University of Virginia Library

13. CHAPTER XIII.
THE BRIDAL SCENE IN THE GARRISON.

When the guests were all assembled
in the large drawing-room of the Governor's
house, within the Castle, the latter
dressed as became a Governor at the
bridal of his only daughter, entered, accompanied
by the Lutheran minister in
his black cassock and round skull-cap.
Mr. Leisler bowed to his friends and
other guests, about twenty in number,
who had been invited to the ceremony.
In one corner sat the burgomaster's little
mother, in a starched ruff and gay cap,
and seemingly very proud and happy at
the prospect of being related, by the marriage
of her son, to the family of the chief
ruler of the province. The Governor,
after bowing around to the guests, advanced
towards her, when she rose up,
and, smiling, made him a low, formal
courtesy.

`Where is your son and mine, fair
vrow?' he asked, with looks of satisfaction.
`The hour is within three minutes
of the time when the nuptials are to take
place.'

`He is in te next room, waiting to pe
called, your excellencies,' responded the
good vrow. `Pless you,sir, he seems very
much afraid; but it is naturals, for one
isn't married every days.'

`I will go and take him to my daughter's
room, so that together they can enter
the parlor, as is seemly they should.
This must be a happy day to you,
dame.'

`It is, your excellencies, fery happies,'
responded the good lady, courtseying
to the floor as the Governor turned
from her to speak to the minister.

`Reverend sir, I believe it is now time
for the couple to come in. Are you
ready to perform the ceremony?'

`I am all prepared to do my duty, your
excellency,' answered the clergyman, in
a strong nasal tone.

The Governor then passed out into
the apartment on the left of the mantel-piece.
It was a sort of ante-room to the
parlor. In it, for the last ten minutes,
Mynheer Van Vow had been alternately
perspiring with fear and chilling with
apprehension. It seemed well for him,
as his good mother had remarked to the
Governor, that people were not married
every day. He was plainly very much
excited for a gentleman of his phlegm.—
He was full dressed in a fawn-colored
broad-skirted coat, faced with white

satin, scarlet breeches, and blue clocked
hose that showed to advantage his shapely
calf; he had a lawn ruffle in his bosom
of amplest breadth, and upon his
wrists were displayed cuffs of embroidered
lace. His hair was brushed carefully
back into a short pig-tail, that stuck
straight over on his collar, and was garnished
with white ribbons in a true-love's
knot, tied by his careful and prideful
mother. His head was white with powder.
In his hands he carried a pair of
dove-colored kid gloves, and upon the
first joint of the little finger of his left
hand was a very small plain gold ring,
the circle with which he purposed to
bind the fair Bertha to his side for the
present life. The finger being very
small which the ring was intended for,
and the fingers of the burgomaster being
shaped like blue-nose potatoes, it was
really a wonder how he managed to get
it even upon the first joint of his lesser
finger.

`Well, Mynheer Van Vow, I see you
are ready for the ceremony,' he said, surveying
his buckish appearance. `The
hour is at hand.'

`I am fery glat, for I am losin my
courages fast, Governors. It melts avay
off mine fingers. Vhere is Berthas?'

`She is also doubtless ready in her
apartment, and only waiting for me to
conduct you to her. Give me thine
arm.'

`Good Governors,' said the burgomaster,
hesitating and feeling that he was
about to sacrifice a lovely maiden who
loved him not, `I would mush rathers disweddings
didn't pe.'

`What! do you at this hour renew
your objections. Tell me fairly, what is
your reason for not wishing this union?'
demanded the Governor sternly.

`I knows Berthas doesn't loves me. I
knows, if I marries her, she'll be misrable
as ever vas.'

`And it is only on this account?'

`Yes, none oder; for I loves her mit
all mine souls and podies.'

