"
"Indeed, Ebearhard, it is just in that respect I blame myself,
neglecting your own good example, who discovered the chain at
Furstenberg. This trap is a new invention, and, so far as I know, has
never before been attempted on the Rhine. I might have remembered that
Stahleck here is cousin to the Red Margrave, who likely has told him of
the device. Indeed, the chances are that Stahleck himself was the
contriver of the chain, for he seems a man of much more craft and
intelligence than that huge, laughing animal farther up the river. I
should have ordered the captain to tie up against the eastern bank, and
then sent some men in a small boat to learn if the way was clear. No,
Ebearhard, I blame myself for this muddle, and, through anxiety to pass
the Pfalz, I have landed myself and my men within its walls. I must pace
this courtyard for a time, and ponder what next to do. Go you,
Ebearhard, with the men to the door. Allow no talking or noise. Listen
intently, and report to me if you hear anything. You see, Ebearhard, the
devil of it is that Stahleck, like his cousin with Cologne, swears
allegiance to the Archbishop of Mayence, and here am I, after destroying
the fief of one Archbishop, securely snared in the fief of another.
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