第71章

"At home? Where? At Loewestein, or at Dort?""At Dort," said Boxtel.

"You lie!" cried Rosa."Monseigneur," she continued, whilst turning round to the Prince, "I will tell you the true story of these three bulbs.The first was crushed by my father in the prisoner's cell, and this man is quite aware of it, for he himself wanted to get hold of it, and, being balked in his hope, he very nearly fell out with my father, who had been the cause of his disappointment.The second bulb, planted by me, has produced the black tulip, and the third and last" -- saying this, she drew it from her bosom --"here it is, in the very same paper in which it was wrapped up together with the two others.When about to be led to the scaffold, Cornelius van Baerle gave me all the three.Take it, Monseigneur, take it."And Rosa, unfolding the paper, offered the bulb to the Prince, who took it from her hands and examined it.

"But, Monseigneur, this young woman may have stolen the bulb, as she did the tulip," Boxtel said, with a faltering voice, and evidently alarmed at the attention with which the Prince examined the bulb; and even more at the movements of Rosa, who was reading some lines written on the paper which remained in her hands.

Her eyes suddenly lighted up; she read, with breathless anxiety, the mysterious paper over and over again; and at last, uttering a cry, held it out to the Prince and said, "Read, Monseigneur, for Heaven's sake, read!"William handed the third bulb to Van Systens, took the paper, and read.

No sooner had he looked at it than he began to stagger; his hand trembled, and very nearly let the paper fall to the ground; and the expression of pain and compassion in his features was really frightful to see.

It was that fly-leaf, taken from the Bible, which Cornelius de Witt had sent to Dort by Craeke, the servant of his brother John, to request Van Baerle to burn the correspondence of the Grand Pensionary with the Marquis de Louvois.

This request, as the reader may remember, was couched in the following terms: --"My Dear Godson, --

"Burn the parcel which I have intrusted to you.Burn it without looking at it, and without opening it, so that its contents may for ever remain unknown to yourself.Secrets of this description are death to those with whom they are deposited.Burn it, and you will have saved John and Cornelius de Witt.

"Farewell, and love me.

Cornelius de Witt.

"August 20, 1672."

This slip of paper offered the proofs both of Van Baerle's innocence and of his claim to the property of the tulip.

Rosa and the Stadtholder exchanged one look only.

That of Rosa was meant to express, "Here, you see yourself."That of the Stadtholder signified, "Be quiet, and wait."The Prince wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and slowly folded up the paper, whilst his thoughts were wandering in that labyrinth without a goal and without a guide, which is called remorse and shame for the past.

Soon, however, raising his head with an effort, he said, in his usual voice, --"Go, Mr.Boxtel; justice shall be done, I promise you."Then, turning to the President, he added, --"You, my dear Mynheer van Systens, take charge of this young woman and of the tulip.Good-bye."All bowed, and the Prince left, among the deafening cheers of the crowd outside.

Boxtel returned to his inn, rather puzzled and uneasy, tormented by misgivings about that paper which William had received from the hand of Rosa, and which his Highness had read, folded up, and so carefully put in his pocket.What was the meaning of all this?

Rosa went up to the tulip, tenderly kissed its leaves and, with a heart full of happiness and confidence in the ways of God, broke out in the words, --"Thou knowest best for what end Thou madest my good Cornelius teach me to read."