ese halls as being spacious enough to contain between two and three
hundred persons at table. A broad stone staircase, capable of admitting
two horsemen to ride abreast, and made for that purpose, led to the
upper apartments, where the splendour of the rooms, the grandeur of the
hall of the knights, and the richly ornamented galleries used for
dancing and play, corresponded with the exterior appearance of the
castle.

Albert viewed with an eye of astonishment the extravagant splendour of
the palace. When he compared the establishment of his ancestors with
what he now saw, how small and confined they seemed to him! He
recollected the stories he had heard of the brilliancy of Ulerich's
court, on the occasion of his magnificent marriage, when seven thousand
guests, from all parts of the German empire, caroused in this castle,
in whose vaulted halls and spacious court-yards all kinds of games and
merrymaking were held for a whole month; and a numerous assembly of
noblemen, with all the greatest beauties of the day, kept up the merry
dance till late at night. He looked down into the garden of the castle,
which, from its beauty, was called Paradise. His fancy peopled the
shaded walks and summerhouses, which were scattered about it, with the
joyous throng of gallant knights and stately ladies, enjoying
themselves with mirth and song. But alas! how deserted and empty were
they now; and when he compared their present state with the picture his
imagination had created, what a lesson of this world's vanity did it
not give! The guests of the marriage feast, the brilliant merry court,
all are vanished, said he to himself; the princely bride is flown, the
brilliant circle of women by whom she was surrounded scattered to the
four winds; knights and counts, who once feasted in these halls, have
deserted their prince; the tender pledges of his marriage now in a
distant land, in the hands of his enemies; and the lord of the castle
is left alone to brood in solitude over his misfortunes, and think only
of revenge; and who knows how long he will be allowed to remain in the
house of his ancestors; who knows whether his enemies will not get the
upper hand again, and, overpowering him, drive him into misery twofold
greater than what he has already experienced.

The young soldier attempted in vain to repress these gloomy thoughts,
which the contrast between the splendour of the surrounding objects and
the misfortunes of the Duke involuntarily