Dumas, Alexandre – The Black Tulip

“At Dort,” said Boxtel.

“You lie!” cried Rosa. “Monseigneur,” she continued, whilst

turning round to the Prince, “I will tell you the true story

of these three bulbs. The first was crushed by my father in

the prisoner’s cell, and this man is quite aware of it, for

he himself wanted to get hold of it, and, being balked in

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his hope, he very nearly fell out with my father, who had

been the cause of his disappointment. The second bulb,

planted by me, has produced the black tulip, and the third

and last” — saying this, she drew it from her bosom —

“here it is, in the very same paper in which it was wrapped

up together with the two others. When about to be led to the

scaffold, Cornelius van Baerle gave me all the three. Take

it, Monseigneur, take it.”

And Rosa, unfolding the paper, offered the bulb to the

Prince, who took it from her hands and examined it.

“But, Monseigneur, this young woman may have stolen the

bulb, as she did the tulip,” Boxtel said, with a faltering

voice, and evidently alarmed at the attention with which the

Prince examined the bulb; and even more at the movements of

Rosa, who was reading some lines written on the paper which

remained in her hands.

Her eyes suddenly lighted up; she read, with breathless

anxiety, the mysterious paper over and over again; and at

last, uttering a cry, held it out to the Prince and said,

“Read, Monseigneur, for Heaven’s sake, read!”

William handed the third bulb to Van Systens, took the

paper, and read.

No sooner had he looked at it than he began to stagger; his

hand trembled, and very nearly let the paper fall to the

ground; and the expression of pain and compassion in his

features was really frightful to see.

It was that fly-leaf, taken from the Bible, which Cornelius

de Witt had sent to Dort by Craeke, the servant of his

brother John, to request Van Baerle to burn the

correspondence of the Grand Pensionary with the Marquis de

Louvois.

This request, as the reader may remember, was couched in the

following terms: —

“My Dear Godson, —

“Burn the parcel which I have intrusted to you. Burn it

without looking at it, and without opening it, so that its

contents may for ever remain unknown to yourself. Secrets of

this description are death to those with whom they are

deposited. Burn it, and you will have saved John and

Cornelius de Witt.

“Farewell, and love me.

Cornelius de Witt.

“August 20, 1672.”

This slip of paper offered the proofs both of Van Baerle’s

innocence and of his claim to the property of the tulip.

Rosa and the Stadtholder exchanged one look only.

That of Rosa was meant to express, “Here, you see yourself.”

That of the Stadtholder signified, “Be quiet, and wait.”

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The Prince wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and

slowly folded up the paper, whilst his thoughts were

wandering in that labyrinth without a goal and without a

guide, which is called remorse and shame for the past.

Soon, however, raising his head with an effort, he said, in

his usual voice, —

“Go, Mr. Boxtel; justice shall be done, I promise you.”

Then, turning to the President, he added, —

“You, my dear Mynheer van Systens, take charge of this young

woman and of the tulip. Good-bye.”

All bowed, and the Prince left, among the deafening cheers

of the crowd outside.

Boxtel returned to his inn, rather puzzled and uneasy,

tormented by misgivings about that paper which William had

received from the hand of Rosa, and which his Highness had

read, folded up, and so carefully put in his pocket. What

was the meaning of all this?

Rosa went up to the tulip, tenderly kissed its leaves and,

with a heart full of happiness and confidence in the ways of

God, broke out in the words, —

“Thou knowest best for what end Thou madest my good

Cornelius teach me to read.”

Chapter 28

The Hymn of the Flowers