`Then you shall wed her. I am not
to yield my purpose up to an idle whim
on her part. I have questioned her
about this repugnance to you; but she
gives me no satisfactory reply. I shall not
now heed-her weak objections to a union
upon which I have set my heart. Do not
offend me by any more resistance. These
times that have come upon us are rife
with danger to us all, and especially to
me. I am surrounded with enemies.
My life may yet be sacrificed. Bertha,
at such a crisis, needs a protector. You
are a suitable one, and I know will love
and honor her. When she is married to
you, one great source of anxiety will be
removed from my mind, and I shall be
freer to give myself to the weighty duties
of my station. Follow me. Mynheer, and
let there be no further obstacle to my
wishes. I need not remind you that while
she remains unwedded she is exposed to
danger from the machinations of this adventurer,
Logan. Come, let the nuptials
be performed at once.'

Thus speaking, the Governor walked
to a door at the side of the ante-room,
passed through a narrow entry, and then
stopping before a closed door at its extremity,
knocked upon it, saying,

`Come, Bertha, the guests wait. I
have led hither thy husband betrothed.
Come out and go with him to the drawing-room.
It is now the full hour set for
the nuptials.'

There was no reply. The Governor
listened for a moment and then opened
the door just as it was opened from within
by Bertha's Dutch dressing maid.

`Where is thy mistress?' asked the
Governor, looking around the chamber.

`She went into your book-room to
speak wit you, she said,' responded the
woman.

`In the library? I have not seen her.
Perhaps she waits me there.'

Thus speaking, he passed through an
inner door, and entered a room used as a
library and office. There was no light in
it; and, after calling upon his daughter's
name, he sent back the burgomaster for
one of the candles that stood upon the
toilet table. The room was now surveyed,
and a glance showed him that his daughter
was not there.

`How long since did she leave her
room to say she was coming in here?' he
asked the dressing-maid.

`About five or six minutes. She told
me to stay here and wait for her.'

`I have not seen her, answered the
Governor with the first emotions of suspicion.
`Perhaps she has gone into the
drawing-room. Come with me, Mynheer.
Doubtless she waits you there.'

Encouraging his fears with this hope,
he hastened back into the drawing-room.

`Has my daughter been in here?' he
demanded, turning pale, as his eye did
not encounter her form in the room.

`She has not yet made her appearance,
your excellency,' answered the
minister. `Yet I am ready to perform
the ceremony of marrying her to the
worthy burgomaster.'

Van Vow, I begin to mistrust evil,'
said the Governor. `Go and search
every part of the house each of you here.
My daughter has disappeared. He who
finds her shall have a hundred marks.'

Her father hastened from room to
room till satisfied that she had flown,
when he flew to the sentry at the gate.

`Has my daughter passed out?

`No, your excellency.'

`Has any one?'

`A young man.'

`How long ago?'

`About ten minutes, your excellency.'

`How was he habited?'

`In a cap and cloak.'

`Did you see his face?'

`No, your excellency,' responded the
soldier; he kept his cap down, and besides
it was dark, as you see, in the passage
way. He gave the countersign as I
let him forth.'

`It must have been she! repeated the
Governor, in amazement. `She has fled
disguised! But I will soon learn!'

He hastened back to the house, which
was all in confusion. The house had
been thoroughly searched, and no discovery
had been made of the missing maiden.

`Look you, my friends, and see who
misses a cloak and cap!'

`I do, your excellency,' answered a
young Dutch gentleman, pressing forward.

`Then I am dishonored and made
ashamed before you all by my own child.
She has flown from the fort, disguising
herself in the cap and cloak. Ho, guards!
to your arms!' he shouted. `Disperse
yourselves through the streets! Search
every nook about the fortress! Hasten!
She has ten minutes the start, but she
may yet be taken! He who brings her
back to me shall be paid two hundred
marks of silver! But heed ye, soldiers;
lay not a hand roughly upon the child,
for remember she is still, though a fugitive,
the Governor's daughter!'

`Dish ish a fery astonishing pusiness!'
gasped the burgomaster as soon as he
could fairly realise that Bertha had flown.
`I do wouders vhere she can pe goings?'

I fear that this Logan has something
to do in this!' responded the Governor,
pacing up and down in front of the gate
of the fortress, in great perturbation.—
`You seem to take her departure with
sufficient philosophy, Mynheer Von Vow,'
he cried angrily, seeing the burgomaster's
visage.

