the broad smooth brow from which the hair, whitened with years and sorrow, was drawn back and confined by a coronet, round which it was gathered about her shapely head. Her dark eyes had lost somewhat of their fire, but from them still shone forth, when roused, the spirit of her sires. They were subdued now to a sad thoughtfulness, and tears trembled on their lashes as she looked upon the manly figure of her impetuous young relative, the only tie of blood which remained to her. Her dress, like everything which surrounded the Countess, was elegant, and displayed in its arrangement the artistic taste of the wearer. It was made of costly material according to the fashion of the day, and was unadorned except by pearls, truly symbolical of her chastity and goodness. Henry was charmed with the gracious bearing of "La Grande Comtessa," with whose personal attractions and military skill report had made him familiar but whom he now beheld for the first time. The conversation of the princess equally delighted and entranced the Emperor, whose intellect was of no mean order. He was not sufficiently acquainted with Italian to express his thoughts fluently in that language, and therefore spoke in German. Matilda's patriotism, however, was undiminished by time and age and would allow her, as she smilingly explained, to answer him in no other than her native tongue. This direct evidence of her love for Italy, far from displeasing Henry, enabled him to understand the intensity of that devotion against which as against a rock his father had hurled himself in vain. The Emperor was astonished, as were all strangers, at the refinement of Matilda's home, and viewed with interest the valuable collection of antiquities, both Greek and Roman, which the castle contained. Fortunately, Canossa had escaped the ravaging hand of the marauders, and the priceless library and sculptures remained unscathed to bear witness to her wealth and artistic talent. The purity of her Court and its entire freedom from the debauchery which characterised the castles of the great in those days appealed to Henry's better nature. The lesson was not lost upon him, and he resolved on his return to Germany to people his palace with a more virtuous assemblage than had hitherto found encouragement there. Germans and Italians alike have ever been noted as musical people, and the Emperor listened spell-bound with delight to the singing of Matilda's choir, in which the Tuscan voices blended in sweet and soul-stirring harmony. With so much to engage and rivet his attention, Henry was loth to depart and was very easily persuaded to prolong so pleasant a visit. Like all who approached the "Great Countess " he was fascinated by that indescribable personality peculiar to her, and which invariably commanded the respect and esteem of those who were admitted to her society. Nor was this merely a passing influence, which like a magnet drew Henry towards her, for "his heart went forth with almost filial love" to the noble woman who had suffered so much at the hands of the late King. "The hardened Emperor who had seen his father a kneeling suppliant unmoved, was struck with admiration, and from that time gave her no other name than that of 'ma mère.' ” 1 Sitting at her side and listening to the melodious sound of her voice, the young monarch sought in vain for a reason for his father's enmity towards so beautiful and pure a woman, He thought with shame of his relentless pursuit of the brave lady, and could not but envy and wonder at the 1 W. R. W. Stephens, M.A. Matilda "Vicegerent" adroitness with which she had eluded his grasp. Had the two cousins met, he mused, under more favourable circumstances than at the hour of humiliation, the monarch's nobler nature would have been awakened and he would have been saved from himself. Directing his thoughts into other channels than those of vice and revenge he would have been a popular and happy king and father, and have left behind a name revered and honoured by his posterity. Henry called to mind also, with a feeling of selfupbraiding, that it was the Countess who had sheltered his brother Conrad when dying in exile for the fault, the example of which he himself had followed. Thus meditated the Emperor, as, with a regretful retrospect of his own unfilial conduct, he listened to the silvery tones in which, in soft cadence, Matilda made melody of her native tongue. During the three days of his stay at Canossa Henry entered into an agreement with the princess, in which he not only promised to respect her territories but also named her his "Vicegerent" in Lombardy. For years the restless inhabitants of that province had harassed and annoyed the Tuscans and involved them in quarrels and reprisals leading to loss of life and property on both sides. It had been their custom in the name of Germany to make depredatory incursions demanding men and money to further the imperial cause. The Emperor had now become Matilda's ally, and she had his full consent to deal summarily with the malignants who infringed upon her rights. Henry's visit was thus the beginning of a brighter epoch for the Countess. Relieved from all fear of foreign invasion she was now free to relax her long-sustained vigilance. She was at liberty for the first time for years to give her thoughts to peaceful pursuits and to pass the remainder of her life in works of public and private benevolence. "Masculine of understanding though Matilda undoubtedly |