"It is addressed to Henry, Duke of Austria, and is highly important," said Galdini, respectfully.
The Duke cut the silken thread, and to the great surprise of the prelate, read over the Latin brief; for his studies in the Convent of Fulva had enabled him to do without a secretary.
"Clemence at the Papal Court! I thought she was in Germany! His Holiness is enraged at this criminal act--_scelus et flagitium_; yes, it is indeed a crime," said the Duke, continuing to read, and accompanying the reading with his own commentaries. "The divorce is declared null and void. The Lion is excommunicated and banished. By my faith, these are the words of a true Pope! I must speak to the Duke on the subject. I fear it will be labor in vain!"
"Your Highness will be faithful to the voice of the Holy Father," replied Sala. "Your Highness alone, among all the princes in the Imperial camp, is worthy of the Pope's confidence, and he charges you to protest against this sinful deed. It should be the Emperor's duty to protect the unhappy Duchess, but Frederic is not opposed to the divorce!"
"It is most true; it is a miserable measure of political expediency in the interest of territorial aggrandizement," said Henry, warmly. "The Emperor's villainous Chancellor has directed the whole business. My cousin's daughter lived on the best possible terms with her husband, before the interference of that felon. Ah! princes will not see to what their ambition leads them, until the halter is around their necks."
"What has all this to do with the divorce?"
"You do not understand the plot," resumed Henry; "the repudiation of Clemence must make trouble between Saxony and her relations; the union of those two houses would have thwarted all Frederic's designs against the liberties of the people, the clergy and the nobility."
"Frederic evidently seeks to assure his supremacy," said Galdini, endeavoring to excite the Duke to a fuller confession.
"There is no doubt about it. Why does he not assign incumbents to the vacant fiefs? He keeps them for himself. He owns already all the territory from Rottemburg to Besançon. He sows discord among the nobles, adds the fiefs to the crown, and has organized in the Church an army of corrupt Bishops! Tell me, is not that one way of assuring his Imperial supremacy?"