Manchurian Books

Two certainties were impressed upon him when he
had read the scroll: first, the Archbishops were determined to rule; and
second, if he did not promise to obey they would elect some other than
himself Emperor on the death or deposition of his father. The young man
resolved to be acquiescent and allow the future to settle the question
whether he or the Archbishops should be the head of the Empire. A
strange exultation filled him at the prospect, and all thought of other
things vanished from his mind.
Leaving the parchments on the table in the knights' hall, where he had
examined them, he mounted to the battlements to enjoy the fresh breeze
that, no matter how warm the day, blows round the towers of Ehrenfels.
Here a stone promenade, hung high above the Rhine, gave a wonderful view
up and down the river and along the opposite shore. From this elevated,
paved plateau he could see down the river the strongholds of Rheinstein
and Falkenberg, and up the river almost as far as Mayence. He judged by
the altitude of the sun that it was about four o'clock in the afternoon.


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