THE MAIDEN'S LEAP.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2959, 27 February 1912, Page 2

THE MAIDEN'S LEAP.

COMPLETE SHORT STORY

1 Bertha, Countess of lunesfels. was yoiug, although a widow, her years not yet having rcachod twenty. But into her short hie many emotions had been crowded. When a sixteen she had attended a brilliant tournament.

Much to acr chagrin and disappointment, the one whom t-he deemed the bravest and worthiest oi all the knights had eyes only for the young daughter a nd heiress of the brave old Count of Innesfels, who, notwithstanding his age, bore oft a full share of the honours of the day.

By one of those strange frea' a of fortune which are constantly roa'iing or marring human lives, the handsome young Baron of Dalkeith passed the Lady Bertha indifferently by, oblivious to all but winning an approving glance from the ohy orbs of Ildcgarde of lnmsfels : while the stern old co ant-- Ildegarde's father—was smitten by Bertha's dark beauty. He had been widowed at Ildepardc's birth, and ha 1 never thought to woo and win another uv.m.> t until bis eyes rested upon Bertha. Then no youthful lover could hive laid such fiery siege to a lady's heart as did .he old count.

It was in a period when a maiden had but little voice in the disposal of her hind in marriage and almost before she had had time to rea'ize her changed position, Bertha's bridal finery had to be put off for th» sombre garii of widowhood. It was now two years since her husband's death, sni she had conducted herself very discreetly. Had her heart been throbbing with the keenest so-row she could not have tendered more respect to her lord's memory.

Ildegarde, her stepdaughter, and her unconscious rival in the past, had been treated with unfailing courtesy by her thus far ; but a trumpet sounded without, and a message was soon brought in to say that Raoul, Baron of Dalkeith, craved an audience with the Countess of Innesfels. " Show the baron all due attention and see that refreshments are set befor n him, and his suite. I will aceord him my personal attendance afterwards." When the servitor who had brought her the news of the baron's arrival had withdrawn to carry out his mistress's orders, Countess Bertha turned to her maid. The woman had been in her own father's household, and was a great favourite with her lady on that account. Before others she wa; the haughty, widowed consort of the Count of Innesfelti but in Leon : e's presence she was still the petulant girl whose dignities had so overweighted her tender years.

Leonie started r.s her mistress turned towards her. What magical transformation was it which had called such a resplendent fire into those great eyes, and had kindled such a brilliant red upon the usually pale cheeks ? " Leo lie ! did you lra r ? Tim young Barou of Dalkeith is below ! What comes ho to the ca-tle for, think you ?" " I know not, my lady, unless it be that there is a new war, and he may want a promise of help in men and arms."

( o mtcss Beitha stamped her foot impatiently. " Uut upon thee for an idiot ! Thinkest thou there can he no other reason to attract him thither V" A sudden look of intelligence shot into Lcome's eyes. "Ah, I know ; but my lady might not be pleased, if I took the liberty to say my thoughts." " Speak out, Leonie. I promise to pardon any indiscretion. What thinkest thou ?"

" That my lady is young, and that she would be considered a titling mate by this noble visitor." Countess Bertha listened with a smile. It pleased her to hear Leonie say that she was beautiful, for through that beauty sho might yet win this knii.'ht, who had e e.r been her ideal of all Ih.i' was noble and true in man.

But in proportion a--: her hopes had enkindled this sudden and infoxicat ing happiness in her heart, so d : d the reaction threaten to bring woe an 1

desolation into the household \\lu>n the pro'd woman learned that the baron had come to the castle to present himself as a suitor for Lady Ildegarde.

From that moment her indifference towards her grntle step-daughter

changed to late. But she dissembled well, and entertained the baron right regally, while in her secret heart she was plotting against the consummation of his hopes. She purposely allowed him chances of obtaining secret interviews with Ildegarde, so that he might win her heart. She wished that the maiden should sutler lite herself, by loving one whom she could not marry ; for, with the reanement of cruelty, Countess Bertha, meant to refuse entrance to even a messenger from the baron when he had once taken his departure from the castle. Then would Ildegarde pine away in lonely sorrow t her lover's supposed faithlessness ; for she was to be kept in perpetual durance, imprisoned in her turret boudoir.

