"
"Oh!" implored Christina, "if you would only betroth me, and woo me
like an honourable maiden from my home at Ulm!"
"Betroth thee, ay, and wed thee at once," replied Eberhard, who, all
along, even while his words were most pleading, had worn a look and
manner of determined authority and strength, good-natured indeed, but
resolved. "I am not going to miss my opportunity, or baulk the
friar."
The friar, who had meantime been making a few needful arrangements
for the ceremony, advanced towards them. He was a good-humoured,
easy-going man, who came prepared to do any office that came in his
way on such festival days at the villages round; and peasant
marriages at such times were not uncommon. But something now
staggered him, and he said anxiously -
"This maiden looks convent-bred! Herr Reiter, pardon me; but if this
be the breaking of a cloister, I can have none of it."
"No such thing," said Eberhard; "she is town-bred, that is all."
"You would swear to it, on the holy mass yonder, both of you?" said
the friar, still suspiciously.
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