m, you whom the king
has sent, shall I not soon be well, that I may nurse my husband?"

"Yes, your majesty, if it please God, you will soon be well. But now let
me deliver to you a letter from the king, which his majesty has
intrusted to me."

Louisa's eyes beamed with joy; she opened the letter and read it. The
words of tender love and ardent longing which the king addressed to her
brought tears to her eyes. "What a letter!" she exclaimed. "How happy is
she who receives such!" She kissed the paper and then laid it on her
heart. "It shall remain there, and will cure me better than all your
medicine, doctor. If the spasms would only leave me, I should be well!
When they seize me, I cannot help thinking that my end is drawing nigh."

Doctor Heim made no reply; he turned and prescribed cooling beverages
and anodynes. No one but God was able to help her. Her spasms became
frequent and violent, and she of ten cried--"Air! air! I am dying!" She
yearned more and more for her husband and children.

"Doctor! must I die, then? Shall I be taken from the king and from my
children?" The doctor made no reply.

"My God, I am young to die!" groaned the queen. "Life has still to
fulfil many promises to me; I have shed many tears and suffered much!
Oh, there are these dreadful spasms again! Doctor, help me! Ah, nothing
but death can help me!"

It was in the night of the 18th of July that the queen uttered these
complaints to her physicians. It was a stormy night, and the gigantic
trees in the garden of Hohenzieritz rustled weirdly and dark. The
silence of the palace was broken only by low groans.

It was dawning when a carriage rolled into the palace-yard. The duke
hastened out. A pale man alighted and rushed toward him. "How is she?
How is Louisa?"

The duke was unable to make a reply. He took the king's arm and
conducted him into the palace. The two sons of the king, who had arrived
with their father, followed them in silence and with bowed heads. The
duke conducted the king into his room, where he found the old
landgravine and the three physicians of the queen.

Frederick William saluted the princess only with a silent nod; he then
turned his quivering face toward the physicians. "How is the queen?" he
asked. "What hopes have you?"

They made no reply, standing before him with gloomy faces and downcast
eyes. The king's face turned livid, and, pressing his hand upon his
forehead, covered with perspiration, he said, sternly