`I would rathers she runs afay from
me now tan afder the marriages,' answered

the Dutch lover with calmness. Indeed,
in his heart, the burgomaster did
not feel sorry at her departure. He felt
that if she would fly to avoid a marriage
with him she would never have made him
a happy husband; and so long as he had
got his thousand dollars back again he
was disposed to regard this turn in the
affair as advantageous than otherwise.—
Not so her father. His bosom was torn
with mingled grief, alarm and anger. At
one time he would pour upon her head
the bitterest invectives; at another, call
upon her name with thrilling tenderness.
In vain his friends tried to console him.
He would not be comforted.

One after the other the soldiers whom
he had dispatched in search of the fugitive
returned from the pursuit, reporting
their want of success. The affection of
the father now began to take the ascendancy
of paternal resentment, and he began
to fear lest she might have been driven
by her antipathy to the burgomaster
to throw herself into the water. He was
about to hasten to the beach in the rear
of the fortress to have search made for
her, when the sentry handed him a note,
which he said a lad had placed in his
hand and immediately ran away. It was
from Bertha, without date or place, but
assuring him of her safety.

The lovers reached the gate of the garden
in which stood the priest's residence,
without having met with any obstacle.—
To the challenges of the sentries, which
they encountered, they had the countersign,
which carried them safely from
street to street, until they had passed the
lines.

`Now, dearest Bertha, we are in safety,'
cried Logan, as he heard the foot-step
of the priest approaching towards
the gate.

`Who seeks admittance?' demanded
the voice of Father Stephen from within
the garden.

`It is Logan, revered father!' responded
the young man in an under tone.—
`Hasten to open to us, for I bring with
me a priceless treasure.'

The priest slowly opened the gate, but
seeing the disguises, half-closed it with
quick caution.

`Nay, it is I, though in a strange garb,
good father,' answered Logan.

`I know thy voice, son. Come in,'
answered the priest, opening the gate to
admit them. `But who have you with
you?'

`You shall know presently,' was the
reply of the young man as he drew Bertha,
trembling with mingled fear and
gladness, into the garden walk. Steiny
followed closely, while father Stephen relocked
the gate and followed his guests
towards his house.

Logan conducted Bertha into the sitting-room,
and breathing into her ears a
few words of encouragement, threw aside
his disguise and went into the hall where
father Stephen stood.

`Reverend father, I need your holy
services in a matter dear to my heart.—
The maiden with me is Bertha Leisler!'

`What, the daughter of the heretic
Governor?'

`Do not take fire too quickly, dear father
Stephen! She is my betrothed wife.
She has fled this night from a hated uniou
with the burgomaster Van Vow to become
my bride. But you knew that I loved
her. Will you unite us at once in the
chapel?'

`Has she acknowledged our holy religion?'

`Not yet, but I am in hopes I shall be
able to bring her over to the true faith, by
and by. But let not this prevent your
complying with my desire.'

`It shall not, Master Logan, though I
would rather she had embraced the true
faith. But before you take this step, let
me suggest to you, that by having the

new Governor's daughter in your power,
you can—'

`Can what?' demanded the young man
with a flashing eye, as if he half anticipated
his proposition.

`Hold her as a hostage for her father's
good behavior. Nay, you can compel
him to resign his usurped power, menacing
his daughter with death.'

`Do you think me an assassain! Do
you judge me to be thus base? Some vile
spirit hath put these words into your
mouth, reverend father, for surely they
came not from youa heart. Bertha Leisler
is dearer to me than life; she is to become
my honored and beloved wife.'

`Forgive me, my son; I did but speak
with policy for thy own interests. Take
the maiden by the hand and follow me
into the church.'

With these words, the priest passed
across the hall into the long room, in which
we have already seen the conspirators
assembled. He advanced to the altar, at
its eastern extremity and lighted four
wax tapers that stood upon it, two on
either side of a small silver crucifix, of
exquisite workmanship, executed by Benvenu'o
Cellini, as the signature upon the
pedestal bore witness. The apartment
was about twenty-four feet long, by fifteen
broad, was hung with black cloth,
upon which all around the walls were suspended
pictures of the various passions of
the redeemer. Small as it was it had a solemn
religious air; and the faint light of
the tapers, almost obscured by the black
hue of the walls increased this effect.

