CHAPTER FOUR
In the meantime, Adelaide, overwhelmed by despair which she was unable to calm, conducted with the greatest respect by the guards who had been assigned to her, reached the chateau of Torgau. Received with all the necessary pomp by Major Kreutzer who commanded the castle, she had been established in the most beautiful apartment by the daughter of the officer, and this young person, named Bathilda, gifted with all the qualities of face and mind, had not ceased to console Adelaide since her arrival.
"Ah, Mademoiselle, sorrows like mine do not disappear. One can find remedies for all the others except those which tarnish glory and hurt pride. I do not regret losing a throne where the most unjust of husbands did not think me worthy to sit; but I do regret being treated in such a way and to have my husband suppose that I would have an intrigue with a man I have never known, a man whose birth would prevent my having any interest in him. He has badly known my pride, if he could suspect me capable of such a weakness. If ever a woman like me forgot herself, would it be with a man who was hardly more than a servant? May he find out that I have spurned love of a much higher type than what he accuses me of, and that never has love made me forget my duties! It is not because of my husband that I have acted in this way, but I have served my own pride much more than I have his. But after all what does it matter what reasons keep a woman virtuous?"
Poor Bathilda was doing all she could to appease the resentment of her sovereign when an unexpected event caused so much confusion that it was possible for the princess to escape the chains which bound her.
Frightful cries were heard in all parts of the fortress. Disorder and confusion reigned through the whole building. All this commotion caused the princess and Bathilda to open the door of their apartment. What a spectacle! The whole castle was on fire. Swirls of smoke were pouring from all the windows of the towers, and sounds of pitiful cries were heard from all sides.
The princess who at that moment was getting ready to go to bed threw herself half dressed into the arms of Bathilda who led her quickly down some steps, and in a short time had taken her out of this place of horror. Nobody in this moment of alarm thought of troubling their flight, and they soon reached the outer gates of the fortress which were no longer guarded because the soldiers had all run to try to put out the flames.
"Let's flee," said Adelaide. "Let's hasten to take advantage of this misfortune which gives us the means of getting away."
"Oh, Milady," cried Bathilda, "my father is in danger. Can I abandon him in these circumstances? Let me at least embrace him and receive orders from him."
Then, without waiting for an answer, Bathilda ran through the flames to look for and to help her father. She soon found him busy with his duties.
"Father," she cried throwing herself into his arms, "tell me what I must do."
"Flee, my daughter," answered the major, "flee immediately, and save the princess from the dangers which she runs, and then bring her back here later if you can. Those are my orders and my good-byes, if we don't see each other again. I cannot give you any of the soldiers to escort you since they are all busy. Ah, this terrible event is going to ruin us all."
Then Bathilda in tears returned hastily to the princess. Scarcely had they crossed the last moat of the fortress, when a man came up to them and invited them to flee with him from the dangers which might result from such a fatal event.
"I am here," said the unknown man, "because I accompanied the carriage which has just brought the Count of Mersburg to Torgau. If you will get in, I will be glad to take you to the count's chateau. I am sure he will be happy to know that I have been able to save you. He has stopped on the way, and he ordered me to wait for him here, but in such a case, I am sure he will reward me for disobeying his orders."
"Ah, my friend," said the princess, "what a service you are doing us."
"Milady," said Bathilda, "I am not sure I should go with you."
"Dear girl, would you abandon me in such circumstances?"
"No, Milady, do not fear anything like that. My attachment to your service is already so great that I will sacrifice all to it."
They got into the carriage immediately, and in a few hours arrived at the chateau of the count which was situated in one of the most uninhabited corners of his estates.
"I am lost," cried Major Kreutzer when calm was finally established. "Never will such negligence be pardoned, and they will think that it was I who lit the fire in order to promote the escape of the princess."
Such was the frightful state of the unfortunate Kreutzer when Mersburg arrived. One can imagine the violence of the reproaches which he made to the major.
Kreutzer assured him that he could convince the prince of his innocence, and he added that his daughter should not be blamed too much for having aided her sovereign, since the latter had almost certainly taken advantage of her youth, and persuaded her that it was her duty to do as she was ordered.
The count had dinner with the major; he visited the scene of the fire and returned promptly to Fredericksburg.
It is easy to imagine the sorrow of the prince when he heard this report.
"I will never see her again," he cried. "She is fleeing from me. And why would she want to return to a man whose treatment of her would give her so much reason to complain? I can only be a monster in her eyes. I am not even sure that I want to find her again because I would not be able to stand her just reproaches. Oh, how guilty I have been in this unhappy adventure!"
The count tried in vain to console his master; all his efforts were in vain. The prince finally ordered him to retire and leave him alone with his sorrow.
Mersburg went to find Thuringia who was much less alarmed about the turn of events than the prince had been. He reasoned that at least this kept her from returning to her husband where he thought she was in great danger. He would have wished, however, that it was Mersburg who had arranged the escape in order that he might have sent her to a place which she could have chosen. On second thought, he was happy that the princess could choose the place of her hiding and that she would let him know later where she was. Love always finds reasons for consolation when it should be the most alarmed.
Frederick was not long in calling Mersburg to him.
