' I grievously misjudged you, as I learn from both the Archbishop
and my kinswoman. I ask your forgiveness."
"I shall forgive you, Father Ambrose, if you make full, not partial
atonement. The consequences of your mistake have proved drastic and
far-reaching. The least of these consequences is that it has cost me the
Emperorship."
"Oh," moaned the good man, "_mea culpa, mea culpa!_ No penance put upon
me can compensate for that disaster."
"You blame yourself overmuch, good Father. The penance I have to impose
will leave me deeply in your debt. Now, to come from the least to the
greatest of these results, so far as I am concerned, my marriage with
your kinswoman, whom I love devotedly, is in jeopardy. Through her
conviction that I was a thief, she braved the Archbishop of Mayence, who
imprisoned her, and now his Lordship has determined that the Grand Duke
Karl of Hesse shall be Emperor. Thus we arrive at the most important
outcome of your error. Between the overwhelming forces of Mayence and
the insufficient troops of Cologne and Treves there may ensue a conflict
causing the streets of Frankfort to flow with blood.
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