ect me by his arm, should it be necessary, in a little adventure we
have resolved to undertake."

"I am too true to you, my lord," replied Margaret, "to desire my
brother's society when you request his assistance. Were I a young
knight, I should esteem it no light favor to march--no matter where--as
an escort to Rodolph, Duke of Suabia."

"And I, fair maiden," returned the duke, "could wander to the end of
the world with such a companion."

"I hope you may not find Henry so agreeable as to carry you so far, for
I expect to welcome you back in a week."

"If I consulted my pleasure," said Rodolph, "I should not be absent a
day, but my duty may detain me a month. I will not offer an apology for
so long a stay, because I fear that before sunset you will have ceased
to think of me, or remember me only in connection with your brother."

"A noble duke," replied the lady, "whose name is heard wherever the
minstrel tunes his harp, whose word was never plighted in vain, whose
sword was never stained in an unrighteous cause, whose arm and purse are
ever at the command of the poor and persecuted, whose courage and
clemency, wisdom and piety, so well entitle him to the love of all his
people, is not so easily forgotten."

"I assure you, on my honor," exclaimed Rodolph, "that I value your words
more than all the songs of all the minstrels I ever heard. I would I
were worthy your praise; but you have inspired me to deserve it.
Farewell! I see that Henry is impatient, and we must not lose the early
morning."

He bade adieu to the baron and his daughter, and turned to mount his
horse, when Bertha touched his arm, and placed in his hand something
enveloped in silk. Bertha said not one word, but she looked earnestly up
in Rodolph's face, and then walked away as swiftly and silently as she
came. The duke could not help remarking the wild beauty of her pale and
wasted face, and remained some moments gazing after her with a painful
interest. He removed the silk and found that it contained a ring
garnished with a stone of rare value. He started as his eye fell upon
the trinket, for he remembered that years ago he had given it to the
Lord of Hers. How could it have come into Bertha's possession, was the
question that naturally occurred to him; but the answer came not so
readily as the question. While the duke was thus pondering, Henry had
embraced his father and sister, and leaped upon his horse. Rodolph
mounted slowly, after examining