he King's will which have made my happiness an
impossibility. Though I love you, I wish never to see you again. I
shall be wife but in name, yet I may not have a lover. I am not a
woman of the court. I am proud of my honor, though the man who is to
be my husband doubts that."

"No, Gretchen," said I, "he does not doubt it, but he wishes me to do
so. I believe in your innocence as I believe in your love."

"It is sad, is it not," said she, "that we must go through our days
loving each other and all the world standing between? I have never
loved a man before; I did not want to love you. I did not know that I
loved you till I saw that your life was in danger. Yet I am glad that
I have lived for a brief second, for till a woman loves she does not
live. I am brave; do you be likewise. I shall go back to the world,
and who shall know of the heart of fire beneath the ice! Not even the
man I love. Kiss me; it is the last kiss I shall take from the lips of
any man."

And it seemed to me that our souls met in that last kiss, melted and
became one. Her hands dropped to her side, and swiftly she sped from
the room.

She had entered the coach. The cavalrymen were perched upon the box.
There was a crack of the lash, and the coach rolled away. I watched
it, standing in the road. A cloud of yellow dust partially obscured it
from view. Half a mile beyond rose a small hill. This the coach
mounted, and the red gold of the smoldering sun engulfed it. Was it a
face I saw at the window? Perhaps. Then over the hill all
disappeared, and with it the whole world, and I stood in emptiness,
alone.

Gretchen had gone.

CHAPTER XV

I was wandering aimlessly through the rose gardens, when the far-off
sound of galloping hoofs came on the breeze. Nearer and nearer it
drew. I ran out into the highway. I saw a horse come wildly dashing
along. It was riderless, and as it came closer I saw the foam of sweat
dripping from its flanks and shoulders. As the animal plunged toward
me, I made a spring and caught the bridle, hanging on till the brute
came to a standstill. It was quivering from fright. There was a gash
on its neck, and it was bleeding and turning the white flakes of sweat
into a murky crimson.

"Good Lord!" I ejaculated. "It's one of the cavalry horses. Hillars
or the innkeeper has been hurt."

I was of the mind to mount the animal and go in search of them, when
Stahlberg, who had come to my assist