forcing yourself into
his house after assuring his child of your love."

Heinz turned to Eva, to protest that he was here to atone for the wrong
he had done her, but the Emperor would not permit him to speak. It was
important to silence at once any objection which could be made against
the marriage by ecclesiastical and secular foes; therefore, eagerly as he
desired to enjoy the happiness of the young pair, he forced himself to
maintain the expression of grave dissatisfaction which he had assumed,
and ordered a page to summon the imperial magistrate, the First Losunger
of the city, and his protonotary, who were all amongst the guests, and,
lastly, the Duchess Agnes.

He could read the latter's child eyes like the clear characters of a
book, and neither the radiant glow on her face at Heinz Schorlin's
entrance nor her hostile glance at the Countess von Montfort had escaped
his notice. Both her affection and her jealous resentment should serve
him.

The young Bohemian now thought herself certain that Heinz Schorlin, and
no other, was Cordula's chosen knight; the countess, at his entrance, had
exclaimed to her father loudly enough, "Here he is again!"

When the princess stood before the Emperor, with the gentlemen whom he
had summoned, he asked her to decide the important question.

"Yonder knight--he motioned towards Heinz--had been guilty of an act
which could scarcely be justified. Though he had wooed the daughter of a
noble Nuremberg family, and even forced his way into her father's house,
he had apparently forgotten the poor girl.

"And," cried the young wife indignantly, "the unprincipled man has not
only made a declaration of love to another, but formally asked her hand."

"That would seem like him," said the Emperor. "But we must not close our
ears to the charge of the Nuremberg Honourable. His daughter, a lovely,
modest maiden of excellent repute, has been seriously injured by Heinz
Schorlin, and so I beg you, child, to tell us, with the keen appreciation
of the rights and duties of a lady which is peculiar to you, what
sentence, in your opinion, should be imposed upon Sir Heinz Schorlin to
atone for the wrong he has done to the young Nuremberg maiden."

He beckoned to the protonotary, as he spoke, to command him to show Ernst
Ortlieb's accusation to the duchess, but she seemed to have practised the
art of reading admirably; for, more quickly than it would otherwise have
appeared possible to grasp the mean