"My friend," he said to him, "my resolutions are going to surprise you. I can no longer exist without my wife. I want to find her and see her again, no matter what it may cost me. Prepare yourself to follow me, my dear count. I am going to travel over my states, Germany, all of Europe if it is necessary. I don't want to reappear in my court until I have righted the wrong which I have done. Perhaps we will find her and I am sure that my love will help me in my search. You only have to want a thing very much to get it. I will leave here all the rights of my throne. We will travel as simple knights. I am making Thuringia the regent for my states. Heaven has endowed him with all the necessary abilities for governing men. But we will not tell him of our plans, and we will take all the necessary precautions to prevent anything from happening during our absence. During this time, tranquil as to what is happening here in my states, I will be able to keep up the search for my wife."
Mersburg had too many reasons to approve this project to create the least difficulty in its execution. Thuringia was called. Frederick told him of his trip and at the same time informed him that he was leaving for a while the ruling of the state in his hands and that he could not find better hands in which to leave it. Thuringia, through modesty, or perhaps through personal interests, did not want to accept this honor. How long would the trip last? Wouldn't it keep Thuringia from finding Adelaide? What would happen if Frederick found her? Would this angered husband forgive her or would he take his vengeance? But on the other hand, no matter what action he took, he ran the risk of never seeing Adelaide again. All of this was running through Thuringia's mind as he resisted the efforts of the prince to make him regent during his absence. He did not dare hold out too long, however, because the prince would begin to become suspicious about his motives. By the next day all the details had been settled, and the prince and Mersburg set out for Dresden.
Frederick, having assembled his various states, declared that his health would not permit him to attend to his duties for a while, that he was leaving the reins of government in the hands of his cousin, the Marquis of Thuringia, who was a sovereign in his own name of the province of Thuringia. He went on to say that he felt that he had chosen a man worthy of this position and that he believed that the Emperor would leave them in peace since he had more important wars which called him to other countries.
After the expression of regret of the assembly on the departure of the prince to which they all joined their wishes for a rapid return, they felicitated him on the choice of the Marquis of Thuringia to replace him. After this ceremony, the prince and Mersburg hastened to the chateau to make their preparations for the trip.
Before starting out, Frederick thought that it was essential to find out whether his wife had returned to Brunswick, but he did not want to ask the Duke of Brunswick since he did not wish to reveal the troubles which existed in the marriage, and so he had some of his secret agents make a thorough investigation. When the information came that Adelaide could not be in Brunswick, the prince and Mersburg started out.
Their first visit was to Torgau. Major Kreutzer trembled when he knew that his sovereign was arriving.
"I am heartbroken at what has happened in your castle, my friend," said Frederick to the old officer. "Two unpardonable negligences hang over you; that of the fire in the building under your command and another even more important for me, that which has brought about the escape of the sacred person I had left in this post. I could blame your daughter equally, but I can attribute her imprudence to her devotion to my wife. But whatever be the responsibility, have you discovered any outside influence in all this?"
"None, my Prince. Everything is the work of the fire which has facilitated the escape of the princess."
"Sir," said Frederick, "I cannot prevent your punishment. I take away from you the command of this fortress. Return to the army corps to which you were attached. I will not mention the reasons which oblige me to take these measures against you."
The major threw himself at the feet of the prince without obtaining any change in this order. The misfortunes which resulted from this escape were too serious for the prince to pardon those whom he could suspect of having something to do with it. Kreutzer left the place, and the prince set out for Leipsig. In this city which was free at that time and which governed itself by its own laws under the protection of the Prince of Saxony, Frederick could begin to live in perfect incognito; but occupied with the object of his searches, he didn't stay long and soon took the road to Hamburg.
There was a moment in this trip in which he was close to the road which led to Mersburg, the main town, as we have said, of the territory of the friend who accompanied him. He proposed to the count to go off the road a little and to spend a little time in his chateau; but the latter said that he regretted very much to say that his chateau was in such bad condition that it could not receive anybody so important as the prince.
"Well," said Frederick, "let's go at least to the field of battle where the Emperor Henry I beat the Hungarians nearly a century ago."
This proposition being made in such a way that it was impossible for the count to reject it, the travelers, guided by some peasants who offered to show them the celebrated place, went along by the Fata River. They were observing with attention everything their guides pointed out when suddenly the eyes of the prince fixed themselves on two women who were walking along the river on the opposite bank.
"My friend," said Frederick to the count, stopping suddenly, "there is a woman who has the exact proportions of Adelaide. Who could that young person be who is with her?"
"Milord," said Mersburg embarrassed, "I think that Your Highness is mistaken; the woman you see is much smaller than the princess and the one who is with her appears old to me.
"Do you think so? That is how we see the features of the one we seek everywhere. This mistake will happen to me perhaps more than once in the course of our travels … Adelaide, Adelaide, come to calm the trouble in my soul, come and pardon your august husband, come appease the sorrow which devours me and seeing it even more intense than your own, pity in your heart will replace all the feelings of hatred which you have for the most unfortunate of men."
At that point the two women moved off and the two men did likewise and until they reached the place where they stopped for the night, Frederick didn't say a word. A few days later they were at Hamburg where we are going to leave them in order to go back to the two women.