She conversed unreservedly about her plans to Leonie, not heeding the pressnee of a pretty little page whose duty it was to remain in attendance in the adjoining ante-room to run with messages for his mistress. Nemo was scarcely more than a child, but be had enshrined Lady lldegarde in his heart as devoutly as a devotee would his patron saint ; and the mention of her name attracted lis attention. Being quick-witted he soon mastered the situation, and oh the eve of the baron's intended return to his own home he gained Lady Ilgegarde's attention and managed to acquaint her with the plot against her lover and herself.

The leave-taking too't place in the grand banqueting-room, so that lldegarde had no chance to tell her betrothed of what she had learned,

and of the intention to separate them for ever by keeping her a close prisoner, and by shutting him out from future visits to Innesfels. In her agony of terror, knowing as she did that she would be left completely in her step-raolher's power, Ildegarde made up her mind to appoint a meeting at some place where she could safely confide to her lover this danger which threatened their anticipated union. With the timidity of a tender maiden, she shrank from taking such a step ; but it was her only alternative. " I must ece you," she whispered, " to-night. J have something to saj which you must hear. I will be at your door at midnight, and you must ma e some excuse for sending your squire on an errand." " All shall be as you say," he whispered. Midnight came and found Ilde£!irde's lover pacing up and down in im;a h ient expectation of her approach. His apartments were located in one of the turrets of the castie. and directly opposite, in a similar elevation, a steady light gleaming betrayed the locality of Ude-

garde's rooms. They were upon a line with tboße which had been allotted to him and were as near to the siy as they could well be, a slight partition only separating them from the flat rt o r ". In summer time it had always been a favourite resort for the lonely girl, for a widely extended view of the whole surrounding country could be obtained from it, and, hook or embroidery in hand, she would often hnd herself happy in this free communion with earth and air and sunlight. A narrow staircase the door of which was hidden by a drapery of rare old tapestry, enabled her to carry out her inclination without molestation or hindrance from her stepmother. As the twin turrets were constructed after the same model, there was, of course, a similar mode of communication with the roof in the rooms of the young baron. But the lock had rusted in the door from long disuse, and the connecting staircase had for years been given up to bats and owls.

As he now paced the room impatitntly he would occasionally glance towards ]ldegarde's boudoir, wondering if she might yet be on her waj to the meeting she had appointed. At last a timid tap on the door indicated her arriwil. He threw It open, and Ildegarde entered, accompanied by the little page who had been her informant about the intended t-eacbery of the countess. Ildegarde was so muffled in a nunlike cioak, that the keenest eyes would have failed to recognise her, until she threw it aside and stood in blushing, tremulous confusion before the dazzled eyes of her lover. To facilitate her motions she laid aside ner

long-trained dress, with its flowing cumbersome drapery, and had put on one of her bower-maiden's dresses. It consisted of a gay-coloured jacket, and a Kirtle whose scanty folds barely reached to her arching instep, and for .an instant, as she met Raoul's eye;;, felt as though she must turn ; .n I take flight, so strange and oit of place did she feel in her una-.ci/stomed attire. But the next moment all sensation of self-con-sciousness and embarrassment died away, and she awoke to the full sense of the necessity of making use i.f the Hying moments. " Oh, Kaoul !" she said, hiding her

,;ice upon his shoulder, for he had ii;a\\n her to him in a clo;c embrace," we are to be separated fur ev<r when once you are outside of ihis crsUc. That is what I have to iell you."

" i lirough whose means?" asked Raoul, half incredulously. " Ask Nemo. He will tell you."

"Speak then, youngster, and be (juici about it ; for if it is true some plan must be devised, and that quickly." Then Nemo told of the conversation he had overheard between the countess and Rtonie.

Raoul of Dalkeith listened in silence until the boy had concluded. 'I hen he said to Ildegarde :

"The boy's story has the ring of truth in it: Has the widow of your father the power designated by her words ? Could she shut you up in this cast'c in which your baby eyes first saw the light ? Methinks it would be a difficult thins; to do." She can do as she wishes with me," sob: ed Ildegarde, " for she has the faculty of dissimulation that would make her actions seem to be dictated for my good. Then, too, my father's will made her my sole guardian."

