He walked very
slowly as far as the bridge, and there, resting his arms on the parapet,
looked down at the dark water. He was astonished to realize how little
he cared about giving up the Emperorship, and he recalled, with a glow
of delight, his recent talk in the garden with Hildegunde, and her
assurance that she lacked all ambition to become the first lady in the
land so long as they two spent their lives together.
The bells of Frankfort tolling the hour of ten aroused him from his
reverie, and brought down his thoughts from delicious dreams of romance
to realms of reality. The precious minutes were passing over his head
swiftly as the drops of water beneath his feet. There was little use of
feeding Frankfort if it must be given over to fire and slaughter.
With a chill of apprehension he reviewed the cold treachery of Mayence,
willing to levy the horrors of civil war upon an already stricken city
so long as his own selfish purposes were attained.
"And yet," he said to himself, "there must be good in the man.
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