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: "The monarch swore to observe the compact inviolably.

But to give additional solemnity to the oath, the Pontiff, while celebrating the Mass that followed the reconciliation, turned from the altar, and thus addressed the king: 'Do, if it please you, my son, as you have seen me do.

The German princes are continually charging you with crimes for which they demand an interdict over you for life, not only from the seals of royalty, but from all communion with the Church or society.
They demand your immediate condemnation; but you know the uncertainty of human judgments.

Do, then, as I advise you, and if you are conscious of innocence, rid the Church of this scandal and yourself of these imputations! Receive this other half of the Host, that this proof of your innocence may silence your enemies, and I pledge myself to be your best champion in appeasing your barons and in arresting this civil war!'" "And Henry?
--" whispered Rodolph, trembling with excitement.
"Recoiled from a proof so terrible," answered the missionary.
The duke still occupied his chair, with his forehead knit, and his arms folded on his breast, but the Lord of Hers sprang to his feet and began to pace the room, and the Baron of Stramen brought his battle-axe heavily against the floor.
"Tell me," said Albert of Hers, addressing Father Omehr, "did not the Pope revoke his pardon at this evident insincerity ?" "No," was the reply.
"Then, may God forgive me," returned the excited knight, "but the mercy of His Holiness sounds like human folly!" "It is weakness--cowardice!" muttered the Baron of Stramen.
The missionary smiled at cowardice in connection with the name of Gregory VII.
A bright smile now began to break over Rodolph's face, and he said, turning to his friends: "My gallant knights, this is but an expedient of the king's to gain time, he will never confront us at Augsburg.

We must prepare for a struggle more desperate than ever, and, before another day, I must set out for Saxony." The prophecy of the King of Arles was soon verified.