“I had the happiness to be with His Holiness when Henry was conducted by the noisy populace to the walls of Canossa; and though we knew not with any certainty whether the king’s intentions were inimical or friendly, I could discover in the Pontiff’s placid face neither hope nor fear.  The first prayer presented by the royal suppliant, ascribed ambition and envy to the leaders of the coalition against him.”

“Tyrant!” interposed the Lord of Hers, “he begins his penitence by a calumny.”

“Our Holy Father only replied,” continued the priest, “that the ecclesiastical law did not permit him to judge the accused in the absence of his accusers; and invited him, since he confided in his innocence, to meet his accusers at Augsburg, and abide by the Papal decision.”

“Yes!” exclaimed Rodolph, eagerly.  “And what said the king?”

“That the anniversary of his excommunication was approaching, and that unless the interdict were raised, his rights to the crown would be forfeited.  Should the Pope receive him to favor at once, he promised to submit to whatever His Holiness might subsequently decree, and answer his accusers at Augsburg.”

“Artful villain!” ejaculated Albert of Hers.

“But His Holiness remained inflexible,” resumed the missionary.  “At last, moved by the prayers and tears of those around him, he permitted Henry to approach him, to prove his penitence and atone for his contempt of the Holy See.  The prince delayed not to avail himself of this grace; and the next morning presented himself at the inner gate of the castle, barefoot and in sackcloth, where he remained, fasting, from daybreak to sunset.  This he repeated the second and the third day.”

“Oh that I had seen him in that saintly guise!” cried the duke, with a short, disdainful laugh, while he rubbed his hands, and pressed the floor with his iron heel.

“Consummate hypocrite!” said the Lord Albert.

“Coward!” muttered the Baron of Stramen.

“I think I can hear his piteous cries now,” continued Father Omehr, endeavoring to excite their compassion, “put forth at intervals:  ‘Parce, beate Pater, pie, parce mihi, peto, plane!’”

But the nobles only expressed extreme disgust.

“Finally,” proceeded the priest, “the supplications of the saintly countess, Matilda, and of many holy men, induced our good Father to raise the anathema on these conditions, proposed to the king, still barefoot and numbed with cold.”

A deathlike silence prevailed as the missionary began the enumeration: 

“That Henry should appear at Augsburg—­that the Pope should be the judge—­that he should submit without resistance to the decision—­that he should banish the excommunicated bishops and favorites—­and if one of these conditions were violated, that his guilt would be deemed established, and the princes of the empire at liberty to elect another king.”

The knights still sat in silence, as if spell-bound, while Father Omehr calmly went on with his narrative: