Upon leaving the Empress, Frederic had met Count Rechberg in the antechamber. For some time the young man had been thinking seriously of asking the Emperor's consent to his marriage with Bonello's daughter, and the uncertainty of the result of his application produced a state of painful anxiety. He was seated in a corner, his head resting on his hands and his elbows on his knees, when the monarch entered, and was so absorbed in his reflections that he was unconscious of his presence. Frederic looked at him with some surprise, and shook his head. At this moment Erwin sighed deeply, and the Emperor involuntarily shuddered. "Erwin!" said he, with a loud voice. The young count sprang up hastily, and stood, with heightened color, before his sovereign. "What is the matter, my boy? For some time past you seem out of spirits. Can nothing amuse your sad thoughts? Tell me what ails you." Erwin only answered by a still deeper blush. The man who by a word could render him happy, was before him, and yet, trembling like a criminal, he did not dare to speak. "Are you dumb? Ah! now I begin to be really curious to learn the secret which saddens your young heart." "I must really help this poor fellow," thought Rinaldo. "Come, Erwin, your reticence displeases me. What motive can there be for silence with your godfather?" Rechberg looked sadly at the Emperor, as if to show him how painfully he felt this reproach. "Well! if you have confidence in me, speak out! What is the matter? For some time past I have noticed your mournful and dejected appearance, and I hoped to have received your confession without being obliged to ask for it." "Pardon, Sire; it is not my want of confidence in your Majesty which has closed my mouth, but rather the conviction that my cares were unworthy of your notice." "Your cares!" resumed Barbarossa, looking at the young man more attentively. "True, true, it is some piece of childishness; I might have guessed it sooner." Rinaldo's entrance on one side, and the Empress on the other, interrupted Frederic. "Beatrice," said he, "I give this sick boy up to your care. I know that you are a skilful physician;" and he left the room with the Count of Dassel. Beatrice, the wealthy daughter of Count Reinald, of Upper Burgundy, was but sixteen years of age when she was chosen by Frederic as his wife. In spite of the opposition to his marriage made by Pope Adrian IV; in spite of the representations of the Church and the reputation of the world at large, Barbarossa's passion was so violent that he disregarded every obstacle, and on the repudiation of his first wife, Adelaide, conducted Beatrice to the altar. At the time of which we speak, Beatrice was twenty-one years of age; beautiful, gracious, and accomplished; she was considered the most amiable princess of the age, and she gladly undertook to console a youth whom she esteemed as much for his own virtuous qualities as on account of his relationship to the Emperor.