: "If that be true, sweetheart, the | only thing to be done is to meet guile with guile. This boy shall carry to your room a suit of arm- ! our such as is worn by one of the knights in my suite. To-morrow morn shall tee a new follower in my train as I leave the castle. To-night you are a bower-maiden in all seem- \ ing, tlun you shall become for the nom-e a knight." ' "But I cannot be in two pln<~es at once ; and you may have noticed how constant is the claim made by the ' countess upon my society." j " Simulate a sudden illness, so ' that you have to excuse yourself from paying me the courtesy of a ■ last greeting." I " But Raoul, Raoul, think of it ! I shall be as poor as thoagh I had ; come from peasant stock. I could ' not throw myself upon your protec- ' tion in such an unmaidenly manner." j " Naught is to he thought of, my Ildegarde, but that we are lost to ; each other unless— But hist ! What ! sound is that ?" I Ildegarde shrank from her lover in sudden terror. "It is the voice of the countess. Oh, let me fly, or I am undone for ever." She rushed to the stairway and tri d to opin* the door, hut it resisted. " Raoul, as you love me, force it open," she said, wildly. In response to her appeal he shook the door so violently that at last the rusty hinges gave way.

" V.hat arc vou going to do t You may as well stay and face the countess as to hide here. If she has a suspicion of your presence she will a thorough search." " I shall leap from the top of tn turret, and try to reach yon roof."He caught hold of her to detain her. " You will never be able to do it. You are not a bird to fly." His face grew pu ; c. and great drore of perspiration stood upon his forehead as ho reasoned with her. "Unhand roe, Haoul. I will rcieh it, or I will fall into the moat that, gleams so white in the light of the moon, and there I will die ! Better so than be disgraced for ever. If 1 fail to reach my goal and fall to my death, upon your honour as a knight, 6ay naugh't of what you know." i Then, with the speed of a chamois, she flew up the dark staircase, dislodging the bats that had so long been left undisturbed, and at last reached the roof.

The countess was demanding an audience at the door in peremptory tones, but Raoul 6tood by the window as though his feet were chained there. A flying shadow darkened his line of vision for a moment, as Ildegarde had made the fearful leap, es caping eternity by a hair's breadth ; for her feet had slipped upon the flizzy verge, and only by dragging convulsively on to the railing and dragging herself to a place of security did she save herself from falling headlong into the moat, whosa waters gleamed below, white and chill in the moonlight. With a weight lifted from his heart, Ea >ul went to the door and opened it for the countess to enter. She came in slowly, casting a searching glance around. Upon seeing Nemo she said : " So it was you, sirrah, who have been playing such tricks. Go your way to your own place at once. I was told, sir baron, that the spirit who walks this castle at night was abroad, and as I had failed to mention that, it was a haunted one, I came hither to assure you that it was a harmless one. Fear not. may peace attend your slumbers. But what is the trouble there?" Counters Bertha had turned, as though about to retire from the room, when her eyes rested upon the ! door which had been torn so rudely from my hinges. 1 Nemo hastened to reply. I " That, my lady, is the way to i the roof; and as the baron desired Ho see the view, the door had to be ' torn down, the hinges were so rusty." I Countess Bertha advanced, and j glanced up the stairway, but drew I back as a bat flew against her face. ! "It would ta'ie stronger nerves than mine to face those noisome, j winged creatures. You have good courage, baron. Adieu."

It is needless to say that the counteHs's visit had been prompted by a motive far different from the one she had given. Her sharp ears had caught Ildegarde's words, and she had come, thinking to work her ruin by finding her there, and by disclos ing the fact the next day to her own retainers, as well as those of the baron, putting, of course, a false construction upon the interview. Hut she was foiled by the maiden's desperate leap—not for life alone, but to sav« what was of more worth, her unsullied name.

i The next morning a strange 1-night passed unnoticed among; the throng of jarmed men in the hurry of lca.e | taking. It was with secret joy that I the Countess Berths had received a ! message from Ildegnrde's favourite ' bowir-maiden that her mistress begged to be excused from making her adieux to the baron.

| But she ground her teeth with ra»« j when she heard of Ildcgarde's flight ! with her lover.

I To this day the descendants of the noble family of Dalkeith t'lory in the daring feat of their ancestress, Ildegarde ; and "The Maiden's Leap" j is the favourite storv told by the ancient servants when gathered around I the yule-log at Ohristmastide.