Seldom could such a christening have taken place as that of which
Christina's bed-room was the scene--the mother scarcely able even to
think of the holy sacrament for the horror of knowing that the one
sponsor was already exulting in the speedy destruction of the other;
and, poor little feeble thing, rallying the last remnants of her
severely-tried powers to prevent the crime at the most terrible of
risks.
The elder babe received from his grandmother the hereditary name of
Eberhard, but Sir Kasimir looked at the mother inquiringly, ere he
gave the other to the priest. Christina had well-nigh said,
"Oubliette," but, recalling herself in time, she feebly uttered the
name she had longed after from the moment she had known that two sons
had been her Easter gift, "Gottfried," after her beloved uncle. But
Kunigunde caught the sound, and exclaimed, "No son of Adlerstein
shall bear abase craftsman's name. Call him Racher (the avenger);"
and in the word there already rang a note of victory and revenge that
made Christina's blood run cold.
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