Father Stephen now opened a small
closet on the left of the altar, from which
he took forth his snow white surplice.—
He put it on, took a missal in his hand,
and, placing himself by the right of the
altar awaited the bridal pair.

`Do not fear, sweet Bertha,' said Logan
as she shrunk back upon the threshold
of the chapel, awed by its gloomy solem
nity, the tapers, the priest in his white
robes, and the deep silence that reigned.

`I do not fear, Robert,' she answered
firmly, and entering with him at the same
time, into the chapel.

`Kneel children,' said father Stephen,
in a grave voice, as they approached the
altar, by which he stood awaiting them.

In silence, together, they knelt before
him hand clasped in hand. The priest
then opened the missal, and proceeded in
the most impressive manner to perform
the ceremony of marriage. The sacred
rites which were to bind two loving congenial
hearts forever in one, were at
length finished. When father Stephen
had pronounced the blessing upon their
union, both Bertha and Logan responded
a heartfelt `Amen.' The happy bridegroom
then raised his joyful, trembling
bride, and calling her by the endearing,
protecting appellation of `wife,' than
which, no word is sweeter to a woman's
ear, folded her to his trustful heart.

Their happiness at this moment, who
can depict? It could only be measured
by the obstacles which had been so perseveringly
encountered to attain it.

Bertha now began to think of her father's
anxiety, on account of her sudden
disappearance, and to sympathise with
his distress. Knowing that she was safe,
she easily prevailed upon Logan to consent
that Steiney should be sent to the
fortress with a note, merely informing
him of her safety. We have seen that
Steiney faithfully executed the mission
entrusted to him. The note read as follows:—

[ILLUSTRATION]

From Philadelphia, whither the happy
pair, accompanied by Steiny, the next
day fled, Logan addressed a letter to the
father of his young bride, enclosing one
also from her, explaining fully all that
had transpired. In a few days afterwards
they set sail for London.

The following year Logan came to his
inheritance and title as Earl of Rochfort;
and never was a fairer Countess of that
name and rank than the young and lovely
Countess Bertha.

But it was not long after her elevation
to a coronet that she was called to mourn
the lamentable destiny of her misguided
father. Bayard's messenger had first got
the King's ear, and Leisler was pronounced
by the crown `a Rebel.' Thereupon
he resisted the new royal Governor
that was sent over, and fortified himself
in the citadel. But at length he was
compelled to surrender; was tried as a
rebel, convicted and shortly after executed,
a victim, as is well known, to party
malignity; for his judges were his most
bitter political and religious opponents.
`The first,' says the historian of the period,
`to raise the standard of William
and Mary in America, he was the first
to suffer as a traitor. He had appealed
to the King, but in vain, for mitigation
of the sentence of his provincial judges.'
But the appeal which had been denied
him during life was prosecuted after his
death by Logan before the throne. It
was successful. An Act of Parliament,
vainly resisted by the Judge who condemned
him to die, did justice to his
memory by reversing the attainder.

In conclusion, it is our painful duty to
add that the burgomaster, as he had
shared the fortunes of his friend Jacob
Leisler, so in death he was united with
him. He was executed with him, to the
last declaring his innocence of any bloodthirsty
intentions. His fortune, by will
he desired to be left to Bertha; thus to
the last manifesting towards her the most
faithful and touching attachment. We
record this fact in order that the last impressions
of the reader concerning the
persevering lover may be tinged with that
respect which is due to his memory.—
Steiny, patronised by Logan, became a
flourishing sea-captain when he grew up,
and in the wars with Spain, twenty-six
years after his departure from the Province,
commanded a Pink of ten guns,
with which he did such good service that
a brig was given him. He was finally
killed in a battle with a Turkish frigate,
at the moment the frigate struck her
colours to his own. A newspaper of this
day, alluding to the battle and his fall,
styles him, `Captain Stein Sneek, a gallant
officer, a skilful seamen, and an
honest man, who made our national flag
respected wherever he displayed it, whether
it were before friend or foe.'