"Your Majesty can never force me to this act of degradation," he said; "I would rather resign the tiara."
"I have said perhaps:--We must be prepared for everything. But allow me to return to this business, which is pressing."
Victor protested his ready obedience, and bowed himself out of the room.
"He will have to come to it," said Frederic, turning towards Dassel, who had kept to one side. "You will remember," he added, "that you have heard nothing of our conversation with the Pope."
"Sire, it is impossible; I must speak to you of it."
"To what end! Can anything be of greater importance than to ward off the blow which Eberhard is about to strike against you and the Holy Father? Thank Heaven, circumstances will permit you to surmount the difficulty."
"You expect, in the course of the next two days, the arrival of the relics of the three Magi which are to be borne here from Milan in solemn procession. The respect which you will show will prove to all in Pavia the ardor of your religious faith, and to do them still greater honor, you will send the Pope in advance to meet them. Victor can start early to-morrow, and in this way you can remove the purulent infection which is so offensive to the too delicate Archbishop."
"But will not Victor return with the relics?"
"He must not return; an order from your Majesty will take him to Lodi, where he will wait until he is wanted."
"Eberhard is in earnest, and your Majesty must stint nothing in the evidences of respect shown to him. The people will admire your condescension. Let your embassy be as brilliant as possible. Count Haro should be one of your envoys; he possesses a magnificent castle between Pavia and St. Martin. He can conduct the prelates thither, and your Majesty can then encounter this Goliah of the South-German Episcopacy."
"Bravo!" cried Frederic; "I approve of everything: Act at once."
An express was immediately dispatched to Rivoli, bearing to Count Haro the order to get all the apartments of his castle in readiness. Dassel himself sent forward a train of mules, bearing costly carpets, silver candlesticks, and massive plate--everything, in short, which was needed to offer a most sumptuous hospitality. The castle, usually so quiet, assumed an air of gayety, and the steward rushed in every direction, arranging and disarranging, ordering, scolding, and hastening on the preparations.