He felt the justice of her remark, and they had walked the entire length
of the terrace in profound silence, before he could summon the ideas
necessary to make a suitable answer.
"The truth of what thou sayest, is not to be denied," he at length said,
"but it may be palliated. I have many friends in the German courts, and
favors may be had; letters of nobility will give the youth the station he
wants, after which he can claim thy hand without offence to any opinions,
whether of Berne or elsewhere."
"I doubt if Sigismund will willingly become a party to this expedient. Our
own nobility is of ancient origin; it dates from a period anterior to the
existence of Berne as a city, and is much older than our institutions. I
remember to have heard him say, that when a people refuse to bestow these
distinctions themselves, their citizens can never receive them from others
without a loss of dignity and character, and one of his moral firmness
might hesitate to do what he thinks wrong for a boon so worthless as that
we offer."
"By the soul of William Tell! should the unknown peasant dare--But he is a
brave boy, and twice has he done the last service to my race! I love him,
Adelheid, little less than thyself; and we will win him ever to our
purpose gently, and by degrees.
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