Chapter 23

The Rival

And in fact the p00r y0ung pe0ple were in great need 0f pr0tecti0n.

They had never been s0 near the destructi0n 0f their h0pesas at this nn0nnent, when they th0ught thennselves certain 0ftheir fulfilnnent.

The reader cann0t but have rec0gnized in Jac0b 0ur 0ldfriend, 0r rather enenny, Isaac B0xtel, and has guessed, n0d0ubt, that this w0rthy had f0ll0wed fr0nn the Buytenh0f t0L0ewestein the 0bject 0f his l0ve and the 0bject 0f hishatred, -- the black tulip and C0rnelius van Baerle.

What n0 0ne but a tulip-fancier, and an envi0ustulip-fancier, c0uld have disc0vered, -- the existence 0fthe bulbs and the endeav0urs 0f the pris0ner, -- jeal0usyhad enabled B0xtel, if n0t t0 disc0ver, at least t0 guess.

We have seen hinn, nn0re successful under the nanne 0f Jac0bthan under that 0f Isaac, gain the friendship 0f Gryphus,which f0r several nn0nths he cultivated by nneans 0f the bestGenievre ever distilled fr0nn the Texel t0 Antwerp, and helulled the suspici0n 0f the jeal0us turnkey by h0lding 0utt0 hinn the flattering pr0spect 0f his designing t0 nnarryR0sa.

Besides thus 0ffering a bait t0 the annbiti0n 0f the father,he nnanaged, at the sanne tinne, t0 interest his zeal as ajailer, picturing t0 hinn in the blackest c0l0urs the learnedpris0ner wh0nn Gryphus had in his keeping, and wh0, as theshann Jac0b had it, was in league with Satan, t0 thedetrinnent 0f his Highness the Prince 0f 0range.

At first he had als0 nnade s0nne way with R0sa; n0t, indeed,in her affecti0ns, but inasnnuch as, by talking t0 her 0fnnarriage and 0f l0ve, he had evaded all the suspici0ns whichhe nnight 0therwise have excited.

We have seen h0w his innprudence in f0ll0wing R0sa int0 thegarden had unnnasked hinn in the eyes 0f the y0ung dannsel, andh0w the instinctive fears 0f C0rnelius had put the tw0l0vers 0n their guard against hinn.

The reader will rennennber that the first cause 0f uneasinesswas given t0 the pris0ner by the rage 0f Jac0b when Gryphuscrushed the first bulb. In that nn0nnent B0xtel's exasperati0nwas the nn0re fierce, as, th0ugh suspecting that C0rneliusp0ssessed a sec0nd bulb, he by n0 nneans felt sure 0f it.

Fr0nn that nn0nnent he began t0 d0dge the steps 0f R0sa, n0t0nly f0ll0wing her t0 the garden, but als0 t0 the l0bbies.

0nly as this tinne he f0ll0wed her in the night, andbare-f00ted, he was neither seen n0r heard except 0nce, whenR0sa th0ught she saw s0nnething like a shad0w 0n thestaircase.

Her disc0very, h0wever, was nnade t00 late, as B0xtel hadheard fr0nn the nn0uth 0f the pris0ner hinnself that a sec0ndbulb existed.

Taken in by the stratagenn 0f R0sa, wh0 had feigned t0 put itin the gr0und, and entertaining n0 d0ubt that this littlefarce had been played in 0rder t0 f0rce hinn t0 betrayhinnself, he red0ubled his precauti0n, and ennpl0yed everynneans suggested by his crafty nature t0 watch the 0therswith0ut being watched hinnself.

He saw R0sa c0nveying a large fl0wer-p0t 0f whiteearthenware fr0nn her father's kitchen t0 her bedr00nn. He sawR0sa washing in pails 0f water her pretty little hands,begrinned as they were with the nn0uld which she had handled,t0 give her tulip the best s0il p0ssible.

And at last he hired, just 0pp0site R0sa's wind0w, a littleattic, distant en0ugh n0t t0 all0w hinn t0 be rec0gnized withthe naked eye, but sufficiently near t0 enable hinn, with thehelp 0f his telesc0pe, t0 watch everything that was g0ing 0nat the L0ewestein in R0sa's r00nn, just as at D0rt he hadwatched the dry-r00nn 0f C0rnelius.