Page:Legends of Rubezahl, and Other Tales (1845).djvu/281

 stow her hand upon some more fortunate rival, and thus prevent the possibility of his demanding the fulfilment of her promise. As some security against this catastrophe, he wrote to his patron, the Empress, giving her an account of his fortunate adventure at the villa, of the accident which delayed his arrival, and entreating her, meantime, while preserving closely the secret of his approaching re-appearance, to prevent Lucretia from marrying any one else.

It happened that whatever her other great qualities, the Empress did not possess that of being able to keep a secret. Accordingly the Count’s missive was no sooner perused, than its contents were communicated to her Ladies of the Bedchamber; and when the Lord Chamberlain, who had set up pretensions to the hand of the fair Lucretia himself, suggested a doubt of the authenticity of the document, her Majesty put the matter beyond question by showing him the original letter. The news in due course reached Count Rupert, to whom it immediately occurred that he might, perhaps, in the same way, get rid of his incumbrance, and thus, having fulfilled the condition imposed by his mistress, return ere Ulric had recovered from his accident, and forestal him in demanding the fair one’s hand. Having made a calculation of the time which a judicious surgeon occupies in healing the wounds of a patient who