ver suits his taste."

Barbara shook her head angrily; but Wolf, noticing it, said: "He is the
sovereign, and who would venture to withhold anything on which his will
is set? But his desires are shrivelling like his face and his body."

"Is the man of the 'More, farther,' also learning to be content?" asked
Barbara anxiously. Wolf rose, answering firmly: "No, certainly not! His
eyes still sparkle as brightly in his haggard face as if he had by no
means given up the old motto. True, Don Luis declares that rest is the
one thing for which he longs, and you will see that he knows how to
obtain it; but what he means by it only contains fresh conflicts and
struggles. His 'Plus ultra' had rendered him the greatest of living
men; now he desires to become the least of the least, because the Lord
promises to make the last the first. I was received by the regent like
a friend. She confided to me that he often repeats the Saviour's words,
'Go, sell all that thou halt, and follow me.' He is determined to cast
aside throne, sceptre, and purple, power and splendour, and Don Luis
believes that he will know how to gratify this desire, like every other.
What a resolution! But there are special motives concealed beneath it.
Nothing but death can bring repose to this restless spirit, and if he
finds the quiet for which he longs, what tasks he will set himself! Don
Philip promises, as an obedient son, to continue to wield the sceptre
according to the policy of the father who intrusts it to him."

"And then?" asked Barbara eagerly.

"Then will begin the life in the imitation of Christ, which hovers
before him."

"Here in the Brabant palace?" interposed Barbara incredulously.
"Here, where his neighbours, the brilliant nobles, enjoy life in noisy
magnificence; here, among the ambassadors, the thousand rumours from
the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain; here, where the battle against the
heretical and liberty-loving yearnings of the citizens never ceases--how
can he hope to find peace and composure here?"

"He is far from it," Wolf eagerly interrupted. "'Farewell till we meet
again at no distant day upon Spanish soil!' were the parting words of my
gracious mistress. Will you promise secrecy?"

Barbara held out her hand with a significant glance; but Wolf, in a
lower tone, continued: "He expects to find in Spain the peaceful spot
for which he longs. There he will commend himself to the mercy of God,
and prepare for